Minister of Education, Culture and Employment R.J. Simpson spoke with education leaders across the territory on Tuesday to recommend keeping all schools closed until the fall. The move, according to a news release is, “due to the significant health concerns posed by COVID-19 and the importance of following direction from…
The Yellowknife Education District No. 1 has decided to close all of its schools for the rest of the academic year. The YK1 board passed the motion at a special meeting on Tuesday. In a notice about the decision, the board said its “focus is contingency planning, staff wellness and…
All elementary and high schools in the Northwest Territories will now remain closed at least until April 14. That’s the Tuesday following Easter Monday. That announcement was made by Premier Caroline Cochrane in the Legislative Assembly on Monday morning. It’s obviously being done due to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak. Education…
It was a coronavirus-themed day at the Legislative Assembly on Friday. Nearly all regular MLAs had a COVID-19 question for cabinet. Earlier in the sitting, Speaker Frederick Blake Jr. announced the rest of the winter session would be suspended to deal with coronavirus concerns. Still no confirmed cases As of…
Legislative Assembly Speaker Frederick Blake Jr. called on Monfwi MLA Jackson Lafferty to apologize to Premier Caroline Cochrane. Lafferty has repeatedly criticized the premier’s firing of former Aurora College President Tom Weegar. Late in February, he accused Cochrane of breaking the law when dismissing Weegar. He also tabled a legal…
Officials from the Office of the Auditor General and the NWT’s Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) are to appear before the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Government Operations on April 1. The committee will be conducting a public hearing on the auditor’s report on early childhood to Grade…
Updated: February 7 to reflect Minister Simpson’s ‘Personal Explanation’ given in the house. Minister R.J. Simpson says he wasn’t surprised to see Dr. Tom Weegar be replaced earlier this week as president of Aurora College and associate deputy minister of postsecondary education renewal. But the minister of education, culture and…
Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green said she was just as surprised as everyone else when she heard Dr. Tom Weegar was being replaced as the man in charge of transitioning Aurora College to a polytechnic university. The territorial government announced his replacement earlier this week. Dr. Weegar had been in…
The public is invited to a screening this Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife called “Turning Points.” It’s a series of eight documentary shorts about alcohol, addiction, resilience and recovery in northern communities. The short films are co-created with local Indigenous storytellers and…
Janessa Elanik is humble when asked why she thinks she’s a leader in her community. “There’s not a lot of people in my family or in the communities up north who really pursue what they want to do, or their passions,” she says. “Going out and doing that, and being…