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Eating locally may be the mantra of conscientious environmentalists in southern Canada, but for Northerners it could be a solution to a variety of problems ranging from food security to employment.

According to a report by the Department of Industry Tourism and Investment from 2005, there are more than two million hectares of arable land in the NWT. Encompassing portions of the Hay River, Liard River Valley, Slave River Lowland and Upper Mackenzie regions, that land creates enormous potential for agricultural development.

Access to affordable and quality food in the North is an issue in the territory and despite the flaws in a recent visit to Canada by Olivier De Schutter, the United Nation's special rapporteur on the right to food, he did get people talking.

The GNWT also needs to start talking about food security, and expanding agricultural opportunities in the NWT would be a solution worth pursuing.

Back in the late 1940s, the Government of Canada set up a test farm in Fort Simpson that was eventually abandoned due to what was termed as low agricultural potential. However, changing climate combined with improved technologies might make farming operations more viable today.

A few weeks ago a story in Inuvik Drum highlighted how growing food locally can reduce a family's expenses. A gardener in the community tracked the savings from growing her own produce and was able to calculate it at more than $800 a year.

The development of an NWT-based food production sector could help territorial residents achieve similar savings and keep money in the North instead of funnelling it to southern producers and trucking companies.

What is needed is some comprehensive research into what types of operations would be best suited to the NWT. We also need strong leaders to overcome the political climate in the NWT which might serve to be a greater barrier to food production than weather.

Conflicts involving Crown, territorial and aboriginal lands and a lack of established infrastructure are not insurmountable barriers, especially considering the potential benefits to so many residents.

Hundreds of pounds of potatoes grown in Norman Wells, Hay River's egg farm, wild game and fishing, the potential for wild berry farming, and a Fort Smith alpaca farm selling fleece are all examples of successes in Northern agriculture.

They are also evidence that commercial agriculture can work in the NWT. With the proper support, agriculture could help reduce the cost of food, spur employment and diversify our economy.

Presently, government funding for agriculture projects focuses on traditional harvests and small-scale growing or producing operations. Expanding that support to larger-scale operations is the next logical step.

Bree Denning, board co-ordinator with the Centre for Northern Families, is encouraging Northerners to submit their concerns about the accessibility and affordability of nutritious food to the UN's special rapporteur, who addressed the needs of the North but failed to visit our territory.

We'd also encourage people to contact the GNWT to express their desire to see more home-grown solutions to food security.

The poor showing at a public meeting on language services at Qikiqtani General Hospital earlier this month is a missed opportunity and a major hurdle in having Inuktitut become the territory's language of business.

Language commissioner Alexina Kublu expressed well-founded disappointment regarding the turnout. There are definitely issues with the existing lack of access to medical escorts or caregivers who speak an Inuit language, or provide medical information in Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun.

So why didn't people with these complaints show up for the meeting?

Maybe the issue of communication only seems important in a moment of crisis, and when a medical emergency is over, the problem fades into the background, or maybe people were just busy. Hopefully, though, the low turnout is not viewed as a sign the language barrier is unimportant.

Inuktitut, for the time being, is healthy in Nunavut; according to Statistics Canada, it was the mother tongue of about two-thirds of the territory's population in 2006 (20,480 of 29,325 people).

The 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey stated about 92 per cent of Inuit children between the ages of two and five in Nunavut could understand an Inuit language, and 82 per cent could communicate their needs in one.

However, English remains the language of business throughout the territory. English is free - the most popular TV shows, books and movies are in English, as are video games. The presence of Inuktitut on the Internet is very limited.

Language goes beyond words; it is the vehicle of culture. English carries with it a Western way of doing things; its vernacular is suited to the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., five-day work-week, and to the priorities of Western culture.

Inuktitut is suited to the traditions of Inuit, and to Inuit culture and priorities.

When people communicate in a language, they communicate in the cultural context of that language - this is why it's crucial for standardized Inuktitut to be the default language of communication in business and bureaucracy throughout the territory.

It will be a battle to get it there, especially in light of how many business and government jobs are filled by southerners who don't know an Inuit language.

Regardless, it must be the goal and the GN must be unwavering in its pursuit. Every effort should be put into making Inuit language education available not only for Inuit but for anyone who moves into the territory.

All who wish to learn it should have that opportunity - the more people who know it, the more will use it, particularly if it's free of cost to the public, like English.

That would require government subsidization for translation services, but it would make the language thrive.

Two Yellowknife families will be handed keys to brand-new homes this year.

Sylvie Lefort, Ed Dithurbide and their two children will occupy one portion of a duplex on Moyle Drive in the Niven Lake subdivision, while Charlotte Larocque and two of her children will call the adjoined dwelling home.

This development is thanks to the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity, which is debuting its first low-cost housing projects in Yellowknife.

This gives potential homeowners another source for a hand up. The NWT Housing Corporation (NWTHC) provides forgivable loans and financial assistance based on applicants' income and family size as well as programs for first-time home buyers who are unable to secure mortgage financing at the outset. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) also provides loans and grants for affordable housing projects.

Those avenues help, but 21 per cent of Yellowknifers struggle with housing suitability, adequacy or affordability, according to a 2009 NWT community survey on housing needs.

Habitat for Humanity NWT delivers some additional help for those struggling to acquire a safe, secure and affordable home - assistance that is needed and welcomed. Families selected, after a rigorous application process, do not need to make a down payment and pay an affordable monthly, interest-free mortgage once the home is completed. The families contribute further by helping to build the home alongside Habitat for Humanity volunteers and business supporters.

Construction on Yellowknife's two Habitat homes is expected to start next month, and the raising of those walls will surely come as a great relief to two families that previously had little opportunity to own their own home.

The Northwest Territories is on a bit of a roll when it comes to road safety.

The Department of Transportation reports there have been no traffic accident-related deaths since December 2010 - a bit of an anomaly in a jurisdiction where vehicle accidents claim on average more than four lives every year.

A positive step toward making our roads safer was instituted on Jan. 1 when the territory joined most other Canadian jurisdictions in banning the use of cellphones and other handheld devices while driving.

Despite these positive developments, we should not be in a hurry to congratulate ourselves just yet. The information is somewhat spotty but national statistics indicate the number of traffic-related fatalities in the Northwest Territories has been above the national average for much of the past decade.

The average number of fatalities per 100,000 people between 2000 to 2004 was 9.6 annually in the NWT, according to Statistics Canada, slightly higher than the Canadian average of 9.0. In 2008 and 2009 it was 11.4.

The territory has been blessed with a welcome but unusually long lull in the death count these past 15 months, perhaps due in part to the Department of Transportation's safety campaigns, or simply an aberration.

There have been a number of close calls involving Yellowknife drivers in recent months that could have easily ended in tragedy, including a Highway 7 accident that left a man pinned inside his vehicle while awaiting help and another just last week where two passengers were ejected from their vehicle during a rollover on Highway 3.

It's great that the NWT has such a great road safety record right now but that is no reason to let our guard down. One bad accident is all that's needed to turn those statistics grim.

This is a topic that's been visited before in the pages of Deh Cho Drum but it is one that's important enough to repeat.

The importance of volunteers, especially in small communities, can't be underestimated. On May 15 Val Gendron of Fort Simpson was presented with the NWT Outstanding Volunteer Award in the individual category.

The purpose of the awards, which were created in 1991, is to recognize, "individuals and organizations who have improved the quality of life for NWT residents through significant voluntary commitment," as stated in a press release sent out by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

The important part of that sentence is "improved the quality of life," because that is really what volunteers do.

Think of something you really enjoy doing in your community. If that something is participating in an organized sport such as soccer or softball, or if it's a special event such as Mackenzie Days or the Open Sky Festival, there are undoubtedly volunteers involved.

Volunteers transform places such as Fort Simpson or Fort Providence or Trout Lake from merely a group of people into a community. Volunteers make special events and activities possible.

Without volunteers, life in Deh Cho communities would become much more boring and sedentary and possibly a bit more dangerous.

In Fort Simpson, volunteers run the Seven Spruce Golf Course, organize all of the sports teams, put on events such as Beavertail Jamboree, take youths on trips, staff the Fort Simpson Volunteer Fire Department and do countless other things.

In the other Deh Cho communities the story is the same with only the identity of the volunteers, the participants and the names and variety of some of the events changing.

What all of this means is that volunteers should be valued.

Valuing volunteers doesn't mean having to nominate them for awards, although that's always nice. It can mean something as simple as saying thank you to that person serving you at a community barbecue or engaging your child in a sport. Valuing volunteers can also mean becoming one yourself.

Not everyone can spend as much time and energy volunteering as Gendron does, but it's easy enough to put aside a few hours a month to get involved with something that you enjoy and that will have a positive impact on your community.

Volunteers help make Deh Cho communities the great places that they are and additional volunteers will only strengthen communities they support.

The number of tourists travelling to Inuvik seems to be dwindling.

When pondering what might be a cause for this problem, it's easy to blame external circumstances beyond the control of the people who live here.

The price of gas is spiking, which may deter road-trippers from driving all the way up here. The global economy is slumping, which might mean people who want to visit simply can't afford to right now. The bugs are bad in the summer, enough said. The list goes on.

While these statements are true and could very well be contributing to the lack of tourists in recent years, there is one relatively simple step Inuvik can take if it wants to attract more visitors: give them more to do.

Upon running into a couple of tourists in Inuvik this past weekend, I was at a loss when they asked me the ever-popular tourist question: "What should we see while we're here?"

After telling them about the Igloo Church, the Boot Lake trail, the river and the art store in the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation building, I was out of ideas.

As a community, Inuvik has a lot to offer a potential tourist. Its main attractions are not in its businesses or its industry, however, but in the people who live here and the unique and beautiful land and sky that surround it.

Many people are fascinated with the idea of the Canadian Arctic. Mass media has shaped their opinion of the place as unspoiled landscapes sparsely populated while still full of history and rich cultural traditions.

Market research shows travellers to the North are coming less and less for hunting and fishing, and more for cultural and ecological tours. So, where are the training programs to train guides who will give this demographic the product and experience they are looking for?

Newton Grey, president of the Inuvik Chamber of Commerce, said the people of Inuvik are the key to its success as a tourist destination. This is true.

The key to successful tourism in Inuvik is to get Gwich'in and Inuvialuit people on board with the idea of cultural and ecological tourism.

If these people want to tell the story of their culture, their history, and the way it was here before Europeans arrived, there will be an audience – and that audience will pay.

The idea of the land and people in Inuvik being the building blocks for a sustainable tourist industry seems almost too good to be true. One of the best features of this plan is that all of the necessary pieces to realize a world-class ethno-tourism program are already here.

As Grey also said, "Not everything has to cost millions, sometimes you just get up and do it."

The arrangement between the City of Yellowknife and local artist Francois "T-Bo" Thibault for the centrepiece sculpture in Somba K'e Civic Plaza is just plain confusing.

The commissioned art in question, a trio of six-metre-tall drum dancers titled United in Celebration, decorates the Frame Lake waterfront near city hall. T-Bo erected the sculpture in August 2009, and he has plans for a second phase to complete his vision.

The artist addressed councillors during a municipal services committee meeting last week to appeal for payment for his labour. It seems there is a discrepancy between what the artist feels he is presently owed and what the city feels it is obligated to pay and when.

United in Celebration is arguably the most prominent artwork in Yellowknife, and there is no doubt city hall understands its value.

The city's 2012 tourist guide features a photo of the steel sculpture with a caption touting the area as the "perfect spot" for a picnic. Clearly, the city considers the massive sculpture an asset that contributes to this idyllic site for tourists.

The city also showcased the sculpture as a backdrop for the 2009 Olympic torch relay and last year's royal visit by Prince William and Duchess Catherine Middleton. During these historic spectacles, United in Celebration was chosen from among all Yellowknife's majestic vistas to represent the city to international audiences.

Artists, like any other professionals contracted by the city, are expected to deliver quality work. The city, on behalf of its residents, is expected to pay them according to clearly defined contracts. In this case the artist seems to have done the work, and the city has derived substantial benefit, but observers can't yet be sure whether the city met its obligation to compensate him.

Public art enhances life in the capital, and the city should take it seriously enough to properly design contracts when it asks artists to share their creativity.

You ever dream of playing hockey in the NHL? If you do, you are far from being the only one.

Canada ranks number one in the world with 572,411 registered hockey players, according to the International Ice Hockey Federation. That's 1.68 per cent of the population.

China, the most populous country on Earth with 1.3 billion people, has only 613 registered players. No wonder Canada is considered the best hockey nation in the world, and the primary contributor of talent to the NHL. Our passion for the game also means competition to crack the roster of a professional team is extremely fierce.

Yellowknife's Tye Hand is well aware of that after playing a full season with the Drumheller Dragons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he notched one point in 25 games. The 16-year-old defenceman managed a feat few minor league hockey players are able to accomplish: he got drafted to a team in the Western Hockey League - just one step below the NHL.

It's even more remarkable considering how difficult it is for young men like Hand to travel hundreds of kilometres down south just to get a chance to play professionally.

Alas, Hand has yet to play a game for the WHL's Everett Silvertips of Washington since being drafted in 2010. This says less about his talent and more about how hard it is to break into professional hockey.

He isn't the only Yellowknifer, past or present, with his sights on an NHL career. At least two Yellowknife-raised players - Vic Mercredi and Greg Vaydik - actually made it to the NHL, if only briefly. Mercredi, a centre/left winger, played two games with the Atlanta Flames; Vaydik, a centre, lasted five with the Chicago Black Hawks.

It's a world of hard knocks out there. We hope opportunities continue to knock for Hand and other would-be Yellowknife hockey greats.

In my capacity as a branch referee-in-chief for Hockey North - and a guy who's worn the stripes for a good many years - many people have asked me about what they perceive to be a lower standard of officiating in this year's NHL playoffs.

NHL officials, in my humble opinion, are the best in the world.

And I'm more than a little uncomfortable criticizing the way guys I look up to - almost in awe for the level they've achieved - have been calling the game this spring.

It's like taking one of our best local hockey players and asking him to critique the play of Sidney Crosby.

As good as our guy may be, Crosby is at a whole different level and then some.

But hockey is hockey and there are comparisons to be made between the NHL game and what we enjoy watching in our local arenas every year.

One area you will never hear me criticize an official, or any given crew of officials, is when a high-stick infraction is missed.

Today's game is played at an incredible pace and, with so many large bodies moving at such high speeds, a high stick can happen in the blink of an eye among an often tangled mass of humanity.

There are few worse feelings as an official than when blood is dripping down a player's face and you didn't see what happened.

It gets even worse seconds afterwards when you call your crew together and none can attest to seeing it. It's also difficult to criticize refs on marginal calls.

So many factors come into play, not the least of which is how many players try to 'sell' a call in today's game.

It's almost like soccer in that some players are dealt a glancing blow and then go down as if they've been shot.

Then they stare at the ref, and turn their gloves upwards in the universal hockey sign language of where's the call?

Having said all that, there are two areas I feel NHL refs have been lacking in during these playoffs.

The first is consistency with their calls.

Almost nothing infuriates players or coaches more than refs letting almost everything go for more than two periods and then making a chintzy call late in the game.

Almost as maddening for them is when what wasn't a penalty the previous game suddenly becomes one now, and both have unfolded often during these playoffs.

Finally, there's the phantom call, the best example of which was retired NHL ref Mick McGeough emphatically waving off a game-tying goal in Edmonton because of a hand pass that never occurred.

The hand-pass-that-never-happened call has been made three times during these playoffs, minus McGeough's over-the-top theatrics.

Just like not awarding a supposed goal when no member of the crew actually saw the puck enter the net, such calls should never be made unless the official is 110 per cent sure of what he saw, especially at the NHL level.

I agree the standard of officiating has been lower than usual during these playoffs, but the game gets tougher to call every year.

At the risk of leaning on a cliche to end my thoughts, no matter how good they are, officials are human beings and human beings sometimes make mistakes.

In hockey, one can only hope that mistake doesn't come at the worst possible time.

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