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Featured, News, Wildfires May 10, 2025

UPDATED: Fort Smith evacuation alert downgraded to notice as wildfire being held

There is no immediate threat, says NWT Fire, but residents nearby should remain prepared should conditions change


At 8:30 p.m., NWT Fire issued an update on the wildfire in Fort Smith: “The wildfire near Primrose and Carl’s Drive (is now) a status of ‘being held.’ The situation has stabilized, and the risk to structures has been reduced thanks to the aggressive effort from crews, heavy equipment, and…

Featured, News, Politics May 9, 2025

Dene Nation backs Alberta’s Indigenous peoples ignored in separation fight

The Trump factor: 'Maybe they're going to be the 51st state, with all the oil and gas,' says Sahtu Dene Council Grand Chief Wilbert Kochon


“We gotta make it known for the next generations, this is what this generation did to support Alberta … we will be in the media, and it will be on the record.”   – Chief George Mackenzie A referendum on Alberta leaving Canada is potentially in the cards, and the…

Featured, News, Police May 8, 2025

‘Potentially dangerous’ — RCMP seizure in Sahtu reveals fentanyl laced with rarely found drug

Mixing benzodiazepines with opioids such as fentanyl may cause more potency, but naloxone will not be as effective.   


A public health advisory has been issued after the recent detection of a new and potentially dangerous drug combination in the Northwest Territories. The Office Chief Public Health Officer warns that Desalkylgudazepam — a rare benzodiazepine derivative originally developed in the former Soviet Union — was found mixed with fentanyl…

Featured, News, Politics May 8, 2025

Facing ‘urgent’ governance challenges, Enterprise now under GNWT administration

Former Inuvik CEO Grant Hood will be Municipal Administrator for an indeterminate time, performing the duties of council


A municipal administrator is now running the Hamlet of Enterprise, after the GNWT dismissed the community’s entire council, citing urgent “governance, financial, and operational challenges,” says the minister in charge. The tiny South Slave community of Enterprise — with a population of just 75 in 2021 — has faced leadership…

Featured, News, Police, Politics, Reconciliation May 7, 2025

‘Top offender list’ to help RCMP allocate resources in fight against drug crime in the NWT

Dene Nation forms drug-fighting task force, as senior Mountie lays out concerns with small airport security, lenient bail, and soft sentences for traffickers


“I don’t want anybody to get hurt standing up for their community, and I don’t want anybody to cross the line where they’ve done something that does break the law.” – RCMP Supt. Chris Romanchych The RCMP are compiling for the first time a top offender list for the Northwest…

Featured, News, Politics, Reconciliation May 7, 2025

Dene Nation leadership debates creating task force to tackle drug crisis gripping communites

'This is a new type of genocide. It's a genocide that we've inflicted upon ourselves,' says Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian


As dozens of First Nations leaders were searching for ways to stop drug traffickers from importing violence and misery from the south, news came of an RCMP arrest in Norman Wells of two Alberta men and the seizure of crack cocaine, meth, and a loaded handgun. Since the pandemic, shootings,…

Featured, News, Politics May 6, 2025

Yellowknife’s new mayor is ‘old-fashioned process guy’ Ben Hendriksen

Internal council process passed over two councillors who placed their Indigenous backgrounds front-and-centre at Monday special meeting


“Reconciliation is a core value that council continues to champion and uphold.” – the City of Yellowknife Yellowknife’s new mayor is Ben Hendriksen, who has been in an acting role since Rebecca Alty began her successful campaign in April to be the NWT’s new MP. The self-confessed “old-fashioned process guy”…