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Fire Safety 101 strongly suggests that people do not enter a burning structure for any reason, despite the temptation to retrieve valuable possessions, even our beloved pets.

Case in point is our coverage of last week's house fire at Cassidy Point, in which the homeowner returned to her house to discover flames and smoke coming from an addition where the well and water tank are located.

Kristjana Dunn's two children were understandably upset about seeing the flames and expressed concern about the family's pets. Two dogs, Sasha and McKinley, and a cat, Sunny, were still inside the house. Brave, but risky. Wisely, Dunn went into the house on her hands and knees, below the level of smoke, and called the dogs, who crawled on their bellies through the doorway to safety. To be fair, Dunn didn't do a room-to-room search for the pets. Rather, she only went so far as the entryway and was able to call the dogs to her. She also abandoned a search for the cat, which was later found by firefighters, alive and hiding under the bed in the master bedroom.

The outcome in this instance was fortunate.

With the onset of cold weather and the rapid approach of the holiday season, now might be a good time to go over a home escape plan with your family, which includes the identification of a predetermined meeting spot outside of the house to call the fire department and wait for emergency responders.

It's also a good time to check your surroundings for fire hazards inadvertently created by a need for heat, like space heaters, for example.

And, if you're considering putting up and decorating a live Christmas tree, keep a fire extinguisher nearby and recognize that dry pine and spruce trees can burn rapidly and cause fire to spread quickly.

Some simple education and prevention now can protect your loved ones throughout the holiday season and beyond.

The hockey game held Nov. 18 involving locked out NHL hockey players and some of Yellowknife's more talented skaters seemed doubtful when first revealed to the media, Nov. 1.

It was unclear the next week whether there was enough time to book the Multiplex to host the game, or whether the lockout would come to a premature end and shatter the dream of having NHL players scoring highlight reel goals on Yellowknife ice.

In the end, out of shear will, the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT, the City of Yellowknife, the game's sponsors, and dozens of hockey-mad volunteers came together and made sure the Multiplex was the place to be Nov. 18. Of course, the game wouldn't have been possible without organizer John Chabot and a collection of Ottawa Senators and other NHLers. We have them to thank as well.

Some $16,000 was raised from the event toward the Yk Minor Hockey Association and First Assist, a program to help at-risk aboriginal children in small communities learn the value of education.

The sold-out crowd was treated to the sight of Northern favourite Jordin Tootoo of the Detroit Red Wings scoring a hat trick while Yellowknife players such as Brad Mueller and James Williams got to race down the ice with the pros.

We had our city's youngest hockey players get some on-ice pointers from Ottawa's Chris Neil and Marc Methot, and one lucky fan who threaded the needle with his shot to win a brand new Buick Verano.

All in all, it was a great night for Yellowknife, and proof that Northerners can collaborate with the pros to make things happen. All they need to do is put their heads - and hockey sticks - together.

While I can't say it's a majority, having never conducted a poll on the subject, I can say a growing number of Kivalliq teachers are voicing displeasure over the Government of Nunavut's (GN) decision to block YouTube and other social-media sites from our schools.

The GN's concern seems to be how much bandwidth the sites demand.

If that's it in a nutshell (fat chance), one can't help but wonder what could possibly be a more important use of bandwidth than for the education of our youth?

Let's be honest here.

There's no doubt some kids were on YouTube, Facebook, etc., during school hours, and nothing they did on those sites remotely resembled anything of educational value.

That said, many other kids used those social-media sites for the right reasons and were exposed to a wealth of news and topical, relevant information.

In short, they were keeping up with the world in the here and now, and that's one of the most valuable aspects of the Internet, in general, when it comes to students in remote locations.

I also agree with the educators who are wondering why the Nunavut Teacher's Association isn't demanding a better explanation from the GN, if not outright fighting to have the move reversed on the grounds it's holding back the delivery of a modern education.

The decision to block the sites also diminishes an educator's ability to take full advantage of the digital technology that exists today.

If holding back eager young minds from the best today's technology has to offer in terms of educational resources is part of what the GN is selling as a made-in-Nunavut curriculum, then I'm not buying and neither should our district education authorities or parents.

As one teacher so aptly asked, "When are people going to recognize the incredible teaching opportunities inherent in the use of iPhones, iPods, iPads and their various incarnations?"

While I don't believe the decision, in and of itself, is reason for students and parents to abandon traditional education through schooling in favour of home learning via the Internet, they should let the GN know, in no uncertain terms, this decision is archaic, if not downright draconian, in nature.

It is a move towards retarding the modern delivery of education, and a step backwards in any effort to win the people's hearts and minds concerning the new curriculum.

In fact, Nunavut should be among the nation's leaders in adapting and promoting the use of technology and social-media sites in improving our children's education.

There is also the message of distrust this sends to our youth, unless, of course, you're buying the reason of bandwidth and bandwidth alone being the reason behind the GN's decision.

This reeks of the GN convincing itself hundreds of kids were spending their days watching inappropriate videos instead of using the Internet for educational purposes.

We're almost half a century past Timothy Leary uttering his infamous line in 1967, but, it appears, the GN fears the Internet is the new way for our youth to "tune in, turn on and drop out."

It's time to grab an abacus and add up just how many ways that line of thinking simply doesn't make sense.

A woman with a black eye. An under-dressed child crying in the corner when he should be at school. A man passed out on the couch.

These are scenes that have played out many times in NWT communities. Alcohol is commonly behind them.

Statistics underscore a cause for concern. Forty-three per cent of NWT residents admit to drinking excessively (five drinks or more on a single occasion) compared to 12.1 per cent nationally. Among 15-to-24-year-olds in the territory, that number climbs to a whopping 64 per cent.

Last week marked National Addictions Awareness Week. There were sober walks, traditional ceremonies, community feasts and numerous other events.

News/North asked some community leaders for their thoughts on addictions issues. Wrigley Chief Tim Lennie expressed his opposition to having a treatment centre established in Yellowknife, an idea that seems to have political momentum behind it.

Lennie is familiar with addictions. Not only does he see the fallout from others' struggles in Wrigley, he resigned from the chief's office in the past, making a public statement that he had lost control to his own inner demons at the time.

He wants the GNWT to fund rehabilitation efforts closer to home. This is a stand sure to resonate with people in other communities that want drug and alcohol programming.

In Norman Wells the liquor store now sells unrestricted quantities of alcohol after last year's plebiscite in which 53 per cent of residents voted in favour of eliminating limitations on booze sales.

Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya, who acknowledged bootlegging was a plague in the past, said the increased alcohol flowing from the liquor store now is alarming. He is calling on the community to reconsider the lifting of restrictions, adding that other Sahtu communities are affected as more alcohol is shipped their way. Yakeleya is warning that the money associated with the coming winter oil and gas drilling season could create volatile conditions.

Norman Wells Mayor Harold McGregor, on the other hand, didn't want to speak to News/North about the issue. His views would have been helpful.

Whether banning alcohol is more effective than opening the taps from a policing perspective is difficult to assess. Crime statistics provided by the RCMP have been scant, other than a 17 per cent decline in crime in Norman Wells over the past year, despite the lifting of alcohol restrictions. That figure encompasses all crimes, but alcohol-related incidents account for a substantial portion. So that decrease is baffling but suggests open access doesn't affect addiction as much as other factors.

Southeast of Norman Wells, Behchoko has had a prohibition on liquor since June 15, 2009. That makes Behchoko a dry community - in name only.

"Even though there is a liquor ban, there are still lots of people drinking in the community," said one woman, who didn't want to be identified.

Despite the extreme approaches - one community will sell as much alcohol as you can afford to buy while the other community has a ban on all alcoholic beverages - alcohol-fuelled social problems persist.

Drinking liquor to excess is a problem people in our communities have struggled to overcome for generations. It is not going away anytime soon. But we can't stop fighting, and as part of that battle, we must keep talking openly about what's working and what's not, as we try to lead others to sobriety.

With the Arctic Fishery Alliance looking for a bigger share of Nunavut's turbot fish quota, and strict rules on how to distribute that quota across the territory, we really just need a bigger pie.

While Nunavut has its full share of Division 0A, basically from just below Qikiqtarjuaq to the northern tip of Baffin island, it has to split the turbot quota of Division 0B - from 0A down to just past the southern tip of Baffin - with the Atlantic provinces to the south.

In 2011, Nunavut was allowed to fish 2,850 metric tonnes out of Canada's total quota of 7,000 for Division 0B, the region with a longer and cheaper operating season than the northern 0A region.

Nunavut deserves 100 per cent of that quota. Whether it can fully harvest that at this point should not be a factor. By owning the quota, the territory could sell unused portions to the southern provinces on a year-by-year basis. It's ridiculous the Atlantic provinces reap the benefits of Nunavut's waters more than the territory itself.

Most of the federal government's Northern economy efforts revolve around mineral resource development. While the financial benefits of mining are nothing to be scoffed at, the fact is it's a boom-bust industry centred around non-renewable resources. Fish are a renewable resource ripe for the picking and require little infrastructure. The fisheries industry only needs small craft harbours instead of roads, railroads and massive excavations. Fisheries professionals can be trained in Nunavut, and in many cases, on the job. They don't require degrees in geology and engineering.

Rather than fostering this industry, the federal government has hamstrung it by sharing our quota with the provinces. With less quota to harvest, fisheries cannot get what they need to expand.

At the federal level, the 0B quota must be transferred to Nunavut and investment should be made in small craft harbours.

At the territorial level, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board must relax its vague Inuit-ownership rules. Suggesting the Arctic Fishery Alliance isn't sufficiently under Inuit control flies in the face of the organization's all-Inuit board asserting they do, in fact, have a say in every policy and business decision. Even if there was an inordinate amount of non-Inuit control, the NWMB should jump at the chance to invest in a successful Nunavut fishery. Create the jobs now for Inuit to fill as they are trained and as the industry grows.

The Arctic Fishery Alliance wants not only to pull in more fish, but to take advantage of tie-in business opportunities, especially in Qikiqtarjuaq, a hamlet it sees potential for as a service centre for the High Arctic turbot fishery.

The fish are there, the opportunity is there. Now the feds have to give Nunavut the quota that it should have had since division.

Mark Heyck, now mayor after three terms on city council, took exception to an assertion made in a Yellowknifer editorial ahead of this fall's election campaign that the city's budget "has more than doubled over 10 years."

Well, there is little doubt about that now, even if we take away the accounting trick that adds $9.8 million in amortization - not actual spending - to next year's budget.

City councillors, six of whom are new, have three weeks to approve a budget that even the city's director of corporate services calls "unprecedented in Yellowknife." The public, meanwhile, has only this Monday's city council meeting to voice its perspective.

Minus the $9.8 million, the city projects overall expenditures in 2013 at $74.6 million. In 2003, the figure was $35 million. Much of the added spending to next year's budget can be attributed to the $20 million loan for capital projects the previous city council approved earlier this year.

Regardless of whether the size of this budget is justified, it would be understandable if the new city councillors wanted more time to review it. MLAs did just that after last year's territorial election, pushing the GNWT budget to May from its usual spot in February or early March.

Robert C. McLeod, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, would have been seen as unfair if he were to deny a request from council to extend its Jan. 1 deadline by a month to approve its budget.

Alas, council took a pass on a proposal made by councillor Adrian Bell to seek more time. Fellow rookie Coun. Dan Wong insists a number of councillors are not "newbies at financial management," and council should just "get 'er done."

Our experience over the past few years is that city politicians have been little better than a rubber stamp at budget time. Council managed to trim a mere $33,000 from this year's budget during deliberations at the end of 2011 but not a dime from the budget before that or the one before that either.

During the 2011 budget deliberations, Heyck chastised fellow councillors who complained they didn't have enough time to approve the document, saying they were hypocrites for suggesting it wasn't "council's budget" after voting in favour of projects all year that affect city spending.

Certainly an argument can be made that the 2013 budget doesn't belong to this council. Nonetheless, new and old alike, city council is pressing ahead with this one to meet the Jan. 1 deadline.

We suspect administration doesn't have any problems with that at all.

No one would have thought poorly of our new council for seeking an extension, giving them more time to thoroughly review this huge and very important budget, especially when several of them are doing it for the first time at a municipal level.

By not seeking more time, our new council now risks seeming too rash rather than too clever.

A recent incident in Fort Liard is a timely wake-up call for all communities in the Deh Cho.

On Nov. 10 a woman was attacked by at least two dogs, possibly more, while walking on one of the community's outlying roads. According to the RCMP, the woman suffered extensive injuries to her right forearm, legs and scalp.

Dog-related issues are nothing new to most Deh Cho communities. Almost every community has struggled with issues ranging from controlling dog populations to loose dogs to enforcing dog bylaws where they exist.

Stray dogs, particularly stray dogs forming into menacing packs, have been an object of concern. The worry, of course, is that a pack could attack and seriously injure a person.

That is why the attack in Fort Liard is particularly noteworthy. The dogs in question weren't stray dogs, but rather dogs reportedly walking off-leash with their owner.

As the RCMP investigation continues, more information may become available about what caused this attack and what could have been done to prevent it. In the meantime, community governments should be taking a close look at the state of their dog situations.

What the Fort Liard incident has shown so far is that dogs need to be addressed in a holistic fashion. It's not enough to crack down on just stray dogs, because clearly they aren't the only source of potential danger.

Much of the responsibility begins with owners. Responsible dog ownership is the first step in ensuring dogs and humans can live together harmoniously.

It's important for governments, whether they are hamlets, villages or First Nations, to have dog bylaws or rules about dog ownership in place and the means to enforce them.

The larger the community, the more extensive the rules can be.

The ultimate goals are to prevent dogs from being mistreated and to ensure, as much as possible, that dogs don't pose a danger to residents. These rules and bylaws may, in light of the Fort Liard incident, need to include clauses about larger dogs being walked on leash at all times.

It's important that the Fort Liard attack be looked at in perspective. Most dogs are wonderful pets and pose little if any danger.

Both dog owners and community governments, however, have a roll to play in ensuring that communities remain safe.

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Hockey night in Inuvik
Editorial Comment
Danielle Sachs
Inuvik Drum - Thursday, November 22, 2012

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Sure the rest of Canada might be suffering because of withdrawal symptoms from the NHL lockout, but in Inuvik and other lucky towns in the North, hockey night is alive and well.

The energy at the Midnight Sun Complex was amazing on Nov. 20. The number of people who came out to cheer on both the NHL players and hometown minor hockey heroes was memorable.

Sure, the 375 tickets sold out very quickly, but the organizers made every attempt to open up the event for anyone who wanted to come.

No ticket? No problem. The community hall was open both before and after the game for a meet-and-greet with the players. There was a community feast and a pre-game show by the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers, which included spirited participation by the NHL players.

These world-class athletes weren't in the huge arenas they're accustomed to but it didn't stop them from putting on a great show and having some fun.

This might sound crazy, but it seems Inuvik is getting a little bit famous lately, and in a good way. Hockey-starved communities can look to our community for inspiration. The NHL visit helped, but hockey was alive and well here even before that. You could see it reflected in the sharpened skates of all the youth who shared the ice, either during the charity event or during demonstration games in between.

One of the players said it meant a lot to him to visit the Northern communities and he couldn't wait to share the experience with his friends and family back home.

The game itself offered some of the cleanest hockey ever. There were hardly any penalties called and there was no fighting. It was way better than watching a game on television with countless interruptions including a long drawn-out rant by Don Cherry.

As well, even though many fans are holding a grudge against the multi-million-dollar players and their billionaire bosses for destroying this hockey season with their labour dispute, these particular NHL stars have to be given credit for donating their time to a charitable cause – one that aids Inuvik Minor Hockey Association and First Nations children in sports and educational pursuits.

Hopefully, for some of the minor hockey players this was only their first taste of skating with professional players, but not their last exposure to a good cause.

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