 | Home page |  | Text size |
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Rehiring begins at Ekati
Dominion Diamond announced on Friday that beginning Sept. 6, it was beginning a progressive rehiring of employees and contractors. About 330 employees were laid off from the Ekati Diamond Mine in July, after a fire at the process plant caused damages of around $25 million. Dominion expects processing in the plant to resume by the end of the month, with most of the workforce back on the job by the end of September.
- Jessica Davey-Quantick
Grace Lake North input wanted
The City of Yellowknife wants residents to get involved in the planning of trails, green spaces and public amenities in and around the Grace Lake North subdivision. Options include a floating boardwalk, trails, non-motorized boat launches and small parks. The discussions are in addition to the earlier consultations on a playground on Grace Lake Boulevard. Open houses will be held at city hall on Sept. 14 from noon until 2 p.m. and from 7 until 9 p.m. Another session will be held Sept. 15 from 7 until 9 p.m.
- John McFadden
Catholic school board to outline three-year plan
Yellowknife Catholic Schools will outline during a public meeting at St. Patrick High School tonight its three-year vision acting chairperson Miles Welsh says focuses on student-centric learning.
The district expects to offer new programs and courses including coding and science, technology, engineering and math learning projects. The meeting will include a showing of the documentary Most Likely to Succeed.
The meeting will be in the school's drama room from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
- Shane Magee
Business conference kicks off
Business leaders, academics and politicians will converge at the Explorer Hotel starting this evening for the Opportunities North conference.
The event, which requires people to register to attend, runs until Friday and will feature speeches from Premier Bob McLeod, Mayor Mark Heyck and pollster Bruce Anderson.
The event is organized by the NWT Chamber of Commerce, which represents and advocates for business in the territory, and is partly sponsored by Northern News Services Ltd.
- Shane Magee
Ship to shore
Chesterfield Inlet
A number of students and staff members at Victor Sammurtok School got to pay a visit onboard the Nunavut research vessel, the Nuliajuk, in Chesterfield Inlet this past month.
The students and teachers were given a tour of the vessel, including spending some time on the bridge, and were also given a brief introduction to the ship's mapping mission.
For the complete story on the ship's visit to Chesterfield Inlet, please see the Sept. 14 edition of Kivalliq News.
Play ball
Rankin Inlet
A total of six teams were scheduled to compete for the annual regional mixed softball tournament in Rankin Inlet this past weekend.
Five teams from the host community and one from Arviat were vying for the tournament crown, which is also a national qualifier.
Final results were not known as of press time.
New rifles for Canadian Rangers
Kivalliq
The federal government took advantage of the Canadian Armed Forces conducting its Operation Nanook in Rankin Inlet and the Yukon this past week for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to announce a contract for the purchase of 6,820 new rifles to support the Canadian Rangers during Northern operations.
The new rifles are being produced by Colt Canada and will replace the outdated Lee Enfield rifle.
The modern weapons are more robust, and can perform reliably in temperatures well below freezing, which is essential to the Canadian Rangers' work in the Arctic.
The rifles will be phased in sarting early in 2017, continuing until the Rangers are fully equipped by 2019.
The $32.8 million contract will support the current 90 jobs at Colt Canada, and contribute to the creation of approximately 30 additional jobs in the KitchenerWaterloo region of Ontario.
Kind donation to breakfast program
Rankin Inlet
During their time in Rankin Inlet, the Canadian Armed Forces donated $10,000 to the breakfast programs that are run at the community's elementary, middle and high school.
The money was donated through the Boomer's Legacy program.
Andrew (Boomer) Eykelenboom was killed in 2006 while serving as a medic with the Canadian military.
The Boomer's Legacy program was created by Eykelenboom's family to help the communities the Canadian Armed Forces visit or conduct exercises near.
Agents to visit
Baker Lake
Residents of the community of Baker Lake are reminded the federal government will be sending in Service Canada agents on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., to help with social insurance numbers (SIN), employment insurance, oldage pensions, child tax, passports, etc.
Those seeking appointments with the agents are asked to ensure they have all their necessary documents, such as birth certificate, SIN, marriage certificates or marriage licences.
| 
