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Another NWT-based diamond processing plant is waving goodbye to dozens of Yellowknife-based employees. The Laurelton Diamonds plant, owned by Tiffany and Co. and located near the Yellowknife airport, laid off 25 polishers last week, promising to re-assign 13 of them to other jobs as the plant where they currently work closes on Feb. 19.

Layoffs in the diamond processing industry are nothing new to the area. In fact, it's a challenge to keep a polishing plant up and running here for longer than a few years. Laurelton will be the fourth plant in a decade on "diamond row" to close.

In October 2003, there were close to 200 people working at four plants in Yellowknife. But after years of plants opening and closing their doors, including Laurelton's shutdown, there will now be only about half that many Yellowknife-based employees working for three plants.

Laurelton's reasoning for closing its plant is the high operations cost, coupled with "the lack of opportunity for rough diamond supply." But according to Linda Buckley, spokesperson for Tiffany and Co., the company will keep working with the Diavik and Ekati mines, processing the diamonds at its other plants.

Stephen Ben-Oliel, who formerly owned the Sirius Diamonds diamond processing plant in Yellowknife and whose career has been based on diamond polishing, said the GNWT is losing out by letting multi-national diamond companies take away business in the industry.

But what can the government do to encourage Northern plants to thrive?

Back in 1998, then-finance minister for the GNWT John Todd proposed an idea that had him labelled a champion. He said the government should get involved by purchasing diamonds directly from the mines - at market prices so no loss would be incurred by the mines - and selling them to ensure job stability for workers at Northern plants.

The idea was instead of shipping the territory's diamonds off to overseas plants, the government could have a hand in keeping them here, to benefit employees who eat, sleep, work, play and pay taxes in Yellowknife. But the mines, looking to preserve their relationship with international companies, refused the proposal and kept doing business as usual.

No talk of reviving such an option has been heard from the GNWT since Todd was in office. There has been no significant effort by government bodies to involve themselves in the secondary diamond industry.

The government has, however, shown tremendous support for Discovery Air in the form of a $34-million bailout loan. That loan will help the company through the economic slowdown, while helping it hang on to employees who would otherwise be laid off.

A condition of this loan - forcing the company to move its headquarters North -- shows the GNWT was thinking of Northern jobs while drafting the terms. While the government should be applauded for its efforts in this case, it should also be used as an example for the diamond industry.

If the government is willing to invest such a large loan in an aviation company, it should consider taking similar steps to secure Northern jobs in diamonds.

There are three things that are certain in the Deh Cho - death, taxes and complaints about loose dogs.

Although it's been a while since the last one, at least one, if not two, articles about dog problems make their way into the Deh Cho Drum every year. With the end of January looming, the first article of 2009 has already appeared.

There is, however, a crucial difference between the story in this week's edition and those that have appeared in the past few years.

Normally stories about dogs revolve around a municipal government deciding there are too many stray dogs roaming in their community, and as a result, they decide to enforce a bylaw. These bylaws generally involve the destruction of dogs that are found loose and not claimed within a specific amount of time. The enactment of this bylaw generally creates a backlash, and another article about people who don't think any dogs should be killed.

The current situation in Fort Providence is quite a bit different. The hamlet council acknowledges the community has an over-population of dogs. The problem is no worse than the situations found in most other Northern communities, but council decided to take a pro-active approach. This week, hamlet council brought in a mobile veterinary clinic and paid to have dogs spayed or neutered. All residents had to do was fill out an application form and show up with their pet for their scheduled appointment.

The hamlet even threw in free vaccinations to help ensure existing dogs don't come down with any diseases such as rabies.

This is, indeed, a proactive way of dealing with problem dogs. Instead of waiting until the dogs are born, grow up, start roaming the streets loose and then get destroyed, the hamlet is preventing their creation in the first place. Thanks to the program, approximately 30 pets were fixed over the course of three days.

Hamlet council members should be applauded for their initiative. The program likely came with a sizable price tag, but the cost is outweighed by the benefit of having taken action against the problem of dog overpopulation. Most, if not all communities in the Deh Cho could benefit from a similar program.

Despite the council's initiative, however, the truth still remains that the solution to dog problems, such as loose dogs, can only be completely solved by dog owners. Fixing dogs will limit their numbers in the community but it won't keep them tied up on leashes.

If all pet owners were responsible, loose dogs would disappear from the streets of communities and so would the articles about loose dogs in the newspaper.

The spaying and neutering program is a significant step forward, but all pet owners need to want to finish the journey.

The events of this week have left me stunned and missing a lot of files on a laptop computer used for work.

On Monday afternoon, a trio of young males entered my office and made off with a laptop and my portable PlayStation.

I approached a group of youth outside a local store, who looked more than suspicious.

Upon asking them what they knew about the theft, one boy quickly blurted out that the RCMP had already picked up the culprits.

When asked which of the youth were picked up, the glazed-over boy just said 'I dunno."

So they're protecting their own and not selling each other down the river. That shows a certain level of dedication to their lifestyle.

A few hours after the theft, the RCMP called and said the young people responsible were locked up, waiting to be released from holding cells.

My laptop was still on them and they apparently tried to run away when the police confronted them.

What a bright future we're looking forward to as a community, where gangs of kids run rampant in the streets.

Two of the boys were first-time offenders and were released the same day, although more than likely it was just their first time getting caught in the act. I hope those two can learn from their stupidity and steer clear of bad influences.

The third boy has to remain nameless, even though we all know how far gone he is. That is a person who will no doubt be passed through the justice system in the North many times over like he has in the past.

Charges are being laid.

This incident seemed isolated, until more people heard of the theft. It seems others in town were also relieved of their property this weekend.

Shane Brewster at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school told me their Proxima projector for videos was taken from the school on Saturday morning.

I was stunned to think someone could willingly enter the school and take something of such value from the community.

In essence, that is what happened. The whole community benefits from the movies being shown at the elementary school.

The money raised is used for sports programs, books, author visits and other cool opportunities for our kids.

Apparently, from the RCMP reports, it looks like the youth responsible are being investigated.

Hopefully those kids can be brought to justice and the school can recover their lost property.

Stealing someone's laptop and personal video game is a total lack of respect. It's basically an attack on the person you're stealing from.

Taking something from the school is a totally different and much more serious offence to the community.

Thankfully, the school administration had a backup and the show went on the second day as planned

So there it is, Inuvik. There are some kids out there who fashion themselves to be sneaky, when really it's just plain pathetic.

The old adage, "actions speak louder than words," applies well to the city's treatment of salvagers at the dump.

City councillors speak often about the benefits of letting people salvage there, yet hassles keep arising.

Harvey Field is the latest victim - hounded out of the dump earlier this month for having the audacity to collect scrap wood from the commercial dumping cell so he could have free fuel for his fireplace.

Instead of seeing the benefit of allowing people to mine the wood pile and thus increase the lifespan of the dump, the city views such salvagers as a nuisance and a safety hazard.

The mantra of safety has long been a favourite argument by city officials to limit dump salvaging although the evidence of dump dangers has been scant over the current facility's nearly 40-year history. The argument instead focuses on the possibility of danger: that children will be run over by a backhoe or a salvager could be buried under a pile of scrap metal. It's certainly possible but so is slipping and breaking one's back climbing the stairs at city hall.

The city should follow Coun. Kevin Kennedy's advice if it's so concerned about safety at the commercial woodpile. Close it down to contractors one day a week and let salvagers have their fill. It's good for the salvagers and good for the dump.

In its ruling that City Cabs pay one of its riders $1,560, a NWT Human Rights tribunal is assessing a price for human feelings and other subjective states like dignity, self-respect, self-esteem and "sense of security."

In specifying hurt feelings and dignity, the NWT Human Rights Commission threatens to open the floodgates to countless complaints. Is there anyone around who does not suffer hurt feelings, threats to dignity, self-respect, self-esteem, and sense of security on a regular basis? These are part of life.

Surely the number of Yellowknifers who can claim to be feeling offended by someone or something at this very moment is enough to fill a courtroom.

The case in question involved wheelchair-bound city resident Bill Burles, who was routinely being asked by City Cabs to pay a $6 service charge to be driven by the company's handi-van. Burles asked for $3,500 compensation "for loss of quality of life and financial expenses."

Everybody has their own idea of what dignity is and what it is worth. The judgment by adjudicator James R. Posnick essentially bid Burles' estimate of his injury to dignity on the City Cabs incident down to $1,500. The $60 the cab company was ordered to repay Burles for the unnecessary surcharge, on the other hand, is fair.

We don't need a human rights tribunal to arbitrate on these matters. To extend the tribunal's purview on dignity and feelings is out of bounds from what human rights tribunals were established for: to uphold minority rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

There's no denying the fact the shortage of mail, fresh food and supplies, all flight cancellations and the postponement or abandonment of community events are all big-time bummers when bad weather strikes the Kivalliq.

And Mother Nature certainly seems to enjoy sending bad weather most of the Kivalliq's way lately.

There are also the problems caused when schools and daycares close, the loss of money for those who don't get "blizzard days" at their place of employment, and the problems our sick, elderly and shut-ins must overcome when hamlets close for days at a time.

We could easily fill this page with the challenges Kivalliq communities must overcome when they receive the kind of weather most of us had in mid-January.

That's not even getting into the boredom of it all, with families getting under each other's skin and on each other's nerves when everyone's stuck sharing the same small space for days at a time.

And, while there's no doubt some people have a difficult time fending off the winter blues when nature's in a foul mood, most folks in the Kivalliq are as pragmatic about the situation as one could ever dare to hope for.

People in the south, with no Arctic experience whatsoever, would probably look at the conditions earlier this month and think we must all be walking around with a sour face and grumbling at every person we meet.

Some would even think the shack happiness must have set in by now, and we're all running across the tundra, flapping our seal flippers in a futile attempt to gain air speed and barking at the moon.

Yet, in the vast majority of cases, nothing could be further from the truth.

I can't speak for the rest of Nunavut, because the Kivalliq is my home.

And, to me, the spirit of the Kivalliq is a wondrous, proud and fascinating thing.

The wind chill drops to the -50s C and still everyone goes about their business, smiling when they meet and pausing for just a split second to exchange a tiny bit of conversation.

The snow stops drifting and groups of kids appear, almost by magic, racing to the sliding hill or to pick up their game of road hockey where they left it.

Sure we grumble as we pass the time in the checkout line, but we almost always leave each other with a smile and an old-and-mouldy joke.

Personally, I'd love to have $5 for every time during the winter I hear someone say "There's no use in complaining because nobody listens to you anyhow."

Some jokingly say denial is a wonderful thing, but, here in the Kivalliq, acceptance truly is the wondrous one.

Yet, for all our good nature and ability to cope, there's something every bit as valuable resting just below our smiling faces and devil-may-care attitudes.

It's called toughness, and the people of the Kivalliq have it in abundance.

Our toughness keeps us going when those around us grind to a halt.

It's what gives our spirit such an incredibly strong backbone.

And, most importantly, it's what helps make the Kivalliq such a wonderful place to call home.

Tlicho communities scored a tremendous victory when they were granted self-government. Part of that agreement gave the Tlicho government power to set legislation for how municipal governments operated, elected their councils and conducted business.

For more than a year the Wekweeti hamlet council has been short three councillors, operating with two councillors and the chief. Unlike other hamlets where vacant council seats can be filled by appointment, Tlicho communities must fill their council seats via election.

Three attempts have been made to hold byelections in the community but each time no one has stepped forward to fill the void.

This is very disappointing. Self-government for the Tlicho people was an important step towards self-determination, coming at the end of a long road burdened by political obstacles.

Now, Tlicho communities must use self-government for the purpose it was intended - to improve Tlicho life.

But democracy cannot function without the participation of the people. If no one steps forward to help lead they might as well have left their fate in the hands of the GNWT and its Department of Municipal Affairs and Community Government.

Citizens of Hay River were irked last week by a description of their town in Lonely Planet's travel guide. The entry painted Hay River as a community that doesn't have a lot to offer. It goes on to say what it does have to offer can be found better showcased in other communities.

Understandably, the community isn't happy with the entry and fear it will drive tourism dollars away.

As a small Northern town, Hay River has amenities that many other communities don't. Its industrial and commercial sector has created a thriving business community complete with many stores, including a fashion boutique and multiple restaurants.

Hay River is the true gateway to the North. As the hub of commerce along the highway, visitors will find it a dynamic community of close-knit neighbours.

There are areas in town where buildings sit empty, remnants of former success. As those structure await a second lease on life they have fallen into disrepair.

These areas are not unique to Hay River. Similar scenes can be found in Yellowknife and Fort Smith. In Yellowknife they are called historic sites, in Fort Smith they are not as predominant.

Perhaps there is more Hay River can do. One uncut jewel is the river running through the town. Visitors often remark they can only catch a glimpse of it through the trees but the high sandy river banks on the way into town are a bone fide tourist attraction.

Maybe Hay River would benefit from better marketing and promoting its golf course, one of the territory's best and a location that received barely a nod in Lonely Planet's harsh description.

It seems odd that such a negative focus was placed on Hay River while the negatives in other communities were either ignored or spun into positives.

It's true that Hay River could do more to improve the look of its problem areas, but Lonely Planet's description is unfair and reads of an overly-negative bias born from bad experience or a hasty visit.

Although overall complaints against the RCMP were down last year, more of those who made complaints chose to do so through the civilian organization that oversees the RCMP rather than the RCMP itself.

This means more Nunavummiut are aware of the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP and its purpose, and this is a good thing.

The commission acknowledges in order for the RCMP to be held truly accountable, the public need to feel free to file a complaint.

Cultural and language barriers impede this. Living in a small, remote community where one encounters the same police officers daily also makes this a difficult thing to do.

It's not surprising many Inuit would have second thoughts about taking a complaint to the local RCMP detachment.

Inuit have historically had a difficult relationship with the RCMP. Police officers were often the sole representatives of the federal government in communities, and as such the responsibility fell on them to implement the misguided and often shortsighted policies of the day.

RCMP officers are also human. Humans have a natural tendency to protect their own and police forces are tight organizations.

Having the RCMP investigate itself leaves it open to accusations of bias.

But many Nunavummiut aren't even aware they can lodge a formal complaint about police conduct.

In last week's issue of Nunavut News/North, one Iqalummiut couple told how RCMP had entered and searched their home without displaying a warrant. They had not filed a complaint with the RCMP or the commission because they were not aware they could.

Obviously the commission and the RCMP have to work harder to make people aware of the existence and role of the complaints procedure.

In the past year, the commission has established an aboriginal outreach program, setting up relationships with six friendship centres across Canada, including the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre in Yellowknife.

Setting up an outreach program in Iqaluit should be its next step.

For the public to trust that complaints have been handled properly, the rulings will have to come from somewhere other than the RCMP. The civilian-run commission should handle all complaints. That must be the next crucial step in the evolution of justice in Canada.