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News Briefs: Friday, August 23, 2013
Mining ministers converge
Yellowknife is hosting the 2013 Energy and Mines Ministers' Conference this weekend.
All federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for energy and mines in Canada will participate in joint meetings Aug. 24 to 27. More than 300 delegates are expected to attend. The ministers will also tour Yellowknife and some of its surrounding development projects, including the Diavik diamond mine to view its wind farm and the Giant Mine site.
All conference events are closed to the public.
- Laura Busch
Lights out Yellowknife
Power failed across the city just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening.
Bob Kelly, spokesperson for NWT Power Corporation said the outage was caused by lightning striking the Snare Hydro transmission line. It took about 30 minutes to get the first customers restored and it was 55 minutes before the last customers had their power back.
- Cody Punter
Bad week for air quality
The Giant Mine remediation team released a report yesterday, showing numerous exceedances of the minimum standards for air quality from Aug. 12 to 17.
Air monitors test for levels of particulate and gauge if contaminants are making it into the air from the Giant Mine site.
Sixteen exceedances were reported for different levels of particulate matter surrounding Giant Mine, at Ndilo, the marina and in the city.
The report states the exceedances were likely caused by the presence of smoke from nearby forest fires.
The team won't know exactly what the monitors were picking up for some time, as the results of the sampling is still pending analysis.
- Daniel Campbell
Dene Nation endorses health care changes
The Dene Nation of the Northwest Territories became the first aboriginal group in Canada to endorse the Canadian Medical Association's Principles to Guide Health Care Transformation in Canada last week.
The principles were created in 2011 to help guide the transformation of the health care system in Canada into a system that is sustainable, patient-centered and focused more on prevention, according to a news release.
- Graeme McNaughton
News Briefs: Thursday, August 22, 2013
Fire season continues in the Deh Cho
The Deh Cho continues to be the region in the NWT that has been the most affected by forest fires this year.
As of Aug. 20, there have been 73 fires in the Deh Cho. Forty-two of the fires are out and the remainder are continuing to burn, according to information from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The fires have affected 241,478 hectares. The South Slave has had more fires, 106, but they have only covered 136,575 hectares.
Territorial park reopens
Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park reopened to the public on Aug. 16.
The park had been closed since July 19 as the result of nearby forest fires. The season for territorial parks in the NWT lasts until Sept. 15.
Second annual workshop to be held in Kakisa
Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation is preparing for the A Return to Country Foods workshop that it will be hosting next week.
The workshop will take place on Aug. 27 and 28. On Aug. 29, there will be sampling activities and a mini youth camp.
This is the second-annual workshop organized by the Dehcho Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management (AAROM) program.
Discussions will centre around contaminants in fish and water, particularly mercury, and the health benefits of eating country foods.
Results from recent contaminants research and monitoring will also be discussed along with how those programs should progress.
Along with AAROM, Health Canada and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada's Northern Contaminants Program will be sponsoring the workshop.
Nominees sought for fire service merit awards
The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) is looking for nominations for the NWT Fire Service Merit Awards.
Community members, fire departments and fire chiefs can nominate people for the awards that honour and recognize individuals and community fire departments for their significant contributions to fire safety and fire service in communities in the Northwest Territories.
Nominations can be made online on MACA's website. Sept. 6 is the deadline for nominations.
The recipients of the awards will be announced during National Fire Prevention Week from Oct. 6 to 12.
Parking problems
An Inuvik councillor is calling for the town to address parking problems along Veterans Way.
Coun. Kurt Wainman said the problem is becoming a public safety issue on the street in the vicinity of the NWT Power Corporation plant.
Vehicles parking on the roadway there while construction work is happening are restricting access, he said. The problem will be exacerbated as the power corporation begins to receive regular shipments of liquid natural gas. That will require more use of a loading station.
Wainman suggested the easy fix is to expand the no-parking area on the street.
He also suggested GNWT employees at the government building nearby should use the parking lot. However, Coun. Alana Mero said GNWT policy is that employees can't use it for private vehicles. Instead, it's reserved for official work vehicles and visitor parking.
Unclear cause of outages
A representative of the NWT Power Corporation says it's unclear what caused two power outages on Aug. 13.
"I've checked into recent outages in Inuvik and I can assure you that there is no truth to the rumour that experimenting with LNG was a factor," spokesperson Bob Kelly said. "Apart from the two, one-minute outages yesterday, there have been two brief outages in recent weeks. There was a planned outage July 30 while some work was carried out that required the diesel units to be taken offline and a gas unit used.
"There was a very brief partial outage Aug. 9 that affected about 190 customers. It was likely caused by bird contact.
Crime rates fall
Crime rates have continued to decline in Inuvik.
The latest report from the RCMP showed there were 336 calls for service in July, down substantially from 518 calls in July 2012 numbers.
At the July council meeting, Staff-Sgt. Dennis McLeod noted the trend but couldn't offer any substantial explanations for the change.
The RCMP is continuing with its foot patrols in the downtown area with the intent to reduce the incidence of public intoxication and drinking. The number of public intoxication and drinking in public incidences have dropped to 153 this year from 213 in July 2012.
Register for festival
The Arctic Images visual arts festival is now open for anyone wanting to enter the competition.
The festival, which will feature both photographic and video exhibitions and workshops, will include a full competition in various categories. Entrants are allowed up to five entries.
The festival will run from Sept. 20 to 22 at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex.
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