It was pretty amazing to watch the process that took place during the youth leather workshop four youth held Fort Simpson last week.

Under the guidance of D'Arcy J. Moses, seven youths started with a table covered with hides and furs and within five days had created high-quality leather vests. Some of the garments that emerged from the workshop could have been sold in any clothing store.

The youths had the opportunity to learn about fashion design and working with leather thanks to Devonian Metals Inc. The company, which holds mining leases near Wrigley, sponsored the workshop.

In the Deh Cho, there has been a lot of concern about the development of non-renewable resources, particularly through mining. One common theme across the region has been that communities and First Nations want to benefit from any developments that take place.

Discussions about those benefits often revolve around contracts, employment and training opportunities for local people. Youth leather workshops, to my knowledge, have never featured prominently in discussions and agreements.

Communities, however, need to broaden their concepts of what can be gained as companies try to build good working relations with residents in the area they are hoping do business in or have already established a base in.

Let's be frank.

If a resource development company, or any company for that matter, is looking to begin operating in your area, you should look to get every conceivable benefit out of that relationship. It sounds greedy and probably is, but it's also practical.

Communities in the Deh Cho don't have a lot of spare resources to devote to activities and facilities that aren't essential. Junior resource development companies may not have a lot of money either, but they will have a budget for community relations.

Communities and First Nations' governments need to work openly with companies to identify their community's needs and the best ways to meet them using local resources and talents. If this relationship is done right, things such as youth leather workshops can arise.

Such workshops aren't creating contracts for development corporations, employing large numbers of people or providing training related to an industry, except perhaps the fashion industry. But that does not negate their value or importance. Communities need to remain open to taking advantage of smaller opportunities that could enrich residents' lives.

A young girl borrowed my camera last week. After a quick five-minute lesson, she was off snapping photos like she was the next Jimmy Olsen.

The moment was soon forgotten until I uploaded the photos onto the work computer and saw she had taken some hauntingly beautiful portraits of her fellow campers.

I wish I had taken the time to look through them while I was there so I could have told her how great I thought they were.

We can talk about visiting ministers, tourists and military personnel all we want, but they're not the ones who run this town.

Sure visitors have an impact. They spend money on food, tours and lodging.

The people who keep it going, however, are volunteers.

They organize events, ump ball games, supervise dances, help out at the Inuvik Youth Centre, give up weekends building a cabin and even unofficially take in a lost dog or two to keep it out of the pound.

It's a thankless job but luckily there are so many people in this community that give up time for, well, their community.

Did we mention they put out fires? Both literally and figuratively.

That fight that almost happened at some dance? Solved by volunteer security.

The youth in this town have so much talent and they need volunteers to help nurture that.

Inuvik is kind of isolated, everyone knows that. The fact is, you can't offer endless courses at school when there are only so many people who would be interested in them.

It's also hard to get longevity out of programs. Residents come and go depending on their work contracts and with them leave skills they had to share with the community.

Unless, of course, they took the time to teach someone else.

Volunteers make time because they care and want to help make the community everything it can be. It's what makes some people come for a year and stay for 30 more.

It brings me back to the young female version of Jimmy Olsen.

I hope there's someone out there who can show you the next step and help teach you about photography.

All it takes is five minutes.

Throughout his two decades living and working in the North, Affleck has sought strategies to more equitably and efficiently serve 42,000 people spread across more than 30 NWT communities, a quarter of whom were physically moved for health-care purposes last year, according to statistics the physician shared during the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) conference in Yellowknife last week.

Affleck describes the delivery of health care in the NWT as "a difficulty, a challenge, and a gift all at the same time."

His compassion and creativity have helped him find ways to humanize health care by moving information, instead of patients, over long distances. By promoting modern health information systems, which he pioneered as part of his work for the medical clinic offered to clients at the Centre for Northern Families, his team has managed to digitize records for more than half the NWT patients on the electronic medical record system.

Last week, Affleck also introduced CMA delegates to a mental health pilot program that couples electronic medical records with teleconferencing technology to connect NWT patients with physicians at Stanton Territorial Hospital or at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Stanton's partner facility in the project.

The initiative, which is being designed for two yet-to-be-identified NWT communities so far, will allow follow-up care in cases where personal visits might not otherwise be possible or practical. Digitized charts allow doctors to remotely access patient histories, permitting them to write prescriptions and order lab tests.

The theme of this year's CMA conference focused on how social and environmental factors affect the health of Canadians. Affleck's example offered insight into how obstacles to health care can be overcome with technology and compassion.

What we need to save the Robertson Headframe at Con Mine, shuttered now for nearly a decade, is an eccentric person with money to burn.

If no one fitting that description steps forward then the inevitable day will come when the NWT's tallest structure gets knocked down and another part of Yellowknife's gold mining past will be tossed into the dustbin of history.

The immense size of Robertson Headframe alone has sealed its fate. Who is going to pay to operate and maintain a 76-metre tall building that can serve no apparent purpose other than its original one? It was designed to lower and lift workers and equipment down to underground mine chambers now filling up with water.

A report to the city's heritage committee in 2008 pegged the cost of refurbishing options for the headframe as follows: $20 million for a geothermal plant and indoor gardens; $20 million for a glassed-in lookout on the rooftop; $40 million for a science and technology park; $50 million to build condos in the tower; and $100 million to convert it into a luxury hotel.

These schemes all very nice and grand but every one of them is a deal-breaker, unless taxpayers are willing to foot the astronomical bill any one of them would require. Considering that the city is already borrowing $20 million to build a new water treatment plant and fix crumbling roads and sewer pipes, council is wise to keep this one off the table.

What a shame. Where is a zany, rich admirer of mining heritage monoliths when you need one?

The Rankin Inlet Co-ed Softball League hit the ball out of the park with the Calm Air Cup on the weekend of Aug. 10.

The event itself was a success - only one injury, four of the 10 teams were from out of town, a lucky draw on the weather after storms had been forecast, plenty of attendance and an appropriate amount of good-natured jeering from the beer gardens, which also were very popular.

Tournaments such as this are fantastic and real feats in a region where there are no roads connecting any communities. Calm Air's reduced rates to Rankin for the weekend and continued sponsorship of the tournament also deserve serious props.

Not only was it a chance for softball players, who practise all summer, to compete for a trophy and a spot at the territorials, but it was a chance for the community to get together for one big party. Whether they watched from the bleachers or from the beer gardens, the audience was either constantly entertained or providing its own entertainment.

Teams from around the region had a chance to play on the new field, which, by all accounts, is a marked improvement upon what they'd been playing on before.

As well, a big sports competition like the Calm Air Cup creates a buzz among the kids in the community that lasts past the end of the games. Young softball players could be seen tossing balls around in the streets before the tournament, but afterwards it was hard to find a street where there weren't any kids being baseball stars.

Whether they had real gloves and baseballs or a foam ball and a stick, Rankin Inlet's children had their minds on the sport. Sugary foods and TV have taken their toll on the physical fitness of many of today's young, but tournaments like this help fight back against easy inactivity. The kids see their older brothers, cousins or friends playing well on the field and the kids want to step into their shoes.

So thanks to the league, the volunteers, the Royal Canadian Legion, Calm Air, the teams and the audience - you done good!

- Tim Edwards is the acting editor of Kivalliq News. Editor Darrell Greer will return next week.

Since being elected as president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council on June 22, Robert Alexie Jr. has kept his campaign promise to bring more transparency to the organization.

Recent updates to the GTC's website, a frequently updated Facebook page and an open-door policy with media demonstrates his efforts to keep his people informed.

Last week, during the Gwich'in Assembly in Fort McPherson, Alexie Jr. decided to revisit the GTC's position on devolution. Although prior to the meeting he wouldn't say if he supported the organization's lawsuit against the GNWT over devolution, he expressed concern that the Gwich'in people might not have understood what they were voting on when they supported a motion to sue the territory.

To ensure his people are aware and can make decisions based on accurate information, he said it was his mission to explain devolution in layman's terms.

Whether the GTC decide to suspend its lawsuit against the GNWT and support devolution is important, but it's equally important that the organization made that critical choice while fully informed. With that assurance behind him, Alexie Jr. can move forward with confidence he is fulfilling the will of his people.

So far Alexie Jr. has demonstrated a desire to support the wishes of his constituents without pushing his own agenda. He is clear in his meaning and is not afraid to admit if he doesn't know the answer to a question.

A willingness to learn, communicate and support those who put him into power are the characteristics of a true leader.

Gardeners and berry pickers in the South Slave now have a way to get the most out of their harvests thanks to a mobile commercial kitchen deployed in the region.

The new pilot project - supported by the Territorial Farmers' Association and Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment - will give people the ability to preserve food for longer periods and possibly sell it commercially.

Although creating a business base for food sales is a secondary objective, the commercial kitchen could demonstrate the viability of NWT agriculture, an area the GNWT should be exploring in greater depth. There are too many factors affecting Northern food prices. Not only are we at the mercy of the regular supply and demand issues - drought, loss of farmland and grains being converted to bio fuel - we also bear the cost of increases to fuel prices and shipping fees.

Cutting out the middle man and creating a territory-wide food grower's consortium could save Northerners money and improve health.

Even if the consumer side of the idea doesn't pan out, individual green thumbs in the South Slave will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labour longer, saving them money on groceries.

Hopefully the commercial kitchen concept expands to the northern parts of the territory. Not only will it give people more options to store and possibly sell food, it might also spark more community gardens and greenhouses if people know what they grow will last longer.

After three standoffs involving Nunavut residents and RCMP members in less than two weeks, officials are looking to form a safety committee in Kimmirut.

The territory has endured a recent rash of gun-related violence. One alarming incident occurred in Kimmirut, where 21 bullets pierced the RCMP detachment and a police vehicle after a resident opened fire on July 28.

Another incident took place in Iglulik when a man was arrested after pointing a rifle at RCMP, while the third reckless act involved a man in Hall Beach who, after shots were fired in a residence, had to be talked out of his house before finally surrendering to police.

There are communities in neighbouring NWT that do not have police and are crying out for them.

We don't want to lose this important service. We don't want police to feel unwelcome or afraid for their lives. Officials and residents are brainstorming how to end the attacks involving police, curbing the gun-related violence that seems to saturate the territory.

Creating a safety committee in Kimmirut, and establishing similar committees in other Nunavut communities, could hone in on the most critical resource available: the people.

A safety committee -- presumably made up of the RCMP members who serve in the hamlet and select residents -- could open the airwaves on the issues brewing in the area.

RCMP members routinely spend a stint of only a couple of years if that in one small detachment before moving on.

New officers come in as strangers to the community.

A safety committee, one dedicated to the well-being of the residents and the police, will allow RCMP a smoother transition into the community.

It is the residents in small hamlets such as Kimmirut who know who is agitated, who is having trouble at home, who might be a danger to the community or police.

It is the people who have built their lives together who can feel the tension build, who can read the signs and hear the whispers of the community before tragedy strikes.

Minister of Justice Daniel Shewchuk encourages "Nunavummiut to get to know RCMP members and support them in keeping our communities safe," as he stated in a recent press release.

It's this connection that needs to develop through a safety committee, something built from those living in the communities and those protecting the people there.

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