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Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, is a natural gas extraction technique stirring up controversy in the NWT.

News that fracking has been used in the territory near the British Columbia border and a variation of fracking has already occurred in the nearby Cameron Hills has prompted the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation in Kakisa to begin a multi-year water study near sites where fracking has occurred. Chief Lloyd Chicot said the results of the study will help determine what dangers the natural gas extraction technique poses to the environment.

The Dene Nation also passed a resolution at its October assembly in Fort Smith calling for more research to be done into fracking and its effects on groundwater.

Aside from using a lot of water in the process, fracking also involves a variety of chemicals and it is that cocktail of substances - some, such as diesel, that have been identified as cancer-causing -- which has many opponents to the extraction technique concerned.

With the potential of British Columbia's Horn River Shale Gas Basin to extend farther into the NWT, fracking could push its way into the territory in the future.

It is time for the GNWT to step in to determine what chemicals - as they can vary from operator to operator -- may be used in the territory when fracking wells. That information, along with a detailed explanation of how the process works, should then be passed on to the communities and First Nations groups so they can make informed decisions on whether to support or oppose fracking on their land.

We should also keep a close eye on the quality of our ground water to ensure this vital resource is protected.

First Nation groups and communities must be fully consulted when drilling companies make applications to employ hydraulic fracturing. There's too much at stake to fly blindly.

Ten municipal elections are set for various NWT communities next week.

On Dec. 12, residents in Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Paulatuk, Tuktoyaktuk, Tulita, Ulukhaktok, Fort Providence, Fort Liard, Fort Resolution and Enterprise will cast a ballot to select their leaders for the next term. Some of the communities will have the opportunity to vote for the next council while others will also choose a mayor.

It is encouraging that 73 people have stepped forward to run for the 41 seats available. Such interest in municipal politics points to a willingness to work for the betterment of the community and the NWT as a whole. We encourage everyone eligible to cast a ballot next week. Be sure to quiz the candidates on what they plan to bring to the table.

When a veteran politician resigns because he says cabinet is making bad decisions for the future of the territory, alarm bells start to ring.

Tagak Curley recently decided to give up the Department of Health and Social Services portfolio - along with his other ministerial posts - because he says cabinet may split health and social services into two departments.

The department spends $296 million per year - about a quarter of the GN budget and the largest chunk of the pie given to one government branch.

It is also arguably the most relevant department to the lives of Nunavummiut, literally.

Curley has been the Rankin Inlet North MLA since 2004 (twice acclaimed) and, before Nunavut became its own territory, he was an MLA in the NWT government for Keewatin South from 1979 to 1983. After that riding was dissolved, he took the new Aivilik riding from 1983 to 1987. He's a founding member of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and served as its first president.

When such a prominent and established politician leaves his senior position because he thinks the territory's leadership is going down the wrong path with a huge and vital portfolio, Nunavummiut deserve to know exactly what is going on. Curley said so much work has been done to build the department that it would be a mistake to divide it.

The Department of Health and Social Services declined to comment on the proposed split - what it would mean for the territory and why the decision has been made - and Premier Eva Aariak has not yet taken the initiative to address the criticism levelled by Curley.

Decisions made regarding the Department of Health and Social Services portfolio directly affect all residents of the territory.

Some issues within that department are so linked that splitting them might result in more red tape between the delivery of services that need to be co-ordinated and streamlined as much as possible.

Addictions - including overdoses, treatment and recovery, mental issues, incidents of drinking during pregnancy, foster care for kids from addictions-plagued homes - overlap both health and social services. So concerns are valid that there would be more hoops to jump through if these were two departments under two sets of leadership.

Nunavummiut deserve to be a part of the decision-making on this split, and therefore deserve to know more about the implications and reasoning for such a move.

The onus is on GN leadership to justify and explain why a split may be necessary.

The thick fog is starting to lift over the North's regulatory landscape with disputes about delays going very public.

To get an idea of how badly things can go off the rails, we need not look further than a proposed diamond exploration project around Drybones Bay, approximately 45 kilometres southeast of Yellowknife.

The odyssey began when Consolidated Goldwin Ventures Resources (now Encore Renaissance Resources) applied to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Review Board in January 2003.

In February 2004, the board began its environmental assessment on the small project.

In November 2007, after a long and heavy exchange of paperwork submitted by 10 different parties and some public hearings, the exploration project was approved by the review board under certain conditions and sent to the minister in Ottawa for final approval.

In April 2010, INAC Minister Chuck Strahl told the board the approval requires "further consideration" and offered suggestions of what to consider. By then the review board members were largely new and a decision was made to hold more public hearings.

On November 16, 2011 the review board sent a letter and documents to the new minister John Duncan containing the substance of the "further considerations" intended to mitigate the project's potential environmental damage which amounts to approving the project a second time.

But that's not the end of it of course. Minister Duncan has the final say and the last time it took over two and a half years for the minister's office to say "maybe."

That story appeared in last week's Wednesday Yellowknifer. Hot on its heels in Friday's Yellowknifer, the front page headline "Blame game over mining delays" detailed the complaints Avalon Rare Metals has with its Nechalacho project going through the review board's process.

The board responded with complaints of its own about the problems with Avalon's paperwork and an unexpected logjam of projects coming into the system, namely Fortune Minerals' NICO project and Tyhee Gold Corp's gold project.

Avalon president Don Bubar, who doesn't question the need for environmental protection, has been increasingly vocal about the uncertainty of the review board process, which he views to be driven by the personalities of the staff.

The absence of firm time-lines seems to be one problem.

The lack of time-lines not only disguises the problems the board faces with underfunding and under-staffing, it also waters down staff accountability, undermines the board's integrity and creates uncertainty. Uncertainty is death to developers attempting to calm skittish investors with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line.

Companies must be held accountable to the time-lines as well, and should be sent to the back of the line if they fail to deliver. Keeping applications active for up to 10 years hurts both the companies involved and the review process.

The good news is that rather than vague industry complaints about the Northern regulatory regimes and silence from the review board, people on both sides are speaking out. More of this needs to be done. We know resource development in the NWT is trailing our neighbours just as we know our future depends upon it. The questions governments must ask are: Is responsible development being helped or hindered by the process we have now? Is the federal government helping or hurting us?

Industry and bureaucracy are traditionally reluctant to air dirty laundry in public but the fact is we -- the NWT - are wearing our dirty laundry inside out for all to see.

Much of the negative public perception can be traced to the Mackenzie pipeline review panel that dragged on for 10 years, ignoring all reasonable time-lines and public criticism.

Both the federal and territorial governments have to act to ensure the permitting process we now have is working properly and, perhaps more importantly, send the message that the NWT intends to be more resource development friendly.

For residential school survivors, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Nov. 23 hearing was a chance to share the experiences they had at residential schools. The 16 people who made public statements described a variety of reasons why they chose to speak to the commission.

Some said speaking was part of their own healing journey, while others wanted the Canadian government to know what happened at the schools. Others wanted to speak on behalf of the former students who never had the chance to share their stories.

The importance of the commission to the survivors cannot be underestimated, but the commission also has other equally important purposes.

As Commissioner Marie Wilson said in her opening remarks, the commission and the hearings provide an incredible opportunity to educate people and the country about things they are ignorant about.

The residential school system started before 1860 and was in place for more than a century. Wilson said she is amazed that although the schools were a core fact of Canada's history for all of those years, few Canadians know about it and little if anything is taught about it in schools.

The people who attend the hearings, particularly those who didn't go to residential school, are there to provide support but also to bear witness to what the speakers have to say, said Wilson.

Apart from the survivor's statements, the act of bearing witness was one of the most powerful parts of the hearing in Fort Simpson. Although the Bompas Elementary School gymnasium was almost full during the hearings, the large space was amazingly quiet.

Everyone seemed to be hanging on every word the speakers shared and there were some parts of the hearing that were difficult to listen to.

It's hard not to react to first-hand accounts of children facing all manners of abuse, both physical and sexual. It's hard to imagine that a system with such wide-spread abuse was allowed to exist.

The people who attended the hearing in Fort Simpson heard stories they will likely never forget; that remembrance is one of the key aspects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Canadians owe it to residential school survivors to learn more about this aspect of Canadian history.

By learning about residential schools, Canadians can help ensure a system similar to it never exists again in this country or elsewhere.

This information can also foster a greater level of understanding between aboriginals and non-aboriginals.

The survivors who had the courage to speak at the Fort Simpson hearing should be thanked for sharing their experiences and helping to hopefully change Canada for the better.

After listening to many people talking about drug, alcohol and gambling addictions in Inuvik, we know it's a problem.

We've talked about it and organizations are working on preventing it, but what can be done for the adults who already have addictions that are affecting their lives? Writing them off is not the answer, but that kind of seems like the reaction from the government.

The focus of the new legislative assembly will be maintaining and repairing infrastructure. Federal money has slowed down, so instead of building new things the government will now focus on repairing them. Cool.

Yet again we ask "What about the people?" The cops and counsellors are running themselves ragged trying to follow up on the harms of drugs and alcohol in Inuvik and it's likely not everyone who wants to change their lifestyle is getting the help they need.

How can we get an addictions treatment centre in Inuvik? It's not only for the people here, but for the communities as well. The GNWT states it's a matter of facility management – building first, then other things such as programs and staffing can be considered.

Thanks to all those new buildings, Inuvik has a lot of empty office space sitting around town – why not turn one of those buildings into an addictions treatment centre? At least for alcohol, the most common addiction community counsellors treat.

People need help. Why can't we give it to them? Some days it seems like there's not really any reason. Wellness camps can help and so do out-of-town and out-of-territory treatment centres, but, honestly, people need to go home and be healthy there. They need the counselling and help in their hometown so that when they're struggling, help is immediately available.

Imagine for a minute you've realized drinking has taken over your life. You don't like blacking out, spending all your money or abusing whoever is around you. Now what? Where do you turn for help? What if there's a long line at the counsellors? Back to the bottle for you?

It's not fair that people who want to change can't do so. The change has to come from within the person, yes, but shouldn't someone be there to help them?

The GNWT should see it has a serious problem throughout its communities. It has to get down and dirty and deal with this epidemic on the ground level with the people.

Treatment centres are needed.

Hats off to city councillor Paul Falvo for taking the bus by the horns, so to speak.

He is asking for commuters who use public transit to tell him what's good and what's bad about the service, with an eye to finding improvements and for the city to consider taking over the service.

Falvo told Yellowknifer last week that he waited 27 minutes for a bus with his six-year-old daughter on Nov. 5 when the temperature hovered around -10 C. With the capital city plunged into a deep freeze this week, a person might resemble an icicle if that happened now.

"I'm trying to figure out what's going on with the buses because I get complaints time to time from people," Falvo said. There is logic to some of the options he is investigating, such as using smaller, shuttle buses on routes with low ridership, or using new technology like Global Positioning System (GPS) or electronic signage to let people know approximate arrival times.

The cost of transit in Yellowknife is substantial, estimated to be $1.083 million this year, offset by an expected $373,000 in revenue. It's not unusual for municipalities to subsidize the cost of transit, but we wonder if Yellowknife is getting value for its money, considering that only one per cent of commuters ride the bus. That's not one per cent of the population, but one per cent of commuters, which probably adds up to only a few hundred people, at best.

In looking at the numbers, we are against the city operating the transit system itself, especially considering that it would have to purchase buses and find a facility to house and maintain them.

Keeping in mind that the current five-year contract with private operator Cardinal Coachlines expires next September, Falvo's initiative to investigate the transit system's efficiency is timely and necessary. We're anxious to see what he brings to council during next week's budget discussions.

The faculty at St. Patrick High School has shown creative leadership on the issue of adolescent substance abuse and peer pressure.

Staff members volunteered their time to bring a new late-night drug- and alcohol-free social and recreational program to more than 50 of their students on Friday, Nov. 18.

Billed as Lights On night, the social and recreational event ran from 8 to 11 p.m. in various parts of the school. Many students played sports in the gym, while others competed via a video game system in a classroom or played board games in the library. Some students jammed in the music room. Pizza and fries were served, as well.

Alcohol and substance abuse, often pushed on students by peer pressure, exacts a heavy toll on youth, their families, schools, and the community. The more options students have to congregate in safe and fun environments, the easier it will be for youth to pursue healthy and fulfilling goals throughout adolescence and beyond.

The Lights On program is scheduled to run one Friday evening per month for St. Pat's students, however school staff aspire to expand the program to include other youth in the future.

While it is commendable that 15 faculty members have made this generous volunteer commitment of their time and energy, it should be up to other adults to support them by making a similar effort.

Any parents and responsible alumni willing to volunteer could take pressure off hardworking school staff and give this program a better chance of lasting.

It wasn't that long ago when the most disconcerting aspect of Christmas approaching for most folks was how often Canada Post employees seemed to use the holiday mail crunch as a, shall we say, bargaining chip in their contract negotiations.

Today, if the holidays are approaching, you can bet the debate is flaring over what rights Christians have in celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

The answer to that is precious few, if any.

Forget the fact this great nation was founded on Christian fundamentals.

Forget the fact we don't issue threats, or worse, against those who disagree with the Bible.

In today's world, we're frowned upon by many for actually having the audacity to wish someone a merry Christmas.

The "happy holidays" greeting is the more politically correct and universally accepted standard these days.

Funny how that free speech thing only seems to travel in one direction at times.

Canadian Christians, it seems, are still allowed to exercise their right to religious freedom in their own country, as long as they do it quietly and out of sight of others.

So what if Christianity is the only religious faction to actually maintain a constant presence in a small Northern community, offer various outreach and youth programs, and even give back as much as it receives, if not more, to the people of the hamlet?

Does that give it the right to offer Bibles in the school to the community's youth?

Or, does offering a Bible to someone who may be interested in what it has to say -- and who always has the option of saying no thank you without any fear of persecution -- really amount to nothing more than a thinly-veiled attack on other forms of belief?

I am among those who try their best to be a good Christian, but have little use for the church, which, as an institution, has become so political and secretive during the past two centuries as to be almost a direct kin of the state.

And, at the risk of offending non-Christians everywhere, I am also among those who believe God is responsible for man.

I just happen to believe He did it through the process of evolution; not by being smart enough to create a fanciful garden, but not quite clever enough to figure a way to keep the snakes out.

I also know as all-powerful as He may be, God's not perfect.

If He were, He probably would have given a lot more thought to that whole free will notion.

Yes, He gave the vast majority of us the ability to know the difference between right and wrong, but free will often trumps common sense when it comes to doing things that can land us in hot water.

In this era of political correctness gone mad, common sense tells me it's far safer to wish everyone an early happy holidays and only have my conscience to deal with.

Yet, I choose to end this piece by wishing everyone an early merry Christmas.

Sometimes, you just have to follow your heart.

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