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4 Tuesday September 15 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..................................................................................... Craig Gilbert 867-872-3000 ext.24 newsnorj.ca Reporter....................................................................... Dali Carmichael 867-872-3000 ext.25 reporternorj.ca Comptroller .......................................................Jessica Dell 867-872-3000 ext.23 webnorj.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 LETTER TO THE EDITOR Editors note This letter was addressed to Northern Journal publisher Don Jaque but highlights the remarkable community effort that drove another goal-smashing Relay for Life in Fort Smith last July. My name is Shari Olsen and on behalf of the Canadian Cancer Society I would like to thank you and the Hay River Lions Club for your support and commitment towards this years Relay for Life in Fort Smith. A total of 110 volunteers 125 participants and 15 teams contributed their time and hearts to this years event allowing us to raise more than 155811 in Fort Smith. This success could not have been realized without our sponsors and the community effort of all of our supporters in Fort Smith. Money raised through Relay for Life allows us to continue to ght cancer by funding the most promising cancer research support programs and services for people living with the disease comprehensive cancer informa- tion prevention initiatives and advocacy for public health policy. Thanks to sponsorships such as yours we are able to put more fundraising dollars to- wards our mission and keep administrative costs low. Society supporters like you have the most impact against the most cancers. With your help we will reach the day when no Canadian has to fear cancer. Thankyouagainforstandingbesideusaswe celebratedsurvivorsandrememberedlovedones losttothedisease.Wehopeyouwillcontinueto ghtbackbysupportingRelayforLifenextyear. Shari Olsen Fort Smith Relay for Life event chair Canadian Cancer Society AlbertaNWT Newspaper publisher thanked for supporting Relay for Life PhotoscourtesyofBarbMcArthur Medical challenges of the human mind and the xes The NWT Legislative Assemblys Stand- ing Committee on Social Programs is tour- ing communities seeking input an attempt to modernize mental health legislation in the territory but in spite of widespread de- mands for reform in how mental health is- sues are dealt with the meetings often suf- fer small turnouts. One in four people - 25 per cent of the pop- ulation - will suffer from them in their life- time yet little is known about mental health issues. Our impressions of the disease and yes it is a disease typically come from a few high prole cases involving a person who may do harm to others especially if they go off their meds. Then there is suicide which has become an epidemic in some small North- ern communities. Nunavut in particular has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Ordinary issues of mental health such as depression anxiety obsessive compulsive disorders drug addiction self-harming and personality disorders are more pervasive than we know. Treatment options include medication and psychotherapy. Often an individuals con- dition comes and goes over time. Success- ful medication regimes can take years and multiple physicians to get right. The proposed legislation spells out new powers for the government in particular enabling control over individuals who might harm others or themselves. It also goes to lengths to ensure that the rights of individu- als are protected. The legislation aspires to ll in recognized gaps in the healthcare system with measures to enhance resources and in- crease numbers of trained treatment coun- sellors. Reducing paperwork and streamlin- ing administrative systems are also planned and much-needed changes. Notably there is also a commitment to offer new community treatment options that will offer care at the local level to those with mental health issues. Our healthcare system is a bureaucracy with faults aws and foibles common to many government operations. In the health-care ap- paratus patients are plugged into a generic system that can be cumbersome and unre- sponsive even unfeeling in spite of all best efforts to tailor it otherwise. On the legisla- tive side it can sometimes take decades for old encumbering legislation to be replaced. Note that the last NWT mental health act came into effect in 1985. Circumstances and needs have changed dramatically in the en- suing decades. It appears the NWT Department of Health and Social Services has listened to public con- cerns striving to offer the best possible solu- tions in the new legislation - in a system that cares. No matter how effective the programs are however no amount of insight can offer up all the answers for a subject as mercurial as mental health. In addition mental health issues change and evolve in a rapidly advanc- ing world especially since the attributes and responses required for youth may differ from what is needed for older generations. The new legislation and the programs that will stem from it must have built-in exibility to ac- commodate those ongoing changes and new attendant needs. That exibility must be built into the legislation so that it never gets too old - a review process that facilitates even forces ongoing renement and evolution. Otherwise resistance to change can be overwhelming. Mental health issues will never be xed. In fact they need the opposite approach. Every affected persons condition is unique special and evolving. The approach in all cases has to be empathetic and discerning over time. The government the health care system the police all have jobs to do with those who struggle with mental health but they cannot do it all. Community support is needed plus we can all have a role. We must rst be aware of mental health issues for what they are so they are never ignored or stigmatized. The Mental Health Commission of Canada offers an excellent course Mental Health First Aid www.men- talhealthrstaid.ca which teaches how to recognize the symptoms of mental health issues and offers advice and instruction on how to handle and support an individual who is suffering. For example for someone who may be contemplating suicide empathy un- derstanding and support are all important until the person gets through that range of feelings. In many individuals those issues are recurring and they will have to be sup- ported anew in future. Mental health issues too often end in trag- edy. With the proper treatment available that need not happen. Get involved be a part of the solution. In the health-care apparatus patients are plugged into a generic system that can be cumbersome and un- responsive even unfeeling in spite of all best efforts to tailor it otherwise. It was 45 years ago that Queen Elizabeth II made her only visit to Fort Smith. She succeeded Queen Victoria as Britains longest-serving monarch Sept. 9 with 63 years 220 days and counting on the throne. It brings a tear to my eye looking at those photos and seeing my dad greet the Queen Barb McArthur said recalling her father then-mayor Paul Kaeser greeting the royals in July 1970. It brought the whole town together. CORRECTION In the Sept. 8 story High Gear school year Aurora reaching for frontier with new ways to learn it was misstated that the post-graduate nursing students could obtain their masters of nursing in association with Dalhousie Univer- sity through a 36-hour credit program. In fact the college no longer offers the Masters of Nursing program and the new post-graduate program takes place over the course of two years. The Jour- nal apologizes for these errors.