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Over the past few weeks, many Yellowknifers noticed something was missing from their lives - their mail. People were left waiting for parcels delivered through Canada Post, along with letters, cheques and bills. Other mail, some within the city, was taking nearly a month to arrive at its final destination. It became more efficient to hop in your car and deliver the message yourself.

People who called Canada Post looking for answers were told the regular mail carrier was on vacation, and that the individual who was supposed to take over "wasn't able to handle it." So, in other words, the job was too much and they gave up, leaving Yellowknifers without their mail.

A call made to the sorting depot at the airport lead to one Canada Post employee telling Yellowknifer "everything was fine," while telling another person that he "didn't understand what the big deal was."

The big deal is that residents are being left without a government service without any explanation or warning. Some people were able to go to the Shoppers Drug Mart parcel pickup and get their goods with the presentation of ID, but others were not. Regular mail would have to wait until service resumed. What would happen if, like Angie Benoit, you were waiting for important mail to arrive? Or waiting for a bill that, for all you know, could lapse before it reaches you? If that were to happen, does Canada Post pick up the late fees?

Canada Post has been losing money hand over fist due to a slowing business. How is Canada Post expected to gain the trust of, and credibility with, communities when it can't even do its job of delivering the mail?

Others in the country have called for Canada Post to be privatized, meaning it would have to be competitive with other delivery services, such as FedEx and Purolator. The government of Great Britain is debating the same thing, recently announcing it would soon be offering an initial public offering of shares in the service, meaning the Royal Mail could soon have to answer to shareholders.

The German postal service, Deutsche Post, did just that in 2000. Eleven years later in 2011, the company posted a profit of €1.163 billion (nearly $1.6 billion) through its mail delivery service and parcel service DHL, which it acquired a majority interest in following the initial public offering. The company now also has a licence to deliver mail in Great Britain.

So is this the answer to Canada Post's woes? Or is it too late for the country's national mail carrier? At a stop in Yellowknife earlier this year, Canada Post executives discussed ways to stay "relevant for the next 100 years." They were using a report from the Conference Board of Canada as a launching point. One of the report's recommendations? Slow mail delivery to save money.

Four weeks to deliver a letter - it can't get much slower than that.

Make no mistake about it, with Daniel Shewchuk announcing he won't run in the upcoming territorial election, the Government of Nunavut has lost a good minister.

But whether or not Arviat has lost a good MLA is a matter of some debate.

Being somewhat of a political junkie, my opinion has long been that the worst that can happen to a constituency with a good representative is to have that person accept a ministerial portfolio.

Good representatives get to be that way because (a) they care, (b) they have solid work ethics, (c) they understand the issues and are quick studies when it comes to political manoeuvring and (d) when they do something, they give it 110 per cent.

And there's the rub.

When you become a minister, your thinking becomes channelled toward the dreaded big picture.

It's only common sense, really, and it absolutely has to be that way.

If I may shock you with a hockey analogy, it's the exact scenario when a group of team representatives and a league commissioner or president sit down to hammer things out.

It's not that the individual team representatives don't care about their league, because they do, often quite passionately.

But, at the end of the day, they're almost always going to do what's best for their respective teams.

The commissioner or president, on the other hand, always bases his decision on what's best for the league, as a singular entity, whether that means upsetting the worst team, the best team, or those somewhere in the middle.

When MLAs become ministers, they have to look at what's best for each and every community in their territory, often at the expense of their own ridings.

Those who gain positions of power above their MLA status in any capacity, and begin to feather their own riding's nest, are often taken to task quite quickly.

One need only think back to Conservative Tony Clement and his little band of rogues known as the Local Area Leadership Group, and their funnelling of more than $45 million in G8 legacy payments to Muskoka-area projects through Clement's constituency office.

And don't even get me started on the political corruption we've seen in Quebec during the past decade.

Shewchuk pointed to gains in Arviat's infrastructure through increased housing and improvements to its arena as signs of progress. He was taking political credit for these but they almost certainly would have happened anyway.

While I'm fresh out of crystal balls, with Shewchuk stepping down, the timing is right for the current mayor of Arviat to give some serious thought to throwing his hat in the territorial ring.

Precious few have the understanding of the challenges Arviat must overcome as one of Nunavut's fastest-growing communities as Bob Leonard.

And Leonard has deep grassroots - the kind that make him fiercely loyal to his community.

He may even be dedicated enough to resist any overtures of greater political standing for a term, or two, should the day ever come he finds himself in Iqaluit as Arviat's representative.

An MLA whose big picture is solely the community he or she serves.

There's a novel concept.

Lutsel K'e has crunched its numbers and is looking to hop on the solar energy bandwagon to cut down costs. The band council will be making a final decision by the end of the month on the development of a community-owned alternative power plant using the sun's energy - the first in the NWT. It could be up and running about a year from now.

The proposed 35-kilowatt solar system, on a sunny day, could power up to five community buildings. It would also cut down on the amount of diesel needed to power the remote community. If surplus energy was created, it could be sold back to the grid.

The GNWT's Solar Energy Strategy has a considerable goal of developing solar systems able to take on 20 per cent of the community's power needs to 25 NWT communities currently using diesel over the next four years. There's also the chance Lutsel K'e could benefit from the GNWT's plan to install, test and monitor two systems sized to 75 per cent of a community's energy average load in the next four years.

Solar energy isn't new in the territory, but it's growing. There have been smaller systems built for residents, businesses, wellness camps and band offices. The Northwest Territories Power Corporation hosts the only other solar farm in the NWT, located at the Fort Simpson airport. The 104-kilowatt system is expected to create enough electricity to be the equivalent of shutting down the diesel plant for 4.3 days of the year.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) is pumping $50,000 into the planning of the farm in Lutsel K'e and if the project is green-lighted, $200,000 to $250,000 in territorial and federal dollars will be needed to make it a reality.

There is a keen interest from ENR and the not-for-profit society Arctic Energy Alliance to invest in this clean energy. Lutsel K'e will reap benefits of reduced diesel transportation and usage, and community-based employment opportunities. If the community jumps on board, it will pave the way for other off-the-grid communities to benefit from the powers of the sun as well.

Residents cannot focus on the "what ifs" of such a tragedy that befell Norman Wells on Sept. 6, for fear of spiraling into a dark, confusing place. What if the two boys who went canoeing in Jackfish Lake had life-jackets on or in the boat?

That wasn't the case and thinking about it won't bring 15-year-old Andy Carpenter Jr. back. But learning from the tragedy and acting appropriately could save lives in the future.

In the NWT, there is no rule that residents must wear life-jackets in boats of any kind, but there must be enough life-jackets for each person in the boat. Unfortunately, when that canoe capsized on Jackfish Lake, there were no life-jackets on either boy, nor in the canoe.

The Town of Norman Wells has a plan in place to set up a life-jacket tree - essentially life-jackets hanging from a device that would be free for the use of the general public. This is scheduled to be set up next spring at Jackfish Lake and hopefully members of the public will take advantage of it.

Life-jackets are not solely for those who cannot swim. The water in the North is cold. Muscles seize up and people hyperventilate and get disoriented after falling out of a boat.

Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in the territory, said Cathy Menard, the NWT's chief coroner. Having life-jackets in the boat, or better yet wearing one, can save lives. Let's stop learning the same lessons over and over again every time such a tragedy takes place.

It is the tragic call that comes all too often. A loved one, a son, daughter, brother or sister, has been found dead after having taken their own life. What follows for those left behind is a range of powerful emotions - shock, sadness, grief, bewilderment and, sometimes, anger.

Understanding why someone has committed suicide is often difficult, just as life itself is often difficult.

We observed on the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day last week, and the introduction the week before of the Be Safe kits for schools by the Embrace Life Council and the Canadian Red Cross, that there is a concerted effort by government and helping agencies to reduce the incidence of suicide among Nunavummiut.

Giving people the tools to recognize signs in people who are contemplating suicide is important. Further, it is vital that there be resources in place to help people who are thinking about committing suicide. That is happening as part of the Nunavut Suicide Prevention Strategy Action Plan, launched in 2011 and currently laying the groundwork for community-based counsellors and mental health professionals to develop a plan of action.

Suicide is a difficult topic, no matter how it is viewed. The media by and large, including Nunavut News/North, does not report individual suicides, unless it involves a prominent person and the act was carried out in a public place. The issue is largely hidden because police, emergency responders and health-care providers do not make information public about individuals who commit suicide.

Yet, the number of people who commit suicide is significant. In 2009, 3,890 people were recorded as having taken their lives in Canada. A 2006 study concluded that the rate of suicide among Inuit males age 15 to 24 in the Baffin Island region was 10 times higher than among the non-aboriginal population in the rest of Canada.

Simply because of the higher rates, there is a need for more effort, more awareness and more resources to be put toward giving young Inuit people a will to live.

This involves many factors, including the ability to live without the stress and worry of falling short in providing the necessities of live, such as food, shelter and clothing. That is difficult considering the high cost of food and the deplorable state of housing in some communities.

Government-sponsored programs and the establishment of strategies are vitally important to helping to prevent suicide from happening, just as is breaking down a stigma that prevents people from seeking help. Suicide prevention walks and candlelight vigils draw attention to the issue.

One of the most important strategies, however, is the ability to observe others and, when signs of potentially suicidal tendencies are observed, having the courage to step up and talk to the person. Ordinary people need to learn how to answer a call for help and offer assistance before the call bearing bad news arrives.

Up until two weeks ago it would be hard to find fault with Allan Shortt's leadership as the chairperson of Yellowknife Education District No. 1 board of trustees.

The best politicians not only get things done, they keep the peace. And from all appearances, the Yk1 board has pretty much been a hive of harmony since Shortt put his name in the hat to become the board's chairman in 2010.

That hasn't always been the case. Ten years ago, the Yk1 board was rife with division and the district was still recovering from a $1-million deficit. It took some major bloodletting in the 2003 school board election to right the ship, and there is no doubt that the addition of Shortt in 2008 went a long way to solidify stability on the board.

Indeed, acting chairperson John Stephenson insisted it is many peoples' preference that Shortt stay on as chairperson after trustees learned of his conviction for driving over the legal alcohol limit Aug. 26.

"I've had many people e-mail me saying they don't see any reason for it to be cause for him to step aside," Stephenson said prior to a special board meeting held last week to decide Shortt's fate.

But there is more at issue here than Shortt's drinking and driving conviction. His first mistake was getting behind the wheel while intoxicated last May. His second was keeping silent as the months went by and school board business continued while a court date awaited him.

Shortt has apologized, circumspectly, in a three-sentence e-mail to Yellowknifer. Considering how no one seemed to have known about his legal troubles until his name appeared on the court docket two weeks ago, one gets the sense that Shortt intends to carry on in a reduced role on the board while trying to put this behind him without any public discussion whatsoever.

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus is right to point out that this simply won't do. Never mind that he has relinquished his chairmanship of the board, Shortt remains an elected public official, for a school district no less, and must set a reputable example for impressionable students.

As it stands, it's hard to imagine Shortt being able to show much leadership when it comes to, say, speaking about the benefits of initiatives like Students Against Drinking and Driving. To do so would require him to acknowledge his failings on this issue - publicly.

This past week, Deepak International announced there was another delay in the opening of its diamond polishing plant here in Yellowknife, citing an abundance of "paperwork."

As an approved diamond manufacturer in the NWT, Deepak will be able to tap into the 10 per cent of rough diamonds made available by diamond producers in the territory. With only one other diamond manufacturing game in town, Crossworks, this means both businesses will have access to this cache. This could represent a $100-million boost to the industry if Deepak gets up and running, according to numbers presented by the territorial government.

This is money currently being missed out on while delays continue.

Unfortunately, diamond manufacturing businesses in the NWT lack a Northern advantage. Costs in the North are higher than elsewhere, leading to small gains for investors and businesses. On top of that, diamond producers are mandated to provide 10 per cent of rough diamonds by weight, rather than by value. This is what led to complaints from diamond polishers that they were being left with low-value and low-carat diamonds, while higher-quality diamonds go out of the territory to plants with lower overhead and higher profit margins.

Yellowknife's "Diamond Row" had, at its peak, four businesses up and running. There's now only one remaining polisher in town, two if Deepak gets going.

The questions remains whether the GNWT did its homework with its sale to Deepak, or if it was merely trying to unload property inherited by the insolvency of its previous owner, Arslanian Cutting Works. Is it also possible that Deepak International was the only business willing to take the chance on re-establishing an industry that, as a result of its location, would lead to higher costs and less profit?

Until the GNWT grows a spine and enforces a Northern advantage by insisting mines provide diamonds by value, not weight, chances that the secondary diamond industry will return to its former glory will remain slim.

Jean Marie River First Nation is setting a great example for the rest of the Deh Cho.

So often, Deh Cho residents, particularly elders, talk about their concerns related to the land. These concerns are usually based on personal observations and from information passed down to them from previous generations.

Changes are taking place in the Deh Cho. Temperatures are rising, the landscape is changing, different animals are appearing in places they haven't been before and disappearing from places they've always been. Even the water doesn't seem to be quite the same.

All of these concerns are valid and the observations they are based on are likely spot on. The problem is, where to go from there.

It's one thing to talk about the changes that are taking place and how they are affecting day-to-day life in the region, but it's another to study these changes and, based on the findings, make plans for the future.

This is what Jean Marie River is doing. Through a traditional knowledge study, it was identified that the elders are very concerned about the changing climate. That led the First Nation to create partnerships with researchers and apply for funding.

The first study conducted was to assess how climate change will affect the health and wellness of residents, including in areas of food security, access to safe drinking water and safe travel.

From there, the First Nation decided to focus on permafrost and food safety.

A study, in its second year, is identifying where there is permafrost around the community, how much of it is at risk of thawing, and how the resulting landscape changes will impact residents' lifestyle and everyday activities such as hunting.

The data that is being gathered through the study is giving credibility to the community's concerns and providing them with information they can use to base future plans on.

Jean Marie River First Nation identified a real concern that community members have and has taken concrete steps to learn about that issue, how it will continue to affect them, and what they can do about it. This proactive approach will undoubtedly prove to be a benefit to the community.

Some First Nations in the Deh Cho are already taking similar approaches to areas of concerns related to water, land and wildlife. There are, however, many areas that remain to be explored and it is only through proactive steps that answers will be found.

As a certified bear fanatic, I think we're missing the boat on a glorious tourism opportunity here in Inuvik.

I finally saw my first Northern grizzlies this past weekend, and to say I was thrilled would be an understatement.

While I watched the bruins mosey along, relatively unconcerned about the presence of pesky human tourists watching them, I couldn't help but think there's a business to develop.

I say that as a veteran of bear tours ranging from British Columbia to Churchill to Ontario's James Bay coast.

I've long considered a tour my wife and I did with a company at Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island the best I've ever been on.

The participants boated 100 kilometres or so across to the mainland and up Knight's Inlet to a spot where the salmon had to run a river. It was prime bear habitat, and the grizzlies were more than obliging.

The highlight of that trip was watching a smackdown between a female grizzly and a young male of possibly 500 pounds. The male lost the bout in a decisive fashion, and stalked toward our boat with the notion of taking his frustration out on something.

My wife and I, along with one tour guide, stayed at the front of the boat snapping pictures in delight, while the other 20-some people on the boat, including the main tour guide, cowered at the back and prepared to run for their lives.

At the last moment, we began making noise and the bear veered off. He was no more than a car length away from us when he turned. The memory of that hasn't dimmed for me.

That trip was $250 per person at the time, and neither my wife or I blinked at the cost. We just wanted to see the bears.

That kind of opportunity is not readily available around Inuvik as far as I know.

However, after seeing the grizzlies along the Dempster, I see no reason why some kind of caravan tour system couldn't be established to ferry people out on the highway to where the bears live.

Although grizzlies are accepted as a common part of the landscape by people around here, I'm dead certain tourists would be willing to pay for a chance to view the bears, particularly from the comfort and safety of a vehicle. Grizzlies, we must remember, are a big-ticket game item for people, whether they're hunting them with a camera or a gun.

Surely, someone in this area can see the opportunity and embrace it.

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