News

A communications outage is effecting landline telephone calls in Tuktoyaktuk, said RCMP in an announcement issued this afternoon. Police are advising anyone in the area in need of police services and unable to use their phone, to go directly to the police station The communications company is working on the issue but it is unclear when telephone landline access will be restored.

A 30-year-old suspect is facing charges after an alleged knife assault involving a security guard yesterday in the city of Yellowknife. “On December 18th at approximately 12:03 p.m. Yellowknife RCMP received a report that a security guard had been attacked by a person with a knife at an apartment building in the downtown area of Yellowknife. The security guard was able to escape uninjured,” said police.

On Saturday Ecology North is hosting the annual Christmas Bird Count, a community event led by local bird expert Reid Hildebrandt. Last year, the count recorded nearly 3,000 individual birds during the daytime, including 14 different bird species and two rare species in the Yellowknife area alone. The count has been going on for nearly 40 years, explains Dawn Tremblay, who is the executive director of Ecology North. “The results from last year showed 2783 individual birds,” says Tremblay.

The sun last rose on Dec, 4 in Inuvik and with full darkness covering the haunting beauty of the Arctic landscape, the community has decorated their homes and the town with outdoor lights for the winter festivities. “We enjoy seeing the lights here in the community, it's pretty dark this time of year, so it really brightens up the whole group, the whole town,” Amanda Szedo, who is a special projects and events coordinator with the town of Inuvik.

Minister Rebecca Alty and Minister Caitlin Cleveland announced that the Ekati Diamond Mine will receive a federal loan of over $100 million. In response, Minister Cleveland says the federal decision will help provide support at a difficult time for workers, their families, Northern contractors and communities. The minister adds that financing decisions alone will not resolve pressures to support and protect Northern workers and businesses.

Students from École St. Patrick’s High School braved the minus 30 degree cold to form a “human chain” from the school to the city’s main food bank at the Salvation Army this afternoon. Community outreach is a big part of the school’s culture all year round with awareness events, fundraisers and food collections happening each month of the year and today was no exception. Nearly 600 students were involved in the food drive.

“We are in active conversations with other jurisdictions to ensure pathways are available if any necessary services become no longer available in Alberta.” Health officials in the territory are assuring that they remain committed to providing gender-affirming care and ensuring that care remains accessible and publicly funded for NWT residents, including youth, but advocates are calling for alternative pathways to be made accessible now.

The GNWT announced that two schools in the South Slave region have tested positive for elevated levels of lead in drinking water. According to testing results being released across the territory, ten of 13 schools so far had elevated levels of lead in drinking water. The GNWT plans to test all schools since launching a comprehensive testing protocol in the fall. 

A 23-year old suspect from B.C. is facing charges after a tip led to an alleged seizure of a knife, cash and “unlabeled pills” at an airport in Fort Good Hope yesterday morning.