John Curran
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 16, 2008

BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO - Residents around Behchoko got a surprise earlier this month when they picked up their mail and found the first edition of a community newsletter.

Produced by the community government, the four-page publication examines hot-button issues facing council and the general public - complete with a healthy helping of recreation news.

With attendance low at regular meetings, Chief Leon Lafferty and the other councillors were finding much of what they were doing to help improve the community was going unnoticed.

"We wanted a tool to get feedback from the community," he said.

The Spring/Summer edition of the newsletter was sent out to the more than 670 mailing addresses in Behchoko and carried with it updates on the Sportsplex project, efforts to develop a new community land use plan, potential and recent changes to local bylaws, a schedule of recreation activities and list of emergency and council contact numbers.

"Part of the reason for putting together this newsletter has come from the number of fires we've faced around the community," he said. "When you include grass fires we're at about 20 now since last fall, the vast majority of which have been intentionally set."

Residents were complaining publicly that youth were getting into trouble because there was nothing to do because of Sportsplex renovations.

That simply wasn't true, he said, adding the number of recreation activities offered to community members has been steadily increasing in recent months to the point where there are now more events being organized than before the aging facility was closed in 2007.

"People were not noticing all of the things we were doing and offering them," he said. "This gives us a way to highlight everything that's happening in Behchoko."

Council may control the publication, but the man whose job it is to put it all together said anyone organizing an event or activity that may be of interest to the community at large is welcome to send in the details and they will be considered for the next edition.

"Call me," said Craig Yeo, the recently hired special projects and communications co-ordinator for the Community Government of Behchoko. "We're very interested in highlighting all community activities."