2024

Community, Featured, Justice, News June 12, 2024

‘I don’t want them to forget about Frank being missing,’ says mom Laura Kalinek

The Frank Gruben Pride Festival to honour the memory of missing Indigenous person


“Frank Gruben was a really outgoing person. He was caring. He would love to help people. If anybody needed help, he’d be there in a heartbeat and he really loved to speak his Gwich’in language,” says Laura Kalinek, mother of Frank Gruben. Gruben has been missing from Fort Smith for…

News June 12, 2024

Bell to sell Northwestel for $1B to Indigenous-owned three-territory group

Key northern company to become largest Indigenous-owned telecom in world


A consortium of Indigenous communities from the three territories has purchased Northwestel for $1 billion, in a deal said to advance Indigenous self-determination through ownership of critical telecommunications infrastructure in the North. Sixty North Unity, as well as Northwestel and Bell Canada announced the deal on Tuesday. Darrell Beaulieu speaks…

Featured, Health, Housing, News, Police, Politics June 11, 2024

Shelters are full in Yellowknife, MLA seeks solutions from GNWT

Number of bed seekers has increased and 'capacity is being completely overwhelmed,' says Shauna Morgan


Emergency shelters in Yellowknife are “completely overwhelmed,” with MLA Shauna Morgan saying she’s afraid the system will collapse without solutions being found soon. Morgan is the MLA for Yellowknife North, which includes the Salvation Army complex, which is struggling at over double of its capacity each night. “I would like…

Featured, Health, News, Politics June 11, 2024

Midwives in training question the future of midwifery in the territory

Midwives Association says GNWT did not consult with advisory groups before listing $990K cut in proposed territorial budget


“Unfortunately, it really shows that in times of budget cuts, it is primarily women and children who bear the brunt of it and whose services are usually the first to be reduced,” says Gabby Lamarche, one of two Yellowknife residents training to be midwives. The territorial government plans to cut…

Featured, News, Police June 11, 2024

Drugs and liquor seized after plane lands in Fort Good Hope

Incident comes amid concerns over lack of security screening at Yellowknife Airport for regional flights


A tip led RCMP to arrest a passenger at the Fort Good Hope airport on the weekend, seizing illegal and prescription drugs and bootlegged alcohol. This incident comes just days after a Standing Committee of the NWT Assembly heard concerns about the lack of passenger screening at the Yellowknife Airport…

Featured, News, Politics June 9, 2024

Two Tories talk tough on housing, economy, health-care and Trudeau

Hour-long Saturday night session for Conservative Party members to consider candidates ahead of potential federal election  


Members of the Conservative Party of Canada put off watching the Stanley Cup opening game to sit in a hotel meeting room Saturday night listening to political pitches and answers from candidates for an election that could be over a year away. Former MLA Jackie Jacobson and Kimberly Fairman, executive…

Featured, News June 7, 2024

Illegal drugs, ‘other activities,’ fly north as regional flights unscreened at YZF

Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo calls for better security measures


“We have a large number of drugs and other activities heading north through Yellowknife. Is there any measure the airport can take to improve security?” Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo raised this question to the airport committee in a public briefing on Thursday, held by the NWT Legislative Assembly. “At…

Environment, Featured, News, Politics, Transportation, Weather June 7, 2024

Sahtu economy ‘faces collapse’ without barge re-supply, says MLA Daniel McNeely

Norman Wells and other communities face possible recession; GNWT says 'all-of-government' help is in the works


Historically low water levels on the Mackenzie River forced the territorial government to cancel its Marine Transportation Services (MTS) barges to Norman Wells and Tulita for the 2024 sailing season. Daniel McNeely is MLA for the Sahtu riding. “Right now, businesses in the Sahtu region are in a crisis situation….