Environment

SLFN Chief upset by suspended oilsand monitoring

'We have zero benefits from the oilsands projects, but we get 100 per cent of the environmental issues'


Smith’s Landing First Nation Chief Gerry Cheezie says his community has been battling Alberta on environmental practices for more than 50 years. So the fact the province suspended its environmental monitoring for oilsands companies without notifying the Northwest Territories, “is nothing new”. “We have zero benefits from the oilsands projects,…


Bathurst caribou herd ‘not repopulating itself’

The latest results from the Tłı̨chǫ Government's monitoring program show a continuing decline.


Despite two years of “perfect conditions” for caribou, Tłı̨chǫ monitors are still seeing a low calf-to-cow ratio in the Kokètì ekwǫ (Bathurst) herd. Petter Jacobsen is the principal investigator with the Tłı̨chǫ Government’s Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoède K’è (Boots on the Ground) monitoring program. “The bulls are growing large antlers early in…




SLFN climate change initiative begins with survey

Smith’s Landing First Nation (SLFN) invites community members and the broader Fort Smith community to participate in a survey surrounding climate change initiatives in the North. “I suspect forest fires, access to clean water and safer travel routes for the northeast will be at the top of the priority list,”…