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It's promising that the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines and Akaitcho First Nation have decided to hammer out consistent rules when dealing with developers on Akaitcho land.

Developing on aboriginal land requires a delicate balance between preservation and cultural respect and providing economic and employment benefits to First Nation members.

At present, exploration and development on Akaitcho land is a cumbersome and an often frustrating process. Largely, that is due to requirements set up by the First Nation that are outside regular development laws, which creates an uncertain atmosphere and therefore deters businesses from investing.

However, the chamber of mines' decision to accept an invitation by the Akaitcho to set guidelines the chamber can accept will go a long way towards providing a consistent development environment.

There is a wealth of natural resources on Akaitcho land which should attract multi-millions of dollars in exploration and mining work. However, companies aren't willing to take the risk for fear they will be tied up in legal battles, regulatory red tape and changing demands from the Akaitcho.

The Akaitcho should be commended for sticking to its guns; the First Nation will now have an opportunity to ensure development in its territory fits with its vision for the land and will benefit its people.

All too often, governments and developers bypass First Nations leadership when it comes to developing on traditional lands, only to gather their input in community meetings midway through the regulatory process - meetings that are often questioned because the feedback from community members seems to carry little influence.

Aboriginal governments and leaders should be industry's first stop when considering doing business in the NWT. Not only would that identify the potential obstacles that may exist but it will also demonstrate respect for the rightful beneficiaries of the land. Simply meeting with First Nations isn't enough, however. Companies must come North with a plan. That plan must include how a mine or oil wells, for example, will benefit First Nations members with jobs, contracts and resource royalties to help them build their communities. It must also adequately address environmental risks.

In short, First Nations and Metis leaders should be part of the development process from start to finish and not merely a stage in the consultation process. When this begins to be the norm, the development process will move faster and benefit industry and the people of the NWT alike.

Akaitcho leaders estimate their lands - home to the NWT's active diamond mines - accounted for more than $1.6 billion of the territory's $3.2 billion GDP in 2009. Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger projected in his 2010 budget address that 2010 and 2011 would show four per cent growth in the territory's GDP -- 2.8 per cent in 2010 and 1.2 per cent in 2011. With a lot of mining potential still untapped on Akaitcho lands, much of the NWT's future growth will likely come from the Akaitcho territory. With that in mind any move to help ease tensions between the Akaitcho, industry and the chamber of mines should be supported fully by the GNWT.

The community freezer breaks, spoiling months' worth of country food. At the same time, federal pension cheques - a main source of financial support for many families - are late due to a postal lockout, making the purchase of high-priced store food difficult.

Is this an emergency? That depends on whose shoes you're wearing - those of a cash-strapped elder in Iglulik with nothing to feed her grandkids or those of a government-salaried bureaucrat in Pangnirtung dealing with e-mails marked urgent on a Friday afternoon.

When these circumstances came to pass in Iglulik earlier this month, the community's social services worker knew there was a fund that could potentially be tapped to provide emergency cash for food.

But when she sent an e-mail to the appropriate authorities asking if it was possible to release some of this money to make sure kids didn't go hungry, what she got back was a flippant one-line response that did not sound in the least concerned about the situation.

Now e-mail is a tricky thing. Typed words don't convey one's tone and brusque sentences can easily sound harsher than intended.

But to dismiss a plea for help by disputing whether hungry Iglulik residents met the medical definition of emaciation was pretty darn heartless.

The Department of Education has since verbally apologized to the mayor of Iglulik, and will be sending a written apology to the hamlet. But a spokesperson said there wasn't much that could have been done at the time of the request for help, anyway, because it was late in the day on a Friday.

We're sure Nunavummiut will take this lesson to heart. If you're going to have a hunger crisis, make sure to plan it for a Monday or Tuesday, preferably in the morning, if you expect prompt attention from the territorial government. Otherwise, it seems, you're on your own.

Later this year, the Government of Nunavut will conduct a condition assessment and inventory of its buildings across the territory.

The estimated cost for this review is $3.8 million, however automatic doors, or the lack of them, weren't even on the list of things to look at until Nunavut News/North asked about them.

People using wheelchairs and other mobility-assisting devices face plenty of challenges in Nunavut's communities - gaining accessible transportation is one, another is the installation of ramps instead of stairs.

But in many communities, people using wheelchairs can propel themselves from an accessible vehicle to the entrance of a hamlet or GN building via a ramp, but then they're stuck due -to the lack of an automatic door.

The cost of installing an automatic door is estimated at about $30,000, not including operation and maintenance in the harsh Arctic climate.

Nunavut may not be able to afford to install automatic doors in all the buildings that should ideally have them, but priority should be given to making health centres and community halls accessible to everyone. Nor should the consideration of accessibility be an afterthought.

Enough is enough.

It's time the management of Centre Square Mall follows the order issued by the NWT fire marshal, listen to customers and simply do the right thing - instal an access ramp at its Franklin Avenue entrance.

Wheelchair-users and their supporters have been pushing for the ramp since early 2009 when management of the upper mall installed a glass partition at the 49th Street entrance - the only entrance with a ramp - forcing users to wait and be buzzed in by Yk Inn staff.

But despite a February 2010 order by Fire Marshal Stephen Moss that a ramp be built at the busy Franklin Avenue entrance, no work has started, leaving people with wheelchairs or strollers on the outside looking in.

Both management and the city have debated a design that won't interfere with pedestrian traffic. And Moss cut the mall some slack in meeting his June 2010 deadline (more than a year ago!).

In the latest development last month, the mall submitted a revised design that appears to meet city criteria. But the reaction of one mother with a stroller when she heard the news - "I'll believe it when I see it" - is typical.

It shouldn't be this hard, especially when paying customers are involved. Either mall management has to build an access ramp at Franklin Avenue or the fire marshal has to get busy enforcing his own order. Either way, access shouldn't be denied any longer.

Although there has always been an expiration date for the Artist Run Community Centre in the old Pentecostal Church on 49th Street, the ticking of the clock is growing louder.

The first step toward the plot of land being transferred from its current owner, who is allowing the artists to use the space, to the GNWT took place at city council earlier this month.

It's not a question of how the artist community can keep the land, but how the city and territory should profit from the passion and devotion of those running and using the space.

Over recent years, the City of Yellowknife has invested millions of dollars into such shiny facilities as the Multiplex and the Fieldhouse.

There seems to be no shortage of funding available from local and higher levels of government for sports and recreation.

While facilities catering to active lifestyles and recreation are an asset and a necessity in a community, the same can be said for the arts.

The last major investment in the city for the arts community was the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre in 1984, with contributions from federal, provincial and territorial governments and an active national fundraising campaign led by then-mayor Michael Ballantyne.

The arts community has turned an empty shell of a building into the foundation of a strong arts centre, a stage for art shows and musical performances, helping to revive a dying downtown.

The artists, with the help of the business community, have shown the way. It's time governments - territorial and municipal - play a stronger role in sustaining and growing the capital city's art community.

The region's residents, both those in the Deh Cho and Nahendeh electoral districts, had better start preparing themselves for what's ahead.

Although people wanting to run in the fall territorial election can't officially become candidates until the week of Sept. 5 to 9, the upcoming election is already on the minds of some, including the region's two current MLAs.

Both Michael McLeod in the Deh Cho and Kevin Menicoche in the Nahendeh have publicly announced their plans to run for re-election. Both are assembling teams to help them examine the current issues and decide which they want to focus on in their platforms.

The region's residents can look forward to at least two months of political discussions and debates in the lead up to the Oct. 3 election. The questions that will soon be answered are which issues the candidates will focus on and will those issues coincide with what is really of concern for residents.

McLeod noted that during his three terms in office, the cost of living in the North has remained a primary issue. Because these costs affect everyone, it's a safe bet they will be debated by those looking to become part of the 17th legislative assembly.

Housing and employment were also flagged by McLeod as long-standing issues. For Menicoche, education, health and highways have been the focus of two terms in office. Comments at constituency meetings have shown those issues continue to remain important.

While the mainstays will absorb a lot of attention, it could be issues that have more recently risen to prominence that will sway voters toward certain candidates.

If the Dene Nation has anything to say about it, devolution will be in the spotlight during the election period. A vocal opponent of the signed devolution agreement-in-principle, part of the nation's plan to address the issue is to make sure the MLAs who are elected in the fall share its views on devolution and are willing to work on the issue.

If the Dene Nation puts its support behind certain candidates and can encourage its members to vote for them, it could prove to be a major force in the election.

Concerns about the protection of land and water, especially in light of Enbridge Pipeline Inc.'s spill on the Norman Wells line and continued oil sands development in Alberta, will also likely feature prominently in the election.

The region's residents have just more than two months to decide which, if any, of these issues matter to them and which candidate is best suited to represent them. These decisions could mean in with new and out with the old in the two electoral districts or a continuation of the current leadership.

The Great Northern Arts Festival is fantastic. It's brought a bit of big city living to Inuvik, with the beautiful art, live music every night and a sense of bustle, busy-ness and excitement.

It's a celebration of Northern art (as the title implies), but also what goes with that – Northern culture in whatever form it may take. It could be an artist who has lived North of 60 for two years, 40 years or their entire life. The definition of a Northern artist is changeable; it can be someone born in the North who has taken their craft south or someone who moved here and became inspired by the landscape.

The perk of this festival is that the artists can all learn from each other and further influence Northern culture and art. The sharing of ideas and techniques with other artists and visitors is certainly helping with the energy of the festival.

For a tourist or a resident, the workshops are brilliant. Increasing the number of classes available so that more people can participate in a variety of different art forms is a fantastic idea. In Inuvik, not a lot happens and not a lot is available for visitors to take advantage of. Without the festival to provide activities, these travellers can scramble for things to do.

Yes, there is the Igloo church. It's beautiful and full of history, but doesn't necessarily fill up your day. Same with the greenhouse. It is amazing and beautiful and useful, but doesn't really take that long to tour.

After doing a few weeks of Tourist of the Week, it seems that almost all visitors have the same schedule: Drive up the Dempster; stay in Inuvik for two days; visit Tuktoyaktuk for one day; drive back down the Dempster. People rarely stay for more than a couple of days because there isn't anything to fill those days up.

The potential here is endless. As some of the tour operators have suggested, aboriginal culture is a key area for growth. Why not embrace and celebrate it more? Aboriginal Day is an exciting and interesting event – why not share that culture year round? Set up a culture camp in Jim Koe Park during the summer months or at the visitor centre where an elder (or a younger) can do demonstrations and talk a bit about their heritage, from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday?

As well, Inuvik is a transient community and even people who live here likely want to play tourist every once in a while and learn more about the place they live in. Maybe the Great Northern Arts Festival could hold once-a-month artist workshops, simply to provide an activity, raise some money and increase an awareness of culture in Inuvik.

The point is that Inuvik right now really feel like a destination. It's at the end of the road, but people are only here because they can get to the Arctic Ocean. Build a road and people will just continue farther North. Before the road to Tuktoyaktuk is built, we've got to build up Inuvik's tourism options because otherwise, when the Dempster is completed to the ocean, people will just keep on driving.

A 37-year-old patient at Stanton Territorial Hospital runs unaccompanied into the kitchen and inexplicably plunges a knife into his chest twice on Nov. 4, 2009.

His heart is wounded, blood is cut off to his brain. He survives but now lives in a hospital bed with limited physical and mental function. His prognosis is uncertain.

That man is Allisdair Leishman, a helicopter engineer and son of Margaret Leishman, a mother who would not rest until she had answers as to how her son was able to harm himself in a place where he was supposed to receive help.

The hospital conducted an internal investigation. The findings were not made public, and that included Margaret. She did not accept that outcome, so she turned to territorial politicians to support her cause. Several regular MLAs voted in favour of an external review.

That external review was carried out and it resulted in two recommendations: that the hospital hire special constables - security guards with specialized training to respond to challenging patients - and encouraging family members, especially of those with mental illness, to accompany them to the hospital. These seem like good, common-sense recommendations, as was to begin locking the kitchen door, a step that reportedly came from the internal review.

What happened on Nov. 4, 2009 was tragic, but there is no reversing it. The best we can do it figure out how to prevent something similar from happening again. The process has nearly run its course due to a courageous mother who insisted on the truth and MLAs who took their jobs seriously and went to bat for her. To complete the lessons to be learnt from this horrific incident, the health department must now adopt the recommendations.

Improvements to psychiatric care - long an Achilles heel of the NWT health-care system - are also needed.

The Leishman case is an example, albeit a painful one, of how we make our medical services - generally among the best in the country - even better.

Close to 7.6 million ounces of gold were carted away from Giant Mine and millions of dollars in profits flowed to various corporations from 1948 until 2004.

While providing sustained growth of the City of Yellowknife, very little of the riches benefited the Yellowknives Dene, the original owners of the land.

That began to change in 2005 when Det'on Cho NUNA, a joint-venture between the Yellowknives and the Inuit, was formed.

As of July 6, that company was the winning bidder for the care and maintenance contract for the third straight time - the terms: $14.9 million over 21 months. That follows a three-year, $40-million contract. The Yellowknives and Inuit workers are responsible for security, water sampling and sewage treatment, public safety and monitoring buildings on the site.

The past two contracts that Det'on Cho NUNA held for the site over six years ended with not a single safety incident, Det'on Cho president and CEO Roy Erasmus Jr. said. Its a sterling record.

As Erasmus suggested, the mine, with its 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide being frozen underground, is one of the worst environmental liabilities in Canadian history.

Yet now the Yellowknives are helping to oversee the cleanup of the site and building wealth at the same time.

Their initiative is to be commended as is the direction provided by the federal government, which has been supportive of Det'on Cho NUNA efforts.

So long as the mine is cleaned up, the benefits extend to us all.

With all the negativity surrounding the Qulliq Energy Corp. (QEC) lately, it's time to give it a little credit for ramping-up efforts to collect the millions owed in unpaid power bills.

The QEC had $23.4 million in unpaid bills owing at the end of the 2010 fiscal year.

And, believe it or not, that represents a gain of more than $11 million from 2009, when the amount owing stood at an incredible $34.5 million.

Obviously, the collections specialist at the QEC is producing results.

Nunavummiut should not be put off by tales of woe, such as the one on Northern airwaves earlier this month about a man in Arctic Bay having his power cut for the money he owed the QEC.

Yes, it can be sad when people fall on tough times through illness or injury.

But that's why most of us spend a small fortune throughout the course of our lives on something we hope we never have to use - insurance.

Those who decide to traverse life devoid of proper coverage to protect themselves, family members and their belongings know the risk.

Too many people read or hear about those in trouble with service or utility providers due to not paying their bills, and look upon it as an isolated or solitary situation.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Just as those who steal from our retailers drive up the prices the rest of us pay to cover the store's losses, so too do those who ring up high utility bills and walk away without paying them.

Our power rates are going nowhere but up in the near future to begin with, and tens of millions of dollars in unpaid bills will do nothing but add fuel to that costly fire.

Even if we ignore the fact we all have the responsibility of paying our bills - it's simply the way things are supposed to work - surely most people realize the enormous cost of providing power the QEC deals with.

And, for every kilowatt hour someone doesn't pay for, the rest of us will, eventually, be made to pick up the slack.

The non-payment-of-bills policy the QEC is starting to enforce with the promise of cutting power to those who do not pay is a universal approach.

Try living anywhere in this great nation of ours and not paying your power, water, fuel, telephone or cable bill for an extended period of time and you know what the end result will be.

The QEC claims it is working with customers in arrears to provide them with reasonable options to get caught up with their bills.

And, while no one wants to see anybody without power during a Nunavut winter, the fact of the matter is the QEC cannot afford to keep giving power away, no matter what the circumstances.

We here in Nunavut often express our desire to become more modern in many areas where it benefits us, and lament over the services we feel simply do not measure up. But like most things in life, that's a two-way street and accepting responsibility to pay for what you use comes with the territory.

If not, a simple flick of the switch can come as a chilly reminder after all other options have been exhausted. And, the cold hard fact of the matter is, those who find themselves in that situation can no longer claim to be left in the dark as to the reason why.

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