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Why were students in Colville Lake denied education time? Because Public Works and Services couldn't get its act together quick enough to fix a faulty furnace?

For at least two weeks the small 23-student school has been intermittently disrupted when the furnace cut out.

It is unacceptable that Colville students' education suffered because of a problem as simple as a broken furnace. Every missed day, every missed class counts.

Even on days that classes were not cancelled students would sit in colder than ideal conditions, a factor that would make it difficult to learn. Math doesn't get easier when you can't feel your toes and fingers.

According the school's principal, problems with the furnace began two years ago and then became chronic earlier this month. Two years is a long time to deal with faulty equipment, especially a heating system in a community that relies on a furnace for most of the year. Oil furnaces require annual maintenance, especially when one reaches the 15-year mark. The furnaces are designed to last for at least two decades, if properly maintained.

The unreliability of the unit in Colville Lake school had obviously reached the point where it should have been replaced, but it took a couple of years of hardship to get to this point.

The fact that Public Works claims not to have heard of the problem until Feb. 5 of this year speaks to poor communication between the department and the building maintainer.

It also means the department needs to take a close look at its regular maintenance and replacement schedule.

The school's principal did all he could to try and ensure classes went on by trading late-night and early-morning shifts with the building maintainer to restart the furnace when it failed. He even set the threshold to cancel classes at a chilly sub-room-temperature of 15 C.

The Department of Education should intervene and take up the cause with Public Works in such instances for the sake of keeping teachers happy.

Here's a principal who, while filling a vital role in Colville Lake, has been saddled with a significant hurdle in a learning environment.

Teachers already take on many volunteer and extracurricular activities. It's too much for the government to expect them to serve as tradespeople on a casual basis as well.

Remote communities deserve the same attention as bigger centres like Yellowknife, and this problem screams of neglect.

When Premier Eva Aariak and her cabinet met recently to set their government's priorities for the next four to five years, they flagged two areas in need of urgent improvement, among others: communications and the meeting the needs of the most vulnerable Nunavummiut.

The gravity of the latter issue was made clear by the YWCA and Agvvik Society's attempt to arrange operational funding for its new shelter for homeless women.

Sivummut House will supplement the YWCA's existing 21-bed Qimaavik shelter for women fleeing abuse. As of last October Qimaavik was 97 per cent full.

The YWCA went to the Department of Health and Social Services last September with a funding proposal. After five months of meetings and examining proposals and budgets, Health and Social Services told the YWCA its proposal didn't fall under the department's mandate.

The department said it told the YWCA this earlier. In that case the message was not delivered.

Now a few months away from its opening date in April, the YWCA and Agvvik Society have to start all over again in seeking operating funds, this time from the minister whose responsibilities include homelessness, housing and the Qulliq Energy Corporation.

Granted, over the past five months the government has been in flux following an election, a temporary distribution of portfolios, and a redistribution of portfolios after the appointment of a final cabinet minister.

But homeless women are arguably the most vulnerable people in Nunavut. According to the November 2007 pan-territorial report on female homelessness, "You just blink and it can happen," women are among the fastest-growing groups in the homeless and at-risk populations. Homeless women "couch-surf" with friends and family, or sacrifice other necessities of life such as food or medical care or trade sex for shelter, putting themselves and their children at risk.

With better communication between the government and the public, the YWCA would not have had to wait five months before finding out they were looking for money in the wrong place.

The shelter's struggle for funding highlights two of the issues the new territorial government admits need fixing and has made its priorities.

What remains to be seen is whether progress will be made in the next four to five years. But operational funding for Sivummut House is a necessary step in the right direction.

Following a massive public outcry against the territorial government's proposed changes to health benefits, ongoing objections to merging 70 regional boards and complaints from MLAs about the government's poor communication, Premier Floyd Roland's administration has reacted by making one simple change to its staffing.

The tenure of cabinet press secretary Julia Mott, who served for five years, came to an end Feb. 11. Circumstances of her departure are unknown.

If Mott's departure was supposed to send a signal that cabinet would improve its communication with the public and other MLAs, that message is vague at best. Press secretaries follow instructions from their bosses in government, not vice-versa. For example, former premier Joe Handley, who employed Mott as his press secretary, was usually quite accessible and willing to comment on issues.

Any stonewalling Mott dealt this newspaper over the past 16 months would have been delivered on the instructions of evasive cabinet members and Roland himself.

Will Mott's departure improve Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger's ability to communicate the need for board mergers?

Will it improve Health Minister Sandy Lee's ability to fine-tune health care coverage in the territory? Will it help the public get clearer answers on overall policy direction and goals from Roland? We shall see in the weeks to come.

Rest assured, it will take more than simply replacing a press secretary who was tasked with the difficult job of informing the public about a government that has kept its cards way too close to its chest.

The cover of last Friday's Yellowknifer, which featured a photo of the pop band Girlicious, caused some readers to react with discomfort and anger.

The under-dressed members of Girlicious, all of whom are 19 or older, whether they make readers uncomfortable or not, are coming to Yellowknife for a concert on March 12.

It's no secret young minds are influenced by unrealistic, cellulite-free images of panty-clad girls so airbrushed they look like preteens. This image, far from limited to Girlicious photos, reinforces the false standards young women are up against and the superficial ideals many people have adopted.

Take that and add the lyrics to songs such as Stupid Shit - "Oh yeah I'm vicious, so delicious, all the boys wanna eat" - and the idea of a teenage girl bopping up and down in the crowd is enough to make any parent uncomfortable.

But let's be realistic for a moment. This is not some new phenomenon sweeping the nation. Sex sells and it has been selling onstage since the days of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. Attempting to shelter our youth is futile.

We should communicate to our children that standards set by glossy magazines and Photoshop are false and largely unattainable. Outside of that, we should let the concert-goers have a good time.

For a region that is understandably concerned about costs of living, the proposed territorial budget will draw some mixed reactions. By and large, residents in the Deh Cho - like most other people in the NWT - have watched their electricity bills creep steadily upwards. These bills, piled on top of others such as heating fuel costs, are leaving many feeling the pinch in their wallets.

As one way to address the cost of living, the current government has promised to look for new ways to reduce the price of electricity in communities, particularly those that rely on diesel generation. Some of these promised initiatives are outlined in the 2009-2010 budget, and at least five related directly to Deh Cho communities.

Although five sounds like a promising number, reading through the brief descriptions of each project provided in the budget documents doesn't immediately inspire confidence. The scope of the projects and their timelines are what create the dampening effect.

Residents are probably hoping the budget includes measures to provide immediate relief for their bank accounts. The effect of the proposed projects for the Deh Cho, however, won't be felt right away.

As Doug Nightingale, the director of energy planning for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment explains, the projects are about fundamentally changing the territory's energy supply in the long term. The key words in that sentence are "long term."

Take, for example, the $200,000 in the budget earmarked for a feasibility study on converting four communities, including Fort Simpson, to natural gas in connection with the Mackenzie Gas Project. Desktop studies on the conversion of the communities have shown it's economical, said Nightingale. The study is, however, just that - the beginning of the process. Moreover, the whole project hinges on the pipeline being built.

Another item in the budget, the plan to test a hydrokinetic power generator in the Mackenzie River at Fort Simpson, sounds almost as far away. The technology is new, but the generator could be in the water as early as this summer if the project is approved with the budget, said Nightingale.

While explaining how the turbine works, Nightingale raised an important point - one that reveals the silver lining in these projects. Every new technology has to start somewhere. Studies and pilot projects are necessary in order to determine if a technology is suitable for the North and to identify which communities it will work best in.

The energy-related projects for the Deh Cho outlined in the budget won't provide immediate changes, but they hold the promise of better things to come. If any of the three studies or two projects succeed, they will benefit the community they're tested in and may also be transferred to others in time.

To make sure this happens, Deh Cho residents will have to hold the territorial government accountable to ensure it delivers the projects and follows up on promising results.

I don't pretend to be a legal expert and my intention here isn't to pass judgment on the courts.

But my curiosity couldn't help but be piqued by the Crown's decision last week to stay drug charges on Talal Khatib. The details around the arrest are well-known now. Following a raid last July on Fast Food Cafe, a restaurant he used to own and manage, police uncovered crack cocaine and several stolen items along with $3,000.

So fast-forward to today. Khatib maintains that someone planted the drugs.

As far as the general public is concerned the case is on a one-way track to nowhere. The stay means Khatib could go to trial within the year.

But if one Crown prosecutor says there's not enough evidence to bring it to trial, how could another overrule that decision? What would have to fall into place before the seized drugs could be pinned to someone?

This isn't to imply Khatib is guilty. Not at all.

It's just one of many questions that appear left unanswered. The Crown prosecutor involved in the case, Brent Lepage, said he couldn't discuss specific details of it, other than the fact that at this time Khatib couldn't be tried because there isn't enough evidence.

Lepage wouldn't speak to the probability of Khatib facing a trial in the coming year or if the case might ultimately fall by the wayside.

I don't feel very reassured with it currently being in limbo and having no idea whether that will change. So, what now?

Is the stay meant to provide false hope that answers will be uncovered? Is the case even being actively investigated? Shouldn't a government office subsidized by our tax dollars be obligated in a situation, where public welfare is at stake, to tell residents more? Why can't we know the specific factors that led Lepage to ultimately decide not to pursue the case?

People are up in arms about the court's decision and that won't go away any time soon. It appears there's a distinct possibility we'll never know how those drugs ended up being stashed at the restaurant, or how it ended up in Inuvik in the first place. We still don't know how much crack cocaine was found on the premises.

There are so many question marks and so many worried citizens, when every effort should be made to avoid this.

For city officials to say that waterways within city limits constitute a "grey area" is to call an apple an orange when they feel it's convenient.

Last week, when Yellowknifer pointed out that some thoughtless jerk decided Range Lake was a suitable dumping ground for his or her pet's feces and cat litter, the city's director of community services, Grant White, shrugged and said it wasn't the city's responsibility to clean it up.

He called it a "grey area," meaning it was the problem of some other level of government, presumably the federal government, which has jurisdiction over lakes and rivers, or the navigable ones at least.

After all, the city took a considerable beating when it tried to claim jurisdiction over houseboaters on Yellowknife Bay a decade ago. The city sued them because they didn't pay property taxes but the city was soundly trounced after a judge ruled Yellowknife Bay wasn't part of its realm.

Maybe that's why city officials are a little shy to tackle kitty litter on Range Lake. But wait a minute. Don't city bylaw officers routinely stop and ticket speeding snowmobilers on Range Lake, plus other frozen bodies of water within the city?

In addition, many people probably still remember when the city came down hard on a Good Samaritan who was plowing a pedestrian trail across Frame Lake last winter. Bylaw officers demanded he stop or else face being dragged in front of a justice of the peace.

So what was the city's solution? Its brain trust decided to maintain the trail itself, on Frame Lake. So the city contends it has no jurisdiction to cleanup errant doggie doo, yet it hassles trail-builders and fines snowmobilers.

For the city to leave the mound of feces on a body of water surrounded by homes and businesses only encourages more to be dumped there. Not only is the pile unsightly, having lake ice used as a pet potty can't be good for the ducks and shore birds that live on the lake during the summer, or for the young people who play along its shores.

On a related note, the mound of poop on Range Lake provides further evidence of the need for pet waste disposal bins in the city. Requiring residents to drive seven kilometres out of town to Fiddler's Lagoon to dump their pet waste only makes it more tempting for people to decide to dump it in town unnoticed.

We can sleep easier now that Russian presidential envoy and renowned polar scientist Artur Chilingarov has assured the world Russia is not going to wage a new Cold War in the Arctic.

We all know anything one of the Bear's publicity hounds speaks in public can be taken as gospel, eh?

Heck, we still believe the Czech Republic asked the Russians to come in and restore order all those years ago.

And if you had the chance to speak to any resident of the cities of Poti and Gori in Georgia (the Eurasian country, not the U.S.A. state), I'm sure they'd tell you everyone was smiling from ear to ear when they saw the Russian tanks rolling in this past year during the RussiaGeorgia conflict.

We're also sure the Russians' involvement in the conflict in support of Georgia's South Ossetia region had absolutely nothing to do with the U.S.A. and Europe supporting Kosovo's declaration of independence.

In short, the Bear has been feeling left alone in its den during the past decade and is growing increasingly cranky as its bordering neighbours continue to look to the West for acceptance and support.

Despite Chilingarov's assurances, the Bear has decided to take a long break from hibernation.

Its quiet snarls are beginning to pull back its upper lip to show there are plenty of teeth gnashing in anger behind its public face of cooperation.

The Bear is posturing, make no mistake about it, and it has its icy stare fixed firmly upon the Arctic.

Less than two years after dropping its flag on the Arctic seabed, a Russian advance team left for the Norwegianclaimed island of Spitsbergen earlier this month.

Its mission: to select the site for a station where Russia intends to put 50 polar scientists on the island.

Not to worry, though, the Russians are simply protecting their interests.

To us common folk, protecting their interests translates into figuring out how to stake a claim to the oil and gas resources scientists believe rest beneath the polar region.

It's increasingly alarming that, while Canada continues to talk about its claims to the Arctic, the Bear has begun prowling dangerously close to our frozen neck of the woods.

As we've mentioned in this space before, we've all heard Ottawa's promises to increase its military presence, but, to date, it's still just words.

It's also great that Ottawa is demanding ships sailing in our Arctic waters to register with the Canadian Coast Guard, but that still doesn't make us feel any easier about a bunch of mini-subs sailing around the Arctic seabed and Russian scientists getting almost within rock-throwing range.

And, let's be clear on one point here.

Yes, we who call the Arctic home have a vested interest in the economic benefits that would come with an increased military presence in the North.

Hello? Why wouldn't we be excited about additional infrastructure and more jobs in our region?

But more than that - much more than that - we like getting up every morning and seeing that beautiful maple leaf flag proudly flying over our schools.

It's time to see more from Ottawa than just words to keep it that way!

The Hay River Firefighters Curling story had Kyle Wright dropping out and Jeff Bendell taking his place at the Canadian Firefighters Curling Championship. Wright will be attending and Bendell will be substituting for Brent Medernach instead. In the story 'Rankin Jobs safe' it should have read exploration spending decreased by $30 million.

In the Feb. 9 issue the "It's your turn" column should have identified a recently deceased elder from Tuktoyaktuk as Jeannie Keevik. NWT News/North apologizes for the confusion.