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News Briefs: Friday, August 12, 2011
Power outage Thursday morning
A power outage that occurred from 4:50 to 5:19 a.m. Thursday morning was caused when the Northwest Territories Power Corporation experienced an outage on its main power line in the Snare Lake area, according to an official with Northland Utilities.
"We still aren't completely clear as to what caused the outage," said Lori Burrill, a supervisor with customer service for Northland Utilities.
- Sarah Ferguson
Legislative assembly reconvenes
The territory's politicians go back to the legislative assembly on Wednesday for the last sitting of the 16th assembly before the territorial election in October.
It's scheduled to run from Aug. 17 to 25, so current MLAs and ministers have seven days to complete and pass any draft legislation they're working on.
- Daniel MacIsaac
Deputy health minister resigns
Paddy Meade has resigned from her position as deputy minister of the Department of Health and Social Services after two years on the job.
"We will miss the leadership and hard work that Ms. Meade has brought to her position," Premier Floyd Roland said in a statement. Last year, the Beaufort Delta authority was dismissed because of its failure to sort out its finances, and Meade was put in place to run operations.
Debbie DeLancey takes over as deputy minister until a new premier appoints a permanent replacement following this fall's territorial election.
- Daniel MacIsaac
Government news feed
The GNWT has announced a new RSS web feed it says will help residents of the territory stay informed of government work and projects.
In a statement, the office of the premier and executive council stated the new portal site has been introduced to bring together all of the GNWT's new releases, media advisories, statements and public announcements alongside links to the various departmental websites, programs, postings and speeches.
Spokesperson James MacKenzie said the new site is designed to grow over time and incorporate the information found on social media sites, too.
- Daniel MacIsaac
News Briefs: Thursday, August 11, 2011
Film-making workshop in Fort Liard
Fort Liard youth are being given the opportunity to learn how to make films.
Two facilitators from Reel Youth, a not-for-profit organization from Vancouver, will be leading a film-making workshop in the hamlet from Aug. 20 to 24.
The workshop is open to youth ages 14 and older.
There are 15 spots available in the event and seven people have already registered. Other interested youth can sign up at the hamlet office.
The films that are made during the workshop will be included in the Reel Youth Film Festival and shown in the hamlet in the fall.
Culture camp at Blackwater Lake
Pehdzeh Ki First Nation is holding a culture camp and elders retreat at Blackwater Lake.
The event is running from Aug. 8 to 18.
Activities at the lake are expected to include making dry meat and
dry fish, setting fishnets, hunting and other assorted cultural activities.
Thirty-two community members from Wrigley were already at the camp by Aug. 9.
On Aug. 14 two helicopters will be used to offer community members the chance to go to the lake for a day.
Inaugural Fort Cup in the works
A good-natured sports rivalry is being fostered between two Deh Cho communities.
Dan Deschamps, the new recreation director for the Hamlet of Fort Providence, is organizing the inaugural Fort Cup. The cup will determine which community that has the word fort in its name has the best athletes.
The triple-play tournament will pit teams against each other in the sports of ball hockey, slo-pitch and volleyball.
The first tournament will be between teams from Fort Simpson and Fort Providence but Deschamps said he hopes to later include Fort Liard.
The event has tentatively been scheduled from Sept. 17 to 18.
Open house for protected area candidate
The Protected Areas Strategy working group for Lue Tue Sulia, also known as Five Fish Lakes, will be meeting at Ekali Lake from Aug. 16 to 18.
Weather permitting, an open house and dinner will be held at the lake on Aug. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. Five Fish Lakes is a candidate protected area.
Inuvik athletes at Summer Games
Two Inuvik high school students competed at the Western Canada Summer Games this week.
George Ankama and Chris Church made the Team NWT basketball team, which played Aug. 6 to 9 in the games in Kamloops, B.C. Ankama played guard and Church was a substitute player for the team.
The team lost all three games and didn't make it into the playoffs, but are happy with how they played.
Team NWT has won three medals: a silver and bronze in female 5 km and a bronze in the male 4x100m relay.
End of the Road Music Festival
Music lovers will delight in live musicians this weekend with the End of the Road Music Festival in Inuvik.
From Aug. 12 to 14, people will have the chance to listen to music and dance the weekend away at the Midnight Sun Complex and Jim Koe Park.
On Friday night there will be a Much Music Video Dance for adults in the curling lounge and an Old Time Dance in Ingamo Hall. Youth will have their chance for a video dance on Saturday night. There will also be music in the park on Saturday afternoon from 2 to 6 p.m., a gala event with Charlie Major on Saturday evening and a Sunday jam session at the Mad Trapper at 2 p.m.
Energy board opens office
The National Energy Board of Canada has opened an office in Inuvik due to increasing number of projects in the North and the potential for more offshore drilling applications.
The office will open within the month, will be staffed with one person and be located on Mackenzie Road, above Rexall Pharmacy. Marie-Anick Elie will work as the Northern co-ordinator for the NEB and have two roles: build relationships within the community and look at activity in the North.
This is the only office of the National Energy Board in the North. The NEB will host a roundtable discussion on Arctic offshore drilling Sept. 10 to 16.
Employment rate rises
Across the Northwest Territories, the employment rate rose by 1.9 per cent, to 72.3 per cent, as Statistics Canada recorded 23,200 out of 32,100 residents 15 years of age and older, employed. This represented an employment increase of 600 people over June.
Over the same period, the national employment rate stood at 62.9 per cent.
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News desk 
