I would like to applaud the work of people like McGill University student Julia Christensen, formerly of Yellowknife, who has been working on her three-year doctorate study on homelessness.

In our rush to better our own lives we often forget there are people, even close relatives, living on the streets. We walk right by them without even a second glance, thinking that it is too bad they are there, and they will get by somehow.

The truth of the matter, as this young lady points out, is often these homeless men and women haven't had much of a say in finding themselves without a place of their own. Drug and alcohol addiction plays a big part in this unfortunate situation, yes, but so does the responsibility of government. In Inuvik's situation, for instance, the Nihtat Gwich'in Band runs the homeless shelter there despite the fact many people who are in need and use their services are from elsewhere and are stretching this local organizations resources, leaving its own membership in need.

Of course, it does not help when the government will not admit to the seriousness of the problems of homelessness in the North. Only a little while ago we had our one senator from the North publicly saying that official funding should not be such a social issue.

I personally feel that we should be very thankful that there are the individual citizens like Christensen who are making it a point that we should, at the very least, set our apathy aside long enough to demand a change for our streets. How can we complain about our drug problems and at the same time not have funds made available to an independent housing advocacy group to find solutions?

We should be thankful, too, that the Trudeau Foundation provided the money for Ms. Christensen's work.

I now know I will continue with my own schooling, and one of my options is to eventually work on a book about the residential schools. This misguided government policy and program surely paved the way for a lot of our Northern people on the streets today.

For now, again, I am thankful for the people like this young lady who is taking a good look at this homelessness situation.

Mahsi cho, Julia!