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The sweet smell that hangs in the thick, smokey air throughout the summer is a constant reminder that forest fires are still going strong and our territory's firefighters are hard at work monitoring some and fighting others.

This year, there have been more than 200 forest fires and the dry, windy conditions don't seem to be letting up any time soon. Unfortunately, fire crews have been tied up with preventable forest fires on top of their already-busy workload.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) has logged more than 12 person-caused fires so far this fire season. Last year, the department spent nearly $1 million on fighting 25 person-caused fires. That is a little less than $40,000 per fire burning a hole in taxpayers' wallets.

This type of irresponsibility wasn't always a problem in the NWT, but has become more common. According to the department's 2009/10 business plan, it states, "until recently person-caused fires have historically not been of concern in the NWT. This has begun to change over the past two to three years with increased development activity on the landscape." The report adds there were 20 person-caused forest fires in 2006-07 and 31 in 2007-08.

There are enforcement measures in place to deter people from this type of behaviour. According to the Forest Protection Act, if a person leaves a fire before it is extinguished, they can be fined between $25 and $1,000 and imprisoned for 30 days to two years. If a fire is started when there is a campfire ban or open burning prohibition and results in a wildfire, the act states a person could be fined up to $10,000 and ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs, which is only fair.

It only takes a little bit of time to ensure campfires are out. Doing so could save department resources, property, and even lives. These fires, started by people, are usually set close to communities, creating a risk to areas where people live.

The department is busy enough dealing with naturally-caused forest fires, from such sources as lightning, without adding preventable forest fires to the list of things to do. Residents of the territory must exercise caution when enjoying the outdoors.

Although school textbooks are still hidden away for the summer for some students, youth in Fort Good Hope recently enjoyed reading and learning concepts through a literacy camp.

It was the first of its kind in the community. The three-week camp offered by the Frontier College was designed to promote literacy through stories read aloud to campers, reading, following recipes and cooking as well.

The camp was extremely popular, with approximately 30 youths aged five to 12 attended the event at Chief T'Selehye School every weekday.

There was also a waiting list of youth hoping to join in if there was space available. The camp organizer, Fort Good Hope's Lael Kronick, said she hopes the camp will run next year maybe with an extra so more youth can take part.

Hopefully this is the case. A camp that focuses on literacy, and places youth in a fun and educational environment in the summer, will create a better transition back to school.

Recent Alberta Achievement Tests and functional grade levels results scream that more needs to be done in the NWT education system.

Creating a positive association with school through these summer camps might give youth the initiative to attend class more regularly, and help create a stronger academic foundation.

The price of Inuit art on the national and international markets reached monumental proportions recently.

A world record for Inuit art sold at auction was set last year at Waddington's auction house in Toronto when The Migration, a sculpture created in the 1970s by the late Inuit artist Joe Talirunili, was sold for $290,000.

The sculpture depicts an incident in which the artist and 40 other Inuit became trapped on an ice floe while searching for new hunting grounds. They used seal skin, wood and rope from their komatiks to construct a boat called an umiak. When the ice melted, the group paddled to safety. The sculpture, made of carved stone, wooden paddles and a sail, is an impressive piece of art. It is currently on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and is part of a series of sculptures called Joe Boats which were inspired by the traumatic experience by the artist, who died in 1976. Other sculptures in the series have also sold for six figures but were originally sold by the artist in the 1970s for between $400 and $600.

The sale of Talirunili's art renewed a call for federal legislation which would require a portion of the proceeds of the resale to go to the artist or, in this case, the descendants of the artist. A law in 59 countries requires a royalty payment to be made to the artist, much in the same way a musician receives a royalty payment every time a recording is played on the radio or sold in a permanent format.

The need for legislation is greater, we suggest, because at least 40 per cent of the population of Nunavut identifies as a visual artist and much of the work by Inuit artists - including paintings, carvings, prints and wall hangings - increase in value over time. It is also important because much of the art is created in remote communities, where it is sold for modest amounts of money and then resold in southern markets for significantly more.

The Government of Nunavut endorsed the proposal, made by NDP MP Pierre Nantel, his party's heritage critic, last spring. It is also backed by the Canadian Artists' Representation le Front des Artistes Canadiens (CARFAC) and Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Quebec (RAAV).

Referred to as the Artist's Resale Right in Canada, the proposal is for an amendment to be made to the Copyright Act so that a portion of the proceeds of Inuit art sold for more than $1,000 at auction or in another official capacity would benefit the creator of the art.

Realistically, it could be months or even years before such legislation winds its way through channels in Ottawa.

However, the benefits it could provide Nunavut artists is real, simply because it would allow Inuit artists to earn a reasonable living and benefit from the creation of their art over time.

There has been enough talk on this issue. It is time for action to be taken. In the absence of legislation, we urge auction houses and other resellers of Inuit art to begin sharing the money with the artists voluntarily because it is the right thing to do.

For many people, issues surrounding the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community can be confusing. For the layperson, it can be difficult to understand what the issues are, especially considering the movement has evolved so much over the years. It's no longer, and arguably never was, about the relatively-simple concept of same-sex relationships and their equality under the law and in society.

It has grown to encompass the somewhat more philosophical debate of gender identity which forces people to transcend what their eyes and social upbringing might tell them. We understand it is frustrating for those who might have been born physically as one sex but view themselves as another gender to be constantly referred to by the wrong pronoun. All we can suggest is patience. To many, these are ideas and concepts that are still being learned, and in some cases, still struggling to be accepted.

Even here at Yellowknifer, we are presented with the challenge of whether to use, and even how to best use, gender-neutral pronouns. It's a debate worth having and the challenge is being respectful while still presenting information in a way that people will readily understand.

These are just a few of the reasons events such as NWT Pride are so important. Pride events raise awareness in a fun and non-threatening atmosphere and demonstrates that we are all the same - regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

This year's Pride events show that though there is still ground to cover, Yellowknifers are supportive of ensuring the LGBTQ community feels supported and included as demonstrated by the attendance and the numerous generous donations the event received from individuals and businesses. Extending beyond general community support, Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington, the Union of Northern Workers, the United Church, Mayor Mark Heyck, territorial MLAs and a few other leaders in the community also showed their support for Pride.

If there was one hiccup, it was the complaint from Pride organizers that the city was unable to donate to the cause. The issue wasn't a lack of will by the city, but because NWT Pride is an unregistered non-profit which disqualifies it from city funding. The city's policy is sound. It must put limits on where money goes and it makes sense that unregistered groups would not qualify for taxpayers' dollars.

Fortunately, the solution is simple. NWT Pride should register, which would open the organization to more funding.

The success of NWT Pride aside, the fight for equality and protection of human rights is everyone's responsibility, 365 days a year.

It's great to see Dehcho First Nations (DFN) having working sessions in which members are getting their hands dirty with the Dehcho Process draft agreement-in-principle.

At countless meetings, chiefs and Metis leaders have asked DFN to provide more information about the Dehcho Process to members. Many members, they argue, don't know much about the process and what DFN is working toward. If members aren't informed, DFN will run into opposition when it brings the final agreement to the people for approval.

This series of four sessions, while only involving a small portion of the Deh Cho's population, is a positive step toward building up a base of residents who are very familiar with the agreement-in-principle. Gaining that level of familiarity is no easy feat.

The agreement, still being negotiated, already fills 209 pages with technical language. It's hardly a New York Times bestseller that people can't put down once they start reading.

The agreement, however, is of critical importance. If the Dehcho Process reaches a successful conclusion, the agreement-in-principle will lay out a detailed groundwork for the final agreement that will outline all of the Dehcho governments' rights and responsibilities over everything from wildlife harvesting to education.

The participants in the first working session learned, as they read through seven chapters clause by clause, the use of a different word can alter how the agreement will be interpreted and implemented in the long run. As a result, it's important that as many Deh Cho residents as possible read and understand as much of the agreement-in-principle as possible so they can provide their own unique insight into the document and what it will create.

Additionally, the day may come when DFN asks its membership to decide if they want to accept the agreement-in-principle. DFN bears a responsibility to make sure residents are informed, but equally, the onus is on residents to seek out that information and learn about the future being shaped for them.

The more questions Deh Cho residents ask and the more they learn about the Dehcho Process and the agreement-in-principle, the brighter the future will be for the region.

I'm viewing the end of the gardening season with an odd mix of regret, satisfaction and envy.

While my garden plot hasn't come close to producing the $1,000 of produce that Inuvik Community Greenhouse members claim can be grown in a good season, I've been fairly happy with what it has produced.

I'm working on my second crop of potatoes, spinach and lettuce right now. The first yielded some reasonable salad mix, enough for several bags I would normally have bought at the local grocery stores such as NorthMart, so there's been a savings right there.

The potatoes were a little more disappointing. Someone had advised me to either remove the flowers or harvest the tubers when the flowers appeared. I did neither, and wound up with a small number of baby potatoes and only two baking-sized ones. That's called learning from experience.

I also managed to harvest a few radishes, but there was room for improvement as well.

My green beans, though, are delicious ... to the point where none of them have made it home yet. They just taste so much better raw than cooked.

The tomatoes are coming along well, but not yet ready to eat, and I have hopes for the zucchinis.

All in all, it's been a learning process, and I'm delighted just to have been able to eat something I've grown myself. I've said it before, but normally the only vegetation I can't kill are dandelions and my lawn. You know, the things I'd be happy to do without most days.

Trust me to be the person who has to come to the Arctic to have a semi-successful garden.

With the growing season drawing to a close, I've begun contemplating whether I'd do it all again. I haven't settled on a definitive answer to that yet.

I'm more bitten by the gardening bug then I ever expected to be. That's why I'm definitely leaning toward trying it again.

At the end of last month, residents of the NWT learned how their children were measuring up in terms of classroom achievement.

Students in Yellowknife may have landed among the top communities in the territory when it came to Alberta Achievement Tests, but given the results, that isn't saying much.

For English language skills, by Grade 9, one out of five students in the city is reading below their grade level. The same goes for math skills

Historically, the rate for both has been rising in the territory. But, over the past five years there has only been four per cent increase.

Attendance rates look good on the outside, sitting at an average of 89.1 per cent, until you take into account that this amounts to a half day of classes lost every week, or nearly four weeks of classes each year, according to the Department of Education Culture and Employment. That's a lot of work to be catching up on.

At the end of the day, slowly rising test scores do not matter if a Yellowknife student is looking to go to a post-secondary institute in the south and is stuck needing to take supplemental courses to get their academic levels up to snuff.

Terry Brookes, a Yellowknife Education District No. 1 school board trustee, is right when he says the results of the tests must be used to drive improvement in educational programming. Presently, he is not convinced that is what is happening. Although his idea to tailor learning to each individual student is a noble concept, it is a bit of a pie in the sky. However, we do agree with the sentiment that test scores should improve each year, which should be the ultimate goal of administering the achievement tests.

The curriculum needs to be updated to suit the current educational climate. If students are not learning what they need to be, then change the learning environment so that they do.

Students learn best when they care about what's being taught, so having a curriculum that speaks to the Northern way of life and is relevant to city students, whether they are aboriginal or non-aboriginal, is important.

It is vital that our students achieve at a level that not only demonstrates they are meeting grade level but also that they are prepared for higher learning. If a Yellowknife student chooses to head to university or college, they should have the credentials to be accepted into the program of their choosing. The need for further upgrading is a frustration that has the potential to deter students from pursuing a post-secondary education.

The North is in need of home-grown professionals, tradespeople and other skilled workers. The first step toward that development is education at the kindergarten to Grade 12 level. If achievement testing is not advancing the goal to improve student achievement, then perhaps it is time to do what student Alannis McKee suggests -- find alternate tools for evaluation.

NHL legend Mark Messier's comments on the state of minor hockey in Canada earlier this month show, all too vividly, the mixed messages sent out by the perceived leaders of the sport when they talk about revitalizing the game.

Messier, who's helping Hockey Canada and Bauer Hockey Inc. in their efforts to get more children to play the game, was stunned to learn about 90 per cent of Canadian families don't have their children in hockey.

In an independent survey of 875 such families in Nova Scotia and Ontario, the top reasons given were too time consuming, affordability, the game isn't fun and safe.

In his support of the Grow The Game global initiative -- started in 2012 by Bauer and supported by Hockey Canada in hopes of adding one million new players over the next decade -- Messier advocates the importance of having a place for children who want to play hockey for fun.

Yet, at the same time, he points to Canada as the king of the hill of hockey and says if we want to stay there, we have to continue to develop our talent pool.

Messier doesn't want youths feeling like failures if they can't make AAA teams.

Which is great, except for the fact he also believes if we keep them in the game, maybe some will grow the passion necessary to play at intense levels.

So, which is it?

Are we simply trying to come up with new ways to allow more children to play hockey just for the fun of it, without having to worry about making the big teams in their area?

Or, are we trying to get these children playing so we can cherry pick the ones who develop the skill set and love of the game necessary for elite-level play?

There's more than a few in the hockey world who see the venture as a way of growing registration fees back for Hockey Canada to open yet another centre of excellence, and help cover the high costs of its numerous elite -level training programs for players and coaches.

Bauer, while giving a little back to the game, is the most recognizable name among hockey-equipment companies.

The company lists the targeting of emerging and underdeveloped consumer segments as part of its growth strategy, and sees opportunity for growth in the performance and recreational hockey markets, where its primary focus has been on elite equipment.

So, let's be honest -- spending some money now through its "responsibility to the game" will mean plenty of smiles on the faces of company shareholders if, indeed, one million new players are lacing up by 2022.

If it looks like a duck and skates like a duck...

If Hockey Canada and Bauer have the game's best interests at heart, the key to growth is reduced cost for youth to play, combined with a far less structured, and far less time-demanding, atmosphere.

They might also try some public relations of their own to get the focus back on having fun while playing, and away from the constant barrage of criticism and injury fear mongering they've been reacting to for the past decade with next to no tangible results to show for it.

Well, OK, there has been one result.

We now only have about 10 per cent of our youth playing the coolest game on ice!

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