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Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Devolution amendments
Proposed amendments to Bill C-15, the NWT Devolution Act, were debated in House of Commons Tuesday morning.
The amendments were proposed by Dennis Bevington, MP for Western Arctic, after he failed to separate the part of the bill calling for the creation of a single super board from the part that deals with devolution.
Federal NDP leader Tom Mulclair joined Bevington in speaking in favour of the amendments.
The vote on whether the amendments will be included as part of the bill is expected to take place on Wednesday night.
The bill will then be tabled for third reading, and if approved, will be voted on in the senate.
- Cody Punter
Beach safety forum
The GNWT is looking for public input into beach safety at Fred Henne Territorial Park. People are invited to a discussion at the Yellowknife Ski Club tomorrow from 6 to 9:30 p.m.
Last summer, seven-year-old Lodune Shelley drowned at Fred Henne beach, which is unsupervised. There are no indications the GNWT plans to provide lifeguard services at the beach.
An online survey is available on the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment's website, which closes tomorrow at 5 p.m.
- Daniel Campbell
Free Valentines Day skate
The city is offering a free skate today in celebration of Valentines Day. The annual event starts at
6 p.m. at the Multiplex Arena
and goes until 7:15 p.m. While the real Valentines Day falls on
Friday, the city hopes everyone will come down to enjoy the event today.
- Daniel Campbell
Northern lights forecast
Although skies should be
mostly clear for the rest of the week - perfect for viewing
the Northern lights - Astronomy North is predicting only moderate levels of aurora. Tonight's aurora activity is rated at 4.0/10 and the colour should be green.
Aurora intensity will drop later in the week, hitting a forecasted low of 2.5/10 on Friday.
- Daniel Campbell
Best wishes
Rankin Inlet
Longtime partners Veronica Tattuinee and Robert Connelly were thrown a best wishes gathering in Rankin Inlet earlier this month, as the couple prepared to head to the Caribbean to be married Feb. 19.
A cancer survivor, Veronica is wellknown in the Kivalliq for her fundraising efforts in aid of cancer research, while Robert is well known for his involvement in a number of professional and community projects, most notably the annual Kivalliq Trade Show and the Rankin Inlet CoEd Softball League.
Troops to arrive
Rankin Inlet
Soldiers from the 31 Canadian Brigade Group will be in Rankin Inlet from Feb. 17 to 21 to conduct a major Northern exercise.
Exercise Trillium Response 4 will involve more than 300 members of the 4th Canadian Division, primarily the Arctic Company Response Group and Domestic Response Company.
The soldiers will be honing their skills in winter warfare, cold weather survival, and the use of Arctic equipment, including light oversnow vehicles (military snowmobiles).
The exercise will be focused on proving the soldiers' ability to fight, move and communicate in the harsh conditions of Northern winter.
Sammurtok wins in Rankin
Rankin Inlet
Alexander Sammurtok defeated incumbent Lorne Kusugak in a Feb. 10 byelection to become the new MLA for Rankin Inlet South.
Elections Nunavut reported the final tally as 268 votes for Sammurtok and 225 votes for Kusugak.
The two had tied during Nunavut's general election on Oct. 28, with both candidates receiving 172 votes.
Trying again
Rankin Inlet/Kivalliq
Kivalliq hockey fans are reminded that organizers will be trying to host the annual Powerful Peewees hockey tournament again in Rankin Inlet this coming week, from Feb. 21 to 23.
The event had to be postponed twice earlier this month due to bad weather conditions across the region.
It promises to be a super busy weekend of hockey in Rankin, as the community will also host the Challenge Cup junior 'C' championship the same weekend.
Teams from the Kivalliq, Kitikmeot and Baffin will compete for the Cup and the right to represent Nunavut at the MaritimeHockey North Junior 'C' championship at Liverpool, Nova Scotia, from March 26 to 30.
Fighting suicide
Arviat
A number of Arviat students are working on a project to produce film clips for the Arizona Project.
The project delivers its anti-suicide message through Canadians who lost family members and loved ones to suicide, and are willing to share their stories.
The students have also been working with ASIST and Safe talk training programs.
The hamlet of Arviat is planning a large youth conference for later this year that will also feature ASIST and Safe Talk programming.
Midget fundraiser
Rankin Inlet
Rankin Inlet midget hockey players are holding a penny sale on Feb. 15 at the community hall to raise funds to help them attend an indigenous minor hockey tournament in Winnipeg this coming April.
Rankin hopes to send 15 to 17 players to the event.
Organizers are accepting item donations to be sold at the event, and inviting community members who drop by and check out the sale.
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