Military hubs, MLAs and music awards
Plus watch the opening day of the Snowkings' Winter Festival
Hello readers, this is Emily, Cabin Radio’s assistant editor.
It’s been a busy news week here in the North with northern premiers responding to US tariffs and the federal government announcing Yellowknife, Inuvik and Iqaluit as the Canadian military's first northern operational support hubs – with a huge increase in funding on what had previously been committed.
This week, the Canadian government also increased the NWT’s borrowing limit by 72 percent and appointed a ministerial special representative to assess Giant Mine’s impacts on historical treaty rights to advance reconciliation.
Meanwhile, in the NWT Legislative Assembly, Speaker of the House Shane Thompson urged territorial politicians to do better while addressing recent complaints among MLAs.
Territorial politicians also discussed dropping vaccination rates in the territory, a shortage of vacant medical travel accommodations in Yellowknife, the future of the Yellowknife Literary Outreach Centre, funding gaps for the Arctic Energy Alliance and the cost of living crisis in Norman Wells.
At City Hall, Yellowknife councillors scrapped a deal with Aurora College that reserved green space in the municipality for development of a university campus. The college then spent Thursday defending its decision to close all 19 community learning centres and setting out its vision for a replacement that will be largely online.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Our best stories
Check out the Snowcastle
What we’re reading
Stories to catch up on
1. Northview describes ‘shocking crisis’ in NWT rental landscape
"The scale of this crisis is almost unimaginable." In a rare on-record briefing, Northview – the NWT's biggest landlord – set out a relentlessly bleak picture.
2. A major mine owner asked the GNWT for change. What happened next?
Burgundy, the owner of the Ekati diamond mine, sent the NWT's premier a letter in September demanding more government support. Did anything end up changing?
3. NWT ministers tackle questions in annual ‘bear pit’
Every year, community leaders get a meeting dubbed "the bear pit" to at which to question NWT ministers. Here are some of the topics from this year's event.
4. Yellowknife’s Ukrainian dance concert comes at a powerful moment
"Part of this is just trying to stay strong." The Aurora Ukrainian Dancers' spring recital arrives at a meaningful moment for Yellowknife's Ukrainian community.
5. Women in Music Canada to recognize northerners
Leela Gilday will get a career achievement award at Thursday's Women in Music Canada Honours. Carly McFadden is nominated for her work with Folk on the Rocks.
6. North West may face Nutrition North suit as program review begins
The North West Company could face a class action lawsuit related to its use of Nutrition North funding. Separately, the federal program is being reviewed.
7. Listen: Pat Kane and Amber Bracken on identity in photography
Can top photographers ever just switch off? Here's how Amber Bracken and Yellowknife's Pat Kane – veterans of the likes of National Geographic – approach that.
8. What the NWT can learn from Lytton about climate resilience
The rebuild director of Lytton First Nation spoke to NWT community leaders about what the territory can learn from the BC village's wildfire recovery.
9. In a divisive world, an Arctic operation highlights collaboration
Even as US-Canada relations reached a new low, a joint military training operation in the Canadian Arctic sought to reinforce cooperation on defence.
10. ‘You have to come out and see it,’ say YK’s winter mountain bikers
"This is a fun time of year. We get that fast and flowy stuff." Cabin Radio spent some time on Tin Can Hill with Yellowknife's mountain bike club.
Opening day of the Snowkings’ Winter Festival
The front doors of the Snowcastle on Yellowknife Bay were sawn open on March 1, officially launching the 2025 Snowkings’ Winter Festival.
If you missed the grand event, don’t worry, Jasmine Nasogaluak and Ehxea Antoine were there to document the occasion.
Events will be held at the Snowcastle throughout the month of March.
What we’re reading
Canada has long branded itself as an Arctic power. It’s time to start acting like one
In this Op-ed published by the Globe and Mail, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed writes about the importance of Inuit participation in the future of Canada’s Arctic.
Marking Ramadan At Canada's 'Little Mosque On The Tundra'
Inuvik is home to the northernmost mosque in the western hemisphere. For Agence France-Presse, Daphné Lemelin writes about how Muslim members of the Arctic community are celebrating Ramadan.
The Story of Sugarcane, Canada’s Oscar Contender
Sugarcane, which follows an inquiry into unmarked graves at a BC residential school, is the first film by an Indigenous North American filmmaker to be nominated for an Oscar. For Maclean’s, Rebecca Gao spoke with the directors about their film and what the Oscar nomination means for Indigenous storytelling.
As Facebook Abandons Fact-Checking, It’s Also Offering Bonuses for Viral Content
For ProPublica, Craig Silverman writes about how Meta has stopped working with US fact checkers at the same time as it’s revamping a program that pays bonuses for high engagement, and the possible consequences for the spread of false information.