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Developing Phase VII of the Niven Lake subdivision was one of city council's first big tasks following the 2006 election, and so far the results have been less than stellar.

Many of the current councillors were elected based on pledges to reform development in the city, a major sticking point with residents who were appalled with the slash and build, plunk down a trailer - actually modular homes, but who can tell -- approach to Niven Lake's Phase VI. Affordability, as always, was also an issue. <

Their response was Phase VII, a pedestrian and environmentally-friendly neighbourhood with smaller lot sizes, hidden garages, natural landscaping and an option to exclude the driveway from the building plans.

The first 30 lots went on sale last October. Only five have been sold since. Yellowknifer's editorial from April 4, 2007, predicted it would be a tough sell and so it remains today.

On Monday night, council voted down an amendment developers say would make it easier to build and sell homes at Phase VII. The trouble rests with the rules that garages must be set back from the main entrance, and that basements -- necessary on some lots where the grade drops substantially and foundations are needed - are included in usable floor space calculations, which isn't appealing to some potential homeowners. Limiting floor space is intended to prevent enormous homes, which is understandable, but it would be wise for council to show some degree of flexibility depending on the circumstances.

The council majority argued, however, that changing the rules now would make the city appear too hasty, too flippant. They want to see what shapes up with the upcoming building season first.

We'll make another prediction: a precious summer will pass with still few lots sold at Phase VII, and city construction will remain at a standstill.

It's hard to understand why council is so hung up about these minor requests.

The natural landscaping will still be part of the zoning requirement, a minimal number of modular homes will be allowed, and lot owners can still build their homes without driveways and walk to work if they so wish. There is little danger of Phase VI rearing its ugly head again.

Some may argue that the city is in a recession anyway so why hurry, but that's no excuse to wrap up what little development there is in unnecessary red tape.

Council's vote Monday only assured that there will fewer construction jobs this year, and that affordable homes in the city will remain scarce.

Living in the North, we often get caught up in our own insulated lives, only concerning ourselves with regional issues that tend to influence our daily routines.

It's perfectly logical, given our location, cultural diversity, and the many challenges we face in our attempts to maintain some level of normality in our lives.

Yet, rest assured, what's happening in the rest of the country slowly, but surely, finds its way here and burrows into our collective conscious.

People will talk about the hazards of smokers lighting up in their vehicles while their children are with them, or while walking down the road with their baby tucked safely in the back of their amauti.

Disgusting, they'll murmur. Something should be done because we can't ignore this type of behaviour any longer.

Meanwhile, in the background, an ATV slides around a corner with a 13-year-old at the controls and four young passengers hanging off in every direction with nary a helmet among them.

They disapprove in the grocery store as someone goes through a checkout with a couple of plastic bottles full of water, wondering openly why that person isn't doing their share for the environment.

Then they purchase a large box of disposable diapers to take home to their grandson, whose future they constantly worry about because people no longer respect Mother Earth.

And, of course, they argue for hours over the potential eco-disaster that awaits if they let mining into their region, blissfully unconcerned with the fact Nunavut already has an enormous carbon footprint.

Such is the power of special interest and lobby groups, which have an endless supply of powerful mediums to influence opinions on hot button topics they create.

Below the subterfuge these groups create to attract public attention, a far more sinister force works to create policies that may soon find their way into our lives.

Such is the case in Alberta -- still a working partner with Nunavut in education -- where a section of the proposed amendments to the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act could put teachers squarely in the crosshairs of any parent less than enamoured with the classes they teach.

Parents would have the right to have their kids "opt out" of classes which deal with religion, sexuality or sexual orientation.

And it gets much, much better.

Should teachers or principals fail to notify parents about any part of the curriculum the parents feel they would have withdrawn their child from, the teachers could find themselves dealing with a human rights complaint.

There are precious few topics more wide-reaching than religion.

Should this become law, a teacher could, conceivably, be forced to defend himself against a human rights complaint for mentioning there once was this guy named Charles Darwin, and he had this theory about evolution....

Special interest groups make a lot of noise on today's airwaves.

But, sometimes, when you listen closely enough, you'll hear a message worth discussing.

And, sometimes, the realization sets in that the only message that noise truly wants you to hear - is its own!

A report by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has confirmed what Northerners have been saying for years: the food mail program is flawed.

Graeme Dargo, the report's author, points to breakdowns in the program that span everything from ordering and delivery to administration and financing, to promotion and accountability.

As a result, there is a serious mistrust and lack of understanding about the program. Costs have also skyrocketed, nearly doubling over the past four years.

Dargo's recommendations range from a short-term overhaul of the program to its eventual replacement.

Although completely replacing the program may seem like overkill, the federal government's failure to effectively manage and monitor the program has made it necessary. While recognizing the importance food mail plays in providing affordable healthy foods to Northerners, in his report Dargo states, "I feel that modifying the existing program will not be sufficient or affordable."

One of the most significant proposed changes is the elimination of personal orders, a recommendation with two schools of thought.

Presently, personal food orders account for less than 10 per cent of all food mail orders - but more than 18 per cent of the budget. Dargo states in his report that Northern organizations told him, "the shipment of personal food orders is unfair and favours privileged individuals." The program requires the use of a credit card for purchasing and access to a vehicle to transport goods, both of which put it out of reach for some people.

Dargo continued to say that personal orders negatively affect the Northern economy by reducing the purchasing power of Northern retailers. That means fewer options on store shelves and increased prices, he stated.

On the flip-side, many argue that personal orders keep prices low in communities with only one grocery retailer because the store is then forced to compete with southern retailers via the food mail program.

Although people will always be able to purchase goods in the south cheaper than in the North, the government's lack of required accountability for the food mail program has caused many to distrust Northern retailers. Dargo states that individuals and organizations doubt the government subsidy is being passed on by their local retailer.

There's a simple reason for that: retailers have no obligation to report how subsidies are applied.

However, Dargo's report insists without the program prices would - in some cases - more than triple. Dargo cites the following example, "if the program was eliminated, a 10-pound bag of potatoes would increase from $18.29 to $64.49 in Pond Inlet." However, he recognizes that without public trust the evidence is moot.

Eliminating personal orders only makes sense if some fundamental changes are made, changes that Dargo proposes. First, the program must regain public trust. Stores must be required to demonstrate how the subsidy is applied, the cost breakdown of goods and the savings realized by the customer. Although prices will still be considerably higher than the south, consumer confidence may ensure people remain loyal to the Northern economy.

Second, the government should negotiate direct agreements with Northern retailers. Direct control over product delivery may allow retailers to find savings in shipping costs.

Eliminating personal orders combined with the two above recommendations would mean more money for Northern retailers and, if done properly, would translate into cheaper groceries and increased merchandise.

It's worth doing. Healthy food should not be luxury.

Seeka Veevee Parsons stirred up a hornet's nest when she told a New Zealand newspaper she was offended by the country's popular marshmallow "Eskimos" candies on a store shelf.

The pastel-coloured treats, shaped like people in hooded parkas, come in a package bearing the cartoon image of a grinning, round-faced Inuk in a fur-rimmed parka gesturing towards an iglu. The iglu has a transparent window through which the candy "Eskimos" can be seen.

They're not exactly culturally-sensitive, to put it mildly, but there may not have been any malicious intent behind their creation back in 1955. However, companies don't make candies out of a people or a culture they regard as equals.

In an ironic twist, Parsons herself was accused many times over by angry New Zealanders of disrespecting their people through her criticism of one of their favourite treats, which many of them seem to feel is integral to their cultural identity.

Parsons had every right to speak out, and her experience serves as a reminder why taking a stance publicly takes courage: because many people aren't going to be happy with what you have to say, especially when it involves attacking cultural icons and stereotypes.

Inuit culture has inspired marketers around the globe for at least a century. If it's not candy, it's ice cream cakes, or the name of a Canadian football team, or inuksuk mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympics, or a bunch of students in the U.S. turning snow goggles into club wear.

The line between inspiration and exploitation is fine, and blurs, depending on which side you're looking at it from. What offends one person delights another. What infuriates one person makes someone else laugh.

Jessica Patterson's line of Eskimofo designs, featured in last week's Nunavut News/North, reclaims some of the stereotypes with a playful edge, such as labelling a picture of a whale as "snack" or that of a seal as "yummy."

A Patterson-type response to "Eskimos" candy might be to suggest an updated version, where the iglu on the package gets replaced by a matchbox house, and the candies come with marshmallow accessories such as TV sets, computers, satellite dishes, snowmobiles and some tasty marshmallow seals for the "Eskimos" to hunt.

Despite the furor Parsons' complaint unleashed in New Zealand, by speaking out she showed residents there that Inuit are people, not caricatures. They live in the modern world, read newspapers, send e-mails and take vacations overseas.

New Zealanders continue to eat "Eskimos" but one hopes the candy doesn't sit as well in the stomach as it once did.

It really pays to have someone watching out for your best interests, as a few Yellowknifers recently learned first-hand.

Michelle Beckwith was one of at least seven Northland Utilities customers receiving astronomical power bills that just didn't match up with previous power consumption.

Thankfully for her and the others, Joe Acorn, chair of the public utilities board, took up the case and launched an inquiry into the charges.

Three of the customers who complained about the charges were supposed to be refunded or credited by Northland Utilities, as ordered by the board. To avoid confusion like this in the future, staff at Northland Utilities are being asked to notify customers when unusual spikes in bill amounts occur.

While the customers may be compensated, the power usage discrepancy was never explained to them or the board. Answers should be provided. And now, Northland Utilities is trying to figure out how to recover the money they were ordered to credit the customers.

How do they plan on doing this? By charging the customers, of course. So even customers who haven't had problems with expensive bills may end up paying more to help fill the company's pockets.

Acorn has not yet commented on whether he believes this is an appropriate course of action.

But people like Beckwith, who are not satisfied with the response from Northland Utilities, are still counting on him to hold the company accountable for discrepancies.

And they should be accountable for every kilowatt.

As the territory's central city, Yellowknife absorbs many of the territory's ills and the costs associated with that are high.

When the delivery of health and social programs in the outlying communities fails or is lacking, those most in need end up in the capital. The same applies for many who cannot find housing or those without a steady job.

This puts a greater strain on Yellowknife, one immediately evident to any visitor or longtime resident: aggressive panhandling, public drunkenness, evident drug use - often complemented by violent confrontation in the streets. This is can be seen throughout downtown Yellowknife.

Even though Yellowknife is nowhere near the size of a big city, this town of less than 20,000 faces big city problems.

A social forum in Yk last month indicated the city is prepared to do something about its problems. Participants pointed out the obvious, however - the city's social ills are too extensive for city hall to take on alone. Yellowknife's $57 million budget exists primarily to take care of infrastructure and municipal services, not social ills. Former city councillor Ben McDonald was correct when he said "to pay for social services with property taxes just won't work."

The city's emergency services are forced to respond to many of these problems, putting greater demand on finances and personnel.

It's time for NWT Health and Social Services to step up and use its $300 million budget to fulfil its mandate in the capital, where almost half of the territory's residents live.

Words are never enough to erase wrongs that have been done but apologies can go a long way towards setting things right.

On April 29, Pope Benedict XVI made a statement in which he acknowledged the role the Roman Catholic Church played in the organization and operation of residential schools in Canada. Speaking in Italian and through a translator, the Pope "expressed his sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the church and he offered his sympathy and prayerful solidarity," according to Vatican officials.

As some people have pointed out the Pope's statement doesn't appear to use the exact word "sorry," but that is a small quibble. The head of the largest Christian church in the world, an organization that has many other things to deal with, has stopped and taken the time to apologize for a past action that caused so much pain in the North and across Canada.

This apology follows nearly to the year after the Canadian government also stepped forward to recognize that a wrong was done through residential schools. On June 11, 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized to victims of the residential school system with the words, "The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history."

Harper went on to say that the Canadian government is sorry and sincerely apologizes and asks for the forgiveness of aboriginal people for "failing them so profoundly."

Taken together the apologies from both the Roman Catholic Church and the Canadian government are major steps in the public acknowledgment of the horrors that happened under the residential school system. The schools have left a legacy that both parties are likely ashamed of but that they are choosing to own up to as seen by the apologies.

For residential school survivors the words of the Pope and the Prime Minister before him can't be enough to mend the childhoods that were damaged and the repercussions on adult lives and family members. The apologies can, however, be used as stepping stones on a path of personal healing.

The public apologies also need to be used as invitations for survivors to pass on the history of what happened at the schools. Residential schools are part of Northern and Canadian history, a history that needs to be remembered both as a mark of contrition and as a precaution against allowing anything like this to happen again.

Apologies, both ones that contain the word "sorry" and ones that don't, aren't enough to fix past wrongs but they do provide a path forward with the hope of a better future.

For me, the economic downturn has been a sobering reminder of just how vulnerable we all are to outside forces, and how utterly dependent we appear to be on a relatively small group of players who dictate how our most fundamental financial institutions operate. They determine the interest rates we pay and how comfortably some of us can retire.

So many of us have come to despise these people, as we've been swept up in all the negativity and fear surrounding our plummeting economy. Most of us have become particularly obsessed about our own financial well-being and future. With that inward turn a lot of us are losing sight of the fact that there are millions upon millions of people all over the world way worse off than we are.

Sometimes it takes people like Simon Jozzy to wake us from our slumber. The Beaufort Delta's supervisor of regional dental programs just returned from the Mpumalanga province of South Africa in March. In that country he provided basic dental services to about 800 residents desperately needing it.

He travelled there with another team of Alberta-based dentistry volunteers. They provided basic dentistry services, fillings and extractions to those people free of charge.

For the past few years Jozzy has headed up Healthy Smiles Society, which includes dental professionals from Inuvik and other NWT communities as well as local members who support the cause with donations and fundraisers.

But despite the fact that the organization has become a government-registered charity that issues tax receipts for donations, Jozzy still had to pay his own way down to Mpumalanga province. That said, it's interesting to consider just how much the group has struggled for funding. Its goal is to raise money to purchase a mobile dental clinic and to travel to Third World rural communities to provide basic dental services. In keeping with his ever optimistic attitude, Jozzy still believes the day will come when people in the most ravaged countries will have access to a service many of us take for granted.

Some cynics might ask why bother travelling all the way to South Africa or Ethiopia, when there are people in your own back yard who need cavities filled and teeth pulled. Sure there's some validity to the argument. But through the Supplementary Health Benefits program and Non-insured Health Benefits program, virtually everyone in NWT has access to basic dentistry. Yes, real poverty exists in NWT, but it's difficult to compare it to the rampant poverty that can be found through Mpumalanga province.

How much more inspiring can you get than a local dental therapist giving selflessly in such a much-needed, fundamental way?

On May 9 the Healthy Smiles Society will be hosting its fundraising barbecue, and Jozzy will be on hand with a slide show to show some of the good work he and others have done in South Africa. There will be live music and door prizes too. So perhaps this is our chance to open up our wallets a little bit more, as we realize the enormous help this society has to for people who so desperately need it.