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4 Tuesday August 25 2015 The Northern Journal is an independent newspaper covering news and events in the western Arctic and northern Alberta. 2013 CCNA BLUE RIBBON CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2013 C M C A AUDITED The Northern Journal is published weekly by Cascade Publishing Ltd. Printed at Star Press Inc. Wainwright AB. Publisher................................................................................. Don Jaque 867-872-3000 ext.21 donnorj.ca Editor.........................................................................Meagan Wohlberg 867-872-3000 ext.24 newsnorj.ca Reporter....................................................................... Dali Carmichael 867-872-3000 ext.25 reporternorj.ca Comptroller ..................................................... Dixie Penner 867-872-3000 ext.23 dixnorj.ca Advertising.............................. Heather Foubert Hay River 867-874-4106 adsnorj.ca Administration............................................Jeremy Turcotte 867-872-3000 ext.26 adminnorj.ca Production Manager ......................................Sandra Jaque 867-872-3000 ext.22 sandranorj.ca Graphics........................................................Paul Bannister 867-872-3000 ext.27 graphicsnorj.ca Letters to the Editor Policy The Northern Journal welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and include a phone number so the author can be veried. Names will be withheld on request in special circumstances where the reasons are determined to be valid. The Journal reserves the right to edit letters for length libel clarity and taste. Opinions expressed in letters and columns are not necessarily those of the publisher or editor. Advertising Deadlines Display ad deadline is Thursday at 400 p.m. Classied ad deadline is Thursday at 500 p.m. Email adsnorj.ca Subscription Rates Prices include GST. 47.25 in Fort Smith 52.50 elsewhere in Canada 105 in the USA overseas 164.30. EDITORIAL COLUMN In order to retain power anything goes So far two things that are bad for Canada stand out in the federal election campaign of 2015. Although climate change is the elephant in the room none of the three major parties are saying much about the impacts and what Canada must do about it. Meanwhile in the recent court case against Senator Mike Duffy no one in the Conser- vative Party of Canada is questioning the leadership of Stephen Harper in spite of the fact that he was obviously responsible for creating the culture of deceit enveloping the ofce of Prime Minister that is being re- vealed in court. The Harper-led federal government has made it clear that climate change is not on its radar and has gone so far as to deny the existence of the role of mankind in the warm- ing of the planet that is taking place all too quickly. That said the subject seems to be a non-starter for both the Liberals and NDP as well. It is barely even being mentioned in their campaigns at least so far. Unusual weather is costing millions of dollars - from ooding to lost crops and ghting wildres across the country. There are predictions that the rising level of the oceans will be devastating. Surely studies must be done to determine the impact on coastal towns and cities not to mention farmland and industrial instal- lations that will be be hurt. Canada has the most extensive marine coastline on the planet. Millions of dollars need to be dedi- cated to sophisticated modelling that will predict impacts and determine what miti- gating measures will be required but that is only the beginning. Billions of dollars should be set aside for future remediation and relocation to cope with the predicted ooding. We are so short-sighted not to act on such things. Both the Liberals and NDP have presented plans for carbon reduction through their respective cap and trade program NDP or carbon pricing Liberals but neither programs are proven and both would take a lot of renement to be effective. Worse still both parties speak of the need for such measures in isolation unconnected to the many other aspects of climate change im- pacts. Meanwhile the Conservatives who do not acknowledge any need for action plus loathe any kind of tax are going in the op- posite direction by fostering the expansion of the oil and gas industry. Finding a method to control corporate carbon emissions is but one aspect of the needed multi-faceted strategy on climate change all of which should be laid out in the campaign platforms of all parties. The fact that they do not means they are ignor- ing the future effects of climate change and that is simply stupid. Such things unfortunately are the last thing on the minds of the ruling Conserva- tives as they wade through the quagmire of scandal at the worst possible time watch- ing their chances of re-election diminishing. Of all the many criticisms of the Harper Conservatives none is more damning than the web of deceit being revealed in the court- room woven by the Prime Ministers Ofce in a blatant effort to mislead the Canadian public in order to retain power. What they did - have been doing and continue to do - is worse than the sins of the Liberals in the Sponsorship Scandal that allowed Harper to take over the reins of power in 2006. That scandal was all about paying out 2 million in contracts to companies that were Liberal friends without proper tendering. Harper took over governing with the promise that corruption would be replaced by transparency and accountability a government that could be trusted. Instead the opposite happened. Harper has to take responsibility for what has gone on under his watch. He is the boss. He hired or appointed the people guided them set down the rules and established the atmosphere in which all this is taking place. The abuse by Harper of the ofce of Prime Minister is unacceptable. He has led the Conservative party astray and must take full responsibility for that. The only honour- able thing he can do at this point is resign. What is most surprising is the absence of that discussion within the Conservative Party ranks. They have set aside not only fundamental conservative values but moral- ity and honour as well just to retain power. Canadians and Conservatives deserve better. Harper has to go. Millions of dollars need to be dedicated to sophisti- cated modelling that will project impacts and de- termine what mitigating measures will be required once sea levels start to rise but that is only the beginning. By TVNZ Research into bad posture has found that technology is causing major health issues with teenagers complaining of neck problems usually seen in adults over 50. Frequent use of laptops tablets and smart phones is impacting heavily on our health according to research gathered by Dr. Giresh Kanji for his book on bad posture caused by devices. Dr. Kanji says he sees teenagers weekly with reversed neck shape from technology. Every week we see a teenager whose shape of their neck has reversed he says. The thing about the spine its like Plas- ticine modelling clay it takes the shape you give it. The weight of the human head plays a huge part in our posture problems according to Dr. Kanji with the weight doubling every 10 degrees we look down. He became a victim of his own research while completing a ve-year PhD involving a lot of computer time and research. I woke up with tingling in my ngers and neck pain and I didnt know why. As I did the research for my book I found out its gravity - the pressure of the head squashes the neck. Dr. Kanji recommends raising screens up for good posture and taking mini-breaks away from your devices. Its that xed posture every minute that squashes the neck slowly and drives out the uid from your discs. Often there are devices that can time-out computers in 20 minutes so you can get up walk around and come back. The average human head weighs 10 to 11 pounds or about eight per cent of the weight of a human body. When youre bending your head over all day looking at your phone thats like putting the weight of a ten-pin bowling ball on your neck. HEAD FACT Doctors Teens compulsive texting can cause neck injury The community of Fort Liard and the Acho Dene Koe First Nation held their rst hand games tournament over the weekend drawing people from around the Dehcho region and beyond. Above drummers lead a drum dance around the re in the arbour. Below teams from Behchoko and Wrigley compete in hand games. PhotosDnezeNakehko