Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (YK1) has issued a public warning after having numerous cheque books stolen from École Įtłʼǫ̀ Elementary School this past weekend.

The NWT government says residents will continue to have access to gender-affirming care even if some services are restricted in Alberta.

YK1 is warning residents that a "large number of cheques" were stolen from École Įtłʼo over the weekend. Anyone with information is asked to contact the RCMP.

Some patients and advocates in the Northwest Territories are calling on Yellowknife’s Keskorie Boarding Home to stop placing medical travel patients at the Quality Inn hotel, saying many residents report negative experiences there.

With the Arctic Winter Games about three weeks away, Nunavut’s young short-track speedskaters took part in an intensive training camp to prepare themselves for the competition.

Éric Bédard and Jonah Hurtubise — coaches with Nagano Skate, a Quebec-based company that provides speedskating equipment and coaching — spent last week in Iqaluit leading more than a dozen Nunavut skaters in several on- and off-ice training drills, aimed at getting the athletes ready for the games.

“At the end of the day, you can feel it more,” said Miles Brewster, one of the athletes who attended the camp at Iqaluit’s Arctic Winter Games Arena, and who is headed to Alaska for the games that run from March 10 to 16.

Bédard and Hurtubise each have their own extensive backgrounds in speedskating.

Bédard has four Olympic medals including two golds, which he earned in the 5000-metre relay events at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. He has also coached several national teams over the years, and has previously visited Iqaluit to coach youth.

Hurtubise is a former long-track Canadian national team member, who came to Iqaluit also with the goal of teaching equipment maintenance, including how to take care of their skates.

The two coaches said they wanted to bring new drills and training activities to Nunavut’s skaters.

Some of the drills were related to balancing, form, turning and improving relay times.

According to the coaches, the athletes showed significant progress in the short camp they ran.

Bédard said one of their 3000-metre relay times was 15 seconds faster after a few days of training

“Cutting 15 seconds just after a few days with us as a relay; it’s amazing,” Bédard said.

Former Olympian Éric Bédard was in Iqaluit last week training speed skaters ahead of the Arctic Winter Games. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)

“It’s fun for them, but it’s fun also for us to be here and working with them because they want to be better.”

The young athletes also had positive things to say.

“I think it’s cool that we have former athletes who can come give us different pointers than the coaches we have now,” said Meliya Allain, who is set to represent Nunavut again this year after earning medals last year.

“They’re not our usual coaches, so they have different drills and they have different pointers they can give to us while we’re skating.”

Martine Dupont, head coach of the Nunavut Speed Skating Association, said she was able to pick up on some new skills as well.

She said he hopes to copy some of the drills Bédard and Hurtubise led for her skaters.

“They bring a lot of positive input to the skaters themselves, to us as well,” Dupont said.

Nunavut’s skaters said they are excited to leave Canada to compete in the Arctic Winter Games, but also to develop friendships with some of their out-of-territory competitors.

“You’re competing against each other on-ice, but when you’re off-ice, you’re friends with each other,” said skater Arthur Pothier.

Dupont said it would be great if, one day in the future, a Nunavut speedskater were once again able to compete at the Olympics; Michael Gilday – who was born in Iqaluit when it was part of the Northwest Territories – skated in the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Nunavummiut consider him as one of their own.

For now, however, Dupont said the main focus is making sure this year’s teams are ready for the Arctic Winter Games competition.

We’ve been working with them on this this week and we’re looking forward [to] the games,” she said..

“Let’s make sure that all the kids have a great experience and they’re proud of themselves – Olympic medals or not – and that we have to get them physically but [also] mentally ready as well.”

RCMP in Kimmirut arrested and charged 37-year-old Karpik Kolola with four sexual offences on Feb. 14, according to an RCMP media release.

Those charges are two counts of luring a child and two counts of obtaining sexual services for consideration, a charge that refers to paying someone for sex, either with money or some other form of payment, such as drugs.

The man was held in custody and is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Feb. 20.

Police believe there may be additional victims in Kimmirut and Pond Inlet, the RCMP said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

People with information are encouraged to come forward and contact their local RCMP.

Penny Appeal Canada purchased $50,000 worth of winter gear and donated items to YKDFN, YWCA and the Yellowknife Women's Society.

At a canine first aid course in Yellowknife this weekend, participants learned how to perform basic first aid on their dogs. Instructor Jessica Morris shared some of that knowledge with CBC News.

A former RCMP officer in Nunavut is a new member of the Governor General’s Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon honoured Supt. Marie-Claude Côté in a ceremony at Rideau Hall Wednesday.

“You have consistently gone above your role when needed — acting as community ambassadors, social workers, paramedics and more,” Simon said in her opening remarks of the 47 officers honoured that day.

Côté’s policing career spans 30 years. She served as the officer in charge of criminal operations in Nunavut from 2021 to 2023, after returning from close to a year in Iraq training local police in gender-based violence.

“I went from plus-32 to minus-52,” she said of the change in climate she experienced, in an interview after the ceremony.

Côté said her time in Iraq directly informed her work in Nunavut. Her experience taught her to be culturally sensitive and remove “western eyes or western glasses.”

Whether it is in Iraq, Nunavut or the Congo (where she has worked for the past year), there is an inherent distrust of authority, she said.

As an outsider, people want to know, “Why are you here, what are you doing?”

Côté said her goal is to change that, wherever she works. In Nunavut, the key was understanding why people distrust police and working to change perceptions.

“You have to understand the culture and why things are happening,” she said.

That might mean taking a less traditional approach to policing. If you get the desired result, that’s what matters, Côté said.

In Nunavut, she created what she called “gender policing.”

She noted that girls are often overlooked because they aren’t seen as “trouble-makers.”

So in the fall of 2022, Côté had all 25 detachments create activities for women and girls, coupled with community outreach to get closer to people.

To make things work, she said she knew that female officers had to take the lead. If a detachment didn’t have a female officer, she would send one.

Côté said she has taken what she learned in Nunavut with her to the Congo, where she is in charge of Canadian police on a United Nations stabilization mission in the region.

She has four more months in the Congo, after which she said she isn’t really sure what she will do.

“I’m a free agent,” she said.

Côté noted her daughter now lives in Iqaluit, so she will be back to the city to visit.

A Montreal-based charter airline has announced it is expanding its northern operations by again using its full fleet of Boeing 737-200 jets.

Nolinor Aviation has six of the jets, which are capable of landing on gravel runways, but for the past three years has only been using five of them.

“During the [COVID-19] pandemic, we adjusted our fleet size,” said Marco Prud’Homme, president of Nolinor, Feb. 13 in a news release.

“But we are now returning to our previous capacity.”

The specific 737-200 that Nolinor is re-introducing to its fleet underwent extensive mechanical refurbishments to the tune of $3 million over seven months.

The move positions Nolinor to support an increasing demand for precious metals and minerals, such as gold, diamond, and those used in battery production, like lithium, cobalt and nickel, said Prud’Homme in an email.

He said this demand, driven by a federally backed move to green energy, has made Nunavut a “focal point” for exploration and mining activities.

Boeing 737s, particularly the 737-200 model, offer significant advantages for mining companies, especially in remote areas like those found in Nunavut.

“This aircraft is renowned for its robustness and ability to operate in challenging conditions, including short and unpaved runways common in mining sites,” Prud’Homme said.

Nolinor has partnerships with various mining companies throughout the country, such as Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., and has had a Boeing 737-200 base in Yellowknife for the past decade servicing most mining projects in the area.

This type of jet is able to carry a substantial payload, making it ideal for transporting personnel and essential cargo necessary for mining operations, Prud’Homme said.

According to Nolinor’s website, the Boeing 737-200 can accommodate up to 119 passengers and carry 13,500 kilograms of cargo.

“Additionally, the flexibility and reliability of the 737-200 ensure that mining companies can maintain a consistent schedule, which is crucial for project timelines and efficiency,” Prud’Homme said in the release.

Nolinor Aviation bills itself as the largest Canadian airline carrier offering specialized commercial charter flights.

Thursday is the day on which MLAs are expected to vote for or against a 2023 wildfire season public inquiry. If it's a yes, what will happen next isn't clear.

The Union of Northern Workers said a GNWT plan to find $150 million annually through savings and new revenue was "short-sighted" and "problematic."

The GNWT has begun holding sessions for residents to provide input on how wildfires in the territory are managed.

A Yukon sex offender is back in court. Billy Dean Callahan-Smith is facing six criminal charges - including sexual assault.

Northwest Territories athletes trying to get passports processed ahead of next month's Arctic Winter Games in Alaska have been given more time.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment apologized after using a meme featuring a Dave Chappelle character to promote Indigenous Languages Month.

A 16-year-old girl in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T., describes her arrest by RCMP earlier this month, captured on video, as aggressive and unnecessary. Police say the girl had punched an officer.

Students of James Bay Eeyou School in Chisasibi, Que., are working hard on the volleyball court, and in the classroom.

A major four-day girls' hockey camp brought hundreds of northern players to Yellowknife amid a burst of excitement driven by a new pro league.

The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway reopened on Saturday after a two-week closure caused by heavy snowfall.

The highway between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk reopened on Saturday, the Department of Infrastructure said, more than two weeks after record snowfall closed it.

Gamètì doesn't host many touring musicians, but TikTok hit NorthSideBaby will stop in next month. He says his fans keep persuading First Nations to book him.

The mission of the four-day event is to celebrate women and girls in the sport, while encouraging more to join.

The Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation is warning spring melt could cause the tailings dam at the abandoned Mount Nansen mine in central Yukon to overflow or breach, which would send a toxic slurry into the environment.

The Northwest Territories Power Corp. (NTPC) is looking to raise power rates, saying it's in response to the rising cost of diesel.

Pauktuutit has announced its president Gerri Sharpe will step down from the role after choosing not to seek re-election.

The national non-profit Inuit women’s organization appointed Nancy Etok as interim president at its annual general meeting in Ottawa earlier this week.

“President Sharpe has been an invaluable leader for Pauktuutit during a time of great change and growth for the organization and we share deep gratitude and appreciation for her tenure,” a spokesperson for the organization said Friday.

During her tenure, Sharpe helped the organization participate in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues advocating for Inuit women in the resource extraction industry.

Sharpe, a Yellowknife resident originally from Gjoa Haven, met with Māori and government leaders in Aotearoa-New Zealand and attended Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami board and Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee leaders’ meetings, Pauktuutit noted in announcing her departure.

“The issues our communities face continue to grow — Inuit women face the highest rates of violence in Canada, struggle to access culturally appropriate midwifery and health services, and work tirelessly to feed their families while battling high rates of food insecurity in Inuit Nunangat,” Sharpe said in a statement.

“My vision for Pauktuutit is that all Inuit women’s voices are heard, regardless of where they live.”

Pauktuutit also welcomed new board members in the following seats:

• Nunatsiavut: Vanessa ‘Sissy’ Webb, acclaimed new board member;
• Kivalliq: Nancy Uluadlauk–Gibbons, elected new board member;
• Kitikmeot: Josephine Tucktoo, acclaimed returning member;
• Iqaluit, Nunavut: Elisapee Sheutiapik, elected, returning member;
• Yellowknife, NWT: Pauline Saturgina Tardiff, acclaimed new board member;
• The Qikiqtani North, Nunavut seat remains vacant.

Iqaluit’s 2024 city budget received final approval this week.

Council unanimously approved the $82-million capital budget and $58.7-million operating budget at its regular meeting Tuesday night.

The capital budget carries a $26-million surplus and the operating budget’s surplus is $2 million.

Councillor Kyle Sheppard said the budgets were the “best-prepared” he’d seen on his time on council during last week’s committee meeting.

Nearly half of the city’s capital spending, approximately $41.44 million, will go toward water-related work including water and wastewater system upgrades, water supply work, a dam safety management program and a wastewater treatment plan.

The budget projects tax revenue of $25.1 million, which would be an increase of $1.6 million from the previous year.

Most city services will include a general increase in spending but without any tax increases passed on to residents.

Your power bill could be about to jump by more than 12 percent. The NWT Power Corporation asked for permission to increase prices because of high diesel costs.

A 12-year-old and a 19-year-old have died in hospital after what the Nunavut government is calling "critical incidents" at the Naja Isabelle Home in Chesterfield Inlet, which is contracted to care for disabled residents from across the territory.

The deaths of two clients at a care home in Chesterfield Inlet have prompted police and third-party investigations.

“Critical incidents” at the Naja Isabelle Home resulted in the hospitalization of three clients, announced Family Services Minister Margaret Nakashuk Friday in a news release.

Two of those clients died in hospital.

There is no information in the release about the nature of these incidents or when they occurred.

Nunatsiaq News asked Government of Nunavut spokesperson Casey Lessard for these details but was told the GN won’t comment further “as this is an active investigation.”

Nakashuk also declined further comment.

RCMP are investigating, the release said. Nunatsiaq News attempted to reach RCMP for more information about the incident but did not receive a response.

Naja Isabelle Home, which opened in 2004, is operated by Pimakslirvik Corp. According to its website, the group home is for people under the age of 40 with specialized medical needs. Residents in the home come from all over Nunavut.

Pimakslirvik indicates on its website that it also operates a second care home in Chesterfield Inlet as well as a home in Rankin Inlet.

As of midday Friday, no one from Pimakslirvik had responded to a request for comment from Nunatsiaq News.

Nakashuk said the Department of Family Services has retained a third-party firm to investigate the quality of care at the Chesterfield Inlet facility and is “actively exploring” alternative placements for clients still there.

“The families have been informed of the incidents, and they are receiving support from the Department of Family Services,” Nakashuk said in the release.

“While these clients remain in Chesterfield Inlet, they are safe and receiving enhanced support from the Government of Nunavut.”

She said she was “deeply saddened” by the deaths of the clients.

Sammy Kudluk’s ice sculpture depicting two Inuit women holding a qulliq was viewed by thousands of people at the Quebec Winter Carnival.

The Kuujjuaq artist created the piece Feb. 11.

Kudluk said he has been honing his craft as an artist for nearly 50 years, doing painting, sculpting and soapstone carving.

“I have not done that much ice sculpting,” Kudluk said in a phone interview, after returning from Quebec City.

Kuujjuaq’s river ice, he explained, has too much air in it and tends to crack, but the ice at the carnival is made specifically for the art.

Kudluk’s first foray into ice-sculpting was five years ago, at the ice hotel created each year in Sainte-Foy near Quebec City.

For this festival, Kudluk said his only preparation was to pack up his tools and come up with a faint idea of what he was going to do.

Sammy Kudluk’s ice sculpture was finished on the final day of the Quebec Winter Carnival last Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Nunavik Tourism/Isabelle Dubois)

“I don’t usually know exactly what I am going to do until I see the material they are providing,” he said.

At the winter carnival, Kudluk had a spot at the Indigenous Tourism Quebec zone which represented all of the province’s 11 Indigenous nations.

When he was given 10 blocks of ice to work with, he said he wondered: “What can I do with this that will represent Inuit culture?”

His sculpture of the women took three days to create, and carried with it multiple challenges.

For starters, the average temperature was around 5 C that weekend.

“It was raining on Saturday morning, then it drizzled in the afternoon,” he said. “By the last day, my statue was dripping and it was getting hard to sculpt.”

There were many spectators at the carnival. Visitors would watch him sculpt and ask questions.

He said hundreds of children from a peewee hockey tournament held during the carnival also came by Kudluk’s statue, and some dared to touch it.

The whole experience was eye-opening for Kudluk — for a while, he had stopped creating art altogether.

“Before COVID, I did art workshop co-ordination, helping artists all over the place,” he said. “But I kind of burned out from art.”

But last year, he said his urge to create art came back. But this time he wants to focus on himself.

Kudluk currently runs a soapstone carving shop in Kuujjuaq and intends to compete in local art competitions.

He may have stopped teaching, but he said he still wants to pass down his knowledge to his 15-year-old granddaughter, who looks up to him as an artist.

“I am going to keep doing this for as long as I can,” Kudluk said.

"Spending time to make sure people don't commit these crimes in future is a no-brainer." A lot of sexual offences happen in the NWT, but getting help is hard.

This year, Yellowknife's Snowcastle takes its inspiration from Spanish architect and designer Antoni Gaudi. Explore the snow carvings here.

In an extraordinary move, four councillors refused to work with newly elected Mayor of Enterprise Sandra McMaster and gave up their seats. She is undeterred.

Both a Minnesota man testing a snowmobile for his employer in the Alaska backcountry and the company have been cited for reckless driving after the machine slammed into a sled dog team on a training run in December, killing three dogs.

A ticket sold in the Northwest Territories won $100,000 in Wednesday's Lotto Extra draw. Go check your numbers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has been the receiver for the now-defunct Yukon Zinc Corporation since 2019, successfully applied to be discharged from the receivership of the Wolverine mine in Yukon Supreme Court this week. 

Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife is planning for reduced staff and fewer beds as a result of expiring COVID funding from the territorial government.

An avalanche on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula killed one backcountry skier and injured two others, prompting warnings for people to stay away from steep slopes as warm weather and high winds raise the risk of more snowslides around the state.

Nearly three years after a 2021 helicopter crash killed three people near Resolute Bay, a Transportation Safety Board investigator warns accidents will continue to happen unless Transport Canada implements recommendations the safety board has been making for more than 30 years.

“The important thing to remember is that every accident is the result of a series of factors. This pilot was doing the best that he could with the tools that he had,” Daryl Collins, a TSB regional investigator, said in an interview Thursday, after the safety board released its report into the crash.

Its recommendations include calls for Transport Canada, the federal transportation department, to ensure commercial helicopter operators have the skills needed to recover from situations where they can’t see the ground due to weather conditions.

When pilots lose visibility due to snowy terrain and weather, it’s known as an “inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions” or “inadvertent IMC.”

That was the case in the 2021 crash, the Transportation Safety Board said.

On April 25, 2021, an Airbus AS350 helicopter owned by Great Slave Helicopters took off at about 3:45 p.m. from a remote camp on Russell Island flying to Resolute Bay. It was reported missing at 4:45 p.m.

A map shows the path of a helicopter that crashed near Resolute Bay in April 2021, after leaving a remote camp on Russell Island. Three people died in the crash. (Map courtesy of Transportation Safety Board of Canada)

Markus Dyck, a senior polar bear biologist with the Government of Nunavut, and two employees of the Yellowknife-based helicopter company were found dead at the crash site.

Low visibility, snow squalls and featureless terrain led to dangerous conditions for the pilot and his two passengers, according to the safety board’s report.

It cited the pilot’s lack of training in how to recover from a complete loss of visibility in extreme weather conditions as well as a lack of sufficient instrumentation. Neither are required under current regulations, the report said.

The flight operated under visual flight rules, meaning the pilot was to “maintain a visual reference to the ground and navigate the helicopter using external references,” Collins said in a news conference where the TSB presented recommendations from its investigation.

The safety board said the pilot entered a region where he couldn’t see the ground or the horizon due to the snowy terrain and prevailing weather conditions — or an inadvertent IMC.

An investigator’s photograph shows the site where a helicopter crashed near Resolute Bay in April 2021, killing three people. (Photo courtesy of Transportation Safety Board of Canada)

He “likely” turned the craft 180 degrees to obtain a visual reference. That led to an unplanned descent and crashing the helicopter, the report said.

Transport Canada regulations instruct commercial helicopter pilots to “avoid at all costs” flying into those conditions. They are trained to assess routes and avoid entering those conditions. But that’s not always possible, as was the case in the 2021 crash, the report said.

Compounding the problem is that approach means pilots will fly slower and lower to avoid inadvertent IMCs, increasing the risk of an accident, Collins said.

Since 1990, the safety board has been recommending verification of pilot training in basic instrument flying skills, and for all commercial helicopters to be equipped with instruments that are critical in “flat light and whiteout conditions,” the report said. Some progress has been made on the former, but none has been made on the latter.

In the 2021 case, with no visual reference and no instrumentation to guide him or even alert him to his altitude over the terrain, “the pilot had no way of being warned of the impending collision with terrain that occurred shortly after,” the report said.

The report noted that risk in whiteout conditions is well known. A total of 13 prior investigations identified the same problem.

In 2002, after a series of similar accidents, the United States implemented much of the same regulations the TSB is advocating for now.

'We are building projects like a new bridge over the Yukon River in Dawson City,' the prime minister said in the House of Commons on Wednesday. No you're not, replied the Yukon government.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday that an Iqaluit man who was set to be retried for murder will no longer face a new trial.

The ruling reinstates the 2021 acquittal of Daniel Hodgson, who was accused of second-degree murder in the 2017 death of Bradley Winsor at a house party in Apex.

Hodgson had put Winsor in a chokehold, believing he was going to hit a woman. Hodgson was acquitted after a trial in Iqaluit in May 2021.

Judge Susan Charlesworth cited in her decision to acquit that there was a lack of evidence that Hodgson intended to commit murder when he put Winsor in a chokehold.

The Crown appealed that decision, and in October 2022, a panel of Nunavut’s Court of Appeal judges ordered a new trial for Hodgson, stating Charlesworth did not fully assess Hodgson’s argument of self-defence and didn’t properly consider the dangers of a chokehold.

Two months later, Hodgson’s lawyers filed an appeal of the Court of Appeal decision to the Supreme Court, and in May 2023 the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Hodgson’s lawyer, Michael Lacy, submitted to the Supreme Court during Thursday’s hearing that the acquittal was legal and should stand.

Crown lawyer Julie Laborde argued Charlesworth had not addressed the totality of Hodgson’s actions in her acquittal, failing to consider what a reasonable person would have done in the same circumstances.

She cited that Hodgson himself said he did not change the amount of force he was using in the duration of the chokehold. Laborde said Charlesworth failed to consider this admission in her ruling.

The Supreme Court justices pushed back on that submission, repeatedly asking the Crown to clarify where the trial judge had made a legal error in her decision that would constitute grounds for an appeal.

Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin said she was concerned the Crown’s submission was “going back into the shoes of the trial judge” by reconsidering the evidence, rather than pointing to an error of law.

The nine justices listened to arguments for roughly two hours before they left the courtroom to discuss the case in private for about 25 minutes.

In issuing the ruling, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said they all agreed Hodgson’s appeal should stand and his 2021 acquittal is reinstated.

The reasons for the decision will be published at a later date, according to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Daniel Hodgson was acquitted by a trial judge of second-degree murder in the 2017 chokehold death of Bradley Winsor, but the Nunavut Court of Appeal ordered a retrial. The Supreme Court of Canada has now restored his original acquittal.

The City of Yellowknife says it's working to introduce newer buses this spring after weeks of interruptions over "mechanical issues."

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada issued helicopter safety recommendations and called for change following a fatal 2021 crash in Nunavut.