This is the second part of a series on life in Watson Lake over the last year.

WATSON LAKE 'It starts with a spark from someone who knows who?'

From there, people get on board and good things build, Pat Irvin, president of the Watson Lake Chamber of Commerce, said in a recent interview.

If serious change takes a spark, then Watson Lake is full of firebugs.

Last summer, several locals fed up with crime called Watson Lake alumni for help Justice Minister Elaine Taylor and Premier and Watson Lake MLA Dennis Fentie.

The resulting community forum Aug. 22, attended by some 100 locals and various government officials, was 'all about venting,' said Sharon Miller.

'That kind of opened all the doors,' said Miller, a longtimer who was inspired to run for town councillor after that meeting, at which she figures three quarters of people present spoke.

'We'd never come together and spoken about our problems like that before.'

By the end of that day, 'you could see the attitude in the room was changing to one of ownership,' said Taylor, who stressed changes have to be community-driven to be lasting.

'I haven't seen that community come together for a long time ... I applaud them,' she said.

Out of the community meeting came an extra focus on policing, and the RCMP seemed to crack down on everything, said Irvin.

'I think people started getting information too, instead of just ignoring things,' said Irvin. 'Makes a big difference.'

After another community forum Jan. 22, and a youth forum the next day, a core group from various governments, public health, RCMP, chamber of commerce, Alcohol and Drug Services, schools and justice departments from both the Yukon government and the Liard First Nation has kept meeting twice a month.

The group hasn't named itself yet and is defining its goals, but it's the inter-agency entity that's combining forces to tackle the town's economic and social ills. The territorial government provided the group's facilitator former NDP justice minister Lois Moorcroft.

'There's more of a co-operative atmosphere in the community for problem solving,' said town councillor and chronic volunteer Nancy Moore.

'There's been a commitment for the community to get healthy. And that's been missing for the last few years, actually.

'I think we're taking ownership and getting involved again,' Moore continued. 'If you don't want to pack up and leave, you have to be a part of the community.'

Larry MacDonald, the sergeant in charge of the Watson Lake RCMP, calls the transformation in attitude 'unreal' from when he arrived in May 2002 to now.

Though no one suggests Watson Lake is a healed community it's assumed that's to take years the consensus is it's a town with a hugely changed attitude, for the better.

'When I came here, no one was talking,' said MacDonald, who credits leadership and communication for the altered mood.

One of the first changes after the August forum was a monthly RCMP newsletter. So well-received, it's since expanded to become a community publication, with the first nation preparing it. The first whole-community newsletter ran to some 13 pages.

'Before, it was almost everybody threw in the towel,' MacDonald continued. 'The change I've seen here is unreal. It's been a lot of hard work.'

After the October municipal election, town council was 'blessed' with Miller, Moore and Dianna Raketti the mother of the Yukon's current justice minister three councillors with a keen interest in social issues, said re-elected Mayor Richard Durocher.

Also elected not long after in a December byelection to replace former chief Daniel Morris was the Liard First Nation's young current chief, Liard McMillan.

'We wouldn't be here today if Liard McMillan and LFN hadn't stepped up to the plate,' said Miller. She, among others, noted the first nation's justice worker, Jeanie Dendys, as another key player in the community's plans.

MacDonald noted the new chief's 'different style.' The sergeant met with the previous chief once that he can recall, but counted 17 meetings both he and McMillan sat at. That doesn't include the numerous times McMillan visits the detachment just to chat.

When YTG and the Kaska Nation, of which the LFN is part, announced in March they'd signed a forestry agreement in principle, the Liard First Nation also inked a memorandum of understanding with the Town of Watson Lake.

Both local governments realize they're wasting time and money battling the same issues separately, said Durocher. Anything either the town or the LFN does that the other has an interest in is up for discussion, the mayor said. The town will 'go to bat' for the first nation with other levels of government, and vice-versa, he said.

Along with developing trust, they've come to define their community as including the predominantly-aboriginal Lower Post and Upper Liard, said Durocher, adding the community is close to a 50-50 split between white and aboriginal.

The justice minister noted that when Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Andy Mitchell was in the Yukon in March, he committed to helping the community with its plans. Because the LFN hasn't settled its land claim, it's technically an Indian Act band.

As well, the town, first nation, chamber of commerce and RCMP now meet quarterly to discuss crime prevention.

Irvin points out the RCMP and McMillan now attend all chamber of commerce meetings. The chief also brings his first nation's projects to the business group, and has asked for letters of support, he said.

'Well, great, that's never happened before,' said Irvin. 'So far, he's (McMillan) pulled it off. He's doing all the right things.'

Several people, from the mayor to the police chief, note it certainly doesn't hurt that the Yukon's premier and justice minister both hail from Watson Lake and took an interest.

Also noted by more than one local is that the regular Liard First Nation chief and council elections are in June, the result of which could affect the community's momentum.

The Star was unable to interview McMillan for this series.

Of all the culprits behind the town's interconnected crime and social troubles drugs, booze, the fallout from residential schools none is named as often as the nearly nonexistent economy.

But there are glimmers of hope, said Irvin.

The timing of the YTG-Kaska announcement they'd come to an agreement about timber resources couldn't have been better.

Before, said Irvin, there was a 'pretty serious split' between white and aboriginal over who was to get timber and jobs.

'It really didn't matter because no one was working.'

Now, the attitude is one of 'who cares, give the royalties to whoever and let's go to work,' the chamber president said.

The days of 'this is my turf' are over, said Durocher, who acknowledged 'too many years of too much strife in this community.'

Both Irvin and Durocher note the talk of building a cogeneration energy plant in Watson Lake, which could provide 20 to 30 solid jobs plus energy to fuel industry like sawmills.

Irvin is more cautious he notes there's 'a whole lot more work to do' before he's convinced it's not simply a 'pie in the sky' idea but both men welcome the work and the energy such a project could bring.

Irvin also notes a couple of exploration companies are doing work in the area this summer.

And sometimes, said Durocher, a town just has to take its destiny into its own hands.

To that end, the municipality is a driving force behind enlarging or encouraging several big money-spending tourist-attracting events.

A young Watson Lake resident convinced big-name hip hop group Swollen Members to play the town's music festival during the May long weekend. More than 1,000 tickets have been sold for the show, much to business' glee and quietly to the RCMP's dismay. Mounties from both northern B.C. and elsewhere in the Yukon will be brought in to deal with the town's near-doubling in size.

In June, the Snowbirds will be in town, along with a half-dozen other aerobatics acts. The Discovery Day long weekend will involve a $100,000-bingo and a band.

The municipality is also looking to provide more recreation, giving youth and families alternatives to booze and trouble.

Several people interviewed explained in great detail the 'hilarious' mechanics of the snow-pitch slo-pitch in three feet of white stuff tournament the weekend before.

Hired last October, programmer Mel Currie's regular events will take some pressure off volunteers and help fill the multi-use but underused recreation centre built several years ago.

One thing the community isn't lacking, said Miller, is infrastructure and amenities.

'This is a fabulous community, in case anybody's missed that,' said Miller, a 33-year resident and one of her community's biggest cheerleaders.

Irvin said he's noticed increased community spirit and more volunteers.

He heads up the Community Club, an umbrella group that started two years ago but foundered until recently. There aren't enough members in each group to put on larger events, explained Irvin, so several clubs each pitch in a few volunteers. Proceeds are split among the groups that helped.

He said a local construction company threw in materials for the upcoming music festival's stage, and nearly a dozen builders offered their time.

'I don't think that would have happened in the past three or four years,' said Irvin.

'We were all hibernating for a few years,' said Moore, adding that people get caught up in their own lives, kids and jobs.

One of the town's new community dinners brought out anywhere from 150 to 200 people to break bread at the community hall.

'It gives you a chance to sit down and say hi,' said Moore in a mid-April interview.

Her own brood of children are well past elementary school, so she hasn't had much chance to talk to the primary teachers, but the community dinner gave her a reason to reconnect with them.

'Maybe the violence last summer was the catalyst that started it all, I don't know,' said Moore, who's sat on the women's shelter board since the 1980s. 'I think it was maybe it was the last straw.'

While the topic of former chief Daniel Morris and his conviction for a prolonged assault on his wife last June is still sensitive and divisive some were leery of commenting on the record it's acknowledged his case helped both wake up and mobilize the community.

'It's funny how it's all falling into place,' said Moore. 'It's kind of fun to be part of it.'