So, all of the towns, big and small, met in Hay River May 13 to 16 - hats off to Fort McPherson with the best suggestion, tax all unhealthy products - pop, candy, fries, cigarettes, etc.

I have a suggestion: Hay River should put on a huge planning project for the day when we can complete the Mackenzie Highway to Tuk. Why should we make that huge detour around the lake to Yellowknife to do our shopping?

I'm sure Hay River could handle at least one huge one-stop shop or a wholesale grocery warehouse for the many grocery stores we have north of Hay River or build a huge family hotel with a year-round indoor swimming pool, where families can take their children for Christmas or Easter breaks.

Speaking of food, who is Chuck Strahl's adviser on Food Mail? A big change we read, with a bureaucrat from Yellowknife? I talk to a lot of people who think food mail is a joke - Food Mail is for people who cannot afford the nourishing food for their families and who are mainly people in communities - the majority do not have credit cards, which you need! Strahl better surround himself with people who really are aware of the situation in the North and that is north of Yellowknife. He should try to be an outstanding minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and look at the big picture, all of the money wasted on Food Mail plus passing the buck by using the aboriginal leadership as an excuse to do nothing concrete and saving money for the feds.

He should also start clamping down on the GNWT and demand it starts governing as it should. The infrastructure is in place. All that is needed is to put the finishing touches - such as roads to every region to communities after 50 years or so, that isn't too much to ask.

By the way, is the railroad in good shape to Hay River? They should have a real wholesale metropolis with a railway! We wouldn't have to go to Edmonton to do all our buying - we have spent billions and billions since the fur trade, they could have at least helped us to complete our road north.

Yellowknife has everything - they even have our soldiers build them walkways!? What a wimp of a country Canada has become, the Americans build the Alaska highway through B.C. and Alberta to Alaska in one year with army engineers! Not like our hot-house soldiers.

Now that summer is here, maybe they can move that glass palace they call the army base and put it on the floats and drift it down to Inuvik and set up camp like the old days. Maybe then the Canadian Forces can protect our sovereignty like it should. Or, move the army base to the Sahtu - we are at the halfway mark.

Headline, May 24th, the Joint Review Panel's inexperience, everyone knew that from the beginning, but as we all know the government's on the kick today - must have aboriginal input - regardless somebody made a lot of money, 18.7 million? Feds sure waste money. In the papers yesterday it reads $1 billion to guard the G8 and G20? And there is nothing you can do.

Something at least cheered me up, reading about a young man from Providence, May 24th, Delmer Bonnetrouge - a business man, journeyman electrician travels to jobs "life at Shockdizzle Electrizzle" - I hope all or a lot of young people read about him in News/North's Construction 2010 report - he sure sounds very smart and a go-getter. His name caught my eye, I was in Providence Convent with a girl named Bonnetrouge.

Much ice still on the shores - but the boat should be here soon. In this modern day when you have all kinds of tools how come no one has built a stern wheeler - steam boat. The kind that used to travel from Fort Smith to Aklavik - passengers and all. In this day in age, with the technology they can combine a jet motor with a steam wheeler - just a thought. We need something to liven up this region.