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The rate of cancer diagnoses in Fort Resolution has been rising steadily - and it's much higher than the territorial average.

The community is crying out for help, looking for a tangible reason why they keep watching friends and family get sick and die.

Last year, Dr. Andre Corriveau, the territory's public health officer, pointed to lifestyle as influencing the cancer rates. He told residents the high number of cancer cases was mostly related to lung cancer and there was "no red flag" in terms of an environmental cause for the disease's prominence.

Yet earlier this month when Health Minister Tom Beaulieu visited the community to hear concerns, he pointed to southern industry as being a potential cause for the higher cancer rates.

There is currently research being done by the University of Saskatchewan on fish from communities on the Athabasca and Slave rivers, including Fort Resolution - looking for chemicals that may be coming out of the oil sands development in Alberta.

While definitive answers to the high rates of cancer in the community remain shrouded, there is something residents can do to help themselves.

Beaulieu said many of the cancer cases are being discovered in their later stages, when it is harder to treat. This can be helped by residents learning the facts about early detection and good health. Unhealthy lifestyle choices such as smoking and excessive drinking are risk factors.

Community members must go to medical appointments. There were 405 no-shows to medical appointments in Fort Resolution from April to December of 2011 - one out of every 10.

The community has three of four cancer screening tests available which check for signs of the disease before symptoms are even noticeable.

Early diagnosis of cancer is something that can be controlled and can help increase the chance of successful treatment. As research of the fish, the water, the environment is conducted, the members of the community must first and foremost take care of themselves.

The Arctic Winter Games is the equivalent to the Olympics for many young Northern athletes. But unfortunately, athletes in six sports will not find themselves competing at the Games in 2016, instead they will find themselves at an alternate multisporting event in another location.

Nuuk is either too small, does not have the facilities, or does not have the expertise to host the six sports including midget hockey, gymnastics, figure skating, speedskating, dog mushing and curling.

This issue, paired with the committee's decision to scale back the number of participants and events starting in 2014 by eliminating the intermediate division of the sports, is stifling the development of the Games and its mandate to provide opportunities for international competition to developing Northern athletes.

The development of Arctic Summer Games in alternating years, as Nunavut MLA Lorne Kusugak suggests, would allow both events to thrive and grow. More athletes - such as canoeists or softball players -- not currently in the winter games could also shine.

The idea would also make the games a more manageable size so smaller communities such as Fort Smith could try its hand at hosting.

The Games generate excitement, life experience and the sharing of cultures.

While the division of sports is a fine interim measure, the spirit of this important Northern sporting and cultural celebration cannot be lost in the transition.

Healing workshops held in Pond Inlet earlier this month marked an emotional and necessary milestone in the lives of the descendants of Inuit families and the Nunavummiut who assisted them during a forced relocation to Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay from their homes in northern Quebec in the early 1950s.

The residents of Inukjuak travelled to the North Baffin community to say thank you to the relatives of the Amarualik, the Arnakallak and the Akpaliapik families who helped the 19 families who suffered incredible hardship from being sent by the federal government into a harsh, unfamiliar climate where there were few options for hunting and hours of complete darkness.

The Pond Inlet families helped the people from Inukjuak to adapt to their new environment, develop the numerous skills needed to survive and make new lives for themselves. Members of the three families made a significant sacrifice to relocate themselves to Grise Fiord and Resolute to help those who were forced to move, including relatives of Titus Arnakallak, who was born shortly after six members of his family returned to Pond Inlet in 1957 after moving to Grise Fiord in 1953.

Pond Inlet councillor Eleanore Arreak, who led a committee which organized this month's healing workshop, said some of the 29 people who travelled to the three-day event mentioned that their parents probably wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the help that was provided.

The federal government apologized in 2010 for the pain and suffering it caused by its forced relocation but the workshop brought some measure of healing to the numerous people affected, including many who still feel the affects of the misguided move.

People were able to share their memories of the experience, witness the unveiling of a monument, and take part in a community feast and square dance, before an emotional farewell following the bonding experience.

There is no doubt that the forced relocation is a black spot on Canada's history. Although it did not negatively affect as many people as the residential school system did, and its subsequent Truth and Reconciliation Commission, there are lessons to be learned and reasons for it not to be forgotten.

We suggest that, just as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission insisted the residential school experience be part of the education curriculum, the forced relocation of the 19 Inuit families also be included in history lessons in Canada's schools.

Although the healing workshop introduced an element of positive closure, having the tragic chapter in this country's history taught in schools will mean that it will not be forgotten and will continually acknowledge that it was wrong.

Members of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation seem to be tired of the status quo.

The results of the recent election for chief of Ndilo should serve as a warning for all current chiefs and council: your people want change.

The June 11 election in Ndilo marked the first time members of the YKDFN have voted in leadership since allegations of mismanagement and corruption within the band council arose last year.

In June 2012, then-Ndilo chief Ted Tsetta was suspended without pay for signing a letter written by band members that called for third-party management of the band and the termination of the nine-member band council, as well as Dettah Chief Ed Sangris.

The letter, which was ultimately rejected by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, alleged that tens of millions of dollars worth of diamonds belonging to the band had gone missing from the now-defunct Det'on Cho Diamonds cutting house.

The council appointed Roy Erasmus Sr. as acting chief for Ndilo in late October of last year.

Shortly after Tsetta was ousted and the federal government refused to get involved, band members circulated a petition, again calling for the removal of the band councillors and Dettah chief. Despite Barbara Powless-Labelle, a former band councillor and spokesperson for the petition, insisting the petition had acquired signatures from the necessary 40 per cent of voting members, it was ultimately rejected by chief and council because the identities of all signatories were not revealed.

The failed petition made more wide-sweeping allegations of mismanagement and corruption, citing a lack of accountability and transparency within band leadership.

Newly-elected Ndilo Chief Ernest Betsina addressed these concerns during his campaign, saying allegations of band mismanagement are not going to go away on their own and he called for a public meeting of the Yellowknives Dene to discuss and hopefully resolve the concerns.

On election night, Betsina remained committed to restoring people's faith in band leadership.

"People have lost trust in council, I need to gain that back again," he said during his acceptance speech.

Betsina won by a single vote, but it was not incumbent Erasmus Sr. who gave him a run for his money - it was former band councillor Shirley Tsetta, who ran on a campaign of public accountability, saying the direction taken by leadership should come from the people.

Last week's election in Ndilo is not a magic-wand solution that will fix the problems within the YKDFN's leadership. However, after more than a year of the band's membership crying foul while its leadership effectively said, "look away, there are no problems here," voters have had their say - and we think that's a good start.

City councillor Adrian Bell makes some excellent points about ownership deficiencies at Centre Square Mall.

Divided between two ownership groups, the mall has suffered from years of poor decisions that have kept customers away and driven retailers out. Reduced to three street-side entrances - the 50 Street entrance was boarded up long ago, and its northwest 49 Street entrance has been partitioned by a glass barrier. Royal Host, the upper level mall owner, and Huntingdon Capital Corp., the lower level owner, have apparently decided it's best to blockade customers if it will keep the loiterers out too.

To add to the poor decision-making, Royal Host installed a bench bordering a fire marshal-ordered wheelchair ramp at its Franklin Avenue entrance that was quickly taken over by the same loiterers it was trying to keep out, leaving another entrance plastered with spit, cigarette butts and trash.

Part of the problem, as Bell points out, is that neither owner is from here. Royal Host is a hotel chain based out of Halifax; Huntingdon is a retail and office space management company based in Vancouver. It's clear Centre Square was relegated to backwater status long ago, and it shows.

Unfortunately, Bell is not the best person to be championing this issue. Bell, who makes his living a real estate agent for Century 21, said he rejected a request from Yellowknife management at Royal Host to help fill the mall with merchants because he already has a client at Centre Ice Plaza in Frame Lake South.

It's hard to ignore Centre Ice's own difficulties finding retailers for its half-empty mall when it's Bell talking about problems at Centre Square Mall.

A big issue here is the difficulty Yellowknife retailers face in this age of Internet shopping. That is just as much a part of the puzzle as trying to figure out how to make downtown more inviting to shoppers and not just loiterers.

A high school graduation ceremony was held in Fort Liard on June 13.

Before the processional, there was no way to tell how large the graduating class was. The community hall was decorated immaculately, a long line of special guests who were going to give speeches was listed on the program and an extensive meal was waiting to be served. It was not until Karlene Isaiah walked in on her father's arm that it really became evident that Echo Dene School only had one graduate this year.

The graduation ceremony in Fort Liard has at least two important messages to impart.

The first is that the residents of the Deh Cho can't become complacent when it comes to education. Thomas Simpson School in Fort Simpson may have had its largest graduating class yet this year, but high school graduation hasn't become an assured thing in the region.

Echo Dene School didn't have one graduate because Isaiah was the only Grade 12 student in the school. Rather, Isaiah was the only Grade 12 student who achieved all of the requirements to graduate.

Today, more than ever, it is crucial that every student achieve at least their high school diploma. That level of education or higher is required to land even the most basic jobs.

As the Deh Cho develops and moves toward self-governance, there will be a need for people with increasingly-complex skill sets. The first preference will be to fill those positions with Deh Cho residents.

Educators in schools play a crucial role in helping students reach graduation, a foundational step toward lifelong success. Communities, however, have an equally important role to play.

If education is openly valued and prized in a community, it creates an environment where students know they are expected to attend school and to graduate. That is the second lesson of the Echo Dene School graduation ceremony.

With only one graduate, it would have been easy to hold just a small ceremony, but instead, the school held just as big a celebration as they would have for half a dozen graduates. The ceremony not only honoured Isaiah's achievements, but also showed other students and former students what is possible.

It's important to celebrate every educational success, whether it is for just one graduate or a class of 26.

High school graduation rates seem to be on the rise in the Deh Cho. This, however, is not a time to abandon the issue. Education must be made a continued priority.

My biological clock is in need of some serious repairs.

I'm talking about the effect my first brush with the midnight sun is having on me. Contrary to my expectations, I'm not totally enjoying the experience.

Let me explain. Back in the cool, damp gloomy confines of my former residence, I was prone to seasonal affective disorder symptoms three seasons of the year. It doesn't take a lot of cloudy, wet weather to dampen my mood and cause my temperament to deteriorate.

I was out at Jak Territorial Park recently walking the interpretive trail and stopped to read the plaques at the tower. I was fascinated by the one outlining Delta time. The symptoms were revealing.

Difficulty sleeping. Check. Disorientation. Check. Loss of a sense of time. Check. I could go on, but you get the idea.

Being sensitive to sunlight, it seemed like a no-brainer that I would thrive in the endless sunlight of Delta time. I was wrong about that. It turns out that being contrary must just be imbued in some fundamental part of my personality, because the eternal daylight is beginning to have some deleterious effects.

I'm inching toward insomnia, with a touch of hypomania thrown in for good measure. I've even taken up somewhat involuntary naps. If I close my eyes for a second, I'm doomed.

Most noticeably, I welcomed the cloudy weather on Sunday and Monday, something that would never have happened before. In fact, I more than welcomed it. I revelled in the simple joy of a little touch of darkness, which made sleep so much easier.

I also started to ponder some of the things I miss about having a real night, including checking for the aurora. I also wouldn't mind if the birds would stop singing ... and that's with me being a recovering bird-watcher.

I'm looking forward to the resumption of long days with short nights in late July, even though I know I'll miss the midnight sun come this winter.

The process has given me a new appreciation of, and respect for, how dependent we as human beings still are on our environment.

It's also given me an understanding of why residents here have shown such a wild swing in energy levels and moods from when I arrived last January.

I understand much better now why people hibernate in the winter here. It's to make up for the energy used up in these eternal days – and to catch up on the sleep they've missed.

Bring it on, I say. And in the meantime, if I seem a little loopier than normal, it's midnight sun madness, and this too shall pass. I hope!

Eleven years ago, Yellowknife's Dairy Queen and its companion restaurant Mary Brown's Famous Chicken and Taters closed their doors and went out of business.

The owner, former Yellowknife MLA Seamus Henry, took a $1 million bath by doing that. His problem wasn't a lack of sales or crushing debt. Far from it, the restaurants had been going gangbusters since opening three years earlier. The problem was a lack of staff. Unable to find workers to serve his chicken dinners and ice cream treats, and run ragged trying to do it himself, Henry decided to pack it in.

It's not clear whether Henry tried to access Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program but it's quite evident from the list in last Wednesday's Yellowknifer many employers do. Some 65 local businesses made requests to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to hire foreign workers from Jan. 1, 2009 to April 30, 2012. At least 18 were from the service industry.

Not much has changed since Henry shuttered his businesses' doors in 2002. The unemployment rate is hovering around six per cent, population growth is stagnate. The economy has still not fully recovered from the global recession of 2008 but people aren't tripping over themselves trying to land a job at McDonald's either.

And, as Marion Lavigne, president of Outcrop Communications, points out, it's not just low-skilled jobs employers are having a hard time filling. There are many job ads for technical positions that go unanswered in the Northwest Territories. Yellowknifer can speak from experience on that one.

Six years ago, the newspaper turned to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program after coming up empty trying to fill a graphic designer position that required particular newspaper skills. It was no walk in the park. Employers are required to prove the job couldn't be filled by a Canadian resident, the job must be advertised extensively and there are fees to pay and expenses to cover.

Mary Lou Cherwaty, president of the Northern Federation of Labour, points out a number of very troubling problems with the program. Some of the problems existed before the controversy erupted over the Royal Bank of Canada's attempt to replace employees with temporary foreign workers, after which the federal government was forced to institute a number of changes.

It was an outrage to allow employers to offer foreign workers 15 per cent less for skilled positions and five per cent less for low-skill jobs. This breaks the spirit and intent of the program, which is to fill jobs that cannot be filled by Canadian workers, not displace them with cheap foreign hires or create second-class citizens.

The danger now is that the new restrictions and higher fees imposed by the Conservative government in Ottawa in the wake of the Royal Bank controversy will make it even more difficult for employers to fill jobs that were already difficult to fill, and a new generation of Seamus Henrys will close their doors for want of staff.

An appropriate goal for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program should not only be to fill jobs that can't be filled but make new Canadians.

Around the time the Dairy Queen was closing its doors for good, a number of diamond-polishing specialists were arriving in Yellowknife from Armenia to outfit and train the city's burgeoning diamond-cutting sector. In the same Yellowknifer edition the temporary foreign worker story appeared, some of the surnames listed among the Hay River Track and Field Championship winners suggest that some of them stayed and are raising their families here.

Yellowknifer's Temporary Foreign Worker Program hire, although no longer with the company, is still in Canada too. Now a landed immigrant, as far as we know he has been every bit the model citizen. He's getting married to a Canadian he met in Yellowknife this summer.

How can a success story like that be any more Canadian or desirable for a government program?

By the time you're reading this, I will be on my annual respite in Cape Breton, N.S.

As it has been for the past few years, my time away will be equal parts rest, relaxation and the continuation of my personal episode of This Old House.

Add in a couple of weeks with my daughter, Lindsey, and grandson, Logan, and I should return to the Kivalliq with my batteries fully charged in anticipation of my 16th year at the helm of Kivalliq News.

And, on a personal note, I plan to also be amped-up for one more season of officiating some of the finest hockey I've had the pleasure of being associated with.

The truth of the matter is, it could well be my last as an active official and, if so, I plan to drink as much of it in as I possibly can.

I have a wonderful summer ahead of me, both in Cape Breton and at home in Rankin upon my return.

Yet, as much as I plan to enjoy each and every minute of the next few months, I'm also eagerly anticipating what should be a banner season of Kivalliq hockey in 2013-14.

By the time the Sakku First Aviation Avataq Cup rolls around, it will have been three years since a team from the host, Rankin, laid claim to the title.

In addition to a few hungry Rankin squads, Arviat will be keen to successfully defend its title and Repulse Bay will be eager to recapture its glory of the previous tournament.

With 2014 being an Arctic Winter Games (AWG) year, chances are better than average for the AWG Team Nunavut midget squad to compete at the Polar Bear Plate once again, raising the bar even higher at an event that has become one of Nunavut's finest.

And, with the East Coast teams promising to finally come North in 2015 and allow Nunavut to host the Maritime-Hockey North Junior Championship for the very first time, I expect the 2014 Challenge Cup to be the most hotly contested to date.

Whether the Kitikmeot returns to the fold or not, the showdown between teams Baffin and Kivalliq should be intense when both regions try to show they deserve to host the 2015 junior championship.

Personally, I plan to soak up every minute of the action, and enjoy the atmosphere in the old Rankin barn to its absolute fullest.

At the risk of upsetting any other community, I regard Rankin hockey fans as among the most knowledgable and passionate in the country.

And, to anyone who may be thinking I'm just writing that because I live here, you simply haven't been paying attention.

But, alas, such moments remain months distant in the future.

In the meantime, I leave Kivalliq News in the hands of Miranda Scotland until the end of July.

She is a talented young journalist who, I'm sure, will keep Kivalliq readers more than satisfied and up to date with what's happening in our wonderful region during my absence.

I look forward to serving the people of the Kivalliq for another year upon my return, as we embark on yet another chapter of the amazing journey that is Nunavut.

And, I look forward to seeing thousands of you, in person, in our arenas during the upcoming hockey season.

Enjoy your summer!

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