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Monday, November 10, 2014
GNWT wraps up water talks with Alberta
The GNWT and the Government of Alberta concluded negotiations on a trans-boundary agreement to protect the Mackenzie Valley Basin last week.
The resulting document is similar to an agreement reached with B.C earlier this year.
"We are building a much closer, more productive working relationship with our Mackenzie River Basin neighbours," said Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger during a Nov. 6 sitting of the legislative assembly. "With these agreements in place, we will no longer find out about upstream developments and events in the newspaper."
Both documents must still be reviewed and will undergo a public consultation process. The agreements with Alberta and B.C could be signed in February 2015.
- Cody Punter
GNWT approves $253M Ekati security
Ekati Diamond Mine operator Dominion Diamond Corporation has posted approximately $253.5 million in surety bonds with the GNWT under obligations defined by its water license for the mine.
After posting the bonds, the GNWT returned $82.6 million in letters of credit to the company. The GNWT still holds letters of credit totalling approximately $42.7.
- Walter Strong
HMS Erebus ship bell found
A bell belonging to the HMS Erebus, one of the shipwrecks from Franklin's lost expedition, was rediscovered by archaeologists during underwater searches in September, according to a press release.
Federal Minister responsible for Parks Canada Leona Aglukkaq unveiled the bell during a ceremony in Ottawa on Nov. 6. The bell will now undergo at least 18 months worth of conservation treatments.
- Kassina Ryder
Indigenous women gathering in Yellowknife
Indigenous women from across North will gather in Yellowknife from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14 to discuss leadership and the impacts women can have in their communities.
Northern leadership group Dene Nahjo is hosting the Indigenous Circumpolar Women's Gathering at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Guest speakers are scheduled to include former Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon, Truth and Reconciliation Commission member Dr. Marie Wilson and former Inuit Circumpolar Council president Rosemarie Kuptana.
- Kassina Ryder
Sleepover at school
Tsiigehtchic/Arctic Red River
Students at Chief Paul Niditchie School were treated to a sleepover at the school last month after raising money for the Terry Fox Foundation, said principal Darcy Douglas.
"The whole school brought their sleeping bags and camped out," he said.
Students watched movies and played games during the evening and staff made breakfast the next morning.
"We made bacon and eggs and my famous homefries," Douglas said.
- Kassina Ryder
Art workshop set for Fort Smith museum
Thebacha/Fort Smith
Yellowknife artist Robbie Craig will present a workshop later this month in Fort Smith on his Northern pop art.
The workshop will take place on Nov. 22 & 23 at Northern Life Museum & Cultural Centre.
Craig's northern pop art is inspired by the pop art movement of the 1950s.
Using northern designs and images, he will guide workshop participants as they create their own original pieces of artwork.
More information, including on the fee for the workshop, is available by contacting Northern Life Museum.
- Paul Bickford
A jab instead of the flu
Acho Dene Koe/Fort Liard
Flu shots are available at the health centre from Monday to Thursday between 9 to 4 p.m.
Also, events are being planned for National Addictions Awareness Week in Fort Liard.
- Roxanna Thompson
School closed for Cultural Day
Tetlit'Zheh/Fort McPherson
Students will have the day off school on Nov. 10 to enable staff at Chief Julius School in Fort McPherson to participate in their annual Cultural Day, said vice principal Cliff Gregory.
Staff usually participate in two Cultural Days each year.
One takes place at the beginning of the school year and another takes place in late fall.
Both typically include activities such as learning how to set up a camp, make fires and checking fish nets with local residents, Gregory said.
The school will also be closed for Remembrance Day on Nov. 11.
- Kassina Ryder
Meeting of the minds
Liidlii Kue/Fort Simpson
Liidlii Kue First Nation's general membership meeting that was scheduled for Nov. 6 has been canceled until further notice.
As well, the newly formed Fort Simpson Choir is meeting Wednesdays at Bompas Elementary School's library from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The choir is open to men and women of all ages with no experience necessary.
- Roxanna Thompson
Hamlet of Enterprise taking control of keys
Enterprise
The Hamlet of Enterprise is taking steps to better control keys provided to residents for some municipal buildings and the landfill site.
At a council meeting on Nov. 3, Coun. John Leskiw III noted there is concern in the community that duplicate keys for some public buildings may be in the possession of unauthorized people.
Senior administrative officer Herman Minderlein explained that a resident who uses a building on a regular basis, such as the community centre, might sign out a key and that key might be handed to someone else, and it might even end up with a third person.
Minderlein said the hamlet is getting a key-replicating system.
If someone loses a key to a certain building, the locks will be adjusted and new keys will be issued.
- Paul Bickford
New books explore history and present
Nunavut
Arctic College launched two new publications Nov. 4, Fighting for Our Rights by Louis Tapardjuk, who grew up in Iglulik, and Helping Ourselves by Helping Each Other by William Lyall, who grew up in Taloyoak.
Louis Tapardjuk's life story "tells of a quest to find a workable middle ground between the compulsory enrolment of Inuit into the Canadian system of government and the Inuit legacy of egalitarian modes of survival."
Lyall's book is both a biography and a history of the co-op movement in the Arctic.
The books were produced through a partnership between the Nunavut Research Institute of Nunavut, Arctic College, Laval University's CIERA (Centre interuniversitaire d'etudes et de recherches autochtones), and Nunavut's Department of Education.
Both authors previously launched their books at the Inuit Studies Conference in Quebec City held Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.
- Michele LeTourneau
Hamper drive starting
Panniqtuuq/Pangnirtung
Several groups are coming together to help feed people in need in Pangnirtung this Christmas season.
"We're aiming for 150 hampers" of food, economic development officer Jesse Jacobs said. "We will be soliciting income support, social services, and the church for lists of families they believe would benefit most from the hampers."
Jacobs' office, Making Connections for Youth, the Youth Council, and several Government of Nunavut employees are driving the project.
Food drop-off points will be positioned around the hamlet, and donations will be solicited starting soon.
"Different families will have different comprising numbers, so a hamper going to a larger family will have more in it than a hamper going to a family of one or two individuals," Jacobs said.
The hampers will be distributed around Dec. 23.
- Casey Lessard
Darkness falls
Ikpiarjuk/Arctic Bay
The sun has set for the last time this year in Arctic Bay after the dark season arrived Nov. 5.
The sun won't shine on the hamlet again until the first week of February.
"We still have a lot of light," said Clare Kines, noting the sun skimmed along the horizon for about an hour on the last day. "I don't mind the dark season. It's not dark, dark. We always have some twilight." He notes there will still be enough light on Dec. 21 that stars will not be visible.
"It goes by quickly," he said. "The busy Christmas season's in there, and before you know it, the sun's coming back."
- Casey Lessard
Cadets seek support
Ikpiarjuk/Arctic Bay
Fundraisers are looking for money to send one or two more cadets to Europe to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe in May.
"We have funding for three," said lead fundraiser Irene Swoboda. "We have already managed to get the individual amounts raised that the kids have to do, $200 each. It's $4,900 for each extra cadet to go, and I would love if we could have one or two more able to go. So we're looking for as much money as it is possible to raise."
The trip will see the young people travel to Holland, Belgium and France to take part in ceremonies and visit important historic sites.
"We would be representing Canada, the cadet corps, the Canadian North, and the beneficiaries. And of course, the way Canadians are viewed in Holland, it's going to be amazing," Swoboda said.
In addition to a bake sale earlier this month, the group will do a dance and other projects.
"We've approached different companies for stuff to raffle, we're going to do a VistaPrint calendar, and of course we're hitting up everybody and their dog for donations," she said.
- Casey Lessard
Contest winners announced
Nunavut
The winners of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.'s elections 2014 public service announcement contest for Grade 9 Social Studies students were announced Oct. 6.
Inuujaq School's Grade 9 class in Arctic Bay won the $2,500 prize and Repulse Bay's Tusarvik School won $1,000 for second place. Students were asked to record digital public service announcements encouraging young Inuit to vote in NTI elections. The contest was a joint effort with the Government of Nunavut.
The winning submission will be broadcast in Nunavut via NTI's website, as well as on social media websites.
- Michele LeTourneau
Fundraiser for food program
Coral Harbour/Stittsville
A group of students in Stittsville, Ont., will host the second annual All That Glam jewelry fundraiser for Nunavut, on Nov. 29 from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Richcraft Recreation Complex in Kanata, Ont.
Organized by then Grade 12 student Eva Von Jagow in 2013, the initial event raised almost $10,000 and was matched
by Canadian Pacific.
- Darrell Greer
Information ready at park
Kugluktuk/Coppermine
New interpretive material has been completed for Kugluk (Bloody Falls) Territorial Park.
Environment Minister Johnny Mike acknowledged in the legislative assembly Nov. 4 the work done by his staff in collaboration with many key players.
"I would like to thank the Kugluktuk Park Advisory Committee that provided direction for the project, the elders and community residents that participated in the many interviews, and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, and departments of Education and Culture and Heritage for their support," said Mike.
The project is part of the Heritage Appreciation Plan for the park, completed in the spring of 2013.
"In keeping with the umbrella Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement for territorial parks, the materials produced highlight the long history of human use of the park and its natural resources, and explain the regulations that protect the park, its resources, and the people that use the park," Mike said.
The new interpretive elements are intended to be integrated with the hamlet's new heritage visitors centre.
- Michele LeTourneau
New tourism board member named
Qamanittuaq/Baker Lake
Karen Yip of Baker Lake is one of three new regional representatives selected for Nunavut Tourism's board of executives late last month. Yip, who is the Kivalliq region representative, was joined by the Kitikmeot's Dan Caron and Qikitani's Sarah MacNair-Landry to ensure regional representation on the board.
- Darrell Greer
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