Articles by Ian Down

Environment, Events, Featured, Industry, News March 21, 2023

Major spill at Diavik went unreported for more than a month: GNWT

More than 450,000 cubic metres of wastewater have been leaked into a containment pond since early February


Last updated March 22, 11:11 a.m. Clarification, March 21 3:12 p.m.: This article has been updated to reflect that, while the pipeline had not been fixed as of 8:30 a.m. on March 21, its flow had been diverted. A previous version of this article also stated, based on a GNWT…

Community, Featured, Justice, News, Police March 16, 2023

Man in custody following Fort McPherson drug bust

The man was found to be carrying “79 individual baggies believed to be Crack Cocaine and a pill container believed to contain OxyContin,” according to police


A man faces charges of possession and possession for the purpose of trafficking after being arrested in Fort McPherson with what appeared to be cocaine and narcotics. On Wednesday, March 15, a man from outside the community was approached by RCMP while alone in a parked vehicle. He was arrested…

Art, Entertainment, Events, Featured, News March 9, 2023

Emery Burningrass creator talks trauma and comedy ahead of Beaufort Delta shows

How Donald MacDonald turned a $5 puppet into an Indigenous YouTube sensation


He’s small, he’s got attitude, and he may or may not still bootleg liquor. Meet Emery Burningrass. He’s become a YouTube and social media star over the past five years, particularly among Indigenous communities, from which he draws his humour. Now, Emery and his puppeteer, Donald MacDonald, are coming to…

Featured, Justice, News, Police March 7, 2023

Police call for witnesses to come forward in connection with Yellowknife murder

RCMP say the August, 2022 murder is part of a sharp rise in handgun violence


Northwest Territories RCMP are making a public appeal for witnesses to come forward in connection with an unsolved murder from August of last year. Thirty-six-year-old Faysal Farah was found shot to death at a Yellowknife apartment shortly after 2 a.m. on Aug. 20. Police say multiple witnesses were at the…

Environment, Industry, News March 2, 2023

Bill that would increase carbon price in the territory should not become law: Legislative Assembly committee

The committee ruled residents cannot afford another increase in the price of fuel, nor do many have the option to switch to another fuel source.


A bill that would increase the price of carbon in the territory should not be made into law. That was the conclusion of the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Government Operations this week. On Wednesday, members of the committee presented their report on Bill 60: An Act to Amend the…

Environment, Featured, Industry, News March 2, 2023

NWT was not informed about industrial wastewater leakage in northern Alberta: ENR minister

Minister Shane Thompson said the incidents had the potential to impact shared waters


Last updated Friday, March 3 at 4:35 p.m. The Government of the Northwest Territories was not informed about two incidents of industrial wastewater leakage in northern Alberta within the last year that had the potential to impact shared waters. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Shane Thompson confirmed in the…

Environment, Events, Featured, Industry, News February 27, 2023

Northern growers, food lovers converge at first-ever Grow NWT conference

Northern agriculture "is happening, and it's been happening for a while," says the Territorial Agrifood Association's executive director


Agriculture in the NWT is more than just an idea: It’s already happening, even in small communities. Those were some of the messages from the first-ever Grow NWT agrifood conference in Yellowknife last week. The conference, hosted by the newly-formed Territorial Agrifood Association (TA), united growers and interested residents from…