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If anyone needs proof that the city's $975,000 purchase of three 50 Street lots has been nothing short of a disastrous boondoggle, witness city council's decision to bulldoze the buildings and figure out what to do with the vacant land later.

People can chuckle at city councillor Niels Konge's "little bit of communism" remarks, but he is right in principle. Is this why the previous city council authorized the purchase of these properties? So the city can raze them a year later and sandwich a temporary parking lot in between two rowdy bars? That is, if that's what administration decides to do while waiting for the city's smart growth committee to "identify suitable options post-demolition." How much longer will we wait for an answer? And, how much more will taxpayers have to spend on consultants?

These properties were sold to the public as a downtown revitalization effort with former mayor Gord Van Tighem strongly hinting that the entire block of "Range Street" would become home to a low-cost "eco-housing" project once the Raven Pub and Gold Range could be convinced to sell.

Well good luck with that. Neither bar is willing to sell, so where does that leave the city with the properties it actually did purchase? Since we know the eco-housing project will be built on 52 Street, it's quite evident that council doesn't have a clue, nor does anybody else.

Bob Brooks, who chairs the smart growth committee, told Yellowknifer during last fall's election campaign that his key priority during this term will be downtown revitalization. The clock is ticking, Mr. Brooks.

Katie Westoll did a double-take when she saw signs that read "Warning - men working ahead" posted near where a GNWT building is being built on 49 Street earlier this month ("Sign draws complaint," April 10). The signs flout a cherished value that Westoll and her peers have grown up with and that generations of women have fought for -- women have the opportunity and ability to fulfill any career goal they set their mind to.

A construction sign may seem like an insignificant medium without much cultural influence, but the message it sends young people represents a leap backward in the journey toward gender equality.

Clark Builders posted the signs to protect passersby, but the contractor is not responsible for their design and shouldn't be faulted for the chauvinistic wording. Rather, the signs are relics from the past, depicting an attitude that offers no benefit to employers, workers or high school students preparing for the workforce.

Yellowknife and the territory are in need of tradespeople in the construction industry, men and women with a desire to apply their talents to building the North. Students should be encouraged to imagine themselves learning the skills required to master a trade. Construction signs that needlessly omit women erroneously imply that women aren't welcome - or don't exist - in the construction industry.

In fact, women are welcome and they do exist in the industry, including 33 women working as apprentices in various trades around the NWT this spring, according to Skills Canada NWT.

Hopefully a more contemporary sign that reads "Construction ahead" can be found for use at future work sites, which will probably include men and women on the job.

We sympathise with the comments made by Puujjuut Kusugak this past week ("Leave policy for teacher-coaches frustrating," Kivalliq News, April 10).

Kusugak has every right to be frustrated by the indifference emanating from Kivalliq School Operations in Baker Lake in regards to the contributions these individuals make to our youth, and our communities as a whole.

Even more maddening is the fact the more successful the teacher is in the role as a sports coach, the more they're punished for that success.

Weak coaches in any sport who don't develop their athletes to reach, if not eclipse, their full potential are not in high demand, especially when it comes to premiere events.

Good coaches are!

And therein lies the problem with denying travel. Nobody has any qualms about those who volunteer their time to work with our youngest athletes, or in participation programs, where the emphasis is placed solely on fun and participation (and rightly so).

But competitive sport is a whole different ball game.

It requires a higher level of dedication, often has a fair amount of pressure from parents and fans, and places far more demands on the teacher-coaches' time, especially in the area of preparedness.

We've all seen the result when dedicated coaches are denied time to accompany their teams to tournaments.

We've seen 'coaches' behind hockey benches who do nothing more than open the gates during player changes, and 'coaches' on soccer benches, totally disconnected from what's happening in the game before them.

They are, in truth, glorified chaperons, and it's the kids who've put in countless hours during the season who suffer from a true coach's absence.

Nunavummiut take their sports seriously.

Yes, we all want to see our athletes have fun and participate, but we also want to see them do well and win.

There's a lot of community pride involved when individuals or teams bring home medals, ulus and championship trophies. Those who ignore or downplay that aspect are really only kidding themselves.

One suspects they also kid themselves about the amount of personal time our few top coaches dedicate to their athletes and programs.

Good coaches create positive learning environments where youths want to be, and, just as importantly, they teach their athletes pride, self-confidence, teamwork, co-operation and the proper way to handle victory, and defeat, with class.

The benefits these teacher-coaches provide to their athletes far eclipse their triumphs on the hockey rink, soccer pitch, volleyball court or gymnastics floor.

Yes, they help raise school spirit and community pride, but they also make life better for many of our youths by showing them what's possible when they set goals and work hard to achieve them.

They instill a sense of belonging in many of these kids, who are made to feel they're part of something truly special.

If these mammoth contributions aren't properly being taken into consideration by those who draft policy, then maybe it's time they were the ones asked to submit leave applications.

They won't be denied!

Hockey has always been big in the North. There is no shortage of teams from the minor to senior levels throughout the NWT and Nunavut. A multitude of territorial tournaments and competitions down south ranging from regional-level to national-level events have also provided ample opportunity to showcase our hockey talent.

The natural evolution of that hockey fever peaked this year with the creation of the First Air Northern Hockey Challenge.

At the beginning some might have been skeptical about how the new level of hockey would fare considering the distance between teams and the fact they were based in communities with vastly different player pools to choose from. The odds, initially, seemed stacked in the favour of Yellowknife which had three or four times the population to choose its players from compared to Inuvik and Hay River. The fear was the capital city's player-pool advantage would mean an easy road to the finals and regular season play supported that notion as the Yellowknife First Air Flyers finished with a dominating record of six wins, no losses and two ties. However, two of those wins over the Hay River Huskies were decided by one and two goals.

While the Inuvik Delta Stars was the weakest of the three teams, it managed to stay close in its games against Hay River, and even came away with a tie against the Huskies one night.

The success of the Northern Hockey Challenge can be gauged three ways. The first is the fact the players and coaches involved all commented on the calibre of play and professionalism in which the event was handled. Second, fans packed arenas to cheer on their home squads and rivalries were developed adding to the excitement. Third, and probably most important, was the fact the calibre of play improved throughout the eight-game season.

While clearly the favourites in the Western Division final, Yellowknife's road to the championship game was not the cakewalk some expected, despite the Huskies going down two games to start the best-of-five series.

The team demonstrated grit and heart to battle back keeping the series alive by defeating Yellowknife in its own rink before bringing the series back to Hay River. Another victory meant an all-deciding game five that packed the Hay River arena. That final game was a fast-paced duel decided by an early overtime goal by the Flyers.

With the final between the Flyers and either Rankin Inlet or Iqaluit still to come, we can safely deem the first season a success and predict the calibre of play to only improve.

Sponsor First Air took a gamble when it decided to come on board. For the North's devoted hockey fans, First Air scored a hat trick.

It might have been an error but the recent accidental pricing of a head of romaine lettuce in Paulatuk has once again highlighted the predicament Northerners face when it comes to food security. Although the $11 price was a mistake, the correct price of $8 for some leafy greens doesn't come as much of a relief. In Yellowknife the same product would sell for approximately $2.

Nutrition North, despite the government's continued claims of success, has done little to make food affordable in our most remote communities. What many government talking heads seem not to grasp is that cheaper-than-before does not necessarily translate into equitable or affordable. Unfortunately, and understandably due to our location, we continue to rely on the south and southern-based businesses seeking to make a profit for our food.

It's time to find ways to cut those strings and release ourselves from the merciless whims of profiteers.

The best way to achieve that goal is to begin providing our own food. Agriculture can and does work in the North. A potato farm in Norman Wells that manages to sell its produce for cheaper than what it is shipped in for is proof of that.

Perhaps with the help of the newly-established Northern Farm Training Institute an opportunity to establish commercial greenhouses across the territory will present itself. Such a prospect be a welcome one and help with more than just food costs. It will also mean a jobs for the construction industry during the building phase and then employment for communities involved to staff the operation.

We can't wait for government to solve a problem it obviously cares little about; it's time we grow our own solutions.

When checking your news feed or updating your profile on Facebook, you run the risk of making information public you might not want certain people to see, or seeing something you don't want to see.

Last week, former Arctic Bay mayor Niore Iqalukjuak urged hamlet residents to be careful when posting about recent deaths before the deceased's family had all been notified ("Finding out through Facebook," April 8). The risk here, which also confronts newspaper reporters when reporting on deaths, is that someone might find out a loved one has died in a sudden, perhaps insensitive manner. Hearing the news from a trusted individual, who can then comfort the person in their grief, is a healthier way for this to happen.

The caution one must use on the web extends further, however. What one might post in high school, be it pictures containing drugs and alcohol or crude status updates, might be visible to potential employers, potential friends or family - anyone with internet access.

Individuals in Canada and abroad have found themselves in trouble with the law for posts perceived as threats. An Ottawa man was brought to court by the Canada Revenue Agency in 2010 over whether he was a business's employee, as he stated in his tax returns, or self-employed, as his Facebook profile declared.

It's important to understand your social media privacy settings and be conservative with what you post on the Internet, lest you hurt someone inadvertently or have a post come back to haunt you when you least expect it.

As Nunavut heads toward a territorial election this fall, 27 unsuccessful candidates from 2008's election are barred from running because they did not submit fully complete campaign donation disclosures.

Such disclosures are critical to maintaining honest, transparent politics. Although it may be a case of candidates not wanting to file tedious paperwork for an election they didn't win, rather than malicious attempts at concealing who was feeding their purse, it's rightly a black mark on their records.

The names are public and were printed in last week's Nunavut News/North ("Candidates barred from next election," April 8).

If they decide to run in the 2017 territorial election, when they will once again be eligible, voters should question them on this incident.

At root could be either maliciousness or laziness. Neither are qualities the public should expect from someone running for office.

There's a new sheriff in town, and this one doesn't at all see eye-to-eye with the previous city council when it comes to the full-cost recovery bylaw on residential homes approved in 2010.

When Homes North asked for a $3.8 million subsidy in October of 2011 to help pay for infrastructure such as water and sewer, power lines, and asphalt at its 178-lot Block 501 property at Kam Lake, Yellowknifer argued council had no choice but to reject it because they were already committed to full-cost recovery. Proponents argue, and not without some justification, that it is not fair to subsidize residential lots with taxpayers' money.

Residential developments in Yellowknife have long been built with financial help from the city, but when Condominium builders Highstreet Ventures Inc. began construction on its Copper Sky and Niven Heights projects in 2010 they were under the new rules. And rules are rules. It would have been highly hypocritical of council to offer Homes North a break not given to other developers only a year after deciding subsidies were no longer acceptable.

But last fall's municipal election has created a new playing field. Voters in their wisdom elected a city council including four municipal politicians who were involved in one way or another in their day jobs with the home retail and construction industry -- Couns. Cory Vanthuyne, Adrian Bell, Niels Konge and Phil Moon Son.

Most of this new council appears not to support full-cost recovery on the basis that it makes it more difficult to get shovels in the ground and adds to the already high cost of buying a home in this city. It could also be argued that while it would have been the height of hypocrisy for the previous council to award a subsidy to Homes North when Highstreet didn't get one, the optics were already bad after council in 2008 had offered a 12 per cent subsidy on 31 phase VII lots at Niven Lake that the city itself had put up for sale.

This council appears set to do away with full-cost recovery and offer Homes North a 12 per cent subsidy on Block 501. Fair enough. Many of them campaigned against it during the election.

We can only hope this time it remains consistent.

The big melt has begun, and no doubt we won't like everything we see once the snow is gone.

Melting snow has revealed all sorts of nasty surprises, ranging from discarded garbage, dog poop to broken bottles.

Perhaps more distressing, however, was the recent discovery by a Yellowknife family of a metal snare tightly wound around the throat of their pet black Labrador dog. The animal somehow got caught in the trap in the Kam Lake area of the city after it was let outside. Dr. Michael Hughes, the veterinarian who broke one pair of snippers while freeing the young dog from the metal snare, said the cherished pet could have died from the ordeal and suggested the incident should raise awareness about dangers hidden in the bush.

While setting traps in the city is against the law, there are people foolish enough to set them, including a man who set a quick-kill trap in a wooded area near Sir John Franklin High School several years ago with the intention of protecting his dog from foxes. Instead, it caught the neighbour's pet dog, who died from its head injuries.

The change of seasons is welcome in the North. Longer days, warmer temperatures and the melting snow encourage people to spend more time outdoors. We suggest residents, especially families with children and pets, to be aware that danger lurks in the less-travelled areas and to be vigilant while embarking on adventures.

Weather, it's one of the ties that bind.

Casual conversations between people who don't know each other will often involve a mention of the weather. It's an easy topic to grasp because weather affects everyone and, therefore, everyone can manage at least a sentence or two about the current state of things outdoors.

For more involved conversations, the current weather often gets compared to the memory of weather past. For example, "Look at that snow coming down out there, have you ever seen a snowstorm like this in April?" Openings like this are generally grasped by someone who is just waiting to say something like, "What? This is nothing, I remember this one time, back in...", and then suddenly you are listening to a novella-length tale of the largest snowstorm that ever was – at least according to the teller.

That's the thing about weather, record-size fish catches and other important events in a person's life: somehow over time the memory becomes more dramatic. Winters get colder, fish get bigger and trips get more exciting.

This winter in the Deh Cho, however, needs little exaggeration. A look at the data gathered at weather stations shows that the region's residents legitimately have something to brag about.

It has, without a doubt, snowed a lot in the Deh Cho this year.

Fort Simpson residents have the ultimate bragging rights because well-established records show that the village received 280 cm of snow throughout the winter, 24 cm more than the previous record set in 1998-99, with the next snowiest winter dating back to 1916-17.

People who were out shovelling would have gotten a workout in February when 50.4 cm of snow fell from the sky.

Other Deh Cho communities may have gotten even more snow throughout the winter, although it is hard to tell because of a lack of data.

Forevermore, when a Deh Cho resident is at the post office, or bar or gas station, and someone starts in about the weather, they will be able to describe the great, white winter of 2012-2013.

Of course, as time passes and memories grow more vague, the amount of snow that fell this winter will truly reach epic proportions. It will become the winter where people stepped off of trails into snow so deep they were never seen again, or maybe it will be the winter people developed arms like Popeye from all the shovelling they did.

It can be a difficult thing to straddle the line between tradition and progress. We saw some evidence of that over the weekend at the Muskrat Jamboree.

On the afternoon of April 16 the Mary Firth Memorial race had to be cancelled due to a lack of participants. This was one of two dogsled races with traditional toboggans rather than an open class race using modern basket sleds.

On April 8, the Isaac Simon Memorial race was converted to an open-class race and four teams entered.

I heard there could be problems with the races about a month ago when a representative of the local sledders mentioned they were at loggerheads with the organizing committee over the races.

The dog races are one of the major attractions of the jamboree season, along with snowmobile races. So I found the wrangling over such a relatively minor issue about the type of dogsled to be almost laughable.

With the cancellation of the Mary Firth race and the last minute changes to the Isaac Simon race, I'm not laughing.

I don't have a huge background in dogsledding. What I know about running dogs I learned from a friend who began with Eskimo sled dogs, a breed born and bred here in the North. That friend also ran the dogs in more or less traditional style. He had no particular interest in racing. Instead he ran commercial tours.

I pay some attention to racing, but I don't have a huge interest in it or the mixed-breed huskies that now dominate it. My interests in sledding are, frankly, traditional.

I don't understand why the sledders are resisting the chance to run in traditional races. Some of these people race only in the jamborees, which means they have advance warning some of the races will be traditional. Surely racing traditionally a handful of times over the course of a long winter season isn't going to be a huge burden for them.

That means if they don't have the equipment, they certainly have a chance to acquire it ahead of time.

As for the jamboree organizers, perhaps it's time to re-think the way the registration process is carried out. If a minimum number of teams is needed, establish a cutoff time a week or two ahead. Cancel it ahead of time if the minimum isn't met so the mushers don't have to try to scramble to make impromptu changes at the last moment.

It's about time for these two forces to sort it out. I'm all for seeing traditional races continue. It's a mark of respect for the rich heritage of the sport, and to the public that supports it.

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