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Is the territorial government even capable of saying no anymore? That's the question we're left with after witnessing the GNWT's latest capitulation to the demands of unionized workers.

A year after kicking over a hornet's nest by hinting at massive job cuts, Premier Floyd Roland and his cabinet seem content not only to increase salaries and benefits - most notably, by eliminating the hated "Donny Days" unpaid leave during the Christmas holidays - but to keep most of the jobs as well.

The GNWT handed out 135 lay-off notices in February of last year but after enduring a pounding from regular MLAs and the Union of Northern Works for months, that figure was whittled down to 14 jobs eliminated last year and another 14 this year.

Meanwhile, if the latest collective agreement is accepted, the remaining 4,000 unionized workers will see a 6.25 per cent salary increase over three years, a 38 per cent increase to their yearly Northern allowance and the end to those dreaded Donny Days, whereby workers will still stay home but are now paid for them.

Not too shabby when compared to the mining and aviation sectors, which are dropping staff like ticks off a buffalo's back in light of the recession.

The four free Donny Days alone will cost the government millions. If you take 4,000 employees making $25 an hour - a very conservative number, mind you - in an eight-hour day and times that by the four days, you get $3.2 million.

Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of Human Resources, described the inflated compensation package "reasonable" and "affordable" for the territorial government.

Really? What's changed? It was just last September when Premier Roland was wielding a slew of potential new taxes as an alternative to extensive job cuts.

"We have the instrument of taxation. It's a blunt one but if that's all we have and there's not an appetite to tighten our belts then we have to look at other options," he said at the time.

There's no way to reconcile DeLancey's reassuring words of appeasement with Roland's overt threats.

Yes, we want the NWT to remain a competitive environment so it can keep and attract top talent. However, even if MLAs were to argue that they're trying to spend their way out of this recession, with revenues falling and the territory's population dropping, the chicken is going to come home to roost at some point.

What is the territorial government going to do to save programs and services then?

There was a time when people had the ability to respect one another's opinion, even if they didn't necessarily see eye to eye on a topic.

The advantage of that approach, in addition to plain old civility, was that people often learned from each other and gained insight as to where the other was coming from in the debate.

This increased awareness would, on occasion, lead to compromise.

Once compromise was reached, the chance of an amicable solution being found that was, for the most part, agreeable to both sides would increase exponentially.

All too often in today's world, however, people are only interested in furthering their own side of an argument, with little interest in opposing points of view.

They speak their piece and feign interest while the other side presents its case.

Instead of really listening to what those on the opposite side are saying, they merely struggle to keep their tongues in check and wait impatiently for their turn to speak again.

In short: the walls are up, battle lines are drawn and it's absolute victory or nothing.

Unfortunately, this scenario closely parallels what's happening in Baker Lake right now concerning the debate over uranium mining.

While one group forms community liaison committees and holds public forums for residents to have their opinions heard, the other attacks relentlessly to dismiss any opinion not in agreement with its own, and calls into question the character of anyone who supports the industry.

This humble scribe felt the latter's wrath after he penned a piece speaking to what uranium companies have to offer a community.

I was quickly deluged with e-mails from anti-uranium and mining groups, many of which I suspect are the same organizations which the Baker Lake Concerned Citizens Committee refers to as its "advisors."

The messages were all quite similar once one cut through the double talk and accusations -- we're right and you're wrong. End of story.

I've met the same attitude trying to interview the Baker Lake Concerned Citizen's Committee.

The committee has no interest in being interviewed by a journalist who its members view as being pro-uranium.

That is their right, which I dutifully respect, however ill-suggested by their "advisors" I may personally feel it to be.

That said, a simple "no, thank you" would have sufficed.

I could have done without the committee asking me how much the uranium companies were paying me to promote them, but such groundless accusations seem to be par for the course in this particular debate.

I would point out, however, that such tactics don't go far in convincing others of the credibility of one's stance.

It's disheartening to see such an opportunity for Baker Lake being turned into an us-versus-them scenario, with precious little room for constructive dialogue.

Such approaches to influencing community opinion do little, other than to prove there is more than one type of poison in this world.

Dennis Bevington put himself in the line of fire over the long-gun registry on April 22, but not in the way people in this territory wanted.

April 22 was the day that the Bloc Quebecois put forth a motion calling on the government to "maintain the registration of all types of firearms in its entirety."

Bevington, MP for the Western Arctic, didn't take a bullet for his NWT constituents. He sat out the vote in parliament.

The motion passed 143-136, but it wasn't binding, so the Conservative government doesn't have to abide by it. Many NDP members of Parliament were in favour.

It's assumed Bevington was under pressure to toe the party line and support the motion and so compromised by abstaining.

To vote in favour of the motion would have looked bad. After all, Bevington scored political points by using the gun registry against former Liberal MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew during past election campaigns.

Many felt Blondin-Andrew turned her back on NWT residents by voting in favour of the gun registry, which is a hassle for many subsistence hunters in this territory. It has also proven to be huge bureaucratic swamp and extremely costly, an estimated $2 billion to administer since it was introduced in 1995.

The Liberal government of the day said it would only cost taxpayers $2 million with licence fees paying the rest.

Bevington has defended himself by describing the Bloc Quebecois motion as a "political football" that wasn't worth his time. He has also reaffirmed his opposition to the long-gun registry. Of course, we're going to hold him to that.

The Conservatives are not without fault in this ordeal. They've been making plenty of noise since being elected in January 2006 that they have every intention to scrap the long-gun registry. They made the unusual move of introducing a bill to that effect in the senate -- where the Conservatives are still the minority - in early April. It's languished ever since.

It's time for the Tories to pull the trigger, or admit they're all about gamesmanship on this subject.

Some residents of Hay River have been waiting nearly a year for flooding compensation.

Several houses in the Vale Island and Hay River Reserve areas suffered water damage in 2008 but homeowners have been told that compensation cheques from the GNWT are still a ways off.

Robert McLeod, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, the department responsible for handling this situation, admitted there has been confusion.

The government participates in the town's emergency measures organization.

That group is responsible for following very clearly planned steps to save lives in the event of severe flooding.

The GNWT needs to adopt the same approach with awarding flood damage.

Those whose homes were flooded were victims of Mother Nature. Let's not allow them to now drown in watery government policy.

Everyone agrees something has to be done to lower Nunavut's suicide rate, but there's little agreement on what.

And so the death toll continues.

Every year about 27 Nunavummiut kill themselves while government studies, strategies and reports continue to wind their way through the bureaucratic maze.

Back in 2003, a Government of Nunavut survey outlined the concerns communities had with the high rate of suicide in the territory, and their suggestions for suicide prevention.

Communities agreed the silence around suicide had to be broken. More counsellors were needed, counsellors with specialized training, and male counsellors for boys and young men.

But above all, they said, the government had to stop talking about suicide prevention and start doing something. Tomorrow, next week or next year would be too late for dozens of youth in pain and anguish and seeing no way out except through death.

Nunavut formed the Embrace Life Council in 2004. Since then it has focused primarily on life affirmation - youth activities, on-the-land trips and courses - rather than on crisis intervention.

Three years after that, the Government of Nunavut released a suicide prevention strategy. When, in October 2007, MLA Keith Peterson asked then-premier Paul Okalik in the legislative assembly what was being done to follow up on the strategy, Okalik dodged his questions.

"At this time we are not sure, but we certainly want to see a decrease in suicide," Okalik told the assembly.

Now it's 2009, and the Embrace Life Council, Nunavut Tunngavik and the Government of Nunavut have released a discussion paper and are planning to hold territory-wide public forums for community input on suicide prevention.

We're flooded with an intense feeling of deja vu.

More action, less talk is what communities asked for six years ago, and what they got was more talk.

People in a suicidal crisis need someone they can turn to in their community for help, a health professional who is quickly accessible, non-judgmental and who will keep things confidential. By training counsellors in suicide intervention, the government is at least taking some action towards stemming the territory's alarming rate of suicide.

But more action is needed.

Suggestions and recommendations that come from community forums on the discussion paper need to be implemented immediately.

We cannot wait on even more studies and analyses before taking further action. However, the effectiveness of suicide prevention and intervention programs has to be monitored so we'll better understand how to make the greatest possible difference - saving lives.

Intriguing but short on specifics - that's been the general response to the "Declaration for the NWT" unveiled by a group of mainly Yellowknife businesspeople and politicians last week.

The group, which includes Mayor Gord Van Tighem, management from Ekati diamond mine and Premier Floyd Roland, is calling on residents to ponder the future of the Northwest Territories.

The territory has long struggled with its identity and purpose. People may recall the infamous campaign to re-name the territory in 1996.

In a survey held that year, the number one response was to keep the status quo; the runner-up was "Bob."

Obviously, questions over how to diversify the territory's economy beyond diamonds and other mineral resources will need to be answered. Plus, how to combat the many social ills in our communities, such as alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

But residents still must develop a common purpose and identity. The longer the territory remains a house divided, the easier it will be for Ottawa to say the NWT is not ready for devolution.

Yellowknife versus the rest of the territory is the most obvious source of division, but as we've seen with the dissolution of the Aboriginal Summit two years ago, the division lines run deep and wide throughout the territory.

On the topic of solidarity, among those who profess to be members of the group making the NWT declaration, only one is aboriginal and from outside Yellowknife, that being Roland.

Unless its authors reach out to aboriginal people and communities outside Yellowknife, it's doubtful their project will gain much momentum. The key to the NWT's future is unity, and right now we have a long way to go.

The territory's future success also depends on fostering industry and business here. The Northern Aboriginal Business Association is a major player on that front.

The association, founded in 2007, underlined this at its first public conference in Yellowknife this month. Aboriginal people make up half the territory's population and a significant portion of Yellowknife.

Their lives are rooted here, so they should maintain a central role in defining the territory's future.

This is particularly important as the NWT remains far from self-sufficient.

The territory's economic engine -- the diamond mines - have a fixed lifespan, and are reliant on technology, expertise and markets from outside the NWT. Moreover, the territory is heavily reliant on federal government funds and programs.

The Northern Aboriginal Business Association promises to help people born and raised in the NWT continue to hone their business acumen and give rise to local initiatives and industry that will last well into the future. "It's up to us to define the future for all the North," Dettah Chief Ed Sangris said.

Now is the time to follow up.

The leadership of the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation in Wrigley has narrowly dodged a bullet.

In a scene that's become familiar for this small community, a portion of the membership voted in favour on April 26 of removing the chief and council. The leadership is still in place, but only because the band doesn't appear to have a ratified code that recognizes a vote of non-confidence as a legitimate way to end a chief and council's term.

While some may shake their heads and wonder why Wrigley seems to have the worst track record in the Deh Cho when it comes to leadership longevity there are actually some valuable lessons other leaders and band members can take away from this incident.

For leaders attempts like this one to cast out those in power are a reminder of what being a chief, Metis president or council members is all about. Metis and First Nations band members vote people into positions of power because they expect to be well governed by them.

If leaders ignore the wishes of the majority of the people, they should be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof.

Even doing the right thing often isn't enough. If communication breaks down between leaders and those who are being led there's no way for the members to know what's being done to serve their interests.

In Wrigley, the fact that there hadn't been a public meeting since Nov. 13, 2008 seems to have played a major part in the calling of a non-confidence vote.

The lessons for members include the fact that it's important to be aware of your rights.

The realization that a vote with 23 people in favour isn't enough to remove the leadership has come as somewhat of a surprise to those who raised their hands when the vote was called in Wrigley. If people are unhappy with the way they're being led, they have every right to take action. It pays, however, to know the precise avenues that can be used to bring about change.

It's also important to think the process through. There's little to be gained by removing a leadership if you'll be left afterwards wondering what to do next.

In Wrigley the members who were in favour of change had a plan. They had already charted out election dates and had chosen a time to hold a meeting with the new leadership to discuss priorities and direction.

Although the vote of non-confidence failed to remove the chief and council of the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation, this time it's unlikely to be the last chapter in this story. The relationship between leaders and those who are being led requires a delicate balance. If one part of the equation falls out of line, it can result in a reaction like a vote of non-confidence.

Leaders and membership share an equal responsibility to listen to and respect each other's needs in order to maintain the balance of good governance.

There's no question that groceries in the North are expensive.

Arriving from the south, I was floored by the difference in prices, especially when it comes to the produce section. But this shouldn't excuse people from making healthy choices.

Instead of spending $5 at NorthMart on a calorie-infested 320 gram bag of Lay's potato chips, which has little or no food value, you can spend less than $1 more for a three-pound bag of apples that are not only tasty but are filled with fibre and vitamin C, as well as potassium, iron, calcium and vitamin A. They are also fat, sodium, and cholesterol-free.

I won't waste your time with endless comparisons, but you can spend $3 on a 16-ounce, sugar-loaded slushie that not only throws your insulin levels out of whack but also rots your teeth, or you can buy a litre of calcium-rich milk that strengthens teeth and bones for about the same price.

Every time I walk into that store I'm flabbergasted by the hordes of people enjoying those awful empty-calorie drinks.

Study after study show many Northerners eat too much fat and sugar, which contributes to high diabetes rates here. The Canadian Diabetes Association figures by the end of next year more than $5 million of taxpayers' money will be needed to treat the disease. That number is expected to rise to more than $7 million by 2016.

The territorial government is among many supporting partners of the Healthy Foods North project.

But at the same time, the government does little to make groceries more affordable. Just recently it refused to implement a milk subsidy program.

Government generally always follows the status quo, which means they do what the electorate demands, nothing more. So it's obvious that people don't want such a program that badly. They'd rather their money be spent on prescription drug coverage to treat diseases that are preventable through healthy diets.

Imagine if the territorial government had the courage to propose a food subsidy program that might result in less dependency on drugs for wellness? But that's just wishful thinking.

Which brings me to my point.

Maybe the solution doesn't rest solely with grand, multi-million dollar subsidy programs. Maybe the solution can be found locally.

Take Healthy Foods North employees and Inuvik residents Annalee Heidl and Jennifer Cockney as great examples. This week's Inuvik Drum features these two women and the valuable work they're doing, teaching people that eating well isn't an impossible feat through the use of countless interactive programs, including food samplings, healthy recipe giveaways and contests.

People know that simply throwing in a few peas into a traditional dish makes a big difference as well as substituting water for pop. It all adds up.

Healthy eating is a process. You make simple healthy choices, and you feel and look better. Then you start eating salads and perhaps cut out the junk on the weekdays.

The responsibility lies with the individual, but a community approach is needed, too. Of course it would be nice to have more government support, but unless it becomes a number one priority in the territory that won't happen and we'll always be left to our own devices.

So we better get moving.