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The city is yet again at the top of a long, dark slide peering down through the shady mist at its development dreams.

It knows no better than anyone else what awaits it down there but is jumping in headfirst nonetheless. Thirteen years after swearing off the development game when it was left hanging to dry by its private partners on phases I and II of Niven Lake, the city is seeing opportunities everywhere as the principal architect of a grand scheme.

Granted, there have been recent successes. The city's upscale "waterside residential" development project at Grace Lake is 90 per cent sold, while 70 per cent of the properties at phase VII of Niven Lake have also found buyers.

The danger comes, as always, when the bottom drops out of the market and taxpayers are left holding the bag, as was the case in 2000 when the city was forced to borrow $3.1 million from the territorial government to complete its Niven Lake project.

Last week, administration unveiled a vision for several residential development projects in the city, including an area of land between Taylor Road and Ptarmigan Road and an extension of the Niven Lake subdivision, which could potentially lead to the development of 800 new housing units over the next seven years. Niven Lake Phase VIII would cost $17 million while Ptarmigan Road, with 240 single-family homes and 400 multifamily units, is expected to cost $36 million to develop.

These are ambitious projects to say the least but the city's zeal to dive deeper into the development game is a troubling trend considering the uncertainty that awaits. The influx of 350 workers to clean up Giant Mine has been touted as one group of potential home buyers, but it's difficult to see what else will generate the boom required to fill these homes.

The city points to new mining projects on the horizon but there are no guarantees that even the most likely mines will get built - Fortune Minerals' NICO project near Whati and De Beers' proposed diamond mine at Gahcho Kue.

And if these mines do come to fruition, they won't produce enough jobs to replace those lost when the existing diamond mines, Diavik, Ekati and Snap Lake, begin winding down over the next 10 years. The fact of the matter is Yellowknife's population has been stagnant or slowly declining for the last decade. The Conference Board of Canada, meanwhile, reported a 5.1 per cent drop in the NWT's Gross Domestic Product last year.

This might not faze some private developers but they are better positioned to make that call than bureaucrats at city hall with no personal stake in developing homes and other properties.

This point is demonstrated when one looks to 50 Street where the three derelict properties the city purchased for $975,000 last year sit empty and unused while a so-called smart growth committee ponders what to do with them. No taxes are being collected on them, a fuel tank leak cost another $52,400, and the city will have to pay for their demolition.

It remains to be seen what lofty scheme will be conceived to rehabilitate this land situated between two busy bars that refused to sell to the city. Conceivably, a plan will come at some point but at the end of the day one wonders why the city bought the land in the first place if it didn't have a plan to begin with.

This is one more reason why city hall should leave development to the developers, and let the market determine when and where properties are built.

Deh Gah School in Fort Providence always seems to have some sort of exciting initiative in the works for its students, such as the six-week camp underway at Willow Lake.

Twenty-one students and 10 adults flew to the camp on Aug. 16 and 19. They will not be returning to the community until Sept. 27 or 29.

Some people may think that sending youth out of the classroom and into the bush for six weeks is not a traditional teaching method. It may not be a traditional practice in terms of the modern education system, but it's certainly traditional when the history and culture of the Deh Cho are considered.

But what about all of the subjects the students will be missing? The flip side to that is all of the knowledge the students will be learning that they couldn't be taught properly in a classroom.

All Deh Cho schools incorporate on-the-land camps into their school year. Deh Gah School is taking that one step further with a longer and more isolated camp, ensuring students will have a richer and more meaningful learning experience.

Area leaders often speak about the importance of Deh Cho youth having a strong foundation in their culture, language and history. By knowing who they are and where they come from, the youth can then more successfully live in the modern world. The idea is often referred to as creating youth who are strong like two people.

This camp will give students that firm basis in traditional skills.

The things the students will learn, such as how to make dry fish and dry meat and how to survive on the land, can't be fully explained in a classroom. The isolated nature of the lake also makes it easier to immerse students in Dene Zhatie. If that language is what the adults are speaking, the youth will be more likely to follow the example.

There are also other benefits to teaching in a camp setting. How many parents have wished that they could get their children to spend less time with video games, iPads and cellphones and to drink less pop and eat less junk food? None of those things will be available at the camp.

Six weeks in the bush may sound less like school and more like camping, but the benefits of teaching students in an on-the-land setting can't be underestimated. Hopefully similar models will soon be adopted by other schools in the region.

If there's as much turmoil as I've heard surrounding last week's announcement by Inuvik Gas that it's ending its franchise agreement with the Town of Inuvik, residents need to "keep calm and carry on."

To some extent, I can see why the announcement was confusing. Its wording was perhaps too carefully crafted and didn't explain well what was going on. There's a simple rule in writing that says "write so you can't be misunderstood" that is far easier said than done. This is an example of where that's gone a bit awry.

"There's a lot of confusion from all over town," Coun. Clarence Wood said.

"I was confused by it as well," added Coun. Melinda Gillis.

However, there's not a lot of excuse for the kind of over-reaction that was discussed at last Wednesday's council meeting. If you read the announcement carefully from top to bottom (and perhaps more than once), it's pretty clear the sky isn't falling on Inuvik as winter sets in.

So in a nutshell, the town and the company are letting the current agreement run its course by next year at this time. There will be gas available from Inuvik Gas this winter to heat your home.

In the meantime, the town and Inuvik Gas will see if some kind of a new agreement can be negotiated. The town is also free to consider every option available, and that's what it is doing, said Mayor Floyd Roland.

For the last year or two, Inuvik Gas hasn't been the most popular company in town. That's been even more true this year since energy costs skyrocketed. Now, with the franchise agreement ending, it's time to hold the company's feet to the fire and bargain hard for a new, better deal. If Inuvik Gas can't provide it, maybe someone else can.

Coun. Kurt Wainman made a lot of sense when he said during the meeting last week that the problem is that people aren't reading the announcement with due consideration and then jumping to conclusions.

"People aren't reading the notice properly," he said.

It's one of the problems with modern life. The pace is so fast that oftentimes people aren't spending the time to read and comprehend such information properly and then process it carefully.

A quick glance at popular Inuvik sites such as the buy, sell, trade page will show you the same thing.

I've lost track of the times I've seen someone not read a post properly and then start asking questions that were already addressed in the original post. Upon occasion, I've done it myself, so I'm equally guilty of breezing through things without concentrating decently.

Residents should just take a deep breath and carry on with their normal daily business for the moment.

Justice Louise Charbonneau of the NWT Supreme Court declared a mistrial last week in the case involving former Inuvik teacher Hughes Latour, charged with sexual touching and encouraging sexual touching of a person under the age of 16. The mistrial was called for lack of jurors because only two of the random 1,200-person pool were French speakers.

As a right-holder under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the accused has the right to a French trial.

In fact, in May 2012, Latour was convicted in an English-language trial on separate charges of assault and forcible confinement of his then-17-year-old girlfriend, but Justice Charbonneau overturned that conviction because Latour had not been properly informed of his right to a trial in French. A new trial on those charges has yet to be scheduled.

The situation was exacerbated in court last week when Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre suggested, in a last-ditch effort, that someone should be charged with going out into the city and finding bystanders and residents to fill the vacant jury spots. This is the same prosecutor that told Yellowknifer in January 2013, that last week's trial was expected to last up to five days and would be conducted in French.

This case was not a surprise - to the NWT Department of Justice, the Crown or the court. If the justice department, the Crown, the court and French right-holders can rise to the occasion when it comes to the education of the children of French right-holders here in Yellowknife, they should be capable of rising to the occasion when it comes to fulfilling their responsibilities in fair judicial processes for the accused.

The Department of Justice must find a way to ensure a French jury can be selected here in the territory. In B.C., accused French-speakers also have the right to a trial in French. The province has a discreet French-speaking juror list. In fact, French-speaking British Columbians are encouraged to contact the government and have their names transferred from the usual database to the French speakers' database.

Census numbers from 2011 indicate that there are 810 people - 4.3 per cent of the city's population - in Yellowknife who claim French as their mother tongue. The NWT Department of Justice, knowing it had court proceedings ahead requiring French jurors, should have created a list months ago.

Last week, the store known until recently as the downtown Extra Foods reopened following a short closure and weeks of headaches to those having to shop there during renovations.

Bare shelves were filled with product, the produce section expanded with more fresh fruits and vegetables on offer and new freezers to replace the overfilled open-top ones. Now known as Glen's Your Independent Grocer, the location is the first of two major revitalization projects in Yellowknife by Canadian grocery giant Loblaws.

And Loblaws isn't the only business revamping and expanding their stores here in Yellowknife. The Canadian Tire on Old Airport Road is in the middle of an expansion that will see its site grow by nearly 50 per cent. The company is also planning to bring SportChek to town, and there's even the possibility of a gas bar.

These business expansions and revamps show their faith in Yellowknife as a viable place to set up shop. These companies are investing thousands if not millions of dollars into making their locations better for consumers - the type of consumer that Canadian Tire CEO Stephen Wetmore referred to as "extremely loyal."

Other businesses should take heed at the example set by Loblaws and Canadian Tire - it's worth investing in business in Yellowknife.

Should all go according to plan and Prime Minister Stephen Harper lands in Rankin Inlet today, Aug. 21, there's little doubt he'll be happy to have escaped the capital to visit the North.

Over the past few months, Harper has been under intense media scrutiny over questionable spending gone mad in the capital.

It's reached the point where auditor general Keith Ferguson intends to review the travel and office expenses of each and every Canadian senator.

Leading the way in this political version of the Keystone Cops gone bad are star performers senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, ably backed by the supporting cast of senators Mac Harb (a Liberal, at least) and Patrick Brazeau (currently suspended for being charged, but not yet convicted, of sexual assault).

Duffy earned rave reviews for his performance as a nomadic, slightly-confused Senate appointee who couldn't recall where he called home for the majority of the year.

Wallin delivered the performance of the year, and has been nominated for the coveted duplicate cheque award for her portrayal of a time-travelling pseudo-intellectual who loves to visit her condo in The Big Smoke and figures what's a year or two's difference on an electronic calendar for an expense claim between friends?

In fairness to Duffy, he did pay back $90,000 of his rather questionable expenses, although that was only after Harper's former chief of staff Nigel Wright helped him out of a financial jam by writing a cheque for, well, $90,000.

There's no word on whether current chief of staff Ray Novak (the former University of Western Ontario's president for the Reform party -- wink, wink) was doing any online banking when Wallin paid a little more than $38,000 back on the $121,000 she owes in travel expenses.

Of course, the silence is understandable, given Harper's director of communications, Andrew MacDougall, gave his notice this past week, and will be leaving for a job in jolly old England this coming September with a London-based strategic communications firm.

Harper has averaged about one director of communications per year since 2006.

The prime minister has tried to play the strong silent type through this murky production, denying any knowledge of the cheque issued to Duffy and defending Wallin's overall travel claims, which he claimed to have personally reviewed.

But, make no mistake about it, Harper's credibility has taken a major hit among the vast majority of Canadians.

His cone-of-silence approach to governance, devoid of openness or accountability, is catching up to him.

The Government of Nunavut has long admired the cone-of-silence model, gagging many frontline workers from speaking on the record.

One can only hope our politicians are paying attention as the Tory cone melts away to expose the seedy underbelly which always accompanies those who believe they operate above reproach.

But, with an election on the horizon, most of them will be too busy working deals and plotting strategy for re-election behind closed doors to take any notice or learn from the Tory mistakes.

Which means, shortly after Oct. 28: meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

And that's a wrap.

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.

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