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When funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was cut by the federal government in 2010, there was outrage in Northern communities and the government was lobbied by aboriginal groups to rethink its decision.

People knew even then the detrimental effects the funding cuts would have on the 100 community-based healing programs across the country that were funded by this organization.

Over the past three years, these grassroots programs that offered support to residential school survivors have been disintegrating around us. Earlier this month, one more program bit the dust.

The Embracing our Human-Nest program, hosted by the Healing Drum Society based out of Yellowknife, offered group counselling sessions throughout the territory. Its demise means the loss of six jobs and the loss of a program that was offered to nearly 1,000 clients since its inception in 2002. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation, meanwhile, is set to close its doors next year.

These program cancellations do not come as a surprise. The foundation has been stretching its one-time funding of $350 million from 1998 until the very end, but endings are never as clean cut as we are initially led to believe.

The federal government set up its residential school clean-up job to be as smooth as possible. It ensured it filled in the blanks in its accounting books, offering settlement payments - Common Experience Payment - to residential school survivors to avoid legal backlash for decades on end. It checked off financial compensation and checked off healing programs through the foundation and then, in 2010, through Health Canada.

But more is needed than that. In a report issued by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, it states that "as payments flow to survivors, they should be received in the context of a healing environment. Community support networks should be established and maintained to maximize the potential benefits of the Common Experience Payment while minimizing its potential negative effects."

While money from Health Canada is still filtering to organizations such as the Healing Drum Society, the Gwich'in Tribal Council and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to provide counselling services and community-based support workers, the consistency of continuing programs is critical to healing.

This time, with the termination of Embracing our Human-Nest, it's group counselling, which was a popular means of healing. There were nearly 200 people on the waiting list for the program when it dissolved on Aug. 16. For many who used the program, it was the group dynamic that most helped, sharing stories with others who continue to suffer years after residential schools in this country ceased to exist.

There is no substitute to the grassroots healing programs offered within communities, such as those offered by the Healing Drum Society. The front line workers such as Joe Pintarics, executive director of the society, see the need for these programs and know which ones are working. The disruption of these programs adds to the confusion that survivors feel and shakes the foundation they have so bravely created brick by brick.

Pintarics shakes his head when he recalls Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology to aboriginal people for the Indian Residential School system in 2008. It calls the more than 100 years of horrific abuse to some students a "sad chapter in our history."

The chapter isn't over. Every page that turns adds more suicide, more lack of parenting, poverty and substance abuse.

The more we learn from these healing programs, the more help can be given to people who need it. Cutting off the support these programs offer is destructive and is a detrimental step backward into the past, erasing any progress made.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper got his pants dirty with the Canadian Rangers in Gjoa Haven last week, lying prone in the dirt with a Korean War-era Lee Enfield rifle for some target practice.

He participated in an Arctic sovereignty patrol with the Rangers as part of Operation Nanook, the annual military exercise involving hundreds of Canadian Armed Forces personnel. Harper shook hands with elders dressed in traditional caribou and seal skin clothing and posed for photographs on the barren landscape.

Earlier last week, in Hay River, he announced $5.8 million in funding for the NWT and Nunavut Mine Training Society's Mining the Future project, which aims to prepare Inuit and aboriginal people for jobs in the mines.

Generally speaking, Harper's Conservative government has been good to the North. A permanent military facility just opened at Resolute, which will support the many Inuit who work with the Canadian Rangers. Ottawa boosted its funding for the Rangers program so another 1,000 Rangers could be hired. There are now more than 5,000 Rangers in 178 patrols, an increase of 25 per cent since 2007.

However, we can't help but wonder if Harper, during his annual tour of the North, has looked at the daily living conditions of the average Nunavummiut. Social indicators in many communities are dismal.

Food security is a dream for many people. The latest food basket comparison from the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics shows the price of a two-litre carton of milk is $7.35 in Gjoa Haven and a one-kg package of pork chops is $15.44. In many communities, paying for the high price of food has a negative ripple effect, resulting in no resources for clothing, shelter and cleaning supplies.

Israel Mablick Sr. of Iqaluit told Nunavut News/North on Aug. 15 that he shares a two-bedroom unit with his wife, his mother, his sister, his nephew and his five children. Many Nunavummiut live in similar deplorable conditions.

Should Canada's stewardship of the North be measured by how many diamonds and minerals can be hauled out of the ground? Or by the strength of its military presence?

At the end of the day, it should be measured by the state of its housing and the physical and mental health of its people.

And that is where the Conservative government is falling short. It is outrageous that the government is spending $620,000 on testing a stealth snowmobile when an 11-year-old boy takes his own life in Repulse Bay, just the latest suicide of several recent tragic events in remote communities. The suicide rate in Nunavut in 2009 was 65 people for every 100,000 residents, startlingly high compared to the national rate of 11.5 suicides for every 100,000 residents. Still, there is little help for those contemplating suicide or the families left behind.

Harper has done well on issues related to a military presence in the Arctic, expanding the Rangers program and creating support for employment and resource development.

Now, it would be nice if he could focus some attention on the basic needs of the average Nunavummiut.

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.

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