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News Briefs: Monday, February 25, 2013
Fellowship bus service
Salt River First Nation in Fort Smith began offering a fellowship bus service on Feb. 10.
The service, which is available to all residents of the community, picks up people for church each Sunday and brings them home again.
Elders have first priority.
- Paul Bickford
Deninu Ku'e byelection
A byelection will be held on March 1 at Deninu Ku'e First Nation in Fort Resolution.
Two seats on band council are to be filled this year in the First Nation's staggered election system.
The two incumbent councillors are Dave Pierrot and Carol Collins, both of whom are seeking re-election. Others running to fill the seats are Philip Beaulieu, Rachel Lafferty, George (Snooky) Larocque and Angela McKay.
The winning candidates will serve two-year terms.
- Paul Bickford
Weather delays travel
After heavy snowfall earlier in the week travel along the Tlicho winter road to Whati and Gameti was not recommended.
Between the junction of Highway 3 and Gameti, road crews were busy clearing accumulated drifts, said Earl Blacklock, manager of public affairs and communications for the Department of Transportation.
"It was never closed, but travel was not advised. Weather was the factor," said Blacklock.
As of Feb. 22, the roads were open but travel was still not recommended.
- Danielle Sachs
Midwifery supporters gather outside legislative assembly
About 25 mothers, children and supporters of midwifery expressed their wish for the development of a midwifery program throughout the NWT as they congregated outside the legislative assembly on Feb. 22.
"This is important to us that women of the NWT and families of the NWT should have the choice whether they want to have a doctor at their birth or a model of midwifery support," said supporter Johanna Tiemessen.
Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses asked Health Minister Tom Beaulieu for an update on the program in the legislative assembly last week. Beaulieu said the plan in the 2013-14 budget includes community consultation for Hay River, to review and update a midwifery practice framework, hire a program consultant to support ongoing planning and program development, and community consultation activities for a program in the Beaufort Delta communities.
- Katherine Hudson
Animal society's executive unchanged after meeting
Thebacha/Fort Smith
The executive of the Fort Smith Animal Society remained unchanged at the organization's annual general meeting on Feb. 10.
The executive still consists of Dottie Hawley, president; Linda Martin, vice-president; Wade Hawley, secretary; and Dixie Penner, treasurer.
They were all returned by acclamation.
One of the main items of discussion at the meeting was the Town of Fort Smith's approval of new pens for the animal shelter, which is operated by the society in a building owned by the municipality. The installation of the new pens - eight inside and 12 outside - began on Feb. 20.
The old pens were from Pine Point and the replacements will add two more to the total.
- Paul Bickford
Appeal board members wanted
Thebacha/Fort Smith
The Town of Fort Smith is seeking individuals interested in sitting on its Board of Revision.
The board will be responsible for hearing appeals of assessment notices for the 2013 property taxation year.
The town is inviting any individual who may wish to be considered for the board to submit a letter by March 1.
The board is made up of three to five members.
- Paul Bickford
Squash coaching course planned
Thebacha/Fort Smith
NWT Squash will be offering a squash coaching foundations course in Fort Smith from March 1 to 3.
The training course will provide the knowledge and skills required to coach squash beginners of all ages.
In all, there will be 16 hours of practical, on-court training, along with resource materials.
The free course will be offered at the Fort Smith Rec Centre.
The deadline for registration is noon on Feb. 25. Interested individuals can register in person or by calling the Rec Centre.
- Paul Bickford
Drummers and dancers meet
Aklavik
The Aklavik Drummers and Dancers were invited to take part in the 2013 Kivgiq cultural celebration in Barrow, Alaska, recently.
The five-day event took place Feb. 12 to 16.
A group of 30 drummers and dancers, including youth, adults and elders, drove to Fairbanks, Alaska, then flew to Barrow for the celebration this year, said recreation co-ordinator Dean McLeod.
"The group here was really excited to go. Some of them have a lot of family and friends over there plus they got to see different cultures and other communities participate," McLeod said.
The cultural celebration takes place every two to three years with groups travelling from across Alaska and northern Canada to take part.
- Thandiwe Vela
Skating rink back in action
Ikaahuk/Sachs Harbour
The arena is back in business and community members are happy to finally be hitting the ice again.
Doors opened this month for the return of weekly public skating on Wednesday evenings after years of plumbing issues kept the facility closed.
"It's good to finally get that arena open after it was shut down for so long," said recreation co-ordinator Doreen Carpenter.
Water truck driver Margaret Lennie was able to have the ice put in with help from RCMP volunteers, Carpenter said, adding it has been about three years since the arena was last fully operational.
The public is invited to skate Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
- Thandiwe Vela
School unites with Borden Ball
Tsiigehtchic/Arctic Red River
Students across all grades got together for a school-wide Borden Ball tournament recently.
The unique nature of the game, which is a combination of basketball and hockey, allowed the Chief Paul Niditchie School students to play on teams mixed with players from Grade 1 to Grade 9 for the first time, said principal Darcy Douglas.
"That's the first time we ran a tournament that way due to the uniqueness of the game. Although it's competitive, it's competitive within reason, so the older students took the younger students under their wing and they encouraged them," Douglas said.
The tournament split the school up into four teams. The fourth team was made up of teachers.
The students beat the teachers in a final game.
- Thandiwe Vela
Rangers upgrading skills
Ikaahuk/Sachs Harbour
Junior Canadian Rangers from the community were to return from Calgary on Feb. 23, with new skills, friendships and memories.
Two Sachs Harbour Junior Rangers and an escort were among some 60 participants in the First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group Enhanced Training Session, which began on and is scheduled to continue until Feb. 17.
Rangers from across the North participated in the advanced program, which included leadership training, archery, and emergency survival. Most of the activities took place at the Tim Horton's Children's Ranch in Kananaskis, Alta.
"Everything's going perfect. We've had great weather, the kids are thoroughly enjoying themselves," Capt. Steve Watton said on Tuesday. "They're hoping to bring back some new skills, new friendships and great memories from their experience and time."
- Thandiwe Vela
Aboriginal Affairs minister sworn in
Canada
Bernard Valcourt is Canada's new minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
Valcourt, MP for Madawaska-Restigouche in New Brunswick, is a lawyer and politician who was first elected to the House of Commons in 1984 in the Brian Mulroney government. He took over the AANDC portfolio on Feb. 22. It was vacated by John Duncan a week earlier.
"The government remains focused on creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity across Canada, including in our aboriginal communities," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a release. "Mr. Valcourt brings considerable and wide-ranging cabinet experience to his new role."
- Peter Worden
Car stolen, crashed into elders' centre
Iqaluit
A 28-year-old man faces multiple charges after a car was stolen from the Iqaluit elders' centre on the evening of Feb. 7. The car crashed into the elders' centre building, doing damage to both the vehicle and the building and rendering the car inoperable. When RCMP arrived, a man attempted to flee and was arrested. Joanasie Naulaq is charged with theft of a motor vehicle, mischief, resisting arrest and breaking the terms of his probation.
- Peter Worden
Tricycles taken from daycare
Iqaluit
Four brand new red tricycles disappeared from the daycare at Inuksuk High School on Feb. 15.
"Monday morning when we see no tricycles, the kids were so upset," said Visaka Wijesooriya, director of the Inuksuk Infant Development Centre, which purchased the tricycles last October.
One of the four tricycles was found and turned in. Now Wijesooriya and kids at the daycare are hoping the other three turn up.
"If body sees these bicycles please bring them over here because these are for kids," she said.
- Peter Worden
Flooding at young offenders centre
Iqaluit
A minor flood at the Iqaluit Young Offenders Centre Feb. 3 was mopped up within 24 hours, according to a Department of Justice spokesperson.
A team of repair technicians were called in when the boiler at the centre temporarily shut down. The techs reset the boiler and had it working shortly after.
"Unfortunately, with the boiler shutting down and the temperature dropping, there was some freezing of pipes," said Stephen Mansell, director of the Policy and Planning Division with the Department of Justice. "Once the boiler room heated up again, the frozen pipes started to leak, causing some flooding."
Mansell said the water was restricted to the mechanical room and the adjacent hall wall, but industrial fans helped dry out the affected area and everything was cleaned up the next day.
- Peter Worden
Fewer crowds at festival
Iglulik
Midway through the Return of the Sun festival, there was a noticeable drop in attendance compared to previous years, according to one of the organizers.
Square dancing, the closing ceremonies and a feast - with Arctic char and caribou - were the festival's remaining activities when Nunavut News/North spoke with Benedicte Uttak, secretary of the Tuukkaq Society. The festival ran Feb. 15 to 19, with a Sunday hiatus on Feb. 17.
"Not very many people came," she said. "When the return of the sun actually happens during January, there is more crowd coming in for the past return of the sun festival."
The festival was originally scheduled for Jan. 11 to 14, when the sun actually returns, but this year it was postponed a month. Uttak said the hamlet will try having the festival in January next year.
- Jeanne Gagnon
Sanirajarmiut receive medals
Sanirajak/Hall Beach
Hall Beach Mayor Paul Haulli and three other residents received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal earlier this month.
The medals commemorate the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the Throne in 1952.
Haulli said he received the honour for his work as president of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities.
"I was surprised and I was very amazed," he said. "It's very exciting. It was very emotional and amazing."
Haulli received the honour along with Jack and Reepa Kamukak and Jopie Kaenerk. Jack and Reepa were awarded the medal in the field of community service, often going on radio during meals to invite residents to join them, according to the citation. Kaenerk also received the medal in the field of community service for his dedication with search and rescues. He is always the first person called upon when someone is lost on the land and the first person contacted when someone has perished, according to the citation. It adds he has the difficult task of notifying the family.
"It was very amazing three of us, from the tiny little town of Hall Beach, got the jubilee award," said Haulli."When you do something for the community, when you achieve something, it lifts your life so it's very amazing."
- Jeanne Gagnon
Inuit language week
Nunavut
Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun were celebrated during Nunavut's Inuit Language Week from Feb. 18 to 22 with a newly-released colouring book and CD with birthday songs.
Residents were encourage to use the Inuit language at home, at work and in the community during the week-long celebration under the theme "Keep our Language Strong - Speak Inuktitut."
The Department of Culture and Heritage is releasing a colouring storybook for children and launching a CD with birthday songs in Inuktitut as part of this year's activities, stated the department. Inuktitut designates both Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun.
"As minister of languages, I urge all Nunavummiut to keep our language strong by speaking and using it every day, particularly with our children," stated Culture and Heritage Minister James Arreak. "They (children) will be the ones to carry the torch into the future and make it thrive."
- Jeanne Gagnon
Speedy students
Sanikiluaq
A new, 36-student running club at Paatsaali High School is right on track.
Math teacher Terri Skinner said many of the students have now given up smoking and while they typically exercise indoors, her hearty bunch of young long-distance runners aren't deterred by the great outdoors.
"There's nothing like facing a 70-km-an-hour headwind when you're trying to run," she said, adding she is impressed the students are sticking with the tough regiment. Skinner, who has trained as a runner for many years, said she started the club by request of some of her female students who asked if she would head off a program similar to the boys' fitness club.
"They said, 'Can we do something for us?'"
The club now includes boys and girls and will try to squeeze in two trips during the school year - one for the junior and senior boys, one for the junior and senior girls.
Last fall, four girls entered a 5.5-kilometre fun run in Winnipeg and the boys went to Montreal in October for a 10-km run. Some of the running club members are now training for a half-marathon coming up this spring.
"Our aim is to practise for distance first and speed second," said Skinner.
- Peter Worden
Pangnirtung rallies for vet
Panniqtuuq/Pangnirtung
Plans to get a veterinarian to visit Pang for the first time in over a decade are becoming a reality, says Delia Siivola, a volunteer with the Pangnirtung Humane Society. She said fundraising efforts are continuing and going strong.
"There have been a couple more fundraisers and we expect one or two more before the clinic," said Siivola. "We hope to start taking appointments starting in a few weeks."
The high cost of bringing a veterinarian to the hamlet is due to the added costs involved with airfare and accommodations in addition to a vet's own time and supplies. The Pang Humane Society hopes to mitigate some of these costs with loonie-toonie and 50/50 fundraisers. Siivola said a ballpark fundraising target $2,500 to $5,000.
For one fluffy little Pangnituurmiut named Bella, news of a veterinarian clinic couldn't come soon enough. Last week Bella needed an emergency visit to the vet. Bella's owner, Meghan Mike-Murphy, said she was unable to get her dog to a vet, so her pet was given Gravol and some cooked ground beef with rice, which helped.
"I wish there was a vet in Pang though because Bella just isn't a pet but is family and needs a vet available just in case something had happened," she said.
- Peter Worden
Junior Rangers
Kananaskis, Alta.
About 60 Junior Canadian Rangers from all three territories are participating in an enhanced training session at Tim Hortons Children's Ranch in Kananaskis, Alta., from Feb. 17 to 23.
The training will allow the Junior Canadian Rangers, aged 16 to 18, from communities across the North to come together for one week of diverse training and challenging activities in a fun, safe, outdoor setting.
Training events will include icerescue training, a confidence course, leadership, air rifle, traditional crafts, possession and acquisition licensecertification training, and a cultural visit to Banff, Alta.
- Darrell Greer
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News desk 
