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If the NWT needs a new road, it's a road to resources - an all-weather land route to replace as much as possible of the present ice road system that leads to the riches of diamonds, gold, silver, copper, uranium and other metals and minerals in the Barren lands.

A report by the Conference Board of Canada released last week shows that mining is driving the NWT economy and is expected to be our primary source of growth for the next several years.

As reported in News/North last week, the Mackenzie Valley Highway extension, from Wrigley to Inuvik, is entering the final phase of regulatory scrutiny. That's no guarantee the estimated $1.7 billion project will proceed, but why are we even thinking about it?

With apologies to Cece Hodgson-McCauley, a longtime highway booster who is deserving of having the project named after her, communities along the highway route not already served by a road have a combined population of less than 1,900. That's almost $900,000 per person in highway construction costs, more in maintenance.

Yes, the road would create temporary construction jobs, attract a modest number of tourists and may make a tiny dent in the cost to build a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, but we should wait for the opposite to hold true - that pipeline construction will make building the road cheaper.

The people of Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope and Tsiigehtchic should be entitled to cheaper groceries, but we can find ways to subsidize their cost of living that are much more affordable than $1.7 billion. The territory's debt limit was just increased to $800 million, more than half of which is already accounted for. We can't afford the highway.

With a road to resources, on the other hand, we will have more mines, more jobs and more contract opportunities for NWT businesses. It's the road to a better future and one that will eventually pay for itself.

Although the 2012 Arctic Winter Games only wrapped up on March 10, Team NWT already has its eyes set on the 2014 Games in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Bill Othmer, Team NWT's assistant chef de mission, said for the territory to achieve its goal of achieving at least second place in 2014 it will have to start preparing immediately. But preparation isn't limited to how athletes perform on the field of play, it includes supporting sports at the grassroots level and getting youth excited about participation. Sport North understands this concept and is working to provide athletes infrastructure to learn, train and compete. Such work was done in the area of traditional sports this past year and was credited for increasing the gold medal count for Dene games and Arctic sports, as well as helping Fort Smith's Veronica McDonald to break two world records.

Twenty-one communities were represented on Team NWT this year in Whitehorse and many athletes from outside Yellowknife helped boost the NWT to 116 medals, its highest total in a decade.

Supporting volunteers, coaches and athletes is key to not only improving ability but fostering enthusiasm in future athletes. Doing so in every community across the territory will ensure Team NWT has more youth to draw from each year while also encouraging healthy lifestyles. More active youth means a healthier society and we all win regardless of our placing at the Arctic Winter Games.

Congratulations to all Team NWT participants this year, coaches and volunteers included. It was your efforts that made the event the unbelievable experience every athlete News/North spoke to said it was.

It's hard to make a living as an artist, and there are many artists trying to scrape by in Nunavut.

Therefore Kugluktuk MLA Peter Taptuna's suggestion regarding artist resale rights is a good one. The proposal, which had the cabinet minister calling on the federal government to enact legislation, would have artists, or their estate, collect five per cent on the resale of their work. Taptuna gave the example of two Kenojuak Ashevak prints recently auctioned in the south for $29,620. If Ashevak had the five per cent resale rights, she would have brought in $1,481.

This legislation is in place in the European Union as well as other parts of the world, including the U.S. state of California. In California, whenever a work of art worth more than $1,000 is sold at an auction, gallery or similar venue, the seller or their agent must withhold five per cent of the sale and has 90 days to try and locate the artist and give them the cash - if they fail, they must give it to the state's arts council, which then has seven years to locate the artist and give them the cash, after which the money is kept by the council.

This could work in Canada. In order to benefit Nunavummiut artists, more effort would have to be made to locate and pay individuals, but tight timeframes must be maintained and a federally-established monitoring body should be set up.

This entity would have to keep a database of artist contact information, and would be responsible to collect this money and turn it over to the artists - if the onus to collect is left on the artist's plate, the system won't work. The legal system is hard to navigate, especially from Nunavut. It just wouldn't be worth it for an artist to pursue a case to collect around $1,000.

That said, this is a cause the Government of Nunavut should continue to champion.

The gains might not be huge, but if collection is made easy for the artists, it is definitely worth it.

It's the most common argument Northern courts hear: "I was drunk. I don't remember." Often, it's sadly true. That doesn't change anything about guilt, however.

In a drunken sex assault case heard in Nunavut's court last month, the lawyer for the defendant wanted Justice Neil Sharkey to overrule a law banning the use of extreme intoxication as a defence, saying it violated the defendant's Charter rights.

Sharkey upheld the law, ruling it was justifiable given Nunavut's violence per capita rates - the highest in the country - and the fact these crimes nearly always involve alcohol.

This was the right decision. When a drunk driver hits a pedestrian, when a drunk man hits his spouse, when a drunk person commits murder, rape, assault - maybe the offender wouldn't have done these things sober. That doesn't absolve them of responsibility for their actions. They drank to excess, they committed the crime.

Alcohol abuse is the scourge of the territory. It twists minds, it causes undue harm to way too many families and it ruins lives, but it must never be an excuse.

A person is responsible for their actions, and they are similarly responsible to get help when liquor becomes a problem.

It's not right for the public to let crimes go unpunished, to let horrible acts of violence go unchecked, just because someone has let alcohol control their lives.

Five years ago, the city unveiled a report on the types of solid waste going into the landfill.

Its findings were revealing, although not particular surprising.

The single-family residential sector only represented 19 per cent of the 9,001 cubic tonnes of waste handled at the city's solid waste facility in 2006, according to the report. The biggest contributor by far was the multi-family and small commercial sector. This group produced 59 per cent of the garbage; the large commercial sector was responsible for 22 per cent.

The report came a year after the city first imposed a limit of three 77-litre curbside bags on Jan. 1, 2006. Council also approved new fees for trash coming from multi-family dwellings and the commercial sector, charging $65 a tonne for waste - which has since been raised to $82.50 - and $30 a tonne for sorted recyclables.

Having a lower rate for recyclables, it was believed, would convince Yellowknife's landlords and businesses to find ways to reduce the amount of trash they were producing.

The city was planning to impose the two-bag curbside limit in 2007 but council begged off until this year, fearing a backlash from families who wouldn't be able to stay under the lowered limit.

People produce too much trash, and as the city's 2007 report demonstrates, not enough of it is being diverted from the waste stream and recycled. At the time of the report's writing, some 31 per cent of the waste heading to dump could be recycled.

Still, many house dwellers - especially those with large families who will need to buy $1 tags to put out extra bags when the three-bag grace period ends in two weeks - feel they've been unfairly targeted.

Lowered rates for sorting recyclables may provide apartment landlords with an incentive to put out recycle bins for their tenants, but what is the incentive for apartment tenants to use them, other than satisfying an environmental conscience?

We know residents in single-family units have a financial incentive to recycle but this is very difficult to quantify for people living in multi-family units.

It would be interesting to see how much the situation has changed among the various garbage-producing sectors since the 2007 study.

The city, meanwhile, has yet to roll out other important planks in its efforts to keep recyclable waste out of the landfill, such as banning cardboard from the garbage stream. The 2007 study found commercial cardboard accounted for 38 per cent of the trash entering the waste stream, and 14.5 per cent of that is corrugated cardboard.

Council talked about imposing a ban last spring but have yet to act on it. Whether council intended this to be the case or not, most of the focus on recycling efforts of late have been directed at single-family units. That's certainly the impression many of these residents have now as the two-bag limit starts on April 1, following a $2.50 a month increase in the solid waste levy on Jan. 1. That fee now stands at $14.50.

That's why it's important now more than ever that council shows it's looking at the bigger garbage reduction picture and not just the easy curbside pickings.

It's that time of year again, the season of winter carnivals and jamborees in the Deh Cho.

Carnival season, which begins in March and trails into April, is one of the best parts of the winter. When the carnivals start, they are a concrete sign winter is drawing to a close. Your toes may still go numb while watching the traditional events outside but you can take solace in the fact that the weather has to warm up soon.

The carnivals and jamborees are, however, more than just a milestone on the way to spring. They are also a time-honoured way of drawing people together after a long winter.

The events at the carnivals – such as log tossing, tea boiling or the talent shows – are prime opportunities for people to shake off the winter blues, get out of their houses and visit. Not only do the events provide people with the chance to get together, but they also provide topics of conversation.

At the adult traditional games, whether at the Beavertail Jamboree in Fort Simpson or the Bison Jamboree in Fort Providence or any of the other ones in the Deh Cho, there is always a buzz about who will excel in which event. Neighbours eye each other up and try to determine who can throw a log the farthest or chop a block of wood in the shortest amount of time.

For some, the events offer friendly competition as they try to retain titles they have held in past years. Of course there's always the chance of an upset. An ill-placed blow of an axe or an unseen knot can add extra seconds to the log-splitting competition and change who will come in first, second or third.

Most importantly, the events are a lot of fun. After a long winter people are eager for something that will put a smile on their faces.

For both youth and adults, one of the most enjoyable events is the talent shows. People enjoy seeing their friends get up on stage and share their talents, whether they are singing, jigging or fiddling. A popular country song or a particularly fancy set of footwork is sure to draw cheers. Even those who get nervous and fumble a few lines are encouraged on with clapping.

The carnivals and jamborees are truly some of the best examples of community events that the Deh Cho has to offer. Of course, these events don't organize themselves.

A lot of work goes into each carnival and jamboree well before the events start. Residents of each community should be sure to thank the organizers for putting on their particular event and continuing the tradition of winter carnivals in the Deh Cho.

I wish I'd had a bag of popcorn at council's committee of the whole meeting on Monday, because although Inuvik has no movie theatre, the experience was just as good as sitting in a Hollywood tearjerker.

There was no rich, orchestral crescendo as a soundtrack but the feeling was there as Coun. Vince Sharpe calmly offered to fill the financial gap of close to $5,000 so seven Samuel Hearne Secondary School students could get on a number of planes and travel worlds away to help out at an orphanage in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia for two weeks.

This caring gesture was preceded by council offering the group $1,000 toward its goal.

The entire scene was played out perfectly, from council trying to remember if they had promised a plane ticket or $1,000 cash, to Zahra Khimji, teacher-adviser of the trip, joking in her timid voice that council could give as much as they liked.

The group only has a little more than two weeks to find the remaining money for the excursion, because they leave the country on March 28. The daunting task of fundraising $60,000 is now closer than ever – through a series of donations and events such as Saturday evening's African dinner and silent auction at the Royal Canadian Legion.

The dinner showcased the trip as a cultural experience – from the African finger food accompanied with a film of instructions on how to eat it, to an African dance by students taking a chance on the challenging but worthwhile experience.

After the $1,000 was decided upon, Sharpe said he'd cover the rest, taking out bills and counting them at the council table.

The collective gasps from Khimji, the students in attendance and parents showed the true surprise at the announcement along with the tears of relief and happiness that came after.

Although it turns out the students still have a little ways to go to reach their goal, a helping hand to bring their goal closer than ever will replenish the energy of that last fundraising push.

Do we need these grand gestures of generosity to remind us that great things can happen? Definitely not.

But the fact that the truly human response of shock, gratitude, and elation can find a home in Inuvik's council chambers and that one action can seal the deal for seven deserving students to go on a life-changing journey in itself deserves a standing ovation.

There are a number of ways to interpret standardized test results recently released for students in Yellowknife and other NWT communities.

Administered to Grade 3, 6 and 9 students each year in an effort to gauge how pupils are doing in the classroom, the results are listed in percentages for English and math. Students in the NWT write the same examinations as those given to students in Alberta.

Using a passing grade of 65 per cent, results are tabulated based on the percentage of students who achieve an acceptable standard.

Overall, it seems that students in Yellowknife are not doing too badly. In Grade 3 English, for instance, 80.4 per cent of Yellowknife students achieved the acceptable standard. Grade 6 English was even higher, with 86.7 per cent of students reaching the acceptable standard. In Grade 9, 84.2 per cent of students achieved the acceptable standard in English.

Math scores were lower, with 79.6 per cent of Grade 3 Yellowknife passing, 68.6 per cent of Grade 6 math students reaching the acceptable standard and, in the lowest recorded score, 53 per cent of Grade 9 math students in Yellowknife reached the standard.

Overall, as a result of looking solely at the percentage of students who achieved the acceptable standard, one might conclude that most students are learning English reasonably well and a majority of students are passing their courses in math, although there is room for improvement among Grade 9 students.

That said, we're more concerned with another statistic that was released along with the achievement test scores.

The percentage of students who were excused from writing the provincial examinations is significantly higher in Yellowknife than in Alberta, and even higher yet in NWT communities.

A document from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment states that school superintendents were given the authority in 2007 to excuse students from writing the tests if they are on an individual education plan or if they are working at two or more grades below their grade level.

The result is that student achievement test results are skewed because students who are already failing are not part of the equation. Therefore, achievement test statistics are not an accurate reflection of where the student body is in terms of academic accomplishment.

There seems to be a correlation between the percentage of students excused from writing provincial achievement tests and the number of those who reached an acceptable level. As mentioned previously, the highest percentage of Yellowknife students reaching the acceptable level was 86.7 per cent in Grade 6 English. But the highest percentage of Yellowknife students excused from writing the exams was also in Grade 6 English, at 20.1 per cent.

Obviously, a person who looks at the percentage of students who achieved an acceptable standard in isolation would not get an accurate reflection of how Grade 6 students in Yellowknife are doing in the classroom.

Further, we suggest Yellowknife educators place a high emphasis on giving extra instruction to those students who have been excused from tests. In our view, developing a strategy so that all students are learning at their proper grade level is more important than celebrating the success of those students who are achieving an acceptable standard, especially a standard that doesn't truly reflect our students' standing.

One of the biggest discussions making the rounds, as we plow through the month of tournament season and hockey, hockey and more hockey in the Kivalliq, is how great an emphasis should be placed on winning at all costs?

Sounds like a simple enough question on the surface, but it's far more complex.

In no other sport - at least that doesn't involve one human being beating another senseless as its main objective - do emotions run as high as in hockey.

In many areas across hockey-crazed Canada, the need for victory is instilled in players at a very young age.

Stacking teams to win tournaments at every level is almost as much a national sport as hockey itself.

It's tough to argue against it when you're talking AAA minor hockey teams, then up through the university ranks to junior A and above.

A case can even be made for it when you're talking an area's top senior men's event, such as the Avataq Cup here in the Kivalliq, and, of course, when preparing for the Arctic Winter Games (AWG).

But the ice gets a lot choppier when you delve into the lower levels of hockey.

Let's be honest. How many communities would want to keep coming back to, say, an eight-team tournament if one team was continuously far superior to the others?

And how long would even hometown fans stay interested, watching their team win game after game by the 7-0 mercy rule, knowing in their hearts the other teams didn't stand a chance?

The rhetoric of why bother playing if you're not there to win loses all meaning when you stack the deck in your favour to the point where only divine intervention could change the outcome.

The game is far more exciting in lower levels when teams are evenly matched in competitive tournaments and players are coached to win, but not at all costs.

Coaching at higher levels of hockey comes with a lot more responsibility than simply putting another check mark in the win column.

That's especially true in areas such as the North, where the AWG represents the pinnacle of competitive hockey.

The problem with preaching accept nothing less than absolute victory is that the message also implies, by its very nature, that anything less than is absolute failure.

And an unchecked fear of failure (the loser tag) can lead young athletes to very dark places.

Team Nunavut's bantam and midget squads picked up numerous major penalties at this year's AWG, including a major hit to the head late in a game already lost and other actions that cast Nunavut hockey in a negative light.

And this is not the first year it's happened.

Such are the actions of players who are driven to win, but have not been taught how to lose.

Competitive hockey was never meant to be a passive sport, but numbers on a scoreboard should not hold the power to define a young athlete's sense of self-worth, nor undermine their love for the game or desire to compete.

Is the notion of competing hard, doing your best, having fun, accepting the outcome with dignity and taking pride in your effort really so disagreeable?

If, as hockey lovers, we can't find it in us to put character ahead of victory, we've already paid the cost.

A high cost indeed!

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