For the English version of this story, please see High-speed internet, youth centres in Nunavik part of $2.6B northern action plan.

ᖃᓂᒋᔭᖓᓃᑦᑐᖅ $2.6 ᐱᓕᐊᓐ ᑖᓚᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᐃᓐᓇᕐᓗᓂ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᓄᓇᕕᒃᒥ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑯᐸᐃᒃ ᐅᐊᖕᓇᖓᓂ ᓄᓇᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓂ ᑕᓪᓕᒪᓂᒃ, ᑯᐸᐃᒃ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᖏᑦ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᕐᑐᑦ ᑎᓯᐱᕆ 19-ᒥ.

ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᑎᒃᓴᓄᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎᒃᓴᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓄᑦ 2023-2028ᒧ ᐃᓚᖃᕐᑐᑦ 45ᓂ ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐅᑯᑎᑐᓇᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᓂᒃᓯᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᖃᓕᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᓱᒃᑲᔪᖅᒥ ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑰᕈᑎᒥᒃ ᓄᓇᕕᒃᒥ, ᓴᓇᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓅᓱᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐅᐸᒡᕕᒃᓴᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᑖᓂ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᑲᑕᒡᓗᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ.

ᐅᓇ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓕᐊᕆᓚᐅᕐᑕᖓ ᐆᒪ ᒪᐃᑦ ᐸᓛᓐᓴᑦ ᕙᔩᓇᐅᑉ, ᑯᐸᐃᒃᒥ ᒥᓂᔅᑕ ᐊᑐᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓇᐹᖅᑐᖃᐅᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᒥᓂᔅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒥᓂᔅᑕ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎᓄᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᓄᑦ, ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᖢᓂ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓕᕆᔨᓄᑦ ᐸᐃ-ᑯᒨ, ᑯᐸᐃᒃᒥ.

ᐅᓇ ᓄᑖᖅ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓄᑦ ᑕᓪᓕᒪᓄᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎ, ᕙᔩᓇᐅᑉ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕆᔭᖓ “ᐱᓕᕆᔪᒥᓇᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᖅ,” ᓴᖅᑭᓕᓚᐅᕐᑐᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᖕᓂᖏᑦᑎᒍ 25 ᐅᖓᑖᓃᑦᑐᓄᑦ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᓕᕆᔨᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᓄᑦ.

ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᓯᒪᔪᖅ 45ᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᑎᓴᒪᐅᓕᖓᔪᓄᑦ: ᓄᓇᕕᒃᒧᑦ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᓂᖃᕐᓂᕐᓴᐅᓕᕐᓗᑎᒃ, ᓴᓇᕙᓪᓕᐊᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᐅᕈᑎᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓄᑦ, ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᑎᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᕙᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᓯᐅᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅᑎᑕᐅᑦᑕᐃᓕᓗᓂ.

ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᕕᒃᒧᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᕐᑐᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᐅᑎᑦ ᒪᑯᓄᖓ ᓱᒃᑲᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᐅᑎᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᓪᓚᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑕᐅᓗᑎᒃ ᓴᓇᑎᑦᑎᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑦᑕᑕᕈᓐᓇᐅᑎᓄᑦ ᐅᐊᔭᒐᓚᖕᓂᒃ (ᕙᐃᐳ ᐋᑉᑎᒃᔅ) ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᐅᓯᕚᓪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑦᑕᑕᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓯᒪᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐅᐊᖕᓇᖓᓃᑦᑐᓄᑦ.

ᐅᓇ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐅᓄᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᐅᑎᑕᖃᓕᕋᔭᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᐅᑯᓄᖓᓗ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᖃᖅᑕᐃᓕᓂᕐᒧᑦ, ᒪᓕᒐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ.

ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎ ᐃᓚᖃᕐᒥᔪᖅ ᓴᓇᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᓱᒃᑐᒃᑯᕕᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥᒃ, ᓴᓗᒻᒪᕐᓴᐃᓗᑎᒃ ᖁᐊᕐᓵᕐᓇᖅᑐᓂ ᐊᓂᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒪᓕᒐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᐅᑎᓂ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᖃᕐᓂᕐᓴᐅᓕᕐᓗᑎᒃ.

ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᕐᓂᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᒪᑭᕝᕕᒃ ᑯᐊᐳᕇᓴᓐᑯᓐᓂᒃ, ᑲᑎᕕᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᓕᒫᑦ ᒐᕙᒪᖓᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᕕᒃᒥᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᖃᕐᓇᙱᑦᑐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᓐᓂᒃ, ᐅᑯᐊ ᒪᓕᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᖅᑐᐃᕕᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓂᕐᓴᓂᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᕕᖃᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᔾᔪᑎᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓂ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ.

ᐅᓇ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎ ᐱᐅᓯᕚᓪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᐅᔪᒪᖕᒥᔪᖅ ᒪᓕᒐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᓲᕐᓗ ᑕᒪᐅᖓᒥᐊᖅ ᑐᓴᖅᑕᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᙱᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᐸᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᒻᒪᕆᒡᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᖃᖃᑦᑕᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᖅᑐᐃᕕᓕᕆᕙᒡᓗᑎᒃ.

“ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᐃᑦ ᐃᑲᔫᑎᒃᓴᓄᑦ ᐅᑯᐊ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖏᑦ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᖃᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᐱᐅᓯᕚᓪᓕᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᓂᖅ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᐅᕋᓱᒍᑎᐅᕙᒃᑯᑦ,” ᐅᖃᕐᑐᖅ ᐃᐊᓐ ᓚᕗᕆᓂᐄ, ᑯᐸᐃᒃᒥ ᒥᓂᔅᑕ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᓕᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᒍᑎᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᓄᖕᓂ.

ᐅᖃᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᖅ ᑕᓂᔅ ᓚᒫᑦ, ᐅᖓᕙᒧᑦ ᒪᓕᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ: “ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐊᓘᒻᒪ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᕆᔭᕗᑦ ᑕᑯᒥᓇᕐᓂᕐᓴᐅᓕᕐᓗᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᖏᓐᓇᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ.”

ᐅᓇ ᐱᖓᔪᒋᔭᐅᓕᕐᑐᖅ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᑎᒃᓴᓄᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎᓂ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓕᕆᓂᖅ ᑯᐸᐃᒃ ᐅᐊᖕᓇᖓᓅᖓᔪᓂᒃ. ᓯᕗᓂᐊᒍᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎᐅᓚᐅᕐᑐᖅ 2020-2023ᒧ ᐃᓱᓕᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᒫᔅᓯ 31, 2023ᒥ.

The post <span style="word-spacing:150%">ᓱᒃᑲᔪᖅ ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑰᕈᑎ, ᐃᓅᓱᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐅᐸᒡᕕᒃᓴᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᕕᒃᒥ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐆᒧᖓ $2.6 ᐱᓕᐊᓐ ᑖᓚᑐᕐᑐᒥ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎᒃᓴᓄᑦ</span> appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

"It's a big party." In Fort Smith, a year-end hockey tourney brought together residents after a hard year. In Fort Simpson, the sport's broadening horizons.

In less than a month, the Yukon Quest will get underway in Whitehorse. But one first-time entrant says she hasn't touched her dog sled at all yet, because of the unusual weather conditions.

Wildlife officials in Alaska have confirmed the first known case of a polar bear that died from avian flu — highlighting growing concerns about the virus's potential spread among northern mammals.

Nunavut’s community and government services minister says he’s hopeful that federal government funding will lead to a long-term solution to Sanikiluaq’s nearly decade-long water issues.

David Joanasie made the comments to reporters Thursday in Iqaluit where he was joined by Sean Fraser, Canada’s Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, to announce the Nunavut and federal governments will spend $194 million to support eight infrastructure projects across six Nunavut communities.

The plan includes $22.2 million from Ottawa and $7.4 million from the GN to design and build a new water treatment facility in Sanikiluaq, where high sodium levels in the water supply force every home to be equipped with reverse osmosis purification units.

The problem was discovered in 2016, and the GN said in 2018 it was looking for outside solutions.

“It has taken a long time to get here, but we do hope that this will address the community’s needs over the long term and to sustain them for multiple decades,” Joanasie said in a press conference.

Four other communities — Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord, Pond Inlet and Rankin Inlet — have also been allocated federal and territorial funding to get new water treatment facilities.

The funding from both levels of government ranges from $20 million to $35 million in each hamlet.

“It’s essential that we recognize that every community in this country, regardless of which region, has safe and reliable drinking water,” Fraser said.

“It’s something that we too often take for granted in the south, and it’s important that we realize that we’re going to ensure that every community has access to reliable water, that we make the investments to turn that into a reality.”

In addition to the water infrastructure investments, $221,618 is allocated to buy a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for public transit in Pond Inlet. For Resolute Bay, $83,493 will be used to buy a public transit vehicle.

In Rankin Inlet, $25 million from Ottawa and $34 million from the GN will go toward construction of a 24-bed seniors’ long-term care home, which Joanasie said would allow elders to stay within Kivalliq region instead of being sent out of territory for the care they need as they age.

In written handouts some of the projects, including the water upgrades and the long-term care home, had noticeable asterisks beside them indicating they were conditional depending on consultations, environmental assessments and funding agreements.

Questioned about it, Fraser said that’s typical in federal announcements.

“At the end of the day, when we’re dealing with a constitutional obligation to consult Indigenous Peoples and communities, it’s essential that we actually complete that process before projects go ahead,” he said.

Present at Thursday’s announcement was Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout, who sits across from the Liberal Fraser in the House of Commons.

Her reaction was positive overall, and she thanked Fraser for making his first visit to Iqaluit to make the announcement.

Idlout said that since being elected in 2021 she has visited the hamlets that will receive water upgrades, and has heard from leaders in all of them that having access to clean drinking water is a major community health issue.

The NDP and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal minority government are nearing the two-year mark of their supply and confidence agreement.

Idlout said much of Thursday’s announcement can be credited to her and her party’s role in propping up the Liberals on the condition that some NDP policies get adopted.

“I think that some of these projects would not have been approved without the work of the NDP,” Idlout said in an interview.

“We pressure [the Liberals] a lot, and it takes a lot of work to make sure that they do finally understand just how dire the needs are.”

Fraser told reporters he plans to make a housing-related announcement in Iqaluit Friday morning.

The post Federal government, GN announce $194M for water, transportation services in 6 communities appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

Yukon's department of Education says a person who has worked as a teacher-on-call in several Whitehorse-area schools since 2018 is facing criminal charges, including possession of child pornography and possession of prohibited weapons.

A rally calling for a ceasefire in the three-month-old war in Gaza is planned for Saturday in Iqaluit.

In a social media post, organizers said they want an end to Israel’s siege so that humanitarian aid can be delivered to the war-torn territory. The rally is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Four Corners.

One of the organizers, Meral Jamal, said it is being planned as a peaceful rally to show solidarity with the Palestinian people over what she said is “genocide” being carried out against them by the Israeli government in its war with Hamas in Gaza.

“We do have Palestinians living here in Iqaluit,” Jamal said.

While they might not be directly impacted by the war’s destruction, she said it’s important to protest because “we are paying attention to the violence in Gaza that is documented on social media.”

Jamal said that “no matter where you are in your beliefs and how you are feeling, I think this is the time just to be together,” adding many people wish the conflict would end.

“Iqaluit has a small and mighty Muslim and Jewish community,” noted Jamal.

She said “we would like for the community just to be together to be raising awareness and to feel less alone in their hurt and in their healing and their advocacy to come together to call for a ceasefire.”

On the United Nations website, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the conflict has “created appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Tensions have existed around Israel and its Arab neighbours since the founding of Israel in 1948.

The current war in Gaza started Oct. 7 when the militant group Hamas, which oversees Gaza, launched a surprise attack in the southwest area of Israel near Gaza, killing an estimated 1,200 Israelis and taking several hundred hostages.

Since then, more than 22,000 people in Gaza have been killed in fighting between Israeli and Hamas fighters and much of the infrastructure and buildings in the territory has been destroyed, according to the Associated Press.

Saturday’s rally will be at least the second anti-war protest in Iqaluit since the conflict started.

On Nov. 4, approximately 30 people marched to the legislature carrying signs calling for a ceasefire to end what organizer Jennifer Lane called a “real-time genocide of an oppressed people.”

The post Iqaluit rally for Gaza ceasefire planned for Saturday appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

RCMP say a man was stabbed in Wrigley just before midnight on December 31. A suspect has been arrested and charges are pending.

A new expert council will assess risks and provide advice to the Government of Yukon in an effort to ensure the territory's needs are considered in federal decision making about Arctic security.

The case is the first access-to-information appeal to go before a court under the Yukon’s new Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which came into effect in April 2021. 

Work is ongoing to assess the damage caused by a fuel leak at a downtown Yellowknife government building. Staff who work there have no timeline for a return.

An Ottawa Inuit organization will hold its inaugural Southern Ontario Inuit Games on Feb. 3.

Tungasuvvingat Inuit announced the games on Facebook last month.

Competitors are set to battle it out in events including arm pull, one-foot high kick, airplane (a strength and endurance competition where one person holds a rigid body position with their arms straight out to the sides and feet straight back while three carriers carry them), and kneel jump.

The announcement said there will be prizes, live performances and food at the event. The games will be held in Ottawa’s TD Place Arena at 1015 Bank St.

People aged 18 to 29 can register by no later than Jan. 19. Registration is limited to 40 participants.

Further details, including registration, can be found on the Tungasuvvingat Inuit Facebook page.

The post Tungasuvvingat Inuit announces new Inuit games event in Ottawa appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

For English version, see GN wraps up assessment of Igloolik school but results won’t be made public

ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᔭᕇᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐃᓂᖓᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓂᖓᓂ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᑉ ᐊᑕᒍᑦᑖᓗᒃ ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᖓᓂ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐅᖃᖅᐳᑦ ᓇᓂᔭᐅᓂᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᓕᒫᓄᑦ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑕᐅᔾᔮᙱᓚᑦ.

ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐃᓂᐅᔪᖅ ᐱᔭᕇᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᑎᓯᐱᕆ 11−ᒥ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᓐᓂᓪᓗ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᖅᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᒫᓐᓇ ᕿᒥᕐᕈᕗᑦ ᓇᓂᔭᐅᓂᐅᔪᓂ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᖃᖅᑎᐅᔪᖅ ᕼᐊᓚ ᑐᐊᐅᓪ ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᓂᐅᔪᒥ.

ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᖢᓂ 1968−ᒥ, ᐊᑕᒍᑦᑖᓗᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᖓ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓄᑕᐅᙱᓛᖑᖃᑕᐅᔪᒥ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᓂ ᐃᒡᓗᖁᑕᐅᔪᓂ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ.

ᑭᖑᓪᓕᖅᐹᒥ ᓄᑖᙳᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ 1999−ᒥ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑕᐃᒪᙵᓂ ᑕᑭᔪᒥ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᑎᑦᑎᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᐊᑲᐅᙱᓕᐅᕈᑕᐅᔪᓂ ᓴᖅᑭᓯᒪᕗᑦ, ᑐᕌᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᒥ ᖃᔅᓯᒐᓚᖕᓂ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᒪᑐᔭᐅᓂᐅᔪᓂ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐊᑦᑕᓇᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐃᓱᒫᓘᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑐᒥ ᐃᒪᕐᓂ ᑯᕕᓂᕐᔪᐊᖑᔪᓂ, ᓱᕋᒃᓯᒪᔪᓂ ᐹᓂᑦ, ᐅᖁᖕᒥ ᐊᑲᐅᙱᓕᐅᕈᑕᐅᔪᓂ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᒪᕐᒧᑦ ᖃᑦᑕᖓᓂ ᖁᐱᓂᖃᖅᑐᒥ ᑯᑐᒃᓯᒪᓂᖃᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓪᓗᐊᒥ.

ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᔨᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᒥᓂᔅᑕᖓ ᐹᒥᓚ ᒍᕉᔅ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᒃᑐᐱᕆᒥ ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᑉ ᖃᓄᐃᓐᓂᖓᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑕᐅᓂᖓᓂ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑕᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᔫᓂ 29−ᒥ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᐅᕆᓂᕐᒥ ᑕᒪᒃᑭᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᖏᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᐱᔭᕆᐊᓕᖕᓂ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑭᒡᓕᐅᔪᒥ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᐱᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂ ᐱᔭᕇᖅᓯᓂᕐᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐅᔪᓄᑦ.

ᓄᕕᐱᕆᒥ, ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐅᖃᖅᑎᐅᔪᖅ ᑯᕆᔅᑕ ᐊᐃᒥ ᐅᖃᐅᔾᔨᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓂᖓᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐃᓂᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᓕᒫᓄᑦ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᙱᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂ “ᐃᓗᓕᖃᕐᒪᑕ ᐱᔭᕆᑐᕐᔪᐊᖅᑐᓂ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐃᓗᓕᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓂ, ᐃᓄᓕᒫᓄᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑕᐅᒍᓂ, ᐱᐅᙱᑎᑦᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᕋᔭᕐᓂᖓᓂ ᐅᔾᔨᖅᓱᕐᓂᕐᒥ ᐱᖁᑕᐅᔪᒥ.”

 

The post <span style="word-spacing:150%">ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᔭᕇᖅᐳᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐃᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒥ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᖓᓂ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓂᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᓕᒫᓄᑦ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑕᐅᔾᔮᙱᓚᑦ</span> appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

All four people are charged under the Canada National Parks Act and the Migratory Birds Convention Act for incidents that allegedly took place at Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary and Sirmilik National Park. 

There’s no public sign of movement to fill Nunavut’s Senate vacancy, a week after former senator Dennis Patterson’s retirement.

He turned 75 on Dec. 30, the mandatory retirement age from the Senate.

During his farewell speech in December, Patterson described the urgency of filling Nunavut’s only Senate seat.

“I think it is urgent that the position be filled without delay,” he said in the Senate chamber on Dec. 13.

“There is only one senator and one MP for our vast territory, encompassing Canada’s largest land mass and longest coastline, and as I have said, many pressing issues and opportunities,” said Patterson.

Nunavut has one seat in the Senate, Parliament’s 105-member upper house. Ontario and Quebec, on the other hand, each have 24.

Patterson also said he believes his successor should be Inuk to be “reflective of the population of Nunavut.”

The process for appointing a senator has changed since Patterson was appointed in 2009 by then-prime minister Stephen Harper.

In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau established the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, a non-partisan body to help fill vacancies.

Prior to that, it was entirely up to the prime minister to appoint senators to sit in Parliament’s unelected upper house. Historically, that resulted in appointments being handed out as rewards to loyal members of the prime minister’s political party.

Since 2016, the independent board has reviewed applications and created a shortlist of five names for each vacancy, based on applicants’ merit.

While the governor general formally appoints a senator, it’s really done on the advice of the prime minister.

The advisory board has three permanent members. When there’s a vacancy, two more members are appointed to the board from the province or territory with the vacancy.

The two positions for Nunavut on the advisory board are currently vacant, according to the advisory board’s website.

Work has begun to fill the board seats, according to the Privy Council Office.

“Work is underway to establish the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments for Nunavut and other jurisdictions,” spokesperson Pierre-Alain Bujold said in an email.

“Appointments to the board will be made and announced in due course.”

The Privy Council Office did not provide a timeline for filling the board seats. The office also stated Canadians may apply for appointment to the Senate at any time through an open application process.

The post No movement yet to fill Nunavut’s vacant Senate seat appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

Casual workers at the NWT government have as much right as indeterminate employees to formally appeal the pay they receive, an arbitrator decided.

The Nunavut Housing Corp. plans to announce an “updated suite” of housing programs — which may include a revamped Homeownership Assistance Program — in February.

The programs, which will be part of the Nunavut 3,000 housing strategy, are “currently undergoing the government approvals,” said housing corp. spokesperson Sierra LeBlanc in a recent email to Nunatsiaq News.

The Homeownership Assistance Program was in place in the 1980s and 1990s. Residents could build their own home for free with materials provided by the Government of the Northwest Territories, which at the time governed what is now Nunavut.

More than 1,000 homes were built over about a decade, many of which still stand today. Each house cost the N.W.T. Housing Corp. roughly $130,000, adjusted for inflation in 2022.

In comparison, the cost of one public housing unit in 2022 was $923,477.

Nunatsiaq News published a four-part series in March 2023 outlining the benefits and drawbacks of the program. There were Inuit, housing executives and public officials who said at the time they believe bringing a program like this back could help alleviate Nunavut’s severe housing shortage.

At that time, Nunavut Housing Corporation executive director Eiryn Devereaux said the territorial government would consider adopting a program similar to the Homeownership Assistance Program and that it would spend the following spring and summer working on the policy.

Asked why the corporation missed that initial deadline, LeBlanc said she could not provide any more information.

On Oct. 24, in the legislative assembly, Devereaux said he was “pleased to see that we are proposing a new modern version of the HAP program.”

When Solomon Malliki, MLA for Aivilik, questioned Housing Minister Lorne Kusugak about Devereaux’s comments a day later, Kusugak said NHC is “looking at creating a new Homeownership Assistance Program 2.0.”

“We’ve been hearing from across the territory how great the ownership programs used to be before Nunavut,” Kusugak told the assembly.

The post Nunavut could get revamped home-ownership assistance program appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

Go back 40 years and explore NWT Archives photos of the Northwest Territories' communities and residents as they appeared in 1984. See anyone you know?

Watson Lake, Yukon, resident Jocelyn Wolftail and her partner are welcoming the new year in their new home. Last month, they lost everything in a fire but the community has stepped in to help the couple get back on their feet.

Air North cancelled its Whitehorse-Yellowknife-Toronto route between February 13 and May 1, blaming "extremely challenging" market conditions.

Air North has cancelled winter flights between Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Toronto, saying the route wasn't busy enough to cover costs.

The City of Yellowknife warned residents to take care on local lake ice, saying it had "received information of a large hole in the ice on Yellowknife Bay."

Most of the Northwest Territories is bracing for days of wind chill below -50 stretching from Wednesday night through to the weekend.

Four kayakers face dozens of charges in Nunavut under the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Canada National Parks Act, according to Parks Canada.

The offences are alleged to have taken place last summer at Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary and Sirmilik National Park, Parks Canada spokesperson Megan Hope said in an email Tuesday.

Both areas are on the remote Bylot Island, north of Pond Inlet.

Hope confirmed Mark Agnew, Edward Hansen, Eileen Visser and Jeffrey Wueste are the four people who were charged.

The kayakers are due to appear in court in Iqaluit Jan. 8.

“On Aug. 25, Parks Canada law enforcement assisted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested, interviewed and released a group of sea kayakers in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut,” Hope said in her email.

“Charges have now been laid with Nunavut Courts against four individuals for various offences.”

The charges fall under the Canada National Parks Act, migratory bird sanctuary regulations, and national parks wildlife, camping and general regulations.

Among the charges filed are possessing a firearm in a park, disturbing wildlife in a park, unlawfully entering a park without registering, unlawfully entering a restricted area in a park, camping on public land in a park, and possession of a firearm in a migratory bird sanctuary.

Each of the kayakers face 45 charges, according to the Nunavut Court of Justice docket. Convictions under the sections of the CNPA and MBCA the four are charged with are punishable by fines.

Hope declined to provide further details on the accused.

However, some of the accused kayakers appear to be members of the Arctic Cowboys, a U.S.-based explorer group that paddled the Northwest Passage last year.

According to the group’s social media pages and website, the kayakers started their journey from Baffin Bay in July and reached the Beaufort Sea in October.

A post on the Arctic Cowboys website indicates the group spent a few days in Cambridge Bay at the end of August.

Nunatsiaq News attempted to contact West Hansen, listed in a news release as the Arctic Cowboys’ expedition leader, for comment but received no response.

“Visitors are encouraged to plan ahead before visiting a national park in Canada and should be aware of relevant rules and laws before entering one of these sites,” Hope said in her email.

The post Kayakers charged with breaking Parks Canada, wildlife laws in Nunavut appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

Dettah's in the deep freeze this week, but December was warm enough that some residents wonder how it'll affect the ice road to Yellowknife. Here's the latest.

A downtown Yellowknife government building is out of action after a fuel tank leak caused a spill over the winter holiday. Dozens of workers have relocated.

The federal government is pledging to work with its American counterparts after the U.S. claimed parts of the Arctic sea floor that Canada also wants.

A man who was banned from Selkirk First Nation lands in the Yukon last year for allegedly trafficking drugs now stands accused of drug trafficking in Fort McPherson, N.W.T.

A man who shot at a home in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., is still at large but police say there's no risk to other residents because they believe it was a targeted attack.

Yellowknife's Terry Woolf first dressed up as "Sled-dog Santa" 15 or so years ago. Ever since since then, he says that he tries to carry out the tradition sometime around Christmas whenever timing and weather conditions permit —usually every two or three years.

From dealing with feelings of isolation, to changing routines and difficult family situations - one N.W.T. psychologist says this time of year can be overwhelming. Here as some tips for handling the harder parts of the holiday season.

A new music program that lets students guide their lessons is offering a pressure-free way for Indigenous youth in Whitehorse to engage with music classes.

In this year-end series, Nunatsiaq News staff look back on their most memorable stories from 2023.

James Merritt delivered the best quote I heard as a reporter this year when he described how his softball team, the Rankin Inlet Freaks, won the Canadian co-ed softball slo-pitch national tournament in Winnipeg on Aug. 6.

The Freaks were in the final inning of the final game and held a one-run lead against the Churchill Bandits.

There was one out but the Bandits were at bat and had the tying run at third base and the winning run at second. Their best hitter was at the plate, and hit the ball deep to left field.

Freaks outfielder Seamas Ayaruak made the catch. He threw an absolute cannon to home plate and got the out, winning the game 10-9 for the Freaks and securing the championship.

That’s when Merritt told Ayaruak: “On my deathbed, I’m going to remember that throw.”

On top of being my favourite quote, the story of the Rankin Inlet Freaks winning the national tournament was my favourite story to tell as a reporter this year at Nunatsiaq News.

I loved it because, as Merritt also said, the Freaks’ journey to winning and how they pulled it off was something you could make into a movie.

The team had been going to the tournament for 10 years but had never won. This year, they encountered adversity as they faced the Bandits in the semifinals and the Bandits blew them out.

The win allowed the Bandits to advance to the finals. The Freaks, meanwhile, had to win one more game to get to a rematch in the final.

To do that — and then beat the team that had smoked them earlier in the tournament — showed the tenacity of these Nunavut athletes.

Locked in a tight game and with an out-of-this-world throw to win it all, it truly did sound like a scripted sports movie.

On top of that, the Freaks were a close team — Merritt said they had been playing together since they were children. I can imagine the buildup to this moment was genuine.

A story like this highlights Nunavut’s passion for sport as well. Whether it is hockey, softball, indoor soccer or basketball, the activity brings a community together.

Throughout the territory, there are tournaments held for all kinds of sports that help connect communities.

The Freaks winning that tournament shows not only their talent, but the prevalence of sport in Nunavut.

Also, the Freaks receiving great feedback from others at the tournament proves another theme I’ve noticed when covering sport, which is that when Nunavummiut go south for sports tournaments they are always among the loudest fans and most supportive athletes.

As we roll into 2024, I hope to continue hearing more stories like this about the success of sport in Nunavut.

The post Stories we loved to tell: When the Rankin Inlet Freaks won it all appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

"It's been a rough go. We just wanted to make it Christmas again." A hard year in Fort Smith is ending with a proud tradition: Santa's nightly float tours.

In Yellowknife, the reindeer get a break because Santa knows the city loves a good dog team. Check out St Nick mushing around the capital.

This December, staff at Wekweètì's community government set themselves an ambitious target: a festive event each day for weeks.

The story of Gordon Gill, who rose from a tugboat cook's helper to a northern shipbuilder, helps to illuminate a bygone era in the North.

Ann Meekitjuk Hanson, the first editor of the Inukshuk newsletter — the forerunner to Nunatsiaq News — reflects on the excitement of the Christmas month and the air drop she recalls while growing up in Kimmirut in the 1950s.

Ann Meekitjuk Hanson recalls the annual Christmas air drop and other activities that created excitement when she was growing up in Kimmirut in the 1950s. (File photo by David Venn)

Quviasuviup Udlugiit, or Christmastime, was different from the other times of year.

There was glee in the people, in the air, in the weather and the anticipation of air drops, and the arrival of people from their ukialiviit, their ancestral winter homes, because this meant celebrations, a church service and a feast.

During the first part of Christmas month, we children were told to listen for an unusual roar in the air, a rumble — a different sound.

So, we listened when we went outdoors, all of us wanting to be the first to hear this sound. Who wouldn’t want to be a hero and be the kid who was first to hear this roar?

At last, an unusual sound on a clear day. Listen hard! A faint rumble, a rolling steady sound, it is getting louder and closer, breaking the constant quiet in the sky. Then a shout: “It is coming!”

People in the village literally popped out of their dwellings and looked around with their heads tilted up as much as they could. They didn’t talk, because they were listening.

Then it appeared, a big machine travelling through the air. Qangatajuraluk! It would make one round and then disappear, then one more time, this time lower, the third time with what appeared to be a door open, too far up in the air and too fast to see anyone.

It disappeared again down the bay. When it returned, it was at the same altitude but with its door opened and a small figure at the door!

The plane disappeared again. On its return, more boxes dropped, this time close to each other. What a sight!

On the ground, we were laughing. Some children cried from fright. Men ran to their dogs and hitched them up to their sleds to retrieve the dropped items that were scattered on the sea ice.

There was so much excitement in the village. The few Qalunaat — the Hudson’s Bay Co. manager, his clerk, the RCMP member and our Anglican minister — were talking to each other in their language and looked happy. They knew they would be getting long-awaited mail and Christmas presents from their homes.

The air drops happened because we had no runways where planes could land. The boxes contained mail, old newspapers, old magazines, family allowances for the Inuit women, which were one year’s worth of family income, and Christmas presents for the Qalunaat.

The church received clothing, socks, shawls, quilted blankets and anything useful from the Anglican Women’s Auxiliary from Toronto and other cities.

There were also hard candies, which were given out sparingly.

We didn’t see the Qalunaat for a few days because they were reading all their mail, newspapers, magazines. And then they re-read them over and over.

The second excitement of Christmas month was when the Inuit started to come to our village — dog team by dog team — from their ancestral winter homelands. Some of them travelled several days to get to Kimmirut.

They built their snow houses to live in, some stayed with us in our little dwelling, some at RCMP quarters across the bay, at the Akavak home.

It was so good to see different people for a change.

We also gathered at the church and had Christmas stories told to us by Rev. Mike Gardener and wonderful Christmas hymns.

The women were busy making new clothes for Christmas — new kamiks, sealskin boots, with beautifully embroidered top duffle socks, new caribou parkas, new caribou or sealskin mittens, new calico cloth and dresses for women.

I had nothing new, only hand-me-downs, but they were new to me.

Since it was soon to be Christmas, the women sewed and made things all day and night, including Sundays. They were told it was OK to sew on Sundays, or to make things, because it was Christmas.

Christmas morning was different. It was calm and solemn. Everyone moved slowly and didn’t talk much. We all went to church. The adults greeted each other with a handshake. It was very ceremonial, and almost serious. The children, we were to be quiet and observe. We were not to disturb anything.

The next day — a day after Christmas — adults exchanged gifts. The gifts were not wrapped.

Men gave dogs to other men, some traces of lasso ropes (made from whale hide or different kinds of seal), supujuq (primus stove), and hunting implements or old sleds.

The women gave to other women their very best ulus, cotton dresses, sealskins, rabbit skins, anything they wanted to give. I remember my aunt cleaning these beautiful three glasses. She washed them, wiped them, blew her breath on them and then wiped them again. They became beautiful.

Years later, I learned they were pickle jars my aunt had retrieved from the garbage bin of the nurse.

The children did not get any gifts. We just watched. I was 14 years old when I received my first Christmas gift in Toronto from my foster parents. I was speechless.

There were outdoor games on the sea ice, races and strength games. At night there were long dances at the old American hall.

The dances were learned from the whalers a long time ago, something like reels and square dances. Women played the igiruut — a music box like an accordion.

They were lively dances, with one leader running the dances. His name was Siujuk and he was the crowd’s favourite.

The celebration of Christmas was more church-oriented at the time. After the church service, we had feasts. It was always beans.

I remember the steam coming from the boiling beans in the church. The beans were probably made by the Hudson’s Bay Co. manager Gordon Rennie.

Dec. 25 is called quviasuvik in the southern Baffin dialect, meaning “time to be happy.”

The quviasuvik is long, from December to the end of January.

People still exchanged gifts well into January. This is probably because there were celebrations at this time of the year even before Christianity was introduced to the Inuit in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

It was to welcome back the daylight. When the sun began to shine more and more, which would be after the winter solstice on Dec. 21, people celebrated to the fullest with games, songs, drum dances, feasts, and more games.

That is why Inuit so readily accepted and cherished Christmas when Christianity was introduced.

The hand was used to measure the daylight. A hunter out on the sea ice used his hand to measure each day. He placed his hand and lined it with the edge of the sea ice and the sun — if the sun had gone up above the top of the thumb and hand, the daylight will increase each day. Time to celebrate!

This return of longer daylight coincided with Christmas celebrations after Christianity was introduced.

We’ve had many wonderful Christmas celebrations, with many changes along the way. We were introduced to a new tradition, to celebrate a birth of Christ, which falls about the same time when our ancestors celebrated to welcome the return of the sun — an old tradition.

We have much to celebrate these two events to the fullest. Merry Christmas, everyone!

The post Quviasuvik and the air drop appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

A 17-year-old rapper from Tulita, N.W.T., said his new album will be about his family and his home community. 

The NWT Power Corporation says workers are being sent to address a series of power outages that began affecting Tuktoyaktuk on Saturday evening.

This year's Christmas bird count may have had the biggest turnout ever, according to organizers, with over 25 people coming out to help gather data on the city's winter bird population.

Snow will keep falling across Tłı̨chǫ communities and Łútsël K'é through Saturday afternoon, forecasters say, but a warning for Yellowknife has now ended.

Braden Kadlun Johnston and his mother Hovak Johnston have more than 200,000 TikTok followers between them.

The pair’s videos — in which they candidly show everyday scenes like eating country food or showing off their sealskin clothing — have amassed millions of views.

Things haven’t always been easy for them, however.

Long before TikTok, the two had a combative relationship.

Hovak describes struggling with trauma from her childhood in residential school, well into her adulthood.

Braden, meanwhile, says he is a 24-year-old ex-addict celebrating four years of sobriety.

“We couldn’t even stay in the room for five minutes before we start having a yelling match or somebody [goes] crying or something like that,” Hovak said in a lengthy interview with Nunatsiaq News, sitting beside her son in the newspaper’s Iqaluit office earlier this month.

“Now we’re on a trip together; nobody would ever have believed that we were going on a trip back then.”

Hovak was born in the now-abandoned Nunavut community of Umingmaktok and now lives in the Northwest Territories. Braden is from Kugluktuk and now lives in Calgary where he attends university, pursuing a philosophy degree.

Both say they found their own paths to a better life through rehab and therapy.

It took a lot of patience and finding understanding between each other, but the mother and son say they want to use their stories to inspire other Inuit in their healing journeys.

“We’re sort of providing the blueprint that we use to break that cycle of generational trauma and how we became not just the reconnected mother and son, but friends,” Braden said.

“We’re so authentic on social media, it doesn’t really feel like we’re doing anything super crazy sometimes.”

Hovak added, “In residential school, like the generation before me, they were taught not to associate with any relatives or any siblings and not to show any affection.

“I find it’s really important for us to try and reconnect that way, and even though it’s really hard and can be really difficult we just [have] to be really patient with each other.”

Braden and Hovak’s TikTok journeys mark a new chapter in their lives.

With their online fame, the two have become celebrities in northern and Inuit communities and are often approached by people of all ages who enjoy their content.

It wasn’t their intention to become famous, but they are happy their videos are having a positive impact.

In the videos, Braden does more of the talking to the camera, often about Inuit culture or issues surrounding mental health and sobriety. Hovak often introduces viewers to the people she meets in the places she travels to.

At the end of November, the pair visited Iqaluit to share their messages with Embrace Life Council, an organization that shares a similar mission to promote mental health in Nunavut.

“It’s really cute, because it’s so positive and it’s really nice to bring smiles and hope to people,” Hovak said.

“It’s sad that it’s rare to see such a close bond [between] mother [and] son, so it really means a lot.”

Even if not every day is perfect, the pair say they feel embraced and supported by their online followers.

Braden says he uses his platform as somewhat of an online diary, talking about the good days and the bad days as they happen.

“I feel compelled to share and to speak on my journey and what we’ve been through and where we’re going, because it’s not just about sharing the hardships,” he said.

“It’s about sharing the success you’ve found to show that there is another side.”

The post ‘Now we’re on a trip together’: Mother, son share healing journey on TikTok appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

It doesn’t take a lot of sober second thought to see the merits in Sen. Dennis Patterson’s call for his replacement to be Inuk; it’s a no-brainer.

“I want to say that I believe the next senator for Nunavut must be an Inuk, reflective of the population of Nunavut,” Patterson said in his farewell speech in Parliament’s upper house, on Dec. 13.

How better to represent Nunavut’s interests than by naming an Inuk to the Senate?

But if you really want to reflect the population, he or she should also be young.

And by “young,” let’s say … under 55 — which by Senate standards is spry. Senators must be at least 30 years old … so Gen Z need not apply.

Patterson, who turns 75 on Dec. 30, will be forced to vacate the Senate seat he has occupied since 2009.

That means Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on the hunt for the next honourable senator for Nunavut.

The Senate exists to ensure regional interests are represented in Parliament. It’s also to prevent the more populous provinces (read Ontario) from steamrolling the smaller ones in the elected House of Commons, where population dictates the seat count for each province and territory.

There will be plenty of chatter across the Arctic in the coming weeks as Nunavummiut speculate on who should fill Patterson’s shoes.

No doubt, people will point to the usual suspects who have been active since the 1990.

Nunavut has been fortunate to have had a string of strong leaders who led Inuit through the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and the birth of a new territory.

But Nunavut is nearly 25 years old now. It faces 21^st century challenges like housing, building and retaining an effective public service, connecting the territory to the world through speedy internet, managing climate change and finding innovative solutions to social issues like mental health supports and suicide prevention.

It’s time to move on to Nunavut: The Next Generation.

There’s an abundance of bright, passionate, educated and professional future leaders ready to take the reins. (We hope our comments section will light up with suggestions for leaders of tomorrow.)

Trudeau could hasten this modernization by naming a senator who’s avant garde, instead of old guard.

If Nunavut is to have a young senator, he or she should commit to something Patterson failed to do — move on before getting too long in the tooth.

In 2009, when then-prime minister Stephen Harper — a Conservative who held Parliament’s unelected upper house in low esteem — named Patterson to the Senate, he was part of a crop of rookie senators who vowed they would only hang around for eight years. That’s roughly equal to two terms for an elected member of Parliament.

Fourteen years later, Patterson is leaving the Senate — not because he wants to, but because the Constitution says he has to.

Nunavut’s Senate seat looms large on the territory’s political landscape. It’s one of just two positions representing a territory that is Canada’s largest geographically but smallest in terms of population.

There’s one member of Parliament from Nunavut elected to the House of Commons. And only one seat in the 105-member Senate belongs to Nunavut. (By comparison, Ontario has 24 Senate seats. So does Quebec.)

Patterson’s call for an Inuk senator is obvious. But why does Nunavut need a young senator? Because, to paraphrase Trudeau, it’s 2023.

The post An Inuk senator? Sure, but let’s have youth, too appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

After the NWT's horrible 2023, we asked the federal emergency preparedness minister what kinds of help are coming – and what can be done for Enterprise.

If you moved away and miss Yellowknife at Christmas, take a drive with us to see some of this year's holiday lights around the city.

Just when you thought Christmas might come and go without a ukulele homage to the energy future of the Northwest Territories, these five women show up.

When Gov. Gen. Mary Simon was a student growing up in Nunavik in the 1950s, Indigenous Peoples’ history was not something she learned about in school.

“I can remember learning the history of the country up in the Arctic. There was nothing about Indigenous people,” she said.

“I didn’t even know there were all these Indigenous people across the country until I was a grown woman.”

Decades later, as the first Indigenous person to become Governor General of Canada, Simon finds herself uniquely positioned to ensure future generations of Canadians learn the history and stories of people like her.

“I’m not political, but I can do a lot” as Governor General, she said.

Born in Kangiqsualujjuaq, Simon has worked as a teacher and broadcaster, represented Canada as a diplomat and served as president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

Now about halfway through her five-year term, Simon said it’s all gone by quickly.

“Just thinking back on some of the things that have happened, it has been an inspiring period for me and perhaps other Canadians too,” she said, speaking with Nunatsiaq News earlier this month at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s official residence in Ottawa.

It’s been a term marked by some historic firsts, like Pope Francis’s long-awaited visit to Canada in July 2022 to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in the residential school system.

“That was a milestone. We had worked 20 years to get the Pope to come here to apologize, and then it was during my term as Governor General, which was really important for me,” Simon said.

Soon after, the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 marked the start of a new working relationship for Simon.

She seized the opportunity of King Charles’ coronation in May to organize a historic meeting of Canada’s Indigenous leaders with the British monarch, citing the importance of Crown-Indigenous relations on the path to reconciliation.

It’s that ongoing act of reconciliation that Simon sees as one of her biggest responsibilities as Governor General.

“It has been clear, since I’ve been appointed, that Canadians are very supportive and want Indigenous Peoples and other Canadians to come together more and work together as partners,” Simon said.

These can be difficult conversations to have, though, when so many Indigenous communities are grappling with the legacy of residential schools and facing difficult circumstances in life, she said.

“I think it’s really important to discuss those things, so that the future of the country is more inclusive, not just in terms of how we talk about it but in terms of what we practice.

“These days, it’s really important for face-to-face discussions, to continue in our daily lives, and to get to know people and find out who they are. I always find that when I tell a story about who I am, it seems that people get more comfortable talking to me about who they are.”

Simon experienced that first-hand this year, when she spoke out publicly in February about the online abuse she and her staff were receiving on social media.

“I could have just walked away and said I’m going to ignore it,” she said.

“But then I thought about it a lot, and I just felt that it was my responsibility as a Governor General of Canada to speak out about it, using myself as an example of how people can be so affected by the online hate and the online misogynistic attitudes that you see.”

Since then, she’s continued to speak out about her personal experience and sees the issue as one she’ll continue to educate people about even after her term as Governor General concludes, especially as it affects so many young people.

Simon said she and her team have been meeting with universities about the role they should be playing in terms of how students are affected by social media, citing examples of youth suicides due to online abuse.

She said parents and families need to teach children that it’s alright to talk about bullying and abuse they encounter online.

“Don’t punish them when they bring something up and just say, ‘Don’t talk to them, delete them.’ That isn’t going to fix it,” she said.

“I think what’s going to give the children a safe space is for the parents to be open with their children about what’s happening, and to teach them what’s out there.”

Invoking her personal motto, Ajuinatta, which means “to persevere” in Inuktitut, Simon wants to continue to empower youth, especially young Indigenous people. She sees herself as a role model, especially for young people hoping to be future leaders.

“Whenever I have a meeting here at Rideau Hall, I try to include young people in it, like on the mental health work that we’re doing here,” Simon said.

“Young people are very much a part of it. So let’s make the change.”

The post ‘Let’s make the change’: Mary Simon reflects on historic term so far appeared first on Nunatsiaq News.

Whitehorse's most-beloved municipal sanitation worker — a.k.a. Garbage Truck Santa — is looking to one day hang up his red suit, and so this year he's got an apprentice.

The head of the Cree health board is urging safe health practices and COVID-19 precautions for the holidays, and says the Cree health network is managing well, despite disruptions because of province-wide rotating health and education strikes.