The Speaker of the N.W.T. says that an MLA's recent Facebook post does not impede the finance minister's ability to do her job — but he also says members need to focus more on the work of the assembly and less on arguing. 

Quebec’s independent police watchdog is investigating an incident in Inukjuak last week where the Nunavik Police Service says a suspect’s attempt to resist arrest led to “a physical altercation” with a police officer.

Nunavik police said the matter has been turned over to the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, which reports to Quebec’s minister of public security, in a news release issued Saturday.

That police watchdog investigates when someone dies or is seriously injured during contact with police, all criminal allegations against a police officer by an Inuit victim or complainant, and allegations of sexual offences against police officers.

Nunavik police say that just before noon on Feb. 27, an officer responded to a call for assistance from a resident who saw a woman being harassed and aggressively approached by a male on “the main road.”

Two women at the scene identified the suspect, who was still nearby, and the officer interviewed him. After he was told he was under arrest, the release said, the suspect tried to flee.

“The officer caught up with the suspect who actively resisted, which led to a physical altercation,” the release said.

The release does not say if the suspect or officer were injured, or whether the suspect was eventually charged.

Nunavik Police Service said the officer has been placed on administrative leave and won’t resume patrol duties while the police watchdog is investigating. It said the officer’s body-camera footage has been turned over to investigators.

The police service declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation. A spokesperson for the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes could not be reached for comment Monday.

A 25-year-old man is facing firearms-related charges after RCMP responded to a call about a handgun being pointed at a security officer outside of Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife. 

In an oral decision issued Monday, Yukon Supreme Court Justice Edith Campbell ruled the territory's Financial Administration Act takes precedence over the enabling legislation for the ombudsman and child and youth advocate.

Police said they got a call Friday evening that a person had been stabbed multiple times, in Fort Good Hope, N.W.T. The victim was medevaced out of the community with serious injuries.

Speaker of the House Shane Thompson on Monday urged the territory's politicians to do better as he addressed a recent complaint from one MLA about another.

Police said a 25-year-old faces charges after a Saturday incident in which a handgun was reportedly pointed at a Stanton Territorial Hospital security officer.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is seeking a host community for Inuit Nunangat University, an Inuit-led, Inuit-governed school it hopes to open in 2030.

An Inuit Nunangat-wide selection process has been launched to identify a location for the university’s main campus, which is expected to accommodate 100 students and 80 staff, the national organization representing Inuit said in a news release Friday.

“The university’s main campus will serve as an important centre of activity for the institution, while promoting a sense of community and collaboration across Inuit Nunangat,” ITK president Natan Obed said in the news release.

In a November interview, Obed said Inuit Nunangat University will help reduce barriers to post-secondary education for Inuit by being closer to students’ home communities and centered on an Inuit world view.

“We are hoping that we can create a university that is an extension of Inuit society and that will be inclusive of Inuit from all regions or whoever else would like to attend the university,” he said.

The proposed facility requires space for a 26,900-square-foot main building, as well as 21,500 square feet of living accommodations, the release said.

Communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, Nunavik in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut in Newfoundland and Labrador are eligible to apply to host the main campus.

Interested communities must submit an expression of interest via a survey by April 7, ideally in partnership with their municipal council, the ITK website said.

The survey, titled Envisioning the Future: Your Community’s Role with Inuit Nunangat University, is available on the ITK website and can be completed online or by phone.

Applications will be evaluated based on several factors, including the community’s land ownership status, access to roads, availability of water and wastewater services, and power supply.

Transportation options such as airport runway conditions and flight frequency in and out of the community will also be considered.

Communities must also describe their existing post-secondary institutions, health care facilities, retail services, and recreation centres in the survey.

Applicants are asked to outline any future development plans and confirm whether their municipal council would pass a resolution supporting the university.

A third-party reviewer will assess survey responses, the news release said, before ITK selects four to six communities to submit detailed proposals.

Those not chosen might still be considered as sites to host knowledge centres, or satellite campuses. Final selection will be based on feasibility and alignment with the university’s mission.

The university was first proposed in 2011 as part of ITK’s National Strategy on Inuit Education.

Last November, Obed announced a $50-million contribution was received from the Mastercard Foundation to support the university’s academic planning, course development and community engagement.

City of Iqaluit spokesperson Geoffrey Byrne declined to comment on the city’s intentions. Several other municipalities in Inuit Nunangat contacted by Nunatsiaq News for comment did not respond.

Nunavut’s Department of Economic Development and Transportation, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and Makivvik Corp. did not respond to requests asking whether they will assist communities in preparing proposals to host the university.

City staff said there's no plan to build on Tin Can Hill after documents issued in the course of ending a deal with Aurora College called it "developable land."

Yellowknife City Council is poised to terminate an agreement that reserves Tin Can Hill for the construction of polytechnic university campus – a decision that the city’s manager said both Aurora College and the N.W.T. government are “equally interested in.” 

On Monday, the territory's finance department announced in a news release that its borrowing limit is increasing to $3.1 billion from $1.8 billion.

Police in Fort Good Hope say a 27-year-old woman has been charged with aggravated assault after a stabbing on Friday last week.

Ottawa increased the NWT government's federally imposed borrowing limit from $1.8 billion to $3.1 billion, granting the territory much-needed breathing room.

Dawson City, Yukon's new recreation facility project is moving forward. The town's recreation manager said the design is now being refined and will be presented to mayor and council for the final decision in May, with ground work to follow.

Willie Cain Jr. enjoys the feast and the festivities organized for the arrival of the mushers in Kuujjuaq’s forum. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)

Dogsled racers arrived in Kuujjuaq on Sunday after travelling what some consider to be one of the most difficult trails in Nunavik for this year’s Ivakkak race.

The competition is fierce so far between two teams from Tasiujaq.

In first place is Charlie Angnatuk, who travelled 203 kilometres from Kangiqsualujjuaq to Kuujjuaq in a total time of 16 hours and 46 minutes. Right at his heels, though, is Willie Cain Jr., also from Tasiujaq, who has been competing as a musher for 21 years. He made the trek in 17 hours and nine minutes.

Eleven teams kicked off the 328-kilometre race from Kangiqsualujjuaq to Tasiujaq on Feb. 26. Since then, one team has dropped out.

Cain said the weather has been good but cold, except one day with whiteout conditions.

“[This weather] is better for the dogs,” he said in an interview during a feast in Kuujjuaq hosted for the mushers.

“But it is cold for us,” he added, laughing.

The key to keeping warm is to stay active, run next to the sled a few times, or tackle other teams, Cain said.

The competition is fierce, especially with both Tasiujaq teams at the top.

“We’re kind of friends usually, but when it comes to the race it is not so friendly,” Cain said, jokingly.

He said his strategy for the remainder of the race is to follow the leaders and avoid mistakes.

George Kauki, a previous Ivakkak participant and organizer of the arrival of mushers in Kuujjuaq, said the trail they just completed is the most difficult in Nunavik.

A pile of frozen caribou and Arctic char is available for people in Kuujjuaq’s forum. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)

“There is soft snow, mountainous terrain, you are constantly going up and down,” he said in an interview during the feast.

“This is physically and mentally exhausting, because there is no end to these hills until you reach the final checkpoint.”

Kauki compared the experience to running the Ironman triathlon race, but in -40 C weather and dehydrated because your water is frozen.

He said racers can lose up to 20 pounds during Ivakkak.

“Some of these young guys are walking like they are 55 years old right now,” Kauki joked about the mushers.

He said they generally prepare for the race year-round through specialized care they give to their dog teams. The practise makes the dogs feel like second family, and keeps the tradition of dogsledding live.

“We invest so much into our dogs for this race, not only for the race but for our culture,” he said.

Last November, Gary Anandasangaree, the federal northern affairs minister, visited Kangiqsujuaq to officially apologize for the dog slaughter that took place in Nunavik during the 1950s and 1960s.

With that apology came $45-million in compensation for Makivvik Corp. to use for cultural revitalization and healing programs.

George Kauki, left, and Makivvik president Pita Aatami  congratulate the mushers for their trek so far during a stop in Kuujjuaq. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)

In an interview Monday, Makivvik president Pita Aatami said the Ivakkak race is directly tied to the dog slaughter, as the race’s purpose was to revive the dogsledding tradition since its first rendition in 2001.

The money will serve to compensate individuals who lost their dog teams, but also help people who want to raise their dogs with food subsidies, building fences and proper instruction on how to raise a dog team.

Because the Canadian-Esquimau dog breed, which was previously used by Nunavimmiut, was almost brought to extinction by the slaughter, they imported dogs from Greenland to restart the breeding lineage.

“The reason for Ivakkak was to revive dogsledding, and bring back pride,” said Aatami.

Back in the day, he said, they would invest a lot of money in snowmobile races.

“When I heard about the dog slaughter, I said, ‘Why don’t we do something,'” he said. “Why don’t we do something to bring back the dogs.”

After a checkup from a veterinarian on the status of the dogs, the race is set to resume Wednesday from Kuujjuaq.

Yellowknife City Council is discussing whether to end an agreement to reserve land in the city’s Tin Can Hill area for Aurora College’s planned polytechnic university campus.

The principal of a Whitehorse Catholic school has stepped down from her position, alleging that the local bishop — whom she describes as “dangerous” — frequently oversteps his authority while the education department does little to address his behaviour.

The Nunavut government is warning people to be wary of misinformation related to the RSV vaccine that it says cites false information about previous vaccination programs in Nunavik.

“Misinformation and lies [are] a poison. We’re making sure that we’re providing the antidote to that poison or something that helps to knock it down,” Health Minister John Main said in an interview Thursday.

He said rumours are circulating on social media that high-risk Inuit infants in Nunavik were given the vaccine without parental consent or that they were experimented on.

“There was an evaluation conducted of this public health program. It wasn’t an experiment,” Main said. “In this day and age, there’s no experimentation happening when it comes to vaccines.

“Vaccines are one of the most effective public health tools we have…. They’ve saved so many lives over the years and prevented so many people from falling ill.”

Respiratory syncytial virus, often known by its short form, RSV, is particularly harmful to young children and the elderly. Most cases are mild with cold-like symptoms but can be much more severe for children under two and the elderly, according to Health Canada.

In some cases, patients require hospitalization or, very rarely, admission in an intensive care unit.

Symptoms include runny nose, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, fever, and decreased appetite and energy. In infants, symptoms include irritability, difficulty breathing, decreased appetite or feeding, and decreased activity.

“The worst type of medical emergency you could have would be a young infant who’s struggling to breathe and needs to be medevaced out of a community in the middle of the night,” Main said.

“That’s absolutely just terrifying, terrible situations to have families in.”

For 2023-24, the most recent data available, there were 590 documented RSV cases in Nunavut — a significant increase from pre-COVID-19 when there tended to be 50 to 150 cases per year, Main said.

“We’re making efforts to make sure that factual information is available to Nunavummiut in multiple languages,” Main said. “[The misinformation] is quite sad and concerning for us.”

He said the Health Department is promoting RSV vaccination through its community health representatives and online.

“We don’t vaccinate children without parental consent,” he said. “We certainly wouldn’t be attempting to trick anyone into receiving a vaccine or medicine that they don’t know about.”

He said he understands people have concerns and questions, but health care professionals are available to provide answers and Nunavummiut shouldn’t hesitate to ask.

Aaqitauvik Healing Centre founder and executive director Eva Deer says she believes that if people are willing to be helped, her programs will work for them. (Photo courtesy of Aaqitauvik Centre)

Quaqtaq’s Aaqitauvik Healing Centre heals the mind, body and spirit and its founder Eva Deer wants more people to know about it.

“Teaching about emotional issues is heavy,” she said in an interview.

“We feel this program is needed, people are waiting for it.”

Since 2008, the centre has been delivering programs that focus on the sources of trauma and begin the healing journey.

Formerly a school teacher and principal in Quaqtaq, Deer founded Aaqitauvik based on a workshop that changed her own life in 2004. The three-month training session was in Ontario.

“It was really intense,” she said.

“It was all about the well-being of the person emotionally, spiritually and mentally.”

She had never seen this kind of training before.

“I was so touched,” Deer said. “During those three months, I saw things about myself which I never thought of. I took [the program] very seriously.”

At the time, she said, she thought if she could share what she had learned, she could improve others’ lives. From that thought, the idea of the Aaqitauvik Healing Centre was born.

Deer and her husband, Robert Deer, went to work asking organizations for funding, and made it happen.

Aaqitauvik is now a regional organization. Anyone from Nunavik, or even outside of Nunavik, can sign up.

There are five programs: healing seminars for men, women and youth; the Steps to Freedom program; and the prison program. All are free, with the only expense being travel costs to get to Quaqtaq.

“We make sure that clients that come to these programs gain trust of each other, so that once you feel comfortable they share their experiences, their pain, and hurt,” Deer said.

She and her team visit correctional institutions three times a year for the prison program to offer a five-day workshop. There are usually 15 to 20 clients there every time they visit.

The programs “work with people who are ready to make changes in their lives, get healed from pain and hurt from their childhood,” Deer said.

Clients usually recognize what they have gone through as they progress through the program. By the second week, deeper emotions are tackled.

“By the middle of the program, we teach about why things come to death,” Deer said.

“What happened to you, why is it that you are so angry, why do people kill themselves, why do people murder others.”

This line of questioning is meant to help clients think about their childhood experiences.

Deer said she and her team closely watch the way each person responds.

“We really try to discern what they need, we don’t want to make people feel hurt after our program,” she said.

Another round of the Steps to Freedom program, which was created in 2019, began Monday. The intense three-week, five-hour-per-day course is meant to help people dismantle the trauma that stems from childhood abuse and neglect.

The Northwest Territories is heading to one of Canada's largest mining conventions with two messages of stability at the heart of its bid for investment.

The rebuild director of Lytton First Nation spoke to NWT community leaders about what the territory can learn from the BC village's wildfire recovery.

Most northern flights involve no security screening. An Inuvik MLA wants the town's airport to add screening so airlines can connect to southern locations.

Fresh from handing out more than 100 planter boxes to residents in 2024, a Yellowknife church is back this year with free online gardening lessons.

A Yukon woman says she faced high costs, difficulty accessing services and frustrating interactions with health-care workers when she tried to access Mifegymiso, an abortion pill.

At this Yellowknife school, ways to support Indigenous Languages Month – which just ended – ranged from Dene word bingo to the chance to win a dog-mushing trip.

Can top photographers ever just switch off? Here's how Amber Bracken and Yellowknife's Pat Kane – veterans of the likes of National Geographic – approach that.

Cabin Radio's Jasmine Nasogaluak explored the all-new Snowcastle – and met a brand new king – as 2025's Snowkings' Winter Festival opened its doors.

Over two days of arguments this past week, lawyers for both sides plumbed the most arcane depths of the law. Justice Edith Campbell is expected to deliver her decision Monday.

A retired Yukon-based entomologist is finding artistic inspiration in the tiniest and most private of places: beetle genitalia.

The NWT's health authority took the unusual step of issuing a statement detailing an incident involving a person "in a hostile state" at Yellowknife's hospital.

It’s Saturday morning, time for some quizzical queries to start your weekend. Let’s play!

1. Finance Minister Lorne Kusugak tabled Nunavut’s budget for 2025-26 this week in the legislative assembly. What does he forecast for the coming financial year?

A. Nunavut will actually run a small surplus of about $14 million.
B. After juggling a few numbers, he said Nunavut will break even this year.
C. Nunavut will have a budget deficit of $124 million.

2. Some confusion arose recently over the Nunavut 3000 plan to build 3,000 new housing units by 2030. What was so confusing?

A. The target has been changed from 3,000 new units to a smaller amount that will be easier to attain.
B. The number of new units Nunavut Housing Corp. said last fall have been completed is larger than the updated number it released in mid-February.
C. The construction program has been temporarily paused.

3. Aluki Kotierk, the former president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., has a new role. What is it?

A. She is Nunavut’s new senator, replacing the retired Dennis Patterson.
B. She will be the Liberal candidate for Nunavut in the upcoming federal election.
C. She’s leading a review of the Nutrition North Canada food subsidy program.

4. What happened to Canadian North airline this week?

A. It announced changes to its carry-on baggage fees.
B. It’s being sold.
C. It will add more flights between Iqaluit and Ottawa starting April 1.

5. There’s finally a name for the road leading to Aqqusariaq, the addictions recovery centre under construction in Iqaluit. What is it?

A. The Road to Somewhere
B. Roady McRoadface
C. Akausigiarvik Road

The road to recovery — actually, to Aqqusariaq, the addictions recovery centre being built in Iqaluit — has a name now. What is it? (Photo by Daron Letts)

Answers

1. C — Nunavut will be in the red this year, meaning a deficit of $124 million is expected, Kusugak said.
2. B — Last fall, Nunavut Housing Corp. said 394 units had been completed to that point. But on Feb. 18, NHC president Eiryn Devereaux said approximately 350 units were finished. As of Tuesday, NHC had not responded to Nunatsiaq News’ request to clarify the discrepancy.
3. C — Kotierk was named to lead the Nutrition North review earlier this week by Gary Anandasangaree, the federal minister for northern affairs.
4. B — A deal was reached to sell Canadian North to Exchange Income Corp. from Winnipeg. Its current owners, Makivvik Corp. and Inuvialuit Regional Corp., announced the sale Monday. The deal still requires regulatory approvals.
5. C — Akausigiarvik Road is the new name, Iqaluit city council decided this week. Translated, it means “to feel better road.”

Nearly 300 people took part in a conference held at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse this past week, hosted by the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate.

Anna Lambe streamed into households across Canada this winter as Siaja in the sitcom North of North.

She recently took the time to answer the Proust Questionnaire on the heels of the first-season conclusion of the Netflix/APTN/CBC show that’s by the North, about the North.

What’s your idea of perfect happiness?

I think it’s just about being open and flexible and understanding that happiness looks different all the time. You create your happiness.

It’s not something that you end up with, it’s something that you foster in your day-to-day life.

So yeah, I think perfect happiness is just being open to whatever happiness looks like that day.

What’s your greatest fear?

Superficially, I’m quite afraid of being underwater, actually, which was a real challenge for this show. I had to do a lot of swimming lessons because I have a real fear of being submerged.

But I conquered it… -ish.

Which living person do you most admire?

I deeply admire my parents.

You know, that’s such a typical answer. But I think what they’ve been through in the life and what they’ve been able to provide for us, I’m really grateful for it.

I love my parents.

Which living person do you most despise?

I don’t know, there are various off the tip of my tongue.

We did a little Donald Trump and Elon Musk moment.

Yeah, F those guys.

What is your greatest extravagance?

I love coffee, and I make a real event of my coffee.

I’m very grateful to have access to coffee beans. And it’s not like extravagant in the sense, you know, bells and whistles and lights and sparkles, but it feels like such a treat every time I have it, even though I have it multiple times a day.

Love a little fancy coffee. I really like a double long pull espresso, which is basically like an Americano but just a bit stronger.

With oat milk, ’cause I’m an urban Inuk now and I take oat milk.

What’s your current state of mind?

I’m feeling very at peace, and I feel very proud of the state of my life now.

I’ve been reflecting a lot, and I feel that if my career ended here and this is what I accomplished, I would be so happy with my life.

I want to do more, but I’m feeling very proud and at peace with my life and with myself.

On what occasions do you lie?

I try to be honest. I think that’s an important quality.

But yeah, I don’t know. “I’m not tired.”

“I’m not sleepy at all.”

Which talent would you most like to have?

Dancing.

Where would you like to live?

I’d love to try living in New York, I think that would be fun for a minute. But you know, there’s a part of me that wishes it was easier to live in Iqaluit as an artist.

It’s just with the housing situation and the cost of living and the instability of art, it’s quite difficult.

What is your greatest regret?

I think about this quite a lot, actually. If I had the chance, would I change anything in my life?

I think if I changed anything, I wouldn’t be the person that I am now, and I wouldn’t have the life that I have now.

Are there things in my past that I look back on and I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s unfortunate that happened’? Yes, absolutely.

But I don’t regret anything. I don’t think.

Once in front of God, what would you tell him?

So what else is there?

I guess it would just be a question like, what comes next?

If there is a next.

Nunatsiaq News is borrowing the old Proust Questionnaire parlour game to get to know people who are in the news. If you know someone in your community who our readers should get to know by taking this questionnaire, let us know by email: [email protected].

Canadian North is, as a Nunavut cabinet minister described it, “our only highway,” but that route took a sharp turn Monday with news the airline is being sold. In the coming months, we’ll learn if the road ahead will be bumpy or a smooth ride.

Exchange Income Corp., a Winnipeg company that already owns Calm Air and Keewatin Air, announced Monday its plan to buy Canadian North from Makivvik and Inuvialuit Regional Corp., the two Inuit companies that co-own it.

It’s going to pay $205 million for the airline. Exchange Income Corp. noted the sale is subject to federal government regulatory approvals, which it expects will happen later this year.

The announcement came as a surprise. Certainly, there was no indication a sale was afoot when Canadian North president and CEO Shelly De Caria gave a speech to a couple hundred people at the Aqsarniit Trade Show and Conference gala dinner Feb. 20 in Ottawa.

Such a big change is important to people in Nunavut and Nunavik.

“Air transportation is essential to Nunavut, connecting our communities and supporting vital services, and it is our only highway,” Nunavut Economic Development and Transportation Minister David Akeeagok said Tuesday in the legislature.

Exchange Income Corp., which is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, describes itself on its website as an “acquisition-oriented dividend company focused on opportunities in aerospace and aviation and manufacturing.”

That sounds like a company that buys up other companies, then squeezes them for a profit so it can pay dividends to its shareholders.

A similar thing played out in Canada’s newspaper industry about 20 years ago — back when income trust funds were the big thing. One conglomerate, Canwest, gobbled up smaller newspapers across the country in 2005. It used its acquisitions to generate a stream of payments for its investors.

Saddled with the debt it incurred through the acquisitions, Canwest collapsed three years later. It went into bankruptcy and sold off its assets.

The result was bad for newspapers, readers and ultimately for the company itself.

Northerners have a love-hate relationship with Canadian North. It’s an essential service in Nunavut and Nunavik. But people can’t help but gripe about its prices, flight frequency to smaller communities, baggage fees, lost luggage and delayed flights.

And that was when it was co-owned by Makivvik and Inuvialuit — two Inuit rights-holding organizations that exist to serve Inuit.

Time will tell what’s down the highway with an owner that answers to investors instead of to Inuit beneficiaries.

City Hall plans to abandon a deal that reserved parts of Tin Can Hill for a new college campus. For fans of the hill's green space, that may be bittersweet.

Snowkings' Winter Festival turns 30 on Saturday when the Snowcastle opens its doors at noon on Yellowknife Bay. Here's what to expect in the four weeks ahead.

Two scheming puppets, a bingo hall and some questionable life choices are set to bring laughs to Snowkings' Winter Festival on its opening weekend.