One month after the territory’s new $19-an-hour minimum wage took effect, the Government of Nunavut reminded employers that paying less than that violates the territory’s Labour Standards Act.

Last November, the GN announced that as of Jan. 1, 2024, the territory’s minimum hourly wage would rise to $19 from $16. That 18 per cent increase made Nunavut’s minimum wage the highest in Canada.

In a public service announcement Thursday, the GN reminded employers that “any payment below the minimum rate is not in compliance with the Labour Standards Act.”

It said any employees who feel they’re being paid less than the minimum hourly rate should speak to their employer, and can also consult the Nunavut Labour Standards Compliance Office.

That office can be reached by phone at 1-877-806-8402 or by email at [email protected].

Days before the Yukon Quest sled dog race kicks off in Whitehorse, organizers are scrambling to deal with a curveball from Mother Nature — an unusual spell of above-zero temperatures earlier this week has plastered the first section of the trail with ice.

Many Enterprise residents have been displaced from the community for months. We looked at how that will impact voting in the hamlet's upcoming election.

A contract between the Nunavut Housing Corporation and an Inuit-owned construction company includes plans to build 20 housing units in Igloolik, 16 units in Pangnirtung, 12 each in Kugluktuk and Coral Habour, and up to eight units each in the other communities.

Youth from Délı̨nę, Ndilǫ and Behchokǫ̀ star in three new music videos featuring original songs they wrote and performed.

It was just another Tuesday evening in Kuujjuaq for Thomas Shea Lamb, until he had to shoot a polar bear.

Unwinding after his shift as a heavy equipment operator, Shea Lamb was listening to the local radio station with his granddaughter around 5 p.m.

Local hunter Thomas Shea killed the polar bear seen roaming around Kuujjuaq on Tuesday evening. (Photo credit of Shanna Gordon)

The announcer reported a polar bear had just chased a man into his home downtown and tried to force its way in.

“I was like, is that for real?” Shea Lamb said, recalling the moment Wednesday in an interview.

He recalled saying, “OK kids, I’m getting my gun, getting my bullets, and we’re going polar bear hunting!”

Shea Lamb is active in the community where he is a first responder and a firefighter in addition to his full-time job. He and his son are also well-known hunters.

When he heard the callout on the radio, he immediately took off with his .270 Browning hunting rifle towards downtown, where the bear was.

“Sure enough, I see a crowd of a good 50 to 100 people, everyone looking for this elusive polar bear,” Shea Lamb said.

He said he activated the firefighter lights on his vehicle, alongside the police lights already flashing on the scene, and saw people pointing him towards the bear. The police also had their guns drawn, Shea Lamb said.

“I show up and say, ‘I got a big gun!’ There’s the bear, and bang! I got him,” he said.

“It started coming towards me after I’d shot it and two other police officers had their guns drawn,” Shea Lamb said. “Rapid fire happened right away.”

After multiple shots, the bear was killed at around 5:30 p.m., police estimate.

Shea Lamb said he hoisted the bear onto his snowmobile and went home to butcher it with his son.

“I measured it from nose to tail and it was around 70 inches [178 centimetres], so about six foot,” he said. “I figure it was about two and a half years old.”

Because the bear was so skinny, it took about a half-hour to butcher.

“I did not give any meat out to anybody, there was absolutely no fat or nothing in the belly,” Shea Lamb said, adding he believes the polar bear may have been unhealthy.

“It was either abandoned or not feeding for a very long time. Very young, skinny and hungry. It even chased somebody going into a house.”

A bear in that state can be deadly, Shea Lamb said.

Shea Lamb said he wished he didn’t have to destroy the bear, but it just wasn’t possible.

There were no veterinary services or tranquilizers available in Kuujjuaq that might have allowed the bear to be trapped rather than killed.

It’s the first polar bear to get into Kuujjuaq that Shea Lamb says he knows of, and he suspects the effects of climate change might be the reason it came to town looking for food.

There’s no ice formed yet on Ungava Bay to the north, so bears cannot hunt seals there. Although Kuujjuaq is nearly 60 kilometres from the coast, polar bears now need to move further inland to find food.

“It is not normal to find a polar bear to come this far inland,” Shea Lamb said.

For now, the remains of the bear sit in Shea Lamb’s shack waiting to be sold.

The Whitehorse Public Library will close for four weeks this spring for renovations — and that's prompted the territorial government to make plans to open a temporary warming shelter in its place.

Some Team Nunavut athletes are struggling to get expedited passports in time for the Arctic Winter Games in March, Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

During question period, Idlout asked what the government is doing to help athletes from the territory secure their passports in time for the Games, which open March 10 in Alaska in the Mat-Su Valley.

Idlout said costs are adding up for the competitors because Service Canada locations in Nunavut do not process requests for expedited passports.

“Families are now forced to pay thousands of dollars to fly down south to get their passports expedited or not compete at all,” she said.

“Can the minister ensure Nunavut has access to the same services as the rest of Canada?”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded, saying the government is committed to working to resolve the issue.

“This is an issue that I know the minister is engaged with. We will look for solutions. We want to make sure that our young athletes show what they’re capable of at the Arctic Winter Games,” he said.

Responsibility for Canada’s passport program falls under Marc Miller, the federal minister of immigration, refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The 2024 Arctic Winter Games will run from March 10 to 16 in Alaska’s Mat-Su Valley, north of Anchorage.

The games will bring together young Indigenous athletes from Nunavut, Nunavik, Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), Northern Alberta and Sápmi (northern region of the Scandinavian Peninsula).

The inaugural Southern Ontario Inuit Games will kick off Saturday in Ottawa.

So far, 15 would-be competitors have registered to try out including four who are coming in from Toronto. As well, walk-ins will be allowed to try out to compete on the day of the event, said Eleanor Partridge, communications manager for the games host Tungasuvvingat Inuit.

Workshops will be open to Inuit aged 10 and older to learn the various competitions at the games, which are the one-foot high kick, arm pull, airplane and kneel jump.

However, to be selected as a competitor a person must be between the ages of 18 and 29. Men and women will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in each event, with gift cards and other prizes also available.

In addition to the competition and workshops, 10 Inuit vendors will be on site selling various cultural items.

“People are excited,” said Partridge, calling it “a fun little thing for the kids to try the games out.”

The games are being held at TD Place Arena, at 1015 Bank St. in Ottawa.

The event is free to attend. Doors open at 10 a.m. and festivities will start with a traditional qulliq lighting led by elders. Events begin at 11 a.m.

Competitors will be served lunch midday. The arena operator, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, generally does not allow outside food to be brought in but made an exception for the Inuit games so that country food could be provided to the competitors, said Partridge.

Some residents have complained about a noise coming from a downtown parkade entrance. City councillors say it highlights the need to address broader issues.

Scientists say that in northern Canada, the El Niño weather pattern is bringing unusually warm temperatures. In Fort Smith, N.W.T., one resident says that's led to dangerously thin ice on parts of the Slave River.

In a news release on Wednesday, Yukon's chief coroner says Jacques Joseph Allen, 74, received "significant injuries" in an apartment fire on Sunday. Allen was taken to hospital and later died of his injuries.

Yukon psychiatrist Dr. Leo Elwell, who was locked in a contract dispute with the Yukon government and earlier threatened to close his Whitehorse clinic, now says his clinic will stay open.

Construction on 166 new housing units across 17 Nunavut communities is expected to begin later this year.

Nunavut Housing Corp. and NCC Development Ltd. have signed design-build contracts for the work as part of the Igluliuqatigiingniq Nunavut 3000 Strategy, the two agencies announced in a news release Wednesday.

The strategy, announced by the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Housing Corp. in 2022, aims to build 3,000 new housing units in the territory by 2030.

The plan announced Wednesday will see 146 public housing units and 20 staff housing units built. It includes 16 units approved in Pangnirtung, 20 each in Igloolik and Kinngait, and 12 in Coral Harbour and Kugluktuk.

The communities of Grise Fiord, Kimmirut, Resolute Bay, Qikiqtarjuaq, and Whale Cove are each approved for six units while Chesterfield Inlet, Clyde River, Kugaaruk, Naujaat, Pond Inlet, Sanirajak and Sanikiluaq will each get eight units.

The total contract value for the 166 units is approximately $134.7 million, according to the announcement.

“The execution of these contracts aligns with the vision of Igluliuqatigiingniq Nunavut 3000 and reflects a significant increase in the annual supply of new public housing units desperately needed across the territory,” Nunavut Housing Corp. CEO and president Eiryn Devereaux said in the statement.

“One of the guiding principles of the partnership agreement with [NCC Development Ltd.] was to demonstrate value for money and realize significant increases to supply of new units.”

The contracts include an Inuit labour target of 30 per cent for construction of the new units.

“Our organization is committed to mobilizing Inuit-owned and Northern resources to build homes by and for Nunavummiut,” said NCC Development CEO and president Clarence Synard in the release.

“The Nunavut 3000 Strategy includes meaningful and effective training programs that will ensure we lead in the development of skills for Inuit who are interested in a career in trades.”

On the second day of the National Gathering on Unmarked Burials in Iqaluit, survivors of residential schools and tuberculosis sanitoriums shared their stories and the pain and uncertainty of not knowing where their family members are buried.

The conference, at the Aqsarniit hotel, is bringing together representatives from Indigenous communities from across Canada to hear the northern perspective on the issue of unmarked graves.

The event is led by federally appointed special interlocutor Kimberly Murray, who is tasked with preparing a report with recommendations to be presented at a gathering in Ottawa in June.

Three survivors — Navalik Tologanak of Cambridge Bay, Alexina Kublu of Igloolik, and Elise Cardinal of Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation, Alta. — took to the stage at the gathering Wednesday morning.

Tologanak described being taken from her parents and flown to attend a residential school in Inuvik.

She spoke of the devastation of being pulled from her family, but also the joy of reuniting with them months later during the summer.

“That was the best day in our lives, and to this day — I’m almost 70 years old — I celebrate [the] end of June,” she said.

“Let us celebrate our children who don’t have to go to residential school.… No one will ever take my grandchildren again, ever.”

Tologanak also described her family’s pain with the TB sanitoriums.

Her grandparents, she said, died in sanitoriums in the south. To this day, she continues to search to learn where they are buried.

“Where are they? I want to find them, and I want to put a memorial and their name on it but I can’t because I don’t know where they are,” Tologanak said.

“Let us work together to find all our family and put names on the graves or sent them home.… Let’s work together and make this work, and for all the children that never made it home.

Kublu, who spoke in Inuktitut, shared a similar story from her time in residential school and in a sanitorium. She remembered having no one to talk to at times because nobody spoke her language.

She said she knows elders who still seek closure and wonder what ever happened to their children who never came home.

“It’s hard to make it real when you don’t know where they are,” she said.

Murray thanked the survivors for sharing their stories, noting the “experience of colonialism was different here” in the North.

While much of the focus of her portfolio relates to searches at residential school sites, Murray said the legacy of Inuit people’s experiences at TB sanitoriums and hospitals in the south also need to be part of the discussions about unmarked graves.

“The geography of the North meant that children were taken tremendous, tremendous distances away from their families and communities, and for many, they were separated from their parents for years on end,” she said.

That’s why everyone is gathered in Iqaluit this week, she said. To discuss how to find the missing children

Following Murray’s remarks, attendees were invited to ask questions of the three panelists, but instead many shared reflections and comments.

Miranda Jimmy, a member of the Thunderchild First Nation, said her community wants to help search for Inuit buried in Treaty 6 territory, which stretches across Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Some Inuit were sent to the former Charles Camsell Hospital in Edmonton for tuberculosis treatment. A search for unmarked graves took place on that site in 2021.

“Your relatives are buried in Treaty 6 territory,” Jimmy said.

“I am honoured to be of service to your community, to your families, to your loved ones, in that search for recognition of your graves,” she said. “I want everyone here and listening online to know that you have allyship, you have relationships in the south, and we want to be of service and we want to support you.”

Wednesday’s gathering continued into the afternoon with a series of breakout sessions. More panel discussions are expected when the gathering continues Thursday, its final day.

Parts of the event are being streamed on the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor’s Facebook page.

"This brings joy to my heart." The Yellowknife Seventh-day Adventist Church says it has distributed $147,600 to residents following the wildfire evacuation.

N.W.T. resident Ashley Geraghty says he has tried every option to get his access to information request fulfilled. But after the office that handles the request missed deadlines and ignored orders to provide documents, he wants to enforce his right to access of information in court.

"We're available whenever you feel like you might need support." Counselling and other mental health resources are available for NWT residents.

Morel mushrooms, prized for their taste, texture and high price as a result, are found in areas that recently had forest fires. After last year's fire season, the territorial and community governments are gearing up for a season that might draw pickers north.

One of the leaders who was involved in the creation of Nunavut says he would have loved to have witnessed history earlier this month with the signing of the devolution agreement, if only he’d been invited.

Tagak Curley is a former MLA and one of the founding members of the organization that would become Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national voice for Inuit in Canada. He played a prominent role in the land-claims negotiations that provided the basis for Nunavut to become its own territory in 1999.

“I devoted my life pretty much to the land-claim cause,” Curley said this week in an interview.

Nunavut reached a new milestone on Jan. 18 when Premier P.J. Akeeagok, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NTI president Aluki Kotierk signed a devolution agreement in Iqaluit that gives the territorial government control over a vast majority of its Crown lands and resources.

Seeing as it was descrbied as the biggest land-transfer in Canadian history, it came with pomp and celebration. There was throat singing, drum dancing, speeches, hand-shakes and hugs.

The agreement comes into effect April 1, 2027.

Curley told Nunatsiaq News he would have travelled from Rankin Inlet, where he lives, to witness the signing, but he did not receive an invitation.

“[Akeeagok] never invited me publicly or directly through correspondence or a telephone call, email, or any other means,” said Curley.

“All I know is if he invited me, I would have come.”

Curley’s exclusion from the event was an oversight, said Sima Sahar Zerehi, Akeeagok’s chief of strategic operations.

“The premier instructed me to ensure that Mr. Curley was invited,” she said in an email, explaining that the federal and territorial governments each had their own lists of invitees.

When the lists were merged, Zerehi said she didn’t double-check the final list, assuming Curley’s name was on NTI’s list. But it was not.

“I deeply regret this oversight,” she said.

“Upon discovering the error, Premier Akeeagok called Mr. Curley personally, explained the situation, and offered an apology.”

Curley confirmed he did receive that call.

“The apology that was offered included only the premier’s stated invitation request to his staff,” Curley said.

“That was it.”

Looking forward, Curley said he is hopeful the transition period goes smoothly and Inuit get trained for more managerial jobs when the GN officially takes over responsibility for Nunavut’s land and resources.

“We are going to need the young people and get them trained and [for them] to go through the educational process and have many opportunities,” Curley said.

“That’s my dream. That should happen.”

Baker Lake’s municipal leaders have a request for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier P.J. Akeeagok: they want both leaders to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Mayor Kevin Iksiktaaryuk signed two letters, dated Jan. 25, stating residents in the hamlet of 2,200 have shared their worries with council about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“Even though Nunavut and Canada are far from the affected region geographically, the toll this conflict has taken on human lives has deeply affected our residents,” he wrote.

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza started Oct. 7, after a surprise attack from Hamas that led to the death of about 1,100 Israelis, a majority of them civilians. As of Wednesday, 26,000 Gazans — a vast majority of them civilians — are believed to have died in Israel’s attacks, according to news reports.

“We understand the complexities involved but firmly believe that a ceasefire is a crucial initial step to reduce the impact on human lives, especially innocent children,” Iksiktaaryuk’s letter said.

Sheldon Dorey, Baker Lake’s senior administrative officer, told Nunatsiaq News the letters came from a discussion between the mayor and council after hearing from residents.

One of those residents is Baker Lake educator Morteza Beepanah.

“I did speak to the council and they were unanimously in favour of it,” he told Nunatsiaq News in an email.

“As a father, teacher, and as a human being I find it extremely heartbreaking and horrific to witness what children of Gaza have been going through since Oct. 7,” he said, pointing to statistics that say more than 10,000 children have been killed, close to 9,000 injured, and around 3,000 are missing.

“I find this number numbing and paralyzing, as it represents about the same number of students attending school on any given day at any of our schools in the territory.”

Beepanah said he has also personally reached out to Trudeau and Akeeagok’s offices on prior occasions to call for a ceasefire, as well as other entities such as the Department of Education and the Nunavut Teachers’ Association, but has not heard back.

Neither Akeeagok nor Trudeau’s offices responded to requests for comment for this story.

In December, Canada supported a non-binding United Nations resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“I genuinely believe that the physical distance should not prevent us from raising our voices against injustices that are happening in other parts of the world,” Beepanah said.

“I believe what is happening in Gaza is on such [a] scale that not doing anything or staying silent is not an option. I believe that we must do all we can to prevent a genocide no matter where it is taking place.”

Hazardous materials were found in Enterprise following a wildfire. Hamlet leaders say their questions have gone unanswered and they're concerned about safety.

After a polar bear was shot and killed in downtown Kuujjuaq Tuesday evening, police say no other bears have been spotted near the town since then.

Nunavik Police Service received its first call that the bear was roaming through the village at about 5 p.m., and by 5:30 p.m., it had been shot and killed by a hunter, said Deputy Chief Jean-François Morin.

“People from the community were already there when police got there,” he said.

“They had circled the bear to contain it. They were trying to figure out if they could make him go away by itself. The more people there would be, the more dangerous it got.”

At some point, the bear “charged towards the public,” Morin said, and was shot multiple times before it died.

Leading up to that, the bear was spotted moving around Kuujjuaq’s downtown, as seen on numerous photos and videos shared on social media.

One of those videos was taken near a set of stairs leading up to a house, and showed a child in the doorway at the top of the stairs.

“The kid saw [the bear], and immediately turned around and sprinted inside like lightning,” said Morin.

Morin said there were no veterinary services or sedatives available in the community, which might have allowed the bear to be trapped rather than killed.

He said the bear was young and thin. Police were unable to get much more information regarding the bear, because its body was collected by community members after it was killed.

Immediately afterward, due to the bear’s young age community members feared its mother might still be nearby.

Nunavik police, alongside Kuujjuaq’s night guard, were on patrol throughout the night and “we did not receive any details” regarding any more bears being sighted, Morin said.

He said police also heard that people might have spotted wolves near the town also, but “we were unable to validate if there were other bears or wolves that were in the community.”

He added: “Everyone remains on guard, just to make sure the mother is not looking for her kid.”

No injuries were reported during the incident Tuesday.

Kuujjuaq’s Jaanimmarik schools remained closed Wednesday morning to ensure children’s safety, they said in a social media post.

The Yukon Government is increasing the territory's minimum wage. As of April 1st, the minimum wage which currently sits at $16.77 per hour will be increased to $17.59 per hour. An eighty two cent difference. Some Yukoners says the increase is a good start but it's still not enough to make living in the Yukon any more affordable.

Several flights to Yellowknife were cancelled on Monday and Tuesday due to freezing rain. Airport staff worked to address the issue.

After 30 years of operating in the Yukon, the United Way is closing shop in the territory. The local organization's president says the pandemic hit the organization hard, that inflation is driving up costs, and donations have been in decline for years.

If drugs are affecting you in the Northwest Territories, we want to hear about your experiences as part of a new campaign. Find out more.

Blowing snow and reduced visibility are keeping City of Iqaluit facilities closed Wednesday morning.

Water, sewer, garbage and snow-removal trucks are also off the road until further notice, the city announced at 6:30 a.m.

“Citizens are advised to stay off the roads due to reduced visibility, high winds and unsafe road conditions,” the announcement said.

“If you are not currently home, we highly recommend you go home and remain there until the severe weather conditions end.”

Wind is blowing from the northeast at 51 km/h, with gusts as high as 65 km/h at the start of the day Wednesday, according to Environment Canada.

This has reduced visibility to 1.6 kilometres.

The city’s announcement asked people to reduce their water consumption and waste output until city services resume. That includes holding back on laundry, dishwasher use and taking showers instead of baths.

People are also asked to keep their vehicles off the road to enable snow-clearing when it’s possible.

“Vehicles that have been abandoned on the road and impede traffic during the snow-clearing operation may be impounded,” the announcement said.

The forecast for Iqaluit is expected to clear today with a high of —31 C. Winds will remain strong at 20 km/h gusting to 40 km/h.

These conditions can cause frostbite in minutes, Environment Canada warned.

While a new Health Canada study says three-quarters of Canadians buy their cannabis from legal storefronts, it appears to be a different scenario in Nunavik.

There, 80 per cent of cannabis in the region is purchased illegally, according to Nunavik Police Service.

Earlier this month, the 2023 Canadian Cannabis Survey reported the number of users in Canada who rely on a legal outlet as their usual source of cannabis increased to 73 per cent in 2023.

That’s up from 37 per cent in 2019, the first full year that cannabis for non-medical use was legal in Canada.

Data pooled from 11,690 respondents across the country indicated legal storefronts have been the most common source to purchase cannabis since it was legalized.

However, in an interview Nunavik police Capt. Patrice Abel estimated more than 80 per cent of the cannabis in Nunavik gets purchased through an illegal source.

“We’ve gotten a lot of information coming to us about selling cannabis illegally everywhere in Nunavik,” he said.

That’s due in part to Quebec’s strict rules on who can legally sell cannabis.

The only way cannabis can be purchased legally is through the Société québécoise du cannabis, or SQDC, the provincially cannabis retailer, which offers in-store and online shopping. Cannabis purchased from outside the province is considered illegal.

With no storefronts in Nunavik, consumers in the region are limited to purchasing cannabis legally online.

But to do that, they must have a credit card — something many people in Nunavik don’t have, Abel said.

That drives people to use electronic money transfers to buy cannabis from retailers who allow that payment method outside of Quebec.

“They can buy by EMT, so it’s easier and faster for them, but for us it’s still illegal,” Abel said.

If the province were to start allowing payment methods other than credit cards for purchasing cannabis online, Abel said he expects the amount of illegally sourced cannabis in Nunavik would drop.

“It will probably help for sure, but it will not eliminate the problem,” he said.

Nunatsiaq News asked Health Canada for data specific to Nunavut and Nunavik on cannabis-purchasing habits.

A spokesperson from the department said they are unable to report findings solely from Nunavut due to the limited sample size in the individual territories.

Also, they aren’t able to separate findings in Nunavik geographically from the rest of Quebec. Findings from Nunavik were included in Quebec’s overall results.

The Government of Nunavut’s Finance Department is responsible for regulating privately owned retail sales in the territory through the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Commission.

The department doesn’t keep track of private cannabis sales from licensed online retailers who operate in the territory, a spokesperson said.

The Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services does collect data on cannabis usage in the region in the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey. However, the most recently published survey findings are from 2017, two years before cannabis for non-medical use became legal.

The Iqaluit dispensary, which is the sole storefront cannabis retailer in Nunavut, would not disclose data on in-store cannabis purchases.

The Nunavut RCMP did not share rates of illegally sourced cannabis in the territory.

While current data on cannabis use in the North is hazy, there may soon be a clearer picture.

A three-year study launched by a group of university researchers and health experts in 2021 is looking at local views and behaviours toward cannabis in the territories. Its findings may offer more insight into purchasing habits.

The study is expected to conclude later this year.

A polar bear was spotted and killed in downtown Kuujjuaq on Tuesday evening, prompting the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services to warn residents to be on the alert.

First reports of the bear spotted roaming through the town began showing up on social media shortly after 5 p.m. and by 5:45 p.m. a photo of a hunter with the dead bear had been posted.

Later, Mayor Mary Johannes made an announcement on the local FM radio station warning more polar bears could still be roaming around the town.

In a Facebook post at about 8 p.m. Tuesday that included a photo of a polar bear walking several metres from nearby homes, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services said “we are asking Kuujjuammiut to be extra vigilant this evening and in the coming hours, when travelling in the village and on the territory.”

The post noted the young bear had been shot and that no one had been injured in the incident.

Numerous photos and videos posted to social media from Kuujjuaq Tuesday night show Nunavik Police Service officers patrolling the streets of the community.

The situation is still unfolding, more information to come.

The TSB has recovered a cockpit voice recorder from a plane that crashed near Fort Smith. Investigators plan to listen to the recordings as soon as Wednesday.

"It's unbelievable," Nancy Yakeleya says of her $1 millon win. She's now planning a road trip across Canada.

The wreckage of the fatal N.W.T. plane crash will be examined in Edmonton by an international team, but it won't happen right away.

So much snow has fallen in Anchorage — so far, more than 2.65 metres — that roofs on commercial buildings are collapsing around Anchorage and officials are urging residents to break out their shovels to avoid a similar fate at home.

John MacDonald, former deputy minister of the education department, is now secretary to cabinet and deputy minister of executive and Indigenous affairs.

Registration for the Frostbite 55 has now opened. A new course will see racers ski or snowshoe 55 kilometres near Yellowknife.

Avens has released recommendations for itself, the territory and the city following Yellowknife’s wildfire evacuation.

West Baffin Cooperative is celebrating 65 years with a solo exhibition by Kinngait artist Shuvinai Ashoona in London, England.

It’s just one of a dozen exhibitions and events planned this year around the world.

The co-operative, known as Canada’s oldest Indigenous-owned and Inuit-led arts organization, was founded in 1959. It has supported hundreds of artists through sales and exhibitions of their work across Canada and internationally.

The Ashoona exhibition, titled When I Draw, opened Jan. 25 and will continue until April 26 at The Perimeter art gallery. It’s her second solo exhibition in London.

“A private collector bought 13 of Shuvinai’s works,” said William Huffman, interim manager for West Baffin Cooperative Ltd., at its Toronto office.

“The exhibition is really remarkable, and [the impact] Shuvinai’s work and Inuit art in general that we can have like this in London is enormous.”

An exhibit by artist Shuvinai Ashoona, shown here at the Kinngait studios in 2016, will be at The Perimeter art gallery in London, England until April 26. (File photo)

Huffman said that in his job, his focus is on the artists and “developing the art market internationally, and to make sure that Kinngait artists are participating in these important exhibitions globally.”

He said he will be in Kinngait in February to prepare for upcoming events and to let the artists there know what is happening globally. The next big exhibition for the co-operative will be in March in South Korea.

Huffman said young artists are starting to take on the work that has been passed down to them from artists who are no longer in the community.

“This is vital for continuation of Inuit art locally,” he said.

Huffman said he’s seen remarkable growth in the recognition of the Inuit artists’ work in recent years.

“Suddenly, people who know nothing about the art before … are now saying, ‘This is amazing and I am so glad I discovered this,'” he said.

A news release from West Baffin Cooperative noted 10 per cent of Kinngait’s 1,400 residents are professional artists. Nearly all of the adults living in the hamlet are shareholders of the community-owned co-operative and share in its profits.

To diversify its revenue stream, the co-operative also owns a hardware and grocery store, restaurant, rental properties and maintains some utility contracts in Kinngait.

“Our strength lies with the successive generations of committed artists, dedicated community members and trusted partners who continually shape this organization,” said West Baffin Cooperative president Pauloosie Kowmageak, in a news release.

Some of the other events being held to mark the co-operative’s 65^th anniversary include:

• A national touring exhibition titled Kenojuak Ashevak: Life and Legacy. It opened in January at Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, N.B.;
• A five-year research initiative launched in partnership with University of Aberdeen in Australia, exploring sea ice as depicted in the work of Kinngait Inuit artists;
• Staff and artist profiles along with a special archive exhibition in Kinngait at the Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop;
• A special exhibition in Gwangju, South Korea, celebrating the Inuit art of Kinngait;
• A possible IKEA delegation to Kinngait to discuss a product partnership and ideas to assist with food security in the community;
• West Baffin Cooperative at Toronto Outdoor Art Fair in July;
• Release of an anniversary publication documenting the history of West Baffin Cooperative, the 65th anniversary program and outlining future plans.

The federal government could be left with the responsibility of cleaning up an abandoned explosives plant on Kitikmeot land after a Nunavut court judge’s decision earlier this month.

The case gives a glimpse into the complex, expensive and lengthy process of land remediation when a mining company goes under.

Currently, the federal government manages companies’ security deposits and is generally expected to take on cleanup duties in these situations. When devolution comes into effect in 2027, that liability will transfer to the Nunavut government.

The explosives plant is the focus of a lawsuit between the Kitikmeot Inuit Association and Dyno Nobel Inc., the company contracted in 2005 to supply explosives to the Jericho diamond mine located about 250 kilometres southeast of Kugluktuk.

Jericho produced diamonds between 2006 and 2008 for Tahera Diamond Corp.

The Jericho mine site straddles federal and Inuit-owned land, on which KIA has surface rights. Tahera entered into an impact benefit agreement with KIA in 2004, outlining benefits that would be provided to Inuit as a result of the Jericho mine.

The explosives plant and equipment are located on the Inuit-owned portion of the parcel.

Tahera filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and mothballed Jericho. Shear Diamonds bought the mine in 2010, and later abandoned it in 2013 when the company folded.

The federal government declared the mine abandoned in 2014, and soon after the Nunavut Court of Justice handed title to the property and responsibility for its cleanup to the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (now known as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada).

The approximately $10-million cleanup project began in 2017. It focused only on what’s on Crown land and ignored the Inuit-owned portion.

In August 2020, KIA filed a lawsuit against Dyno Nobel, alleging Dyno is responsible for cleaning up the explosives plant.

The emulsion plant, explosive storage units, an ammonium nitrate storage pad and waste rock piles are now an “unauthorized occupation” of KIA-owned land, said the statement of claim, and interferes with Kitikmeot Inuit “use and enjoyment” of the area.

The Nunavut Impact Review Board’s 2021-22 Jericho monitoring report said any potential environmental damage that could be caused by waste rock leaching into the watershed is unknown.

The Inuit organization wants $3.5 million in damages and for Dyno to declare it is responsible for cleanup.

Dyno Nobel says the federal government had $8.3 million in securities as of December 2013 from Tahera and Shear to fund remediation.

“The overall site plan for the closure managed by [Indigenous Affairs] expressly includes the explosives mixing plant and equipment,” Dyno said in its statement of defence.

As part of its defence, Dyno sought to bring in the federal government as a third party in the lawsuit, so it can face arguments that it is indeed the Crown’s responsibility to clean up the plant. Shear is also named as a third party.

The federal government argued the third-party claim should be set aside. Justice Susan Cooper heard arguments on Oct. 17 in Iqaluit.

She sided with Dyno in a decision dated Jan. 11.

Even if it were clear that Dyno is the owner of the explosives plant, Cooper asked in her decision, would it also be clear that Dyno is also solely liable for restoration of the site “given that some of the contamination may have come from and may continue to come from adjacent land?”

“In my view, it is not,” she wrote.

Cooper acknowledged the complicated regulatory process and said Dyno’s move to bring in the federal government involves “novel areas of the law.”

“The law must be permitted to develop and respond to evolving social conditions and expectations,” she said.

Dyno Nobel Inc. declined comment for this story. The Kitikmeot Inuit Association did not respond to a request for comment.

Nunatsiaq News did not receive a response from Indigenous Affairs by press time.

Several Ekati employees were abruptly let go without cause in 2020. An adjudicator recently decided the mine's former owner doesn't owe them termination pay.

The Yukon government has ordered that two cabins built upon placer claims near Little Atlin Lake be taken down, saying they violate the territory's mining laws.

Winter has taken a brief holiday in southern Yukon this week, with a sudden spell of spring-like weather making for wet, slushy conditions — and setting the stage for some slippery roads when winter conditions return later this week.

Starting this week, a team of outreach staff will drive a branded “Moccasin Mobile Outreach” van along a designated route in Whitehorse making stops at locations including the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter, the Black Street stairs and several parks. 

Travel in the North Slave region is not currently recommended due to freezing rain. Anyone who must travel should use caution and drive slowly.

The smell of fresh-cooked turkey will float through the air in three Nunavut communities over the next little while as thousands of the frozen birds are being donated to residents.

Northern Stores partnered with the hamlets of Arviat, Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet to hand out the turkeys.

On Tuesday in Rankin Inlet, with about 2,700 residents, 1,040 turkeys will be distributed from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Community Hall, the hamlet announced last week.

“It will really help the community,” Rankin Inlet Mayor Harry Towtongie said Monday, adding he will be there to help hand out the turkeys.

To receive one of the birds, community members are asked to line up in their cars starting downhill in front of Mary Our Mother Catholic Church at 102 Sivulliq Ave.

Darren’s Taxi has offered to pick up and deliver 40 turkeys to community members in Rankin Inlet, free of charge to elders or those who don’t have vehicles.

Last Friday, as many as 800 turkeys were distributed in Arviat.

There were eight pallets of the frozen birds, some of which were delivered directly to elders in their homes, said Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr.

“I’m very thankful, because it’s food and that’s what we need. We’re very happy to see food going out to the people that need it and at a very good price,” Savikataaq said.

And in Baker Lake, close to 400 turkeys were handed out, said the hamlet’s senior administrative officer Sheldon Dorey.

In an interview, he noted Friday was a workday and some community members didn’t have a chance to pick up a turkey. Dorey said another 500 turkeys will be handed out in Baker Lake sometime in the next few weeks.

Even so, the hamlet still managed to give turkeys to half of the homes in the community, including personally delivering some to elders who were unable to pick to make it to the community hall to pick them up.

“Our Northern Store team worked closely with hamlet staff … to ensure the supply of turkeys was adequate for all families in each community,” said Brent Smith, manager of communications and media at the North West Co.

He couldn’t provide an exact number of the turkeys that were donated but said “food security is a priority for Northern Stores with food waste reduction as just one element of that focus.”

An exchange program offers staff and students the opportunity to study or work across the circumpolar North. The deadline to apply for funding is February 15.

Arviat’s mayor is encouraging residents to take part in a community consultation this week for a new fuel tank farm, after public backlash last year prompted a restart of the project.

Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. said the hamlet council will meet with staff from the Government of Nunavut’s petroleum products division Wednesday. That evening at 7 p.m., residents can go to the community hall for a consultation to hear what’s being planned and voice their opinions.

“There is no hidden agenda,” Savikataaq said in an interview.

“Up to this point, no site selections or even possible selections have been talked about. We’ll start to talk about possible site selections and the pros and cons, and listen to the people on what they want.”

The proposed site of a new Arviat tank farm proved controversial last year.

A group of residents launched a petition to pause development on a new facility, citing health and environmental concerns related to its proposed location.

The petition received more than 700 online signatures, and the hamlet council responded by asking the GN to restart the project.

Last July, Nunavut’s Minister of Community and Government Services David Joanasie said his department would work with Arviat on restarting the process and moving on to the next steps.

Arviat “badly” needs a new tank farm with a larger capacity to store jet fuel, Savikataaq said.

The hamlet has been advertising this week’s consultation, and he is hoping for a good turnout.

“My hope is that people show up and voice their concerns,” he said.

“We don’t want any further delays, and we’ll make a decision once everything has been looked at.”

As of late Monday, the Department of Community and Government Services did not respond to Nunatsiaq News’ request for more information about the consultation.