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4 Wednesday February 10 2016 The Northern Journal is an independent newspaper covering news and events in the western Arctic and northern Alberta. 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.20 webnorj.ca Advertising............................................................................ 867-872-3000 ext.26 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 verified. 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. EDITORIAL LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR 2013 CCNA BLUE RIBBON CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2013 C M C A AUDITED Advertising Deadlines Display ad deadline is Thursday at 400 p.m. Classified 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. The Northern Journal acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund CPF for our publishing activities. ISSN No. 0707-4964 The 18th Assembly is posi- tioned to spend the next four years hell-bent on building roads that have been on the books since before Sputnik went into orbit with business cases that could be just as old. Seeking roads to resourcefulness Its been more than a half-century since the majority of the highway network in the North- westTerritorieswasbuiltthroughthenational Roads to Resources program. A means to an end John Diefenbakers Conservatives spent millions between the late 1950s and the early 1960sbuildingthehighwayfromEnterpriseto Yellowknife and the beginnings of the Demp- ster Highway. The argument for an infrastruc- ture network that effectively shrinks the pro- hibitive distances of the NWT and makes it more feasible for mining companies to get at those storied stores of diamonds gold and base metals remains the same but the con- ditions are different. The 1950s were a boom time in Canada leading to about three decades of economic growth labour market expansion and the construction of roads needed to get at ura- nium which became a strategic metal during the Cold War plus zinc lead and tungsten to saynothingofthegoldthathelpedYellowknife grow after the Second World War found in deposits throughout the territory. The coming decade by contrast is not fore- cast to experience a thirst for non-renewable resources even approaching that scale. In fact recently announced changes to the way the National Energy Board will evaluate en- ergy projects like pipelines coupled with the prime ministers assertion that the federal government will not act as a cheerleader for resource projects but evaluate them indi- vidually should be a harbinger for the GNWT. Stillthe18thAssemblyispositionedtospend thenextfouryearshell-bentonbuildingroads that have beenonthe books since before Sput- nik went into orbit with business cases that could be just as old. The Northern mining in- dustry spent the territorial election campaign remindingtheGNWTthatitwasmosttoblame for exploration spending petering out in the NWT while it steadily increased in the Yukon and Nunavut. Now they are thrilled Premier Bob McLeod has decided to keep the Indus- try Tourism and Investment portfolio going so far as to anoint him minister of mines at a recent conference in Vancouver. There the premier met with a dozen or more companies alreadyoperatingintheNWTsayinghisfocus is supporting what we already have. This is hardly a recipe for disaster it is a fact hardasbedrockthatwewouldbecuttingoffour nose to spite our face to argue we should turn ourbacksonmining.Itaccountsformorethan 25 cents of every dollar of GDP created in the NWT which is to say there would not be much of a modern economy in the NWT without it. The recent Snap Lake mine closure notwith- standingthousandsofNorthernersproudlygo to work every day in the dank and dust of the minesandthousandsmoredrivealongtheroad network ultimately inspired by them. Moreover the GNWT may even be in a posi- tion to not have to choose between road priori- ties the classic debate between expanding the all-weather road network to connect existing mines in the Slave Geological Province SGP northeastofYellowknifeorbuildingtheMacken- zieHighwayfromWrigleytoTuktoyaktuk.The former could extend the life of existing mines andenticecompanieslikeKennadyDiamonds whichhasbeenkickingthetiresthereformore thanadecadetobuildnewones.Thelatterwould connect communities lower the cost of living for individuals and could lead to the flowering ofamorediversifiedeconomybuiltonabaseof regional small-scale entrepreneurship. With Justin Trudeaus Liberals building an- ticipation toward their first budget promised to be flush with cash for major infrastructure projects across the country the GNWT may be content to sit back and transform those hun- dreds of millions of dollars into pavement and paycheques but they would be well-advised to use this downturn in the commodities market togetcreativeinstead.AroadintotheSGPmay not be a bridge to nowhere but the questions posed ostensibly by the Sahtu economic devel- opment report commissioned by Alternatives North and released in January ask just that at this fork in the road the people of the NWT needtothinkaboutwhatkindofeconomythey wanttoseehereforthenextsevengenerations. Oneoftheauthorsaconsultantfromacom- pany based in Edmonton and Victoria found it surprising the premier was still so bullish about resource extraction in the face of such a bear commodities market and frankly a post- COP21worldwhere195countriesinParisagreed to get more aggressive on climate change. Presumably this would mean steering away from sizable investments designed primarily to make it cheaper for private companies to get resources like oil out of the ground when climate science argues they need to stay put if we have any hope of meeting new targets to limit global warming. One road the other or both Energy char- rettes were held in 2012 and 2014 and no fo- cusedsolutionsemergedfromthem.Perhapsit istimeforaNorthernsummitoninfrastructure. Deninu School Grade 3 student Chase Balsillie helps deliver fruit bowls to classrooms as part of the Healthy Food for Schools Program. Random Acts of Kindness RAKs took place in schools across the South Slave Divisional Education council this week. PhotocourtesyofSSDEC Editor There are a number of ways to help improve your heart health for heart and stroke month and for life healthy eating active living main- tainingahealthyweightnotsmokingandman- agingotherhealthproblemsarejustafew.Any or all of these things can help reduce your risk of cardiovascular problems or help to manage existing conditions. There are a number of other health issues that can increase your risk for heart disease or stroke including high blood pressure. Diabetes can increase your risk of high blood pressure coronaryarterydiseaseandstrokeparticularly if your blood sugar levels are poorly controlled. Itcanalsoresultincirculationproblemscaused by damage to the blood vessels. Smokingandexposuretosecond-handsmoke have many negative health effects that increase yourriskofdevelopingheartdiseaseandstroke. Smokingcontributestothebuildupofplaquein yourarteriesincreasestheriskofbloodclotsre- duces the oxygen in your blood increases your bloodpressureandmakesyourheartworkharder. Youmayhaveheardthatalcoholparticularly red wine is good for your heart. But drinking toomuchofanytypeofalcoholcanincreaseyour blood pressure and contribute to the develop- ment of heart disease and stroke. The relationship between stress and heart disease and stroke isnt completely clear. How- ever some people with high levels of stress or prolongedstressmayhavehigherbloodcholes- terolincreasedbloodpressureorbemoreprone todevelopingatherosclerosisnarrowingofthe arteries. If your life is stressful it can be diffi- cult to lead a healthy lifestyle. Instead of being physically active to relieve stress you may re- spond by overeating eating unhealthy foods consuming too much alcohol or smoking re- actions that can increase your risk of develop- ing heart disease and stroke. For more information about this and other health related topics visit ahs.ca or MyHealth. Alberta.ca.Healthadviceisalsoavailable247 by calling Health Link at 811. Colette Elko works in public health promo- tion at Alberta Health Services. Everything in moderation