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Late last month, a consulting agency hired by the City of Yellowknife told council that the city needs to get on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to reach out to citizens and encourage back-and-forth communications.

While it would be wise for the city to expand its communications strategy as the use of social media grows among Yellowknifers, the lesson the city must learn from its past is no matter how much it tries to engage citizens, it won't win them over without fully disclosing its plans, and the risks it's taking with taxpayers' dollars.

The city made a concerted effort to beef up communications while promoting the Con Mine district energy system earlier this year and last. It held many public meetings and forums leading up to the referendum and met with this newspaper to make a presentation. Despite that, residents voted against the city borrowing $49 million to move ahead with the district energy project.

Although it attempted to engage citizens, the city sabotaged its efforts by withholding key information - the potential project partners were kept under wraps and what role the city was going to play in the project wasn't fully explained. The city brushed these questions aside, with bureaucrats and politicians promising to continue their "due diligence" after the vote was out of the way.

Obviously, Yellowknifers didn't trust this approach, nor should they have.

Since the vote, city bureaucrats have been forbidden to talk to media, with Mayor Gord Van Tighem fielding all questions instead of the experts the city hired due to their expertise and knowledge on the city's issues and projects, which has hindered the flow of information.

The communications specialist who spoke to city council last month said Yellowknifers will demand information that is "relevant, consistent and honest," and he is absolutely right.

The city can flood the Internet with bulletins and schedules, but unless it's willing to answer critical questions from residents, it won't earn their trust.

Bears are usually only killed when public safety is at risk and there are no alternatives. Yet when conservation officers pull the trigger on animals that are feasting on readily available garbage, the blame falls on people.

On Aug. 24, a mother black bear and her three cubs were killed at Prelude Lake because they were attracted to the improperly sealed waste of residents in the area. The mother was teaching her cubs to eat garbage, proven by the garbage bags found in the stomachs of the cubs.

The problem stems from people who don't take enough precautions with their garbage and inadvertently lure animals, creating unsafe conditions.

There are animal-resistant garbage bins available for households and communal areas that may be a possible solution to the problem, and the GNWT should provide financial assistance in purchasing them for tax-paying citizens living in closer contact to wildlife. Ian Ellsworth, a wildlife officer with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said there should be discussion among Prelude Lake residents as well as department meetings with residents to enforce garbage-control regulations.

Take a few extra steps to ensure garbage, barbecues and other food-related items are securely closed. It's a quick solution that will help end unnecessary animal deaths and prevent more incidents that anger residents and deter tourists.

My time's up. Darrell Greer is back in Rankin and ready to rock for another year.

So, I bid the Kivalliq adieu. But first, I must say thank you.

As an outsider coming in, I have had the pleasure of experiencing a lot during my stay. I have spoken with many people from across the region and have had the opportunity to share your stories for the past six weeks.

It has truly been an honour to be a part of your communities and your lives.

I have to say the most encouraging thing I have seen, heard and learned this summer is that Nunavut's youth are incredibly resilient.

They play outside even when the wind is blowing more than 40 km/h (meanwhile, I'm being blown off my feet attempting to take photos). They're out on the playground, on the soccer field or baseball diamond having a good time, learning and sharing in the experience with their friends.

They embrace every opportunity to grow, as I saw during the soccer camp, music camp, suicide awareness camp, health camp, science camp, and every other organized event held during my six weeks in the region. The youth showed up every day in increasing numbers to take part in the exciting things the community has to offer. But not only did they show up, they listened, they tried and they succeeded.

It was incredible to see the pride on their faces when they performed in front of their families and friends after the music camp. Or when they finally executed the soccer routine they learned at soccer camp. These kids love to learn.

And they also see the importance of organizing these events, taking it upon themselves to make things happen, rather than waiting for someone else to do it.

A great example of this was the Kivalliq Suicide Prevention Walk and Camp. The youth who organized it were summer students working for Kivalliq Counselling and Support Services. They could have spent their budget on any number of events, but they chose to turn their work into something more than just a one-day party.

They organized a whole weekend of healing and awareness that touched the entire region.

With such a large population of youth in the territory - about a third of the population - it's great to see that many of them take their role in Nunavut's future seriously.

Because, of course, it's the young that will carry the torch forward and make this territory great.

They will become the workforce that keeps the mining industry growing. They will become the electricians who keep homes lit and warm. They will become the nurses and doctors who keep the territory's elders healthy as they age.

But to get them to a point where they help the territory succeed, first, the community-at-large needs to invest their time in the youth. Families, teachers and community members need to encourage youth to be creative, enthusiastic and studious. It's so easy to lose all of those traits with age. But if they are fostered and rewarded, rather than stifled and ignored, the territory's youth will blossom into successful leaders.

So the onus is on everyone, the community and the youth, to make Nunavut the territory it's meant to be.

Back in 2000, the GNWT began the consultation process on the NWT's new Wildlife Act, that's 11 years of public input, research, drafting and reworking.

Wildlife and land protection is one of the most sensitive and pressing issues in the North. As the territory seeks to streamli ne its development guidelines, protect threatened species and boost tourism, the Wildlife Act is an over-arching document outlining our approach to those pressing areas of concern.

Due to the significance of this act, it is understandable that the GNWT would take its time to ensure the legislation is effective and will stand the test of time. However, after more than a decade, the level of opposition to the draft document is damning.

Criticism for the GNWT's consultation processes is rampant. Whether it's devolution, revamping board structures for health care, education and housing, changes to extended medical benefits, the government has faced vehement opposition from the public, the business community, other levels of government and aboriginal groups.

During his time on cabinet, Michael Miltenberger has been at the centre of the controversy, accused on several occasions of overstepping his authority by foregoing or ignoring public consultation to push through decisions that will affect the territory. He was forced to backstep on an idea to amalgamate education, health care and housing boards and faced backlash for adopting a caribou hunting ban that was unveiled to the public while he jetted off to Copenhagen to attend an international climate change conference. That ban underwent extensive revision weeks after.

In the latest show of lacking the support he needs, Miltenberger had to pull the long-awaited Wildlife Act off the table after he failed to garner enough votes to pass the legislation - he said he was one vote short.

Normally it would be commendable to withdraw a bill for further consultation when it faces heavy opposition, but this is a case of a minister trying to save face after failing to draft an acceptable act with more than a decade of time behind it. Had cabinet not been short one member following the departure of Sandy Lee earlier this year, we expect Miltenberger - a politician that some are speculating is a favourite to be our next premier -- would have pushed the act through with the backing of cabinet.

Considering the pressure placed on NWT lands and wildlife related to development, climate change and harvesting, a decade is far too long to wait for updated legislation to protect our sensitive habitat.

The Wildlife Act has been part of Miltenberger's portfolio since part of 2005. His inability to piece together a document that can gain enough support to pass into law represents a failure on his part as environment minister.

When it was announced Prime Minister Stephen Harper would be popping into Meadowbank for a photo opportunity during his brief visit North this summer, that got hopes up he would announce a commitment to fund the Kivalliq Mine Training Society for a few more years.

"Canada's North is full of economic potential and innovators continue to unlock development possibilities that bring with them real economic benefits and long-term jobs for local residents," he said, according to his own press release.

However the prime minister came and went from the region without renewing funding for the mine training society, which has helped 350 Inuit gain employment, and now has more than 600 people on its waiting list for training. Now there's no money to train them.

Touting the benefits of developing Nunavut's mineral resources without committing to developing the territory's human resources is a real and telling oversight. These "real economic benefits" and "long-term jobs for residents" of which he speaks are only possible when people in the region have the skills mines and their contractors are looking for. Otherwise the money flows south, into the pockets of workers who fly in for their two weeks then fly out.

Training programs are essential if Nunavut is to take advantage of the opportunities mines and resource exploration present. We hope the federal government realizes this sooner rather than later.

Juggling going to school and raising small children is a common dilemma for young people in Nunavut. Many view such circumstances as obstacles or even barriers to living their dreams.

For Kelsey Apsaktaun, although motherhood initially derailed her education, it was her wish to be a good role model for her son and provide for him the best she could that drove her to not only finish high school but graduate at the top of her class.

During his visit to Kugaaruk last month, the Governor General of Canada presented her with an academic medal for being the graduating student with the highest average at her school.

Obstacles need not keep you from the life you want to live. Obstacles can be overcome.

We hope she serves as an example to every student in Nunavut, especially now, at the opening of a new school year, that nothing is impossible and there are no limits to what you can achieve, except those you place on yourself.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper came north bearing gifts last week but ignored the elephant in the room awaiting its present.

Harper was at Stanton Territorial Hospital to announce $60 million in health funding to be split among the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories over the next two years. The cash boost means programs in jeopardy, such as midwifery and Aurora College's master of nursing program, will likely continue.

This is good news but there are far greater challenges facing the NWT's health-care system, starting with the enormous money pit about to open under the 23-year-old Stanton Territorial Hospital.

Health Minister Michael Miltenberger announced in July that Stanton was in need of upwards of $200 million for "some very, very critical" renovations to begin in just two years time.

Undoubtedly, like the Deh Cho Bridge - another major project affecting Yellowknifers that was met with silence in Ottawa -- staying on budget will be a tall order for this one.

Capital projects typically cost more in the North, and take longer to complete as finding materials and workers is a never-ending problem. The federal government is content to throw us a couple of small bones while falling deaf to the GNWT's pleas to raise our debt wall - nearly maxed out at $575 million with a laundry list of other desperately needed capital investments on the horizon.

The North cannot be viewed as some kind of second-rate, have-not province. If the federal government is serious about developing the territories, it must make some serious investments above and beyond what it delivers to provinces that have had decades and centuries to develop.

Next time the prime minister thinks of choosing Stanton for a photo op, he should be prepared to deliver.

During the federal election earlier this year, Premier Floyd Roland unveiled - as per tradition - the responses he received from federal party leaders to questions he asked them concerning Northern issues.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May didn't send anything, and instead relied on her Western Arctic candidate Eli Purchase to answer. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff faxed a four-page, badly photocopied form letter that offered mainly bland assurances that the NWT was on the party's radar while not committing to much of anything. Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent a detailed, 12-page response, but that ought to be expected from a long-reigning incumbent with all knowledge of government at his fingertips.

Jack Layton's response - all 11 pages of it - impressed, for it showed insight and attention to detail not typically demonstrated by a career politician in Ottawa.

On giving Northerners a say on land decisions and park development, Layton pointed specifically to Edehzhie on the Horn Plateau and pledged his party's support to consulting with Northerners on land matters if elected to government. He was almost as prescient in committing to monitoring water quality in the territory.

Layton died last week so we will never know if he would have been a good prime minister for the North.

He certainly had a lot of support in the NWT. Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington is popular in his own right, but Layton hardly did him any harm.

His party has vastly improved its standing in the House of Commons - built on the strength of Layton's leadership and charisma during the last election campaign - but it has some tough choices to make as it goes about selecting a new leader.

The party will be hard pressed to find one as engaged with Northerners and their issues as Layton was.

At the Dehcho First Nations' annual assembly in late June, concerns about language were brought to the table.

One of the chapters outlined by the chief negotiator for Dehcho First Nations, while talking about the agreement-in-principle that is being negotiated, was on culture, language and heritage. The chapter states the Dehcho government will establish a Dehcho Languages Board to provide advice to the government on the preservation and promotion of the languages of the Dehcho Dene.

The Deh Cho leaders' response to this chapter was nearly unanimous. Those who spoke said the creation of the board can't wait for the completion of the Dehcho Process. Language and culture are disappearing fast, was the message.

It's true things are looking grim for languages traditionally spoken in the Deh Cho including Dene Zhatie, also known as South Slavey.

Members of the older generations are fluent but the level of fluency decreases steadily with each generation. School-age children are taking Slavey classes but very few can manage to do much more than string a few words together.

Is the Dehcho Languages Board needed? Absolutely, but it's important to realize that creating a board won't solve everything. Small steps taken at the grassroots level by communities are just as likely to promote the continuation of Dene Zhatie as is any overarching strategy.

Some groups like Deh Gah School are already taking steps to ensure the language isn't lost. The school's efforts are unique within the region and should be both applauded and copied by other communities.

Deh Gah School is entering its sixth year of having a Dene Zhatie immersion program. The program, however, only runs from kindergarten to Grade 3.

To serve the older students the school is running a six-week immersion camp that recently started at Willow Lake. Twenty-three students, along with teachers, elders, parents and other adults are at the camp.

Isolated at the lake, the participants will share in cultural experiences and strengthen their knowledge and use of the language together. It's hard to imagine a better way to teach Dene Zhatie.

Deh Cho leaders are right to be concerned about the future of Dehcho languages. There is also, however, cause for hope. If every community implemented one program, such as the immersion camp, to promote Dene Zhatie, part of the work of any future board that is created will already be done.

While it may seem like a simple concept, confusion in the past has filtered its way to confusion in the present when it comes to drinking alcohol while pregnant.

In the past, doctors and researchers alike have said a drink or two during pregnancy can't hurt the baby. The thinking has now changed. Because those same doctors and researchers cannot pinpoint a safe amount or a safe time to drink while pregnant, there's a new rule.

No amount is a good amount. No time is a good time.

No amount of alcohol during pregnancy is a good amount. No time during pregnancy is a good time to drink. The best thing expectant mothers can do for their children is to avoid alcohol for the entire time they are pregnant.

Rumours float around about how "I had a drink once while pregnant and my baby was fine," but that is not true, doctors are saying. While the condition used to be called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and was associated with certain physical and mental defects, the name has now changed to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) to better represent the real range of effects of drinking while pregnant.

Less severe cases of FASD find children who have problems with learning, memory, problem solving, judgment, behaviour, vision and hearing. Because of these problems, the children may be seen as problematic or disruptive and not as children with a condition.

While Health Canada outlines a four-part process for prevention including building awareness, discussion of alcohol use and related risks, holistic support for pregnant women with alcohol problems and post-partum support for new mothers, there is not enough support for mothers who need it.

It's estimated that nine in 1,000 babies born have FASD, but research suggests the number will increase when you look at aboriginal, rural, remote and Northern communities.

What's needed for pregnant women is support.

Whether it's an Alcoholics Anonymous-type support group or simply the fathers supporting the women by not drinking or bringing alcohol into the house, more support needs to be given to women who may opt for a cocktail instead of a mocktail while they are pregnant.

The main message ,though, is don't drink while pregnant.

Give your baby the best chance you can by giving it a healthy start inside your womb. Don't drink any alcohol while pregnant.

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