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The Fort Liard Highway is an embarrassment.

Since spring the road has been closed multiple times after rain transformed Fort Liard's only surface link to civilization into a quagmire.

As a result, tourist and shipping traffic was disrupted; stores complained of not receiving needed goods and the Fort Nelson visitor information centre was recommending travellers not risk the road when it was open.

When the problems first arose two local vehicles were stranded on the road overnight, bogged down axle-deep in mud. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Road crews are working to improve the condition of the road. But how is it the road was allowed to deteriorate so badly?

Road engineers in the NWT face some complicated problems when it comes to building roads. Heaving permafrost and now thawing permafrost means roadways warp and sink.

Many jurisdictions face their own unique challenges when building roads. The prairie section of Alberta contends with metres of soft top soil.

Interior British Columbia must blast through mountain. Yet both of those provinces have passable roads and a lot more of them to maintain.

According to the NWT Department of Transportation, commercial truck traffic on the Liard Trail is infrequent, however shipments of groceries do go into Fort Liard via that route. That road is a vital link and its state of disrepair is unacceptable.

Either not enough money is being invested to maintain the NWT's small road network, or not enough is being done to watch for and repair problems before they become major headaches.

Water was one of the main issues on the table at the recent Dene Assembly in Fort McPherson, . Aboriginal leaders called for an independent inquiry similar to the scathing Berger pipeline inquiry.

The goal was to force more cross-boundary water agreements and convince Alberta to do more to protect upstream water resources put at risk by the oilsands project.

Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger has expressed in the past his desire to see more and stronger trans-boundary water agreements.

He has stated that water is an essential resource in the NWT that does more than quench our thirst, but also plays a major role in the economy, animal habitat and aboriginal traditional lifestyle.

The GNWT must support the Dene in protecting our water and pressure federal and provincial governments to ensure our watersheds are protected.

This past spring, the Canadian Forces held a training exercise near Resolute to introduce more than 30 Canadian Forces personnel to the challenges of the Arctic environment.

A report was recently issued detailing the problems faced by those in involved in the exercise and possible solutions.

Snowmobiles flown in with empty gas tanks froze. The heating devices in prepared food rations didn't work. Not only that, personnel found they often had to take off their army-issue mittens in order to work with their hands - gloves would have helped a lot.

These are the sorts of things that don't become apparent as problems until they're put into use. However, the ins and outs of living on the land and working with equipment in frigid temperatures are second nature to the experienced hunters, trappers and fishers who make up the Canadian Rangers.

Every Canadian Forces exercise in the Arctic highlights how valuable the Rangers are. The federal government should recognize that by increasing the pay available to Rangers. At the moment, they receive 12 days' pay per year in addition to any tasks assigned to them.

Regular reservists, on the other hand, serve a minimum of 37 days a year and are eligible for some benefits.

Though Rangers should remain a special service apart from the regular reserve, they should be compensated in line with their value to Canada's sovereignty.

Knowledge of the people of the North is just as valuable as knowledge of the land. That's why the promotion of RCMP officer Jimmy Akavak to sergeant is a laudable event.

His father and grandfather also served with the RCMP as special constables, providing such services as translation, insight into cultural differences, guiding and helpful advice.

Akavak's knowledge brings an added dimension to his service to Nunavummiut.

As Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak observed, "I have no doubt his involvement has saved lives."

Nunavut needs more Inuit police officers to ensure the best policing possible.

July 14 was a historic day for the Acho Dene Koe First Nation and Fort Liard.

In front of more than 60 people gathered in the community's arbour, Chief Steven Kotchea signed a framework agreement alongside Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, and Michael Miltenberger, deputy premier of the government of the Northwest Territories. The agreement allows Acho Dene Koe (ADK) to negotiate its own land claim agreement.

July 14 may also be remembered as a historic day for the whole of the Dehcho First Nations (DFN). News of the signing immediately raised questions of what will happen to DFN and the Dehcho Process.

Since starting negotiations with Canada and the NWT in 1999, DFN hasn't always had a lot going for it but one thing that's been constant was the Dehcho's solidarity. Regardless of whether negotiations were moving forward or if they had stalled, the members of the Dehcho First Nations were in it together.

Now that ADK has committed to starting its own negotiations there's a looming question of what the fallout will be. A variety of scenarios come to mind.

As ADK negotiates for land in the NWT, it's undoubtedly going to include pieces that other bands including Trout Lake, Nahanni Butte and Fort Simpson also consider their traditional areas. Will the idea of their traditional land being claimed by a neighbour make other First Nation groups run to the federal government asking for their own land agreements? Is July 14 going to marked as the day that the Dehcho First Nations started to fall apart?

Questions are also being raised about how ADK's agreement will affect other aspects of the Dehcho Process such as the Dehcho Land Use Plan. It remains to be seen if ADK's final agreement will have any bearing on the acceptance and implementation of the plan.

With all of these scenarios in mind, it's difficult to see how the history of July 14 will turn out well but then there's also ADK to consider.

During an interview, Kotchea said the framework agreement is something that the members of ADK did for themselves. It wasn't done with DFN in mind or with the purpose of dividing the communities, said Kotchea.

For ADK, July 14 is the day on which, after two decades of work, it finally moved forward with an agreement that will allow it to negotiate for official recognition on its traditional lands that lie in British Columbia and the Yukon. A final agreement may still be years away but ADK has taken the first step towards that goal.

There's no way to tell how this will end but Acho Dene Koe has again proven that it's willing to strike out on its own and do what it considers best for its members. It's now up to the rest of the Deh Cho to decide how to respond.

This is it, after nearly a year of planning, we're on the verge of celebrating our golden anniversary. Inuvik is 50 years old this week and, thankfully, the community is not showing much of its age.

I regularly have the urge to write about my home.

There's no denying it, I love this town and want to be a part of its growth for many years to come.

We've all come a long way from the humble beginnings of a planned community that was made to cater to the needs of the Canadian Forces.

I enjoy hearing stories about partying out on Navy road with the soldiers and going to community dances held by the Armed Forces.

Yeah, it sounds like they pretty well ran the show around here for years.

Now, we've matured as a community (in some respects) and we're almost walking on our own two legs.

Just like an over-protective parent, I think the GNWT is rather reluctant to see us become so independent.

With a strong leadership, both municipal and aboriginal, we are the powerhouse of the North. Whether or not the rest of the territory will come around remains to be seen.

Looking back at my youngest years, I feel emotions of sadness at being so small and naive.

I've come a long way from being too afraid of the big school bus taking me to a strange downtown area.

My world was as big as the apartment I shared with my grandparents on Dolphin Street. I remember thinking that road went on forever past Corner store, only to learn the truth years later.

Certainly, there are many stories about our town that are circulating, waiting to be told.

One man who took our history and made something of it was Dick Hill.

He's in town to release his photo books about the town and the lay of the land back then.

Without storytellers like him, we don't have much of a chance of recording our history.

I'm too young to really remember it, but I'm sure a lot of you in town remember bringing your clothes to the laundromat just like it happened last week.

Social issues aside, this town is growing nicely. We've seen more and more families come North looking for a new take on life. Unemployed workers come North for the benefits and get so caught up in the Northern life, some stay for a long time.

The development is easy to see, from four-storey buildings to renovations to our oldest structures.

This weekend is shaping up to be one of the busiest times on record for our community. I hope there will be many people out sharing the spirit of the midnight sun with others.

I can only imagine how difficult and challenging it's been for those organizers to plan both the arts festival and homecoming celebrations so close to one another, but both groups need to be congratulated on a job well done.

So keep it up, Inuvik. We're almost forgetting all about our unruly youth who walk the streets looking to cause trouble at night.

While we have no doubt the self-defence kill of a polar bear in Coral Harbour this past week was a righteous one, it will be interesting to see how this year plays out when it comes to the number of defence kills reported around Kivalliq communities.

Outrage erupted on a number of fronts after the Government of Nunavut (GN) reduced the 2008-09 polar bear quota to eight bears in the Western Hudson Bay area.

Traditionally, the communities of Rankin Inlet, Arviat, Whale Cove, Chesterfield Inlet and Baker Lake shared a quota of 56 polar bears in the Western Hudson Bay area.

That number was dropped to 38 in 2007-08 before the most-recent deduction.

After the GN reduced the quota to eight, the clamour reached the point where civil disobedience was suggested in some quarters as a possible course of action for Kivalliq hunters to demonstrate their outrage at the decision.

When one hears the term civil disobedience, the images that usually flash across the subconscious are ones of activists being led away in handcuffs while crowds of protesters voice their disapproval at the arresting officers.

But there are many forms of civil disobedience, with some more subtle than others.

And rightly or wrongly, self-defence kills could present themselves as the perfect way for those opposed to the low quota of polar bears in the Western Hudson Bay area to employ their own brand of civil disobedience.

It would take some great detective work to prove, for example, if discharged bear bangers were used before or after an animal was brought down in defence of one's life.

Add in eyewitness accounts testifying to the fact it was a self-defence kill, and any misrepresentation of the facts would be difficult to filter out to say the least.

The self-defence approach also comes with its own support network, thanks to the same researchers whose findings the hunters contest.

After all, it's hard to debunk the facts so meticulously gathered and documented by the scientific community in pushing for the reduced polar bear quotas.

They've made it perfectly clear many polar bears in the Western Hudson Bay area are struggling with the effects of climate change.

The changes have meant a loss of hunting habitat, resulting in many bears being underweight and hungry.

Their aggressiveness, understandably, has grown considerably as the lack of ice has driven the bears further inland in a desperate search for food in unfamiliar territory.

Given these established facts, any experienced hunter would have little difficulty in - unwittingly, of course - placing himself in a situation where a self-defence kill was necessary after exhausting every means of scaring a bear off.

And once the bear had to be killed, there would be nothing left to do but share the meat and get on with life.

Inuit have an inherent respect for the land and the animals on it that have helped sustain their existence for centuries.

However, there's no guarantee that respect will be enough to overcome temptation if driven by need and an empty belly.