A Yellowknife home has been transformed into a transitional housing facility that can help five people at a time on their path to recovery.

The Yukon government has extended its agreement with the non-profit organization running the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter, for another three months.

A five-bedroom home in Yellowknife will host a new transitional housing program for people returning from addictions treatment.

A fire early Sunday destroyed Baker Lake’s municipal maintenance garage, the second garage fire in the community in recent years.

RCMP officers noticed the fire at around 5:25 a.m. and alerted the volunteer fire department, the RCMP said in a news release Monday. Firefighters responded, but the building couldn’t be saved.

No injuries or missing persons were reported.

The cause of the fire remains unknown. The Nunavut Fire Marshal’s office is investigating, with assistance from the RCMP.

Sheldon Dorey, Baker Lake’s senior administrative officer, issued a statement at 2:30 p.m. Sunday advising residents municipal water services were delayed. They resumed later that afternoon.

“We encourage residents to conserve water for the next day or two due to the pending weather and staff needing to rework schedules,” Dorey said in his statement.

He asked residents to avoid 7th Street, where crews might still be working, and to drive with caution on 1st Avenue, which has since reopened.

Authorities are asking anyone with information on the fire to contact Baker Lake RCMP.

Sunday’s fire comes just over six years after a blaze destroyed another municipal garage in Baker Lake on Jan. 29, 2019.

That fire, which also broke out in the early morning. It consumed the municipality’s six-bay garage and destroyed much of its fleet, including six of its seven sewage trucks, two front-end loaders, a dump truck and a garbage truck.

While the fire marshal investigated that incident, no criminal activity was suspected.

Mark Carney’s decisive showing in winning the federal Liberal party leadership Sunday included support from the Nunavut and Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou ridings.

Overall, 151,899 Liberal party members across Canada participated in the vote to choose a new leader to succeed Justin Trudeau.

In Nunavut, 33 Liberal members voted. Carney received 25 votes, Chrystia Freeland got four, former Liberal MP Frank Baylis had three, and former house leader Karina Gould received one.

In the Nunavik riding of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, 16 Liberal members participated. Carney secured 12 votes, Freeland got three, and Gould received one vote, while Baylis did not receive any support.

In total, 49 Liberal members cast ballots across both ridings.

Carney won the Liberal leadership by a landslide and now is set to take the stage as prime minister after he is sworn in.

A former Bank of Canada governor, Carney earned 85.9 per cent of the vote nationwide, far outpacing his closest rival former finance Freeland, a former finance minister, at eight per cent.

Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout responded to Carney’s win with congratulations, but pointed out the relatively low number of Liberal members in the North is a sign of her own party’s strength in Nunavut.

“Within even the context of the North, the numbers that I’m seeing — there were 258 [votes for Carney] in Yukon, 181 from the N.W.T — I think it means that Nunavut is an NDP stronghold,” Idlout said in an interview Monday.

“To me, it means that Nunavummiut are impressed with my work.”

Idlout also expressed disappointment in Carney’s victory speech in Ottawa, saying it lacked attention to Indigenous and northern issues.

While Carney highlighted his connection to Northwest Territories, as he was born in Fort Smith, she said he failed to address pressing concerns in Nunavut such as overcrowded housing and the high cost of living.

Nunatsiaq News attempted to contact Sylvie Bérubé, the Bloc Québécois MP for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, for her reaction but did not receive a response Monday.

During question period at the legislature in Iqaluit on Monday, Premier P.J. Akeeagok congratulated Carney on his victory.

He later elaborated in an emailed statement to Nunatsiaq News, saying, he is “looking forward to working with him as part of Team Canada’s efforts towards strengthening Arctic sovereignty and security” through investments in “nation-building infrastructure.”

The extension of the Inuit Child First Initiative came as a “relief” to Taya Tootoo, the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation executive director, who 10 days ago warned of a “humanitarian crisis” if the program’s funding expired.

“It was just so good to hear that the communities will have some interim support while we figure out long-term proactive plans,” Tootoo said in an interview Monday.

“Hearing from the front lines, the fear from the community of what was going to happen with their ability to support their children was quite traumatic” if the funding wasn’t extended, Tootoo said.

The program’s funding had been set to expire on March 31, the end of the government’s current fiscal year.

The federal government previously allocated $167.5 million over two years, starting in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

But Saturday at Nunavut Sivuniksavut college in Ottawa, Crown-Inidgenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced a one-year extension of ICFI on behalf of Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, whose department funds the program.

The initiative supports a food voucher program, which provides a $500 voucher a month to families for each child under 18 and an additional $250 for each child under four.

It also offers specialized medical and educational services for Inuit children.

“To hear that there’s at least one year to provide that stopgap funding while the [Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami] and the feds look at a way to make it a full, inclusive, long-term program and initiative was really nice to hear.”

Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout also welcomed the extension. She praised the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, as well as the territory’s mayors and municipal councillors for their advocacy.

“The Liberals and Ministers Patty Hajdu and Gary Anandasangaree left the community hanging for months by refusing to answer, instead pointing fingers and politicizing childhood poverty,” Idlout said in a news release.

Previously, Hajdu and Anandasangaree had said the program couldn’t be renewed until Parliament went back into session on March 24.

Jeremy Tunraluk, the president of NTI, said in a news release he welcomes the extension but called for a “longer-term commitment” from the federal government.

Jennifer Kozelj, Hajdu’s press secretary, said in an email that the program’s extension is a “short-term solution.” Her department is working on “making sure Inuit children have the supports and resources they need.”

She didn’t say how much the government will spend on the one-year extension, only that funding requests “are approved on a case-by-case basis.”

Tootoo said a “shared responsibility” model for the program is needed long-term, where the GN would take on responsibility for some of the services the Inuit Child First Initiative provides. She said she hopes the program will be on more secure footing when a year from now the funding extension expiration approaches.

“I really do hope that with the advocacy that we’ve seen, the voices we’ve heard from the community members on the impact of it, that a shared responsibility model will go ahead and allow the Inuit Child First Initiative to flourish into something that addresses the specific needs,” Tootoo said.

Yukon NDP Leader Kate White says she woke Saturday morning to find three of her tires were slashed, and someone had also spray-painted threats on the hood and driver's side door.

First Nations people who were harmed by Canada’s underfunding of child welfare services on reserves and in Yukon can now apply for individual compensation payments, as the claims process officially opens on in a multibillion-dollar class-action settlement.

Fort Smith's mayor learned of Mark Carney's local roots from the wall of the town pizzeria. An ex-MP who lives there thinks Carney can be "valuable to the NWT."

The Yukon Fire Marshal's Office delivered a new truck to the scene safety response unit in Champagne, Yukon. It's equipped with a 300 gallon water tank, and a pump that can pump 300 gallons a minute.

The downtown Iqaluit cannabis store Higher Experience will keep its current location after a seven-month legal battle with the North’s largest private landlord.

Higher Experience is one of the two legal cannabis stores in Iqaluit. Kevin and Frances Ikeno opened the business in April 2024 at 760 Queen Elizabeth Way, in a building owned by Northview.

The legal actions between Higher Experience and Northview Residential REIT started in September 2024.

Back in June 2023, a one-year lease for the building was about to expire. The Ikenos secured the building and were looking to extend the lease for three more years as a home for their store when it opened, said Justice Faiyaz Alibhai in his decision, released March 5.

Herbert Eaton, Northview’s regional manager, verbally agreed with Kevin Ikeno that the lease would be renewed with mostly the same terms. Eaton said at the time the paperwork would be just a “formality,” Kevin Ikeno recalled in court.

The Ikenos continued to occupy the space after the lease expired on July 31, 2023, under the terms of the verbal agreement, the decision said.

Northview got an offer in July to purchase the property from an unnamed organization, but for months after that the company didn’t tell the Ikenos about the offer.

The property owner sent a notice to the Ikenos on Oct. 16, 2023, advising that their lease would be terminated and they would need to leave by Nov. 15. The Ikenos disputed the notice of termination, pointing to the three-year lease extension, which Northview said was “invalid.”

In his decision, the judge sided with the Ikenos, saying Northview’s actions were “in bad faith and were meant to terminate a valid lease.”

Northview “was no longer interested in leasing the property if they could sell it, but never advised Higher Experience that the circumstances had changed,” Alibhai wrote in his decision.

Now, after Alibhai’s decision, the store will be able to use the property until August 2026 and will be compensated for legal fees.

The lawsuit was one of several issues the store has faced, including the approval processes from the Government of Nunavut and City of Iqaluit along with concerns about the store being too close to Northmart and Nakasuk Elementary School.

The Yellowknives Dene First Nation says it "welcomes" the appointment of a ministerial special representative for Giant Mine.

Police said volunteer firefighters tried to extinguish the fire but as of later that morning, the hamlet garage had been completely destroyed.

The death of a hunter near Clyde River underlines the need to provide search and rescue teams in small Nunavut communities more support and better resources to enhance their life-saving capabilities, says Uqqummiut MLA Mary Killiktee.

She spoke in the legislative assembly Thursday on what she said is a lack of equipment being provided to search and rescue teams.

Killiktee highlighted the urgency of on-the-land rescues by referring to the death last month of an elder she later identified as Jusua Kautuq Ilauq. He was hunting on the land outside of Clyde River when a blizzard struck overnight on Feb. 10. He was injured in a snowmobile crash after being divided from his fellow hunters.

She  didn’t name him when speaking in the legislature, but later told Nunatsiaq News who she was referring to.

“They found him trapped where he had an accident,” she said. “He asked if he could be picked up by helicopter. ‘I don’t think I’m going to make it by Ski-Doo.’ That’s what the hunter said.”

She said he believed he would die of his injuries if he wasn’t airlifted to a hospital, which she said was not possible at the time.

“He told the rescuers that, but they had no other option,” and so they attempted to transport him by snowmobile to receive medical care, she said.

He died the next day, on the way to Clyde River while being carried by snowmobile.

“If they had a helicopter, there was a chance — maybe a good chance — that this elder would still be with us,” Killiktee said.

She suggested providing “permanently stationed search and rescue assets in Nunavut, including fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters,” that are closer to remote communities than Iqaluit or from the south.

She noted past appeals from MLAs for a review of search and rescue resources following the death of a snowmobiler in Baker Lake in April 2024.

“Our department was looking at the pre-feasibility study at that time and a report was produced on our findings, and we found that we would have to expend a lot of money in order to set up a base,” responded David Joanasie, the minister for community and government services, during question period.

He said the $2.7 billion plan to open three military support hubs in the Arctic including one in Iqaluit, announced Thursday by Bill Blair, the minister of national defence, will provide improved aerial support for rescue efforts in the communities.

Killiktee said that even with that increased capacity, more support is needed for the on-the-ground search and rescue teams mustered by the hamlets.

Rescue teams in her constituencies of Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq are largely left to their own devices when an emergency hits, she said.

“The government supplies gas, food and stove oil — that’s it,” Killiktee said in an interview.

She listed snowmobiles, qamutiik, satellite phones and communication equipment, first aid supplies as well as tents and sleeping bags as the kind of gear volunteer rescue teams have to round up on their own to carry out searches.

David Kritterdlik, a former Whale Cove mayor and Agnico Eagle Mines wildlife adviser, is the recipient of the 2025 Skookum Jim Award for exceptional Indigenous achievements in the mineral industry.

“For his groundbreaking work in promoting Inuit values, cultural preservation and sustainable development, David Kritterdlik truly embodies the spirit of the Skookum Jim Award,” said a profile posted to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada webpage.

Kritterdlik accepted the award, which is given out each year by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, on March 4 during its annual conference in Toronto.

His “key achievement” is the creation of the Kivalliq elders advisory committee that includes more than 20 elders from seven communities, Agnico Eagle Mines said in a news release March 6 celebrating Kritterdlik’s achievement.

The committee provides “invaluable guidance” to the Meliadine gold mine and Meadowbank complex on wildlife management, climate change and community development.

Kritterdlik helped incorporate Inuit traditional knowledge and principles into mining, the release said, adding it shaped Agnico Eagle’s regulatory approach.

“This award reflects the wisdom of our elders and the strength of our communities,” Kritterdlik said when receiving the award. “When we respect our traditions and work together, we build a stronger future for generations to come.”

Named after an Indigenous leader of the group that discovered the Yukon Klondike goldfields, the Skookum Jim award is presented to Indigenous leaders for achievement in the mineral industry.

What could be called a ‘”visionary” pilot project brought results into focus for students in Kugaaruk this winter.

A mobile pediatric vision clinic provided eye exams for 114 students from kindergarten through Grade 12 at Arviligruaq Ilinniarvik School over three days in December. Forty-seven patients ended up receiving eyeglasses, including 11 who were diagnosed as being legally blind without their new prescription lenses.

“This is the first clinic we’ve done in a school,” John Main, Nunavut’s health minister, said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re really excited by the uptake, the amount of interest, as well as the positive outcomes.”

The pilot project was a collaboration between the Health and Education departments.

The cost, including providing glasses to the children, was funded by Indigenous Services Canada.

Schools in Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet, Coral Harbour, Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit are tentatively slated for similar mobile clinic visits before the summer break, said John Manzo, communications manager for the Department of Education, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

“The idea is to get this rolled out across the territory so that we’re reaching as many schools as possible,” he said, adding the program will continue in the fall.

“There’s been strong interest from schools right across Nunavut.”

The school-based clinics are in addition to existing ones already being run at the community level.

“As someone who got glasses as a child, it’s absolutely essential for a child’s learning development as well as their overall health,” Manzo said.

“We’re really excited to see more access [to eyecare].”

Almost a year has passed since a major reorganization of Yellowknife primary care. We asked the people in charge how they think it's going and what's next.

In smaller communities, the NWT's health authority says it is weighing up a series of different approaches to figure out what gives patients the best outcome.

Hay River's public library has embarked on a month-long celebration of censored books. Stop in and read something that someone, somewhere thinks is dangerous.

"It's not easy to do this any more." Developer Milan Mrdjenovich says he is leaving Yellowknife with a 70-unit complex just opening and one more to come.

The two biggests reason to be in Yellowknife in March collided on Saturday night: the Snowcastle and the northern lights. The castle, built each year on the frozen Yellowknife Bay, is also home to a snow carving contest that runs annually and attracts an international field of competitors. Photographer Bill Braden, known as FreezeFrame in his role as president of the Snowkings’ Winter Festival Society, was on hand to capture the arrival of the lights over the carvings. “The aurora […]

The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun is calling for the Yukon government to get rid of the NGO running the Whitehorse emergency shelter in the wake of a citizen’s death at the building in December — a demand echoed by the woman's family. 

People without a safe place now have homes to go to in Gjoa Haven. The hamlet has opened two shelters, one for men and the other for women and children. 

Mark Carney, who spent his first six years in Fort Smith, won the Liberal leadership contest and is about to become the first prime minister born in the NWT.

The federal government has committed to spend $1.5 billion over 10 years to carry out promises it made in the Nunavut land claim agreement.

Auroville Cultural Mart – named for an experimental planned community in India – is Yellowknife's newest grocery store, specializing in international goods.

NWT hydrologists and others were recognized with Emergency Management Exemplary Service Awards for their efforts in the territory over recent years.

The NWT legislature is about to take a fresh pass at setting up an electoral boundaries commission to study how MLAs' districts are put together.

Wild horses in the Yukon are classified as "feral" animals, but some advocates and biologists say they should be considered a native species. 

A Yellowknife-based learning and research centre recently hosted some workshops looking at co-operatives as an alternative model for northern businesses.

The federal government and Inuit leaders signed a long-awaited implementation contract under the Nunavut Agreement Saturday — the first time the contract has been renewed since the agreement was signed more than 30 years ago.

The deal includes $1.5 billion to be paid out over the next decade plus an immediate, ongoing commitment of $77.6 million annually.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Jeremy Tunraluk, and Premier P.J. Akeeagok made the announcement at Nunavut Sivuniksavut, an Ottawa college for Inuit students.
Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami president Natan Obed was the master of ceremonies.

“Today is a celebration,” Obed said. “We’re celebrating a significant moment in time today in Inuit self-determination, partnership with the Crown and the implementation of nation building.”

The funding will support NTI, the Government of Nunavut, the Nunavut Planning Commission, Nunavut Impact Review Board, Nunavut Water Board, Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal, and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.

The agreement includes $50 million for the Nunavut Inuit Heritage Centre, a long-awaited initiative to house and protect Nunavut’s archeological and cultural records. Last June, Iqaluit city council heard organizers are considering a possible site for the centre near the Upper Plateau neighbourhood.

“This agreement is the pathway to the social, cultural, and economic well-being of Inuit. It nearly triples the funding for regional wildlife and hunters and trappers organizations,” Tunraluk said, calling the organizations “Canada’s boots on the ground throughout Nunavut.”

Renewing the implementation contract after 10 years will involve all sides reviewing the existing deal, updating issues such as funding amounts and recipients, and committing to the new terms, Anandasangaree said.

The Nunavut Agreement, signed in 1993, led to the creation of the territory in 1999, but its full implementation has faced challenges.

NTI sued the federal government in 2006 for failing to implement key parts of the agreement, leading to a settlement in 2015. Under the settlement’s terms, NTI received $255.5 million in compensation from the federal government.

On Saturday, Anandasangaree said the new funding ensures a long-overdue commitment is met.

More than $600 million will go toward Inuit employment and training, addressing a major gap in the public service. A recent labour force study cited by Tunraluk found more than 10,000 Inuit — 89 per cent of them youth — are interested in working in government.

“You will see Inuit move into government employment in large numbers in the coming years,” he said. “This is the most significant commitment ever made for training in government positions.”

Saturday’s deal is expected to complement the 2024 Devolution Agreement between the federal and territorial governments and NTI, which transferred greater decision-making power and authority over its Crown lands to the territory.

Akeeagok said the two agreements work in parallel, with the devolution deal bringing decision-making home while the implementation contract ensures promises of the Nunavut Agreement are finally put into action.

“This is about making decisions about Inuit by Inuit,” Anandasangaree said.

“The role of the federal government is to support you, not to replace your voice.”

Akeeagok said the focus must now shift to action in order to see the “true benefits” of the Nunavut Agreement.

“I really hope that 10 years down, we’re not back to where we were — where there are disagreements, where there’s no big recognition that it’s important,” he said.

Anandasangaree acknowledged that while the contract marks a significant milestone, it will be reassessed upon renewal in 10 years. He emphasized that the $77.6 million in annual funding is ongoing, but future negotiations and co-development will be necessary to address areas of increased need.

The signing of the implementation contract occurs amid significant political transitions in Canada. On Sunday, the Liberal party will elect a new leader who will also take over as prime minister after Justin Trudeau’s resignation.

Also, a federal election must be held no later than Oct. 20.

For now, the northern leaders say the focus must be on implementation of the Nunavut Agreement.

“Today is the beginning of the contract period that has the potential to change the country for the better,” said Tunraluk.

“Tomorrow, let us focus all of our attention on the implementation, so we can realize the promises made to Inuit by Canada through the Nunavut Agreement more than 30 years ago.”

The federal government will extend its Inuit Child First Initiative, averting what advocates of the program warned would be a “humanitarian crisis” if funding were to expire March 31 as planned.

Gary Anandasangaree, the Crown-Indigenous relations minister, announced a one-year extension of the program during a Nunavut-related announcement in Ottawa Saturday afternoon.

Speaking to dozens of Inuit at Ottawa’s Nunavut Sivuniksavut college, Anandasangaree said he was also announcing the extension on behalf of Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, whose department funds the program.

“We wanted to make sure that there were no gaps in the services,” Anandasangaree said in an interview after he made the announcement.

The audience burst into applause after he said the program would continue.

“I’ve heard the positive impact the Child First Initiatives have had,” Anandasangaree said, adding he learned “first-hand” of the program’s impact while he was in Nunavut on government business a couple of times this year.

Anandasangaree told Nunatsiaq News in February that it was impossible to extend the program until Parliament resumed March 24. Staff in Hajdu’s office said the government was working on setting out long-term funding for the program.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was directly involved in the decision to extend the program before Parliament returns, Anandasangaree said, calling the one-year extension a “one-off” move made to address the “extraordinary issue.”

Anandasangaree emphasized it’s a one-year extension — not a long-term solution — that does still need to go through “a parliamentary process.”

Inuit Child First Initiative funding was one of the “very important cases” Trudeau wanted to conclude before he steps down as prime minister.

Liberals will pick a new party leader Sunday to replace Trudeau, who announced in January his plan to resign after nearly 12 years as head of the Liberal party, including more than nine years as prime minister.

The Inuit Child First Initiative provides funding for Inuit children to get help paying for things that affect their health or education. The federal government committed $167.5 million over two years, starting in the 2023-24 fiscal year, to the program.

Its most familiar services are food voucher programs recently implemented in many Nunavut hamlets. Last year, Iqaluit started its voucher program, which provides a $500 voucher a month to families for each child under 18 and an additional $250 for each child under four.

Supporters of the program, including Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, an NDP politician, have been calling on the federal Liberal government for months to announce an extension.

At a Feb. 28 news conference organized by Idlout, Taya Tootoo who works for the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, warned the uncertainty about what happens after March 31 was “a humanitarian crisis in the making.”

Idlout said the program has helped more than 15,000 Inuit children.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced the Inuit Child First Initiative will be renewed for another year at the signing of a new Nunavut Agreement Implementation Contract in Ottawa. 

What a busy week in the news. Let’s do the quiz!

1. A big cultural event kicked off in Kangiqsualujjuaq on Feb. 26. What is it?

A. Ivakkak is a weeklong competition of traditional Inuit sports.
B. Ivakkak is a dogsled race to Tasiujaq.
C. Ivakkak is a fishing tournament running over several days.

2. Nunavut cabinet minister David Joanasie announced this week that four communities could receive high-speed fibre optic internet service by 2031. Which of these communities is not on the list?

A. Kimmirut
B. Kinngait
C. Pangnirtung

3. It was announced this week that a historic property in Ottawa is being transformed as a permanent space for Indigenous governance, cultural events and meetings. What did the building used to be?

A. The U.S. Embassy
B. Office space used by prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson
C. The head office of the Ottawa Senators hockey team

4. Nunavut, like the other territories and provinces, responded this week to the tariffs the U.S. has imposed on most Canadian products that it imports. What did Nunavut do?

A. Banned American companies from bidding on infrastructure projects.
B. Pulled American-made liquor from sales at Nunavut beer and wine stores.
C. Cancelled its satellite service contract with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

5. Recently, Arviat South MLA Joe Savikataaq slammed Premier P.J. Akeeagok over five elder mobility vans the Government of Nunavut bought last year that still are not in operation. What did Savikataaq characterize it as?

A. “A million-dollar photo op”
B. “The bus to nowhere”
C. “A million-dollar boondoggle”

Five Iqaluit communities will be linked to Nunavik’s high-speed fibre optic internet service by 2031, it was announced last week. (File photo)

Answers

1. B — The Ivakkak dogsled race started with 11 teams setting out to cover the 328-kilometre route from Kangiqsualujjuaq to Tasiujaq.
2. C — Pangnirtung will not join Kimmirut, Kinngait, Coral Harbour and Iqaluit in being connected to Nunavik’s Tamaani Internet network, at least not in 2031.
3. A — The buildings near Parliament Hill at 100 Wellington St. and 119 Sparks St. used to house the U.S. Embassy. They were vacant for more than 20 years before being redeveloped by the federal government for use by Indigenous groups.
4. B — All American-produced liquor will no longer be purchased by or sold at Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Commission stores. It accounts for $600,000 to $700,000 of the total inventory, Lorne Kusugak, the minister responsible for the NULC, said in the legislative assembly.
5. A — Joe Savikataaq called it “a million-dollar photo op” and wondered why the vans weren’t working yet in the communities of Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay, Coral Harbour, Pangnirtung and Rankin Inlet.

If you’re having trouble making sense of the rapidly souring Canada-U.S. relationship, you’re not alone.

After U.S. President Donald Trump opened his trade war with its longstanding partner, Canada, this week and turned his back on Ukraine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the United States is choosing to work closely with Russia and to appease Vladimir Putin, “a lying murderous dictator.”

“Make that make sense,” Trudeau said in news conference Tuesday.

It doesn’t.

Canadians are stunned by the pace and extent of the deterioration of the Canada-U.S. relationship — once upon a time (i.e., six weeks ago) one of the steadiest in the world.

It’s hard to imagine anywhere in Canada more removed from the United States — culturally, socially and economically — than Nunavut.

Nunavut won’t feel the effect of the Trump-imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian-made goods entering the United States. The territory doesn’t ship goods into the U.S. the same way provinces like Ontario and Quebec do. Those jurisdictions are bracing for an economic slowdown because Americans will likely buy fewer of their suddenly more expensive goods, or because companies will move jobs from Canada to the U.S. to avoid the tariffs.

The pain Nunavut will suffer from a trade war will come from even higher prices on the already expensive goods it ships from the south. Prices of American goods coming into Canada will be higher because the Canadian government has imposed retaliatory tariffs.

But Nunavut’s leaders get the crisis that Canada finds itself in because of Trump’s very dumb (to echo the prime minister) trade war against Canada.

“This is a time to be united,” Premier P.J. Akeeagok said in a statement Tuesday, hours after Trump fired the first official trade war shots.

It has been reassuring to see Akeeagok and other Nunavut cabinet ministers consistently putting up that united front with other provincial and territorial leaders to stand up for Canada.

Little things, like pulling American-made booze from the beer and wine stores, demonstrate Nunavut is in step with provincial governments.

Unfortunately, the trade war is taking place while Canada faces a lot of uncertainty.

We’re expected to get a new prime minister on Sunday when Liberal party members pick a replacement for the resigning Trudeau. Coincidentally, Trudeau’s performance in the face of Trump’s tariff and annexation talk might be the best work of his nearly 10-year tenure.

Depending on who wins, there could be a federal election right away. If not, certainly by October.

Nunavut’s legislative assembly is also in its dying days before an October election. So watch for a flurry of Government of Nunavut activity over the spring and summer as cabinet ministers and MLAs rush to tie up loose ends.

It’s early days in the trade war. Uncertainty lies ahead. And it’s hard to make sense of it.

But the strong, united front leaders like Trudeau and Akeeagok are putting up is the right start.