By Tim Querengesser

Houseboats in Yellowknife Bay are iconic symbols of "Northernness." Floating out there in summer or encased in ice throughout the winter, the colourful structures remind us of the anything-goes spirit that inspired us to explore the North or to make it our home. Yet some houseboaters fear a new harbour planning committee created by Yellowknife council will spell the end of this. Is this progress, or yet another blow to "Northernness"?

Not counting Katharine Sandiford's story in the January/February issue of Up Here, about Yukon artist Jim Robb and his view that the "Colourful Five Per Cent" are harder to find in the Yukon these days, there are signs of Northernness under threat everywhere:

- In Dawson City, the iconic gravel on Front Street is set to be paved over, in order, says the government, to "enrich the level of service for visitors and citizens." Next a bridge will be built over the Yukon River, sending the current ferry into obsolescence. Same thing for the MV Merv Hardie, which now connects northern NWT with the rest of North America. The boat be taken out of commission whenever the bridge is completed across the Mackenzie River.

- In Yellowknife, the oft-celebrated practice of scavenging at what one magazine called the last great city dump is now banned, following a huge fire last summer that some have blamed on a scavenger. Users of honeybuckets in Yellowknife have been targeted for regulation, and now houseboaters are worried the harbour planning commission means their days without red tape are numbered.

How do you feel about Northernness? Is ramshackle, free and improvised endearing, or just another example of the North being behind the times? Should we protect what makes us unique or seek to regulate our society just like everywhere else? Let us know with a comment below.