The North Baffin Eskimos are hoping to defend their bragging rights against seven contenders this week in the fifth Terence Tootoo Memorial hockey tournament.

The team will compete in the tournament’s ‘B’ division.

Last year’s ‘A’ division champs, the Karetakers, made up of members of the Karetak family from Rankin Inlet and Arviat, are not competing this time around.

However, the ‘A’ division has an expanded roster of five teams, ensuring tight competition.

“We have 13 teams coming and we have got to play 28 games, so we will be starting a lot earlier than what we usually do,” said Troy Aksalnik, who co-chairs the event.

The Terence Tootoo Memorial hockey tournament runs annually in Rankin Inlet. This year’s contest starts Wednesday and goes until Sunday.

The tournament is named in honour of Terence Tootoo, a young Rankin Inlet hockey player who died by suicide in 2002. His younger brother, Jordin Tootoo, was the first Inuk to play in the National Hockey League.

The former NHLer will be back in town to play with Team Tootoo in the ‘A’ division, said Aksalnik.

The ‘A’ division has four other teams registered, including Salliq, Arviat, Naukkumiaq and Team North, which is made up of junior players from around the Kivalliq Region and a few on the roster from Manitoba.

In the ‘B’ division, the defending champion North Baffin Eskimos, made up of players from five Baffin communities, will face off against teams Eskimo Point, Arviat Canucks, Whale Cove, Baker Lake, Putulik, and Team Todd and one Rankin Inlet team.

All the teams are made up of players age 16 and up, but 15-year-old goalies are admitted on a case-by-case basis, said Aksalnik.

Some players in their forties are competing in the ‘A’ division and some players in their fifties are playing in the ‘B’ division.

The hamlet is expected to swell by 1,000 hockey fans and players throughout the tournament, said Aksalnik.

The games will be livestreamed on YouTube. Fans can find the games live by searching for “Rankin Stream” on the platform.

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For the remainder of March, the City of Yellowknife is bringing back a series of skating nights set to musical accompaniment on its Frame Lake outdoor rink.

Inuvik, N.W.T., will soon see the reopening of a thrift store and a program to employ people and help them build their resumes.

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Iqaluit teams swept the top medals at the Baffin Regional Futsal Championships, held at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit over the weekend.

However, many of the best plays in the tournament had nothing to do with scoring or blocking goals, coaches and officials agreed.

“A ref from down south came up to me and said to me what a great tournament this was and how nice and kind the athletes were to each other,” said Kelsey Davidge, one of three coaches with the two Iqaluit girls’ under-18 teams.

“I think that’s really good to note that the sportsmanship was seen. That means a lot.”

Players with the Pangnirtung and Iqaluit under-18 boys’ teams compete in the final game at the Baffin Regional Futsal Championships, held at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit from March 7 to 9. (Photo courtesy of Kerry McCluskey)

A total of 12 teams and approximately 80 players took part in the three-day tournament that wrapped up Sunday, playing in under-18 and under-15 divisions for boys and girls. Futsal is a fast-paced version of soccer, played indoors with five players per side.

The two under-18 girls’ teams from Iqaluit’s Inuksuk High School won gold and silver medals in that age group while the Clyde River team took bronze. In the under-15 girls’ category, Iqaluit got gold, Igloolik earned silver and Pangnirtung won bronze.

In boys’ under-15 play, only two teams competed with Igloolik finishing in first place and Sanikiluaq placing second. In boys’ under-18 action, Iqaluit’s Inuksuk Football Club earned gold, Pangnirtung was awarded silver and Sanikiluaq — which had only six players, meaning they had only one sub to give players a break during the games — won bronze

“They came out firing every game,” Alison Taylor, a coach with Iqaluit under-18 boys’ team, said of the Sanikiluaq players’ effort. “They showed a lot of grit and never stopped.”

She echoed Davidge’s praise for all the teams’ sportsmanship.

“Pangnirtung was a really positive team,” Taylor said. “There were a lot of high-fives and a lot of smiles during the game. They even high-fived each other when we scored, to keep their energy up.”

Cheers from the packed bleachers motivated the players as well, she said.

“Oh my God, it was a great turnout — very loud,” Taylor said. “People love to cheer on their communities and the kids.”

Spectators filled the stands for every game, Davidge said.

“With the fans and friends and family that came, the encouragement that the kids received from the stands definitely helped bring up the atmosphere,” she said.

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Whitehorse will have a permanent transit priority lane in Riverdale this year. The lane will run between Alsek Road and Hospital Road along Lewes Boulevard. City buses, school buses and cyclists will be able to use the lane.

A preliminary hearing Tuesday for a Rankin Inlet man charged with first-degree murder was adjourned until September.

Jack Ekwalak, 43, was charged in June 2024 in Rankin Inlet after RCMP discovered the body of a woman, later identified as Tracey Netser. About seven hours after police advised hamlet residents to shelter in place while they searched for the suspect, Ekwalak surrendered to RCMP.

Ekwalak, who has closely-cut hair and a moustache, appeared in court in Iqaluit in front of Justice Susan Charlesworth. Several members of Netser’s family joined the proceedings by Zoom.

The three-day preliminary hearing, scheduled to start Tuesday, determines whether evidence supports proceeding to a trial. Details of evidence presented at the hearing are protected under a court-ordered publication ban.

Charlesworth agreed to adjourn the hearing until September so the defence can have more time to go over evidence.

Netser’s death devastated Rankin Inlet and forced the local beer and wine store to close for several days to allow residents “to recover from recent incidents,” a Finance Department spokesperson said at the time.

It also prompted a petition to permanently close the store. As of August, more than 300 people had signed the petition.

A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Ekwalak is scheduled to be back in court in Iqaluit on Sept. 8.

Murray Rankin has been appointed to look into the impacts Giant Mine has had on Indigenous communities near Yellowknife and to make recommendations to the minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.

One person has been found dead and two others were located alive Tuesday in a search and rescue mission outside Quaqtaq.

They are three in a group of four overdue anglers who left the community on March 6 for a trip to Roberts Lake, about 40 kilometres north of Kangirsuk.

“We were informed [Monday] that they should have been back, but they weren’t,” said Quaqtaq Mayor Charlie Tukkiapik in a phone interview.

The search and rescue operation began Monday.

Tukkiapik said he was alerted at around 3 a.m. Tuesday that search and rescue had found one from the group — a female — dead.

He said the Nunavik Police Service, Canadian Rangers and the search and rescue members met at around 3:30 a.m. to discuss their next steps.

“They then were dispersed to look for the other three that were still not found at the time,” Tukkiapik said.

The teams found two people who were alive Tuesday morning, “which was very nice, a mother and daughter that were found.”

The group was on their way back to Quaqtaq as of 11 a.m. ET.

One other person remains missing. Tukkiapik said it is believed that person, who is male, did not survive based on information gleaned from the survivors.

“Very luckily, the daughter of the deceased lady is alive, with the granddaughter, so this is amazing,” he said.

The location of the final person is known, Tukkiapik said, and there are rangers and search and rescue at the site already. The final person is believed to be close to his snowmobile.

Nunavik will get a share of $65.2 million in federal support for Quebec’s school food programs over the next three years, the federal government announced earlier this month.

Of that amount, $600,000 will go to the Cree and Nunavik school boards for food assistance for the 2024-25 school year, the March 7 news release said.

Jade Bernier, a spokesperson for Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, confirmed the school board’s council of commissioners has also approved a partnership with the Breakfast Club of Canada for the 2024-25 school year. She didn’t say how much the board will receive.

The Breakfast Club of Canada is a non-profit organization that provides healthy food to children across the country by supporting and strengthening breakfast programs.

The food will be available on all school days, and open to all students who wish to participate. The Nunavik board issued a call for tenders in October to identify potential suppliers.

The Breakfast Club of Canada is receiving $15 million from the agreement between Quebec and the federal government. The club provided 10.7 million meals to more than 75,000 students across the province in 2023-24.

In a similar agreement made with Nunavut, the federal government allocated $7.6 million for school food programs while Northwest Territories received $7.4 million.

Yukon NDP Leader Kate White called for the defunding of Catholic education in the territory at the legislature on Monday, citing a “constant battle” over respecting human rights in schools. The territory's education minister challenged the party to run on the idea.

The future of the Abluqta Society, which runs Baker Lake’s only food bank, remains in limbo as it searches for a new home after a meeting with the hamlet council last week provided no immediate solution.

Last month Abluqta, the non-profit group which also operates a community soup kitchen and thrift store, was forced to vacate its previous location of two years due to the discovery of black mould. It hasn’t offered its services since Feb. 19.

Black mould is a fungus that can cause coughing, congestion and eye irritation and possibly worsen asthma symptoms, according to Health Canada.

Abluqta’s landlord, Piruqsaijit Ltd., won’t begin assessments or renovations on the former building until at least the spring or summer, said Abluqta board member Colleen Chau.

Even then, there’s no timeline for when the space might be usable again.

“It could be months or years,” Chau said in an interview. “Unfortunately, we are in limbo at the moment.”

Baker Lake council acknowledged the importance of the food bank at a meeting March 6 where it invited Abluqta board members to speak. Chau said no immediate solutions were offered in terms of a suitable building.

“The hamlet does obviously care about the future of Abluqta,” she said. “But it seems like they don’t really have any options.”

Most of the hamlet’s spaces are at capacity with other organizations — the wellness centre and arena are fully occupied.

A building leased to a local prenatal program has a clause allowing for shared use, but that would require further discussion with that program’s board.

Council suggested Abluqta apply for funding to purchase a building. However, Chau said, units currently for sale are small apartment spaces that would require extensive renovations.

“Half of our organization is a thrift store, so we need storage for clothing and food. A one-bedroom unit wouldn’t really be suitable,” she said.

That leaves Abluqta facing difficult choices — either move into a smaller space and reduce services, or share a location which would likely require closing the thrift store.

The food bank’s temporary closure has already had an impact, especially on elders who rely on its services and do not have access to Jordan’s Principle funding, which is for families with children.

“Now, really, the only thing we can do is vouchers” that can be redeemed at local stores, said Chau.

Abluqta is exploring short-term solutions to keep the food bank running. Baker Lake’s Nunamiut Lodge offered its space for voucher distribution and is talking with Abluqta about possibly hosting pop-up soup kitchens, though nothing is finalized.

Abluqta’s current landlord has offered an alternative rental space, Chau said, but it may be too small.

The Abluqta Society, established in 2017, says it provides 250 grocery bags of food per month to people in need and its hot lunch program feeds 15 to 20 people daily in the community of about 2,000 residents.

The group says seven out of every 10 families in Baker Lake don’t have secure access to food and rely on Abluqta’s services.

Yellowknife city councillors voted Monday to change the scope of a federal agreement and allocate funding originally for its water pipeline, to replace a pumphouse.

The CEO of the company buying Canadian North says it will remain business as usual at the airline after the purchase is finalized.

“This deal is about tweaking the strategies of the airlines to strengthen the operating performance and to provide a better service to the North,” said Mike Pyle, chief executive officer for Exchange Income Corp.

“It’s not predicated on layoffs. It’s certainly not predicated on reducing the number of flights.”

The Winnipeg-based Exchange Income Corp., which already owns several smaller northern airlines including Calm Air, announced last month it had entered into an agreement to purchase Canadian North for $205 million.

The state of Canadian North’s finances is unclear. Canadian North declined an interview, referring Nunatsiaq News to Exchange Income Corp.

Pyle declined to discuss the topic.

In 2019, Canadian North merged with First Air under the ownership of Nunavik-based Makivvik Corp. and the Inuvialuit Regional Corp.

Two years ago, Makkivik Corp. president Pita Aatami suggested Canadian North was losing millions of dollars partly as a result of federal restrictions applied to the airline as a result of the merger. The regulations were meant to maintain a level of service to northern, remote communities after the loss of competition.

Pyle said his company’s purchase of Canadian North won’t affect the northern aviation landscape. While Exchange Income Corp. owns several remote and northern airlines, none of those airlines currently run routes that compete with Canadian North.

Exchange Income Corp. CEO Mike Pyle says his company’s purchase of Canadian North is about leveraging its increased buying power and existing operations to create a more efficient and profitable airline. (Photo courtesy of Exchange Income Corp.)

Exchange Income Corp.’s current airline portfolio includes Nunavut-based Keewatin Air, which offers medevac and charter service; Calm Air, which serves northern Manitoba and offers some service to the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut; and other airlines that serve remote parts of British Columbia and Ontario.

Because of this, Pyle said, Canadian North would be run under the same management and continue as usual after the purchase.

John Gradek, an airline industry expert, offered some speculation about why Exchange Income Corp. might be interested in Canadian North.

“Canadian North operates a fleet of ATR 42s and 737s, which are … different from what our friends over at Exchange have as a service,” he said.

If Exchange Income Corp. can get a price for Canadian North that is below market value, the purchase makes sense, Gradek said.

“It’s a good thing and then there is going to be consolidation,” he said, adding the prospect of consolidation comes with a concern about loss of competition, which can lead to declines in service and an increase in prices.

This is something Canada’s Competition Bureau would look at closely, he said.

Despite assurances from Exchange Income Corp. that no layoffs will come from the acquisition, Gradek said they could still happen, but maybe not right away.

“There will be jobs lost, that is inevitable as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

“But I think that may not be immediate, that may take six months to a year before that happens.”

Steven Bard, chair of the master executive council for the Air Line Pilots Association, the union representing Canadian North’s pilots, said his team is “pursuing talks” about layoff protections and job guarantees if the deal goes through.

“The first concern for the pilots [is] their job security and for the future,” he said.

He said he’s been told Canadian North will operate as “status quo” under the ownership of Exchange Income Corp.

“There will be no fundamental changes in the near future, nor has there been any discussion on alterations of other routes or aircraft,” Bard said.

Both Gradek and Pyle estimate it could take six months before Exchange Income Corp. and Canadian North receive the regulatory approvals necessary to complete the sale. The deal needs to be approved by both Transport Canada and the Competition Bureau.

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