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Monday, January 5, 2015
Trudeau to watch the sun rise in Inuvik
Federal Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau plans to make three stops in the Canadian North early in the new year.
Trudeau is expected in Inuvik on Jan. 9 and 10, in time for the Inuvik Sunrise Festival, according to his press secretary, Cameron Ahmad.
Trudeau will then head to Yellowknife Jan. 10 and 11 and Iqaluit Jan. 12 and 13.
The final schedule for each stop remains tentative, Ahmad said, and Trudeau's agenda during the visit has yet to be confirmed.
– Elaine Anselmi
Excavator goes through ice
No one was hurt but 105 litres of diesel and grease spilled on Dec. 30 when an excavator being used at the Gahcho Kue diamond mine crashed through the ice on Kennady Lake.
According to a report on the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board website, the majority of the spill was land-based and occurred as the excavator was being removed from the lake.
The report states that a sheen was noticed in the lake but the spill was mainly contained to a five square metre area of land. According to the report, the contaminated soil was removed from the area.
– John McFadden
Three people hurt in highway collision
Three people, including a one-year-old child, were seriously injured in an accident on Highway 1 on Christmas Eve.
According to a news release from the RCMP, two vehicles were involved in an apparent head-on collision at about 6 p.m. on Dec. 24 at kilometre 153 on Highway 1, about 70 km north of Enterprise.
Two of the injured were medevaced to hospital in Edmonton.
Police have provided no further information on the injured. Alcohol is not suspected to be a factor and the investigation is ongoing.
– Paul Bickford
Charges laid in Behchoko stabbing
A man is facing charges for allegedly stabbing another man two weeks ago in Behchoko.
Morris Blackduck, 42, was charged this week with assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and uttering threats.
The victim, whose name has not been released, was found behind the Behchoko Sportsplex Dec. 15. He was transported to the Behchoko Health Centre for treatment and transported from there to Stanton Territorial Hospital as a precaution.
– Randi Beers
Justin Trudeau to visit
Iqaluit
Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is embarking on a Northern tour this month with planned visits to Nunavut and the NWT.
Press secretary Cameron Ahmad said Trudeau expects to be in Iqaluit Jan. 12 and 13 after visiting Inuvik for the Sunrise Festival Jan. 9 and 10, and spending Jan. 10 and 11 in Yellowknife.
This trip follows Prime Minister's Stephen Harper's August visit and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair's September visit.
– Michele LeTourneau
Family found safe
Iglulik
A family returning home to Iglulik from Hall Beach – a distance of about 70 km – by snowmobile Dec. 28 was caught in blizzard conditions and went missing for 24 hours.
Search and rescue personnel from both communities made efforts to find the couple and their teenaged son. The temperature was reported to be -44 C with windchill, with winds howling at 70 km/hr.
The family arrived home safe on the evening of Dec. 29. A snowmobile broke down on the journey.
– Michele LeTourneau
Hundreds seek help
Iqaluit
The 200-member Facebook group Helping our Northern Neighbours, a spinoff from food activist Leesee Papatsie's Feeding My Family page, had 430 families and individuals on a list to receive help on Dec. 31.
The group was started in late August by Jennifer Gwilliam of Victoria as a temporary solution to help food-insecure Nunavummiut.
"The need is shocking!" stated Gwilliam in an e-mail.
"People are asking for basic foods, blankets, socks."
Gwilliam estimates well over 200 boxes have been sent to individuals, elders and families, both small and large. Requests for help come from Nunavut, Yukon, NWT and the northern area of B.C., Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec
"I am literally overwhelmed! I cannot believe how this small group has mushroomed in such a short space of time. I am shocked by the degree of need and the number of people who are going hungry and seeking help in this country."
– Michele LeTourneau
Funding for books announced
Kivalliq
The UNAAQ Cultural Society received $80,300 from the Government of Canada's Department of Canadian Heritage through the Aboriginal Languages Initiative to develop, publish and distribute two books in Inuktitut for students in grades 4 to 12, it was announced Dec. 30.
"The government's funding will provide Inuktitut reading materials for youth, based on the knowledge shared by Nunavummiut elders," stated society executive director Neil Christopher in a news release.
– Michele LeTourneau
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