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On Saturday the golf season officially started in Fort Simpson.

More than 38 golfers took to the course to participate in the opening day tournament on the Seven Spruce Golf Course. Mixed in amongst those 38 players was myself.

Now when it comes to playing sports - any sport - I'll be the first to admit that it's not really my cup of tea. High on the list of sports I was sure I'd never play is golf.

It's not like I have anything against golf, it's just that all my conceptions about golf were previously based on watching the sport on television.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who, after watching part of a golf tournament on television because there was nothing else on, has decided it's a strong contender for the title of the most boring sport in the world.

Watching a middle aged man hit a small white ball across a patch of green grass isn't exactly titillating stuff.

Despite all of these preconceived notions I grudgingly accepted an invitation to play in the tournament. To my surprise I had a fantastic time at the event and learned some lessons along the way.

Golf isn't as hard as it looks.

It's a startling statement and one that will have real golfers shaking their heads but it's true to a point. Being a proficient golfer is difficult and takes a lot of dedicated practise but starting to golf doesn't require anything more than a set of clubs and a place to play a round.

To prepare for my debut on the course I took the precaution of going to ladies' night on Thursday where Sheila Pollard was kind enough to give me a few basic pointers. Two hours of learning to hold a club and swing it properly didn't make me Tiger Woods but at least I could hit the ball most of the time.

Armed with just these basic skills I was able to contribute to my team during the tournament. It helped that there wasn't much pressure.

Playing in the tournament I discovered that, aside from the serious golfers, the event is really just an excuse for friends to gather and spend an afternoon together.

As people arrived for the tournament they were actually excited to get going, not because there were big prizes to be won, because there weren't any, but because they enjoy being outdoors with friends.

Watching golf balls fly across fairways on television doesn't capture what it's like to be on the fairway .

If the weather's nice and the bugs are scarce, golf is a great way to enjoy some fresh air and time outdoors while getting a bit of physical activity.

Before I picked up a club for the first time people warned me that it's easy to get addicted to golf. Hit a ball well once and you'll want to do it again I was told. While I'm not at that stage yet I think anyone who's the least bit curious about golf should give it a try.

From the outside golf looks like an imposing sport designed for a select few but here in the North it's not.

If there's anywhere to try this sport it would be in the North where the courses are beautiful and the pressure is kept to a minimum.

So, here we are.

June has begun and the river has broken the winter ice.

The boats are in the water, part of Duck Lake Road is flooded and summer is dawning.

Oh those familiar summer sounds: the birds waking up too early, the flowing of the river and of course, the cracking of a few baseball bats.

With the help of a few local businesses and the motivation of more than a few dozen baseball players, Inuvik will have a summer activity for everyone.

Slo-pitch baseball has always been a part of our community, with late-night games being fuelled by the midnight sun.

With the construction of the new schools underway, Curtis Field has seen better days.

Even though the hard-core soccer players are still out every night just to kick the ball around, there isn't room for much of anything in that area.

It was announced last year that the Curtis Field baseball diamond would be out of commission for a few years during construction of the new school.

After the completion of the new learning facility, Sir Alexander Mackenzie is scheduled to be torn down, making room for a proposed recreation hub: a large field that would house a concrete skate park, tennis courts, two soccer fields and both baseball diamonds.

It will be a great place to bring the family on the weekend, or just a place to play hard with a group of friends.

Since we are years away from that, the immediate future of local baseball came into question.

Most players were ready to accept a summer in town without slo-pitch.

That was of course, until Vince Sharpe was challenged to do something about it.

Not being a man to back down from a challenge like that, Sharpe took it upon himself to bring the idea of a temporary park to town council and to rally the troops.

Now, with the help of local businessmen, the plan is to start working on the site as soon as possible.

Every year, hundreds of people in town enjoy baseball, whether it be from the stands, the dugout or the outfield.

Inuvik loves baseball and it shows.

Every season, the local association plays host to newcomers to the game and returning veterans.

Out-of-town players come in to face off against the best in the Beaufort Delta in weekend-long tournaments.

I have childhood memories of watching the game and waiting for a pop-fly over the backstop, so some lucky kid like me could grab the ball and be a part of the game.

Granted, I often prefer to play my sports through the visual simulation of my PlayStation 3, but slo-pitch is baseball made accessible for anyone.

The combination of speed, agility and accuracy in the sport is a good way to keep yourself fit.

Ottawa has launched a pilot project to combat the Yukon's labour shortage by recruiting skilled immigrants. But what about the NWT?

In May, the federal government announced a new agreement to work with the Yukon to attract skilled immigrants, temporary workers and students, to allow the territory to have more immigrants filling labour market needs; to speed the application process and to support settlement services like language training.

Last year, Ottawa committed to spending more than $800,000 over four years towards developing a new website to provide information for both potential immigrants to the to the Yukon and local employers.

The Yukon definitely needs skilled labour, but so does the NWT. In April, the NWT's unemployment rate was 6.0 per cent and the employment rate was 70.1 per cent. In Yellowknife, the employment rate was 81.1 per cent.

And NWT businesses have demonstrated a demand for importing skilled labour.

Tim Hortons owner Greg Barton, whose staff includes temporary immigrants, has expressed interest in seeing the NWT adopt a nominee program like the Yukon's.

Last spring, the NWT Construction Association released a study looking at the options for bringing in foreign workers and the costs and benefits of doing so.

The existing bureaucratic red tape makes the process onerous and frustrating.

With major projects like the Mackenzie Valley pipeline on the horizon, the labour crunch isn't likely to ease soon. This is a time for Premier Floyd Roland to act, not to review and study.

Postal service in Yellowknife has been slow to a point where some city dwellers have, sadly, come to expect late mail.

Canada Post doesn't employ letter carriers here as it does in most other Canadian cities. Instead, Yellowknife postal workers - or "rural routers" - are required to use their own vehicles to deliver mail.

The Crown corporation says it pays them enough to cover vehicle costs, so why not just provide the vehicle to begin with if that would make the job more appealing?

In Whitehorse, 16 letter carriers and three relief carriers are employed along with several rural routers.

Canada Post owns three vehicles in the Yukon capital, which isn't experiencing the same staffing challenges we've endured over the past few years.

Yellowknife hasn't had the option of bringing in letter carrier positions - which are more commonly applied for than the positions available in the city today - since the 1970s. Since then, the city has become significantly less 'rural,' having tripled in population and become an important hub in the North.

Canada Post should treat it as such.

Nunavut's female population should be outraged over the resignation of Qulliit Status of Women Council president Donna Olsen-Hakongak this past month.

Olson-Hakongak decided to step down after receiving an e-mail from a superior warning her about speaking out against the Government of Nunavut (GN).

Olson-Hakongak has been a government employee for more than two decades and her appointment as council president was approved by cabinet this past March.

To put in bluntly, this situation stinks.

Olson-Hakongak, a human resources employee, has been openly critical in the past about people with criminal records in powerful positions in Nunavut, and that includes current Human Resources Minister Levi Barnabas.

Barnabas has claimed ignorance of the e-mail sent from a superior to Olson-Hakongak, but, even if true, that's no excuse to sit idly by while people are being strong-armed into silence.

And don't be naive enough for one second to think this is an isolated case.

The GN has been acting like a cheap gangster with this type of behaviour for years now.

A number of GN employees who cared enough to be board members or municipal councillors have been warned away from their positions by this over-sensitive Soprano family pretending to have every Nunavummiut's best interests in mind.

The GN has become so averse to criticism that the vast majority of its employees are scared to comment publicly on anything and it's openly hostile to anyone who dares suggest change is in order.

In fact, its sensitivity to criticism has transcended laughable to almost dangerous and irresponsible behaviour.

And, to top it all off, the GN's archaic attitude towards our female population during the past year has bordered on disdain.

Kitchen and bedroom, eh boys (wink, wink)?

The GN has three things going for it right now — big paycheques, great benefits and absolute power in keeping people from speaking their minds for fear of reprisal.

Is this the vision for Nunavut?

Is this what all the previous talk about openness and accountability was all about -- don't question or criticize and, most importantly, do as we say, not as we do?

The members of this government are obviously convinced Nunavut is so bereft of talent they have absolutely no worries about re-election.

What else possibly explains such totalitarian behaviour in an election year?

If that's the case, there may be more than a few members due for a rude awakening come election day.

The GN might be able to bully what it perceives to be mere commoners into silence now, but, come election day, those same commoners will be handed a rather large bullhorn in the form of a ballot and pencil to make their voices heard loud and clear.

And maybe enough of them will realize this type of government behaviour is totally unacceptable.

If so, the voters can make themselves accountable to the current members by getting the door for them on their way out.