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Four visits to the NWT in three years should be enough to have given the prime minister an understanding of what Northerners are looking for from the federal government.

His multiple trips would seem to indicate an interest in meeting with Northerners and addressing their concerns.

But with the exception of the Nahanni Park expansion announcement in August 2007, his speeches have focused on Arctic sovereignty.

Arctic sovereignty is an important issue for the country and it will bring benefits to the North, the foremost of which are safeguarding the land, water, resources and wildlife that form our Northern territories. We need this, but yet the people of the NWT need of so much more.

Residents of Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik walked away from Harper's recent announcement disappointed.

Greater vigilance over Arctic waters isn't a bad thing. But when the prime minister travels thousands of kilometres to the Arctic from Ottawa, Northerners are expecting to hear about something that will make a difference to them from day to day, such as new infrastructure or social programs that will improve their quality of life.

An announcement about a new icebreaker isn't going to help battle suicide rates or addictions. It's not going to ease overcrowded housing conditions. It's not going to connect the North to the rest of Canada's highway system and reduce grocery prices in remote communities.

In fact, it's the kind of announcement that might get a warmer reception from an audience in Ottawa. And if Harper isn't going to address the concerns of Northerners, what's the point in making the trip?

The prime minister's most recent visit to the North did not demonstrate a willingness to listen to Northerners or to gain an understanding of their pressing needs.

The impression he left with at least one Beaufort Delta leader was that the Western Arctic MP will need to be sporting Conservative colours before a Conservative government will invest in the lives of Northerners.

If that trip was a prelude to the campaign trail, Harper is not starting off on the right foot. It's unlikely that Arctic sovereignty will be the biggest election issue in this riding, and that seems to be pretty much all the prime minister wants to talk about when he comes to the NWT.

With a federal election imminent, the Conservative party has a limited time to win over Northerners. The incumbent Western Arctic NDP is strong on social issues and will again be a serious contender. The Liberal Party has all but been invisible since former MP's Ethel Blondin-Andrew's loss to Dennis Bevington. The Green Party has a young candidate, Sam Gamble, trying to make headway.

Harper has had three years to meet with Northerners, hear their concerns and commit to addressing them.

On election day, he may very well be wishing he'd done more with his four visits to the NWT.

Food is a necessity. That's undeniable.

But what we eat, how often, where we get it and how much we pay for it is especially complex here in the North.

Traditional food harvested from the land - maktaaq, caribou, char, etc. - is what Inuit have eaten for thousands of years. In recent times, pollutants from the south have crept into the food chain, causing concern about the safety of country food, though a recent study has shown the level of contaminants in Arctic wildlife is dropping.

Nunavummiut increasingly rely on store-bought food but the cost of shipping fresh meat, produce and dairy products makes eating a healthy, balanced diet alarmingly expensive.

This is where the federal government's Food Mail program comes in. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) partially subsidizes the shipping costs of perishable and non-perishable nutritious food. INAC spent $40 million on the program in 2006-'07, with service to Nunavut accounting for just over half of that money.

The demand for the program is growing but before the government commits any more money it wants to look at its options, which may include funding for people in remote communities to grow their own food.

Though greenhouses in places such as Iqaluit and Inuvik are popular and productive, it's unlikely they will ever make more than a small dent in a community's food needs. Global warming may bring changes, but it's unlikely anyone will wax poetic about the apple orchards of Qikiqtarjuaq or the rippling wheat fields of Baker Lake anytime soon.

Federal cabinet ministers and the prime minister have been up North a lot recently pledging money to boost Arctic sovereignty, including building a $720 million icebreaker to patrol the Northwest Passage.

Many of Nunavut's communities were created to establish Canada's claim to the High Arctic. People were moved to remote, hard-to-access areas by the federal government for the sake of sovereignty.

The cost of feeding the North is tied to shipping and it will keep going up as fuel prices rise. But if the feds can afford $720 million to guard the Arctic with a boat, they can surely afford the millions it costs to feed the people who live there.

When the topic of residential schools is raised it seldom brings with it good connotations.

Even the term 'residential school' conjures up images of children being taken away from their families and being placed in large, unfriendly and unfamiliar buildings.

The policy of residential schools has unquestionably left a legacy of emotional, mental and sometimes physical and spiritual scarring across a number of generations of Northern residents.

Individuals, families and communities are still dealing with the after-effects of the schools long after the last one has been closed.

It's encouraging, therefore, to see when this history is dealt with in a constructive and positive manner.

This year marked the seventh annual Sacred Heart Reunion.

Run by the Fort Providence Residential School Society, the reunion brings together individuals and their families who attended the Sacred Heart Mission School in Fort Providence.

Although the memories and emotions that residential schools bring up can be difficult to face the reunion is an example of how a group of people are positively trying to work through this legacy.

The focus of the reunion is on sharing experiences and working towards healing through that process.

"The elders are telling us not to hold on to the past but to look at it really good and then move forward," said Margaret Leishman, one of the facilitators at the reunion.

A lot of effort is taken by the staff to ensure the participants are in an environment where they feel comfortable enough to open up to one another.

The reunion also combines healing together with traditional practices, one of the things that was taken away from students at the schools.

Although the number of people who attend the reunion is small it clearly addresses a need for some survivors.

Following on the heels of the reunion is the Journey to Healing and Reconciliation Conference the Dene Nation is holding in Fort Providence from Sept. 8 to 12.

The information released on the conference states it will look at healing, survival, intergenerational impacts and community response.

The literature also says everyone is invited to attend the conference to begin the truth and reconciliation process.

It will be interesting to see who will choose to attend this event.

Will there be a large number of survivors at the conference or will the seats be primarily filled with leaders and professionals who are helping to deal with the legacy?

There are many different paths to healing and it's impossible to say if one is better than another.

What can be said is the residents of the Deh Cho will benefit from having a variety of venues held in the region that address, in their own way, how Northerners can move forward with strength and with what residential schools have left behind.

After the visit from the prime minister last week, many people in town have been left with a strange feeling, like we all just got played.

In the weeks leading up to Stephen Harper's visit to the region, it seemed like nobody knew what was going to happen.

Rumours spread among the masses about the road that would connect Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. Was that the big news? Why was Harper coming North?

Once Harper got off his plane at the Mike Zubko airport, the circus act started. A few local leaders and dignitaries were on hand to greet Harper as he watched the Inuvik drummers and Dancers Perform.

Strong voices like Nellie Cournoyea, Jackie Jacobson, Floyd Roland, Merven Gruben and Derek Lindsay were able to talk with the prime minister as soon as he touched the tarmac.

After the meet and greet wrapped up and Harper was en route to the Mackenzie Hotel in a motorcade, I approached Jacobson, Nunakput MLA, about his brief greeting to the prime minister.

"I hope you drilled him on the issues," I said to Jacobson.

"I'll get my chance tomorrow in Tuk," the MLA replied.

I really hope he did, because by the look of it all, Harper got off clean with his public relations visit to the North.

Many people came up to me during the last week and asked when the prime minister was making a public announcement or holding some sort of forum.

I wish I had answers for them, instead of a shrug of my shoulders.

The whole experience left me with a new sense of understanding about politics.

Harper's pushy handlers corralled the media into a corner, while the prime minister posed for photos holding onto the shoulders of Inuvialuit youth, taking the accolades for making the long trip North.

As Mayor Derek Lindsay said of the naming of the Diefenbaker icebreaker, that announcement missed its mark.

"I doubt we'll see that ship port in town," he said.

I'm not surprised at Harper and his way of planning this trip north.

Harper is the kind of man that likes to have a handle on the way things go down.

I remember a few years ago when Paul Martin ran this country. He came to the North and spoke to the people, not just to members of the media.

I was in the rec complex when Paul Martin made his rounds and spent a few hours talking to people about their concerns.

If Harper can learn anything from Paul Martin, it's how to speak with people on a grassroots level.

With all the talk of an upcoming election being called, it makes me wonder how delusional the Conservative Harper government really is.

Did they think they won any votes from their botched three-day tour of the Western Arctic?

I thought the point of their visit was to promote their candidate Brendan Bell, not just parade him around on Harper's shoulder.

Bell has many good ideas and he's a smart guy. He should have opened himself up to the voters of the region who wanted to hear what he had to say.

Maybe next time the prime minister comes North, it will be for more than just a few quick announcements that should have been saved for a cabinet meeting.

Drill core analysis and scoping studies aren't exactly the stuff dreams are made of for most (although they are a bit snore-inducing for some, like me).

That said, even I was a bit surprised by the low turnout to last week's town hall meeting on the Meliadine West gold project.

Located about 25 km from Rankin's back door, a mine could potentially be in production on the site within the next three years, and it's bound to have an impact if it is. The project's presence already has had a major effect if, as the presenter claims, it has already pumped millions into the local economy since it began.

Exploration is big in the region and sure to get bigger. The prime minister announced last week the government would spend $100 million over the next five years to map the minerals and resources across the North.

A 1998 Natural Resources Canada mineral exploration map highlighted close to 30 projects in Nunavut.

By 2006, there were about 60 ongoing exploration projects, with spending in the ballpark of $200 million, according to data from the Department of Economic Development and Transportation.

The government also forecasted five new mines would be in operation in Nunavut by 2010, creating 1,700 new jobs and generating $500 million annually.

As the industry grows, so will its impact on the people it neighbours.

So while it's true the weather could have caused some scheduling problems for the Meliadine meeting, I expected to see more attendees and a younger demographic.

Some of the questions from the audience had to do with environmental impact. But many centred around jobs, particularly jobs for young people - how to get them, and where the training would come from.

Noticeably absent were any of the young people themselves.

Rankin is soon to be home to a major trades training school through the Arctic College, with courses geared toward the needs of these kind of resource projects.

Mining companies in the territory regularly organize class trips to their sites to entice young workers once they graduate.

So it worries me a little when I don't see that generation at these meetings. It's they who will be most affected, and it's they who should be calling those shots.

I'm not sure how it can be changed, but there's got to be a better way than door prizes to bring them in the door.

- Darrell Greer, the regular editor of the Kivalliq News, returns later this month