Makerspace YK has found a space for its new workshop and innovation hub, where Yellowknifers will be able to rent tools, practice skills development and gain potential employment opportunities.

The location for the public workshop and innovation hub will be in the Cloudworks Two Building at 5001 Forrest Drive, opposite CBC's office, in the space previously occupied by After 8 Billiards.

The space was chosen because it is “centrally located in the community, accessible by transit, and will feature ground-floor accessibility.” 

The Tool Bus, which has been Makerspace YK’s primary “space” until now, will continue to be available for the organization to use for mobile program delivery.

The group has also hired city councillor Julian Morse to act as the organization’s executive director.

“I think this will be huge for Yellowknife,” said Julian Morse. “I was thrilled to hear about what Makerspace YK is planning to do, so it is a dream come true to get to be at the centre of it.”

Makerspace were one of three businesses who received a federal grant, aimed at creating economic opportunities, in November 2020 to cover the costs of renovating the space.

“Community building is at the heart of organization and if it weren’t for all the other people that support this long wave,” Cat McGurk, President of Makerspace Yellowknife, said during the announcement Friday afternoon.

“It was important for us to hire someone local who understands the needs of the community, and Julian is truly committed to bettering this city,” McGurk added in a statement. “We’re honoured to have hired someone who is enthusiastic to get this project off the ground and who brings a great deal of skill and determination to the organization.”

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Dominion has confirmed the sale of Ekati with two creditors, after financial troubles and a number of delays threatened the future of the mine.

If the deal goes through, Dominion has said they will restart operations at Ekati no later than January 29, according to a press release from the company.

The sale of Ekati to its parent company Washington had failed back in October, with three insurance companies blocking the deal.

If the deal goes through, which is subject to court approval, the two creditors will purchase all of Dominion’s assets, except from Dominon’s ownership in Diavik mine — DDMI received permission to sell-off the diamonds from Diavik mine in November — and the Working Capital Facility.

The two creditors, DDJ Capital Management, LLC and Brigade Capital Management, LP are also providing $70 million in funding to keep the “Working Capital Facility” open, which will allow Dominion to restart and maintain operations at Ekati.

The agreement is subject to court approval because Dominion has been in creditor protection — allowing the company to pause paying their debts — since April. 

That is set to end on December 15, although Dominion is seeking permission from its credoors to restructure its debts — allowing it to agree to a smaller amount of its debts to be paid back.

When the Ekati sale failed back in October, the Union of Northern Workers issued a statement saying the companies involved weren’t acting in the “best interest of northerners.”

“What are our leaders putting in place to protect our workers and our economy from corporate entities with no personal stake in our future and who answer to no-one but their shareholders?” Todd Parsons, UNW President, said in a statement. “Where is the due diligence to ensure that hardworking northerners and their families aren’t left out in the cold?”

The three insurance companies who blocked the deal back in October, Aviva, Argonaut, and Zurich, have collectively issued around $280 million in surety bonds with the territorial government, to guarantee that Ekati can be safely closed once the mine closes. 

The deal has to be confirmed by or before February 1, 2021.

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A fund set up to support the tourism industry will distribute $3 million to struggling tourism businesses throughout the territory.

Funded by the GNWT and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), the GRIT fund was established in August 2020 specifically to tackle the challenges caused by COVID-19.

Over 90 individuals and companies will receive money to help them adapt and "position their operations for the future," a statement from the Department Industry, Tourism and Investment. The average amount paid out by the fund is just over $30,000.

“Tourism is an essential part of the economy of the Northwest Territories, supporting communities and business operators," Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for CanNor. "The sector has been hard hit by COVID-19 and continues to feel the effects."

The tourism industry has been decimated by COVID-19, especially in the Northwest Territories with travel restrictions and mandatory 14-day isolation periods discouraging travellers.

The territory has lost more than 4,000 jobs during the pandemic, mainly in the service sector, with tourism jobs being a large contributor to that, according to finance minister Caroline Wawzonek. 

During a 2020 budget review, Wawzonek added that jobs connected to international markets or health trends are unlikely to recover as quickly as others — tourism being the most notable example.

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The federal government announced over $1.3 million in funding for three economic development projects in the territory.

The projects are located in Fort Liard, Norman Wells and Yellowknife.

Makerspace Yellowknife is receiving $731,000 to renovate a commercial space into a collaborative, workshop space that will provide access to industrial equipment and a tool lending library. 

“This will support skill development, job creation and innovative new businesses in Yellowknife,” said Michael MacLeod, Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories.

“Community building is at the heart of organization and if it weren't for all the other people that support this long wave,” Cat McGurk, President of Makerspace Yellowknife, said during the announcement Friday afternoon.

The organization was also a finalist for the Arctic Inspiration Prize in the youth category

Around $171,000 is going to Beaver Enterprises, a  construction services company in Fort Liard, to help with purchasing new equipment.

The $484,000 in federal money headed to Norman Wells is being spent on planning for a waste management facility in the town.

The funding comes from CanNor’s programs, which support projects that “promote sustainable community economic development, enhancing business development and growth, and facilitating innovation.”

MacLeod said the federal government has done a fairly good job supporting businesses in NT, and hinted that further investment in the Northwest Territories may be announced during the federal budget update, set to be presented on Monday.

“We certainly recognize that the evolution of the pandemic is going to be tied to the evolution of the virus, and where was the government are no other investments that have been made, are going to be needed throughout the pandemic,”

MacLeod was not able to provide any details about what funding could be coming though. He added the territorial government’s plan to make infrastructure spending part of its economic recovery was a good means to create jobs.

MacLeod said despite the uncertainty that the second wave of COVID-19, which is fully underway throughout Canada, some positive announcements can be expected in the future.

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An Alberta court decision could ensure the Diavik Diamond Mine still has a future.

DDMI has been given permission by an Alberta court, whose decision had been expected two weeks ago,  to sell-off Dominion’s share of diamonds produced at the Diavik Diamond Mine. The decision will allow DDMI, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, to recoup a portion of the $120 million it paid to cover Dominion’s share of the operation costs. 

Dominion’s financial troubles have prevented the company from paying its share of the operation costs since it entered creditor protection back in April. Combined with the selling of the Ekati mine to Dominion’s parent company failing, and the continued operation of both mines was at risk. Around 1,000 workers are employed between the two mines.

But DDMI will be appealing to have the decision amended, saying the way the decision structured how the sell-off of assets can be conducted could hurt DDMI. 

“Some of the conditions imposed in the court’s endorsement, however, create doubt on whether the monetization will be sufficient to recover the outstanding payments missed by Dominion and provide the funding needed to plan for ongoing operations,” a spokesperson for DDMI said in an email.

The current decision has DICAN, an external evaluator, determining the value of the assets, which wouldn’t include the cost of selling the diamonds, according to the Diavik spokesperson.

DDMI is appealing with the hopes of being able to sell the diamonds closer to market value rather than the value determined by DICAN, and use that to collect on Dominion's debt.

Dominion, who owns 40 per cent of the Diavik mine, have been unable to pay their share of operation costs since the company entered creditor protection back in April. 

The total debt Dominion has racked is nearly $120 million, plus more than two million in interest, according to an affidavit from October 30.

Previously Rio Tinto had refused to front more cash until it secures repayment on the $120 million Dominion already owes. That could have put operations at Diavik at risk.

“The court’s recent decision that Diavik Diamond Mines can start monetizing some of Dominion’s 40 per cent share of diamonds produced at Diavik is an important step,” added the spokesperson. “This will compensate for at least part of the payments Dominion has missed so far, that Rio Tinto has covered to keep the Diavik mine in operation.”

At the Ekati Mine, Dominion announced they would be recalling 60 furloughed staff after news their creditors would allow the company to restructure its finances.

[caption id="attachment_13201" align="alignright" width="300"] The Ekati diamond mine, located roughly 310 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife. Photo supplied.[/caption]

The staff will be brought back to work with restarting the mine’s operations in mind again.

Operations at Ekati have been suspended since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and most of the staff at the mine have been furloughed or laid off as Dominion struggled to raise the capital to restart operations.

Presently, Dominion’s creditor protection — a pause button on paying the company’s debts — lasts until December 15. 

But with Dominion's creditors allowing the company to restructure its debts — agreeing with the creditors a lower debt payment for the company to pay back — Dominion will have the cash flow available to look toward restarting operations at Ekati.

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DDMI is still awaiting an Alberta court decision which would allow them to sell off Dominion’s shares in the Diavik diamond mine.

Dominion is also trying to avoid moving into liquidity – selling off assets so the company has more cash flow – which would allow it to keep Ekati mine operational.

Dominion has also applied to extend its creditor protection – a pause button on paying back its debts – until December 15, with the case yet to return a decision.

Diavik

A hearing was held in an Alberta Court on October 30, but there was no decision released on whether DDMI, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto who co-owns the mine with Dominion, would be allowed to sell Dominion’s shares in Diavik to recoup unpaid debts.

A decision is still yet to be released.

Dominion owes DDMI more than $120 million in payments for operation fees.

Dominion has been unable to pay those fees since they filed for creditor protection — essentially a pause button on debt payments so the company can restructure its finances — back in April.

DDMI moved forward with an appeal to sell off Dominion’s share as there is “no realistic chance” Dominion will be able to pay its debts to DDMI, according to an affidavit signed by Thomas Croese, the finance manager of the Diavik mine.

If DDMI is allowed to sell Dominion’s shares in the Diavik mine, it would allow them to recoup the money Dominion owes them.

Ekati

Brendan Bell, a company director with Dominion, said liquidity was now “a real possibility.”

Bell made the comments in a court affidavit as Dominion seeks to extend its creditor protection until at least December 15.

The Ekati diamond mine was forced to suspend operations back in March due to COVID-19, and have furloughed or laid off most of the employees who worked there.

A petition was started calling for the Ekati mine to be kept open. It had gathered 915 signatures by the time of writing.

“The Ekati Diamond Mine is a huge part of why mining is the largest contributor to the NWT economy,” the petition reads. “Its closure this year has created significant hardship for employees, businesses, and governments.

Outlook

The diamond mining industry in the Northwest Territories has been hurting throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a presentation of the update to its 2020 budget, Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek said the slowdown in the diamond market has been “quite significant.” 

Wawzonek added a drop in demand for diamonds is impacting territorial revenues. The GNWT lost around $30 million as a result of the slowdown in sales from the diamond mines shrinking the royalties the territory received.

In the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Rocky Simpson, MLA for Hay River South, called on the GNWT to do “all it can to support” the mining industry, which “gives residents hope” of bettering their lives. 

“With the variety and abundance of non-renewable resources present in the NWT, we continue to be a have-not territory,” said Simpson. 

“We as a government must promote and support the exploration and development of our non-renewable resource sector through clear and reasonable legislation and with timely decisions so projects can advance.”

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Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek brought a bill forward in the Legislative Assembly that would halve the territorial small business tax rate.

Bill 16, which was presented for its first reading, would amend the Income Tax Act by dropping the small business tax rate from four percent to two percent.

The bill would come into effect from January 1, 2021 if it passes the legislature. The bill must go through two further readings.

The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce applauded Wawzonek’s “innovative approach to budgeting” on Twitter. The chamber president Tim Syers also applauded the move by Wawzonek.

“I don’t think there are many other jurisdictions lowering taxes these days.”

Small Business Tax Reduction in #NWT!

1st reading for reduction from 4% to 2%.

Excellent news for many ⁦@YKChamber⁩ members.

Kudos - ⁦⁦@CWawzonek⁩ #GNWT - I don’t think there are many other jurisdiction lowering taxes these days. https://t.co/dlSQSkSEfC

— Tim Syer (@MTSyer) October 31, 2020

Wawzonek spoke about making significant changes as part of a new “creative” model of budgeting, during her remarks in front of the Legislative Assembly on Friday. “Government renewal” as the restructuring has been dubbed, is aimed at reducing past inefficiencies and making planning more proactive, Wawzonek said.

“Over multiple Legislative Assemblies, the data shows patterns of budgeting and spending that have impaired the long-term sustainability of the GNWT,” said Wawzonek in the Legislative assembly on Friday.

”Our expenditures and the public service continue to grow … and the significant capital investments which the territory absolutely needs have driven up our short-term debt.”

Wawzonek said she would shift the GNWT to a priority based budgeting, which emphasizes programs and services “that are most critical and valuable to residents.”

“This is a fundamental shift from how budgets are currently developed, where a large focus is on incremental increases and decreases from the year before,” said Wawzonek.

“Using incremental budgeting, most of the budget is not actually subject to the same level of scrutiny as new spending and it can be difficult to respond to new or changing priorities.

This change will require significant work, said Wawzonek, but provides an opportunity for the GNWT to “better reflect the diversity of the values and needs of all residents of the NWT.”

“Incremental budgeting is more about where we have been,” she said. “But now, we want to define our fiscal foundation by where we want to go.”

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Northwestel’s plan to roll-out unlimited internet plans in the Northwest Territories is facing more challenges, with smaller competitor SSI Micro filing an intervention with the federal regulator.

SSI Micro buys access to Northwestels’ fibre optic network “wholesale” and have installed “last-mile infrastructure” — connections branching off the main fibre optic network to expand internet access — and offer internet plans which compete with Northwestel, according to Dean Procter, chief development officer with SSI Canada.

Last week, the company filed an intervention with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Procter says Northwestel is trying to monopolize the market for internet services in NT by providing unlimited plans when competitors like his company aren’t able to.

[caption id="attachment_34199" align="alignright" width="220"] A shot of the SSI Micro office in Yellowknife. Photo supplied by Wikicommons.[/caption]

“Northwest is trying to pull, what we can describe quite clearly, as a fast one,” said Procter. “This is a naked grab on their part to run competition out of the market.”

SSI Micro says Northwestel says the prices being made available to retail customers aren’t being made available to them, and offering unlimited internet at those prices is unsustainable.

According to Procter, this means either the company is trying “to run SSI out of business” or, the federal funding Northwestel received is making offering those plans sustainable.

Northwestel had previously announced its plans to make unlimited internet access available in every community in the Northwest Territories, backed by more than $62 million in funding from the CRTC.

Procter said if the federal funding is making the unlimited internet plans sustainable, than Northwestel should offer the same prices to non-retail customers like SSI Micro.

“We understand that Northerners pay too much for internet, we get that — we pay too much for internet,” said Procter. We're not trying to prejudice consumers. On the contrary, we're trying to give proper competition to make sure that competition is maintained in the north, but to make sure that competition is actually healthy competition.”

“By having a monopoly backbone provider, treat so badly, their wholesale customers and give such benefits to the retail customers,” Procter added. “It's clear, something's wrong. We can't stand by and let that happen.”

Northwestel declined to comment on the intervention.

“Our focus is on introducing new Internet services to meet the changing needs of our customers,” Andrew Anderson, Northwestel’s director of communications, said in an email. “We are confident that the services and rates we put forward are balanced and reasonable.”   

Northwestel had announced its unlimited internet plans would be available to order on November 2, but announced on Twitter last week that that date would have to be pushed back, after the CRTC said they needed more time to review their application.

No date has been set for when unlimited internet plans will be rolled out.

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Delays from the federal regulator mean Northwestel won’t be able to roll out its unlimited internet plans on November 2.

The unlimited plans are subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 

Northwestel said in a post to Twitter that the CRTC needed more time to review their proposal, including the pricing for the unlimited plans, which Northwestel released earlier this month.

“The CRTC has informed us they need more time to consider our application for unlimited Internet,” Northwestel wrote on Twitter. “This means the new unlimited plans will not be available November 2.”

The CRTC has informed us they need more time to consider our application for unlimited Internet. This means the new unlimited plans will not be available November 2. We continue to get ready, and we will keep you up to date as we know more.

— northwestel (@northwestel) October 29, 2020

A new date for when NT residents can expect unlimited internet plans to be introduced has not been specified yet.

Unlimited plans are set to be offered first in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Norman Wells, and Hay River, alongside several Yukon and BC communities. Northwestel has plans to bring unlimited internet to every community in the Northwest Territories within three years, according to a press release.

Some NT residents have said they would be unable to afford the proposed prices for the unlimited plans.

Northwestel had proposed to price an unlimited internet plan with 250 Mbps — megabytes per second — download speed at $249.95, compared to $239.95 for a plan with equivalent speeds but a data limit of 750 GB per month.

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