Protests, premiers and private records
Plus what we're reading
Hello readers, this is Emily, Cabin Radio’s assistant editor with another week of news from across the Northwest Territories.
Premiers from the Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are in Yellowknife this week for the western premiers’ conference to discuss the economy, emergencies and Arctic sovereignty. They took questions from reporters on Thursday afternoon, describing this as “the moment for western Canada.”
As Alberta Premier Danielle Smith joined a reception inside the NWT Legislative Assembly on Wednesday evening, two groups organized rallies that joined forces outside in protest of legislation from Smith’s government that they say could negatively impact the territory.
The Dene Nation expressed support for treaty rights and solidarity with Alberta chiefs opposed to the province seceding from Canada, while the Northern Mosaic Network supported access to gender-affirming care.
Earlier in the day, NWT Premier RJ Simpson dodged some difficult questions about Smith in the legislature. Also discussed was expansion of the territory’s integrated service delivery model, the cost of a new NWT envoy to Ottawa, and the lack of regulation for counsellors and psycotherapists. On Thursday, exchanges about residential school burial sites led to one minister briefly leaving the chamber in tears.
In other news, a new Yellowknife association is aiming to celebrate South Asian heritage, city councillors plan to appoint a runner-up from the 2022 election to fill a vacant council seat, and Chief Adeline Football has been acclaimed to a second term in Wekweètì.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Our best stories
What we’re reading
Stories to catch up on
1. More personal records turn up in old GNWT furniture
Dozens of documents containing sensitive personal information turned up inside a pair of old Yellowknife courthouse desks being sent to a warehouse.
2. ‘I wanted to be the best I could be in my language’
Elders Dora Grandjambe and Cathy Pope have spent a year creating a Dene workbook. Grandjambe says residential school made her determined to share her language.
3. Plan for healthcare change comes with promise to ‘do something’
The NWT health authority's new public administrator set out his plan to turn around healthcare in the face of criticism that staff are taken for granted.
4. Steadily Deadly Fest to melt some faces in Yellowknife
Calling itself "Yellowknife's first punk, metal and alt fest since the early 2000s DIY days," Steadily Deadly Fest features 10 Canadian acts on May 31.
5. NWT’s nursing regulatory body changes licence requirements
The regulatory body for nurses in the NWT and Nunavut made more changes in a bid to make acquiring a nursing license in those territories more straightforward.
6. Listen: Naming the Tthebatthıe Dënésułıné Nation
Chief Thaidene Paulette leads the Tthebatthıe Dënésułıné Nation, which was previously Smith's Landing First Nation. He explained the meaning behind the change.
7. NWT highway restrictions trigger price shock for some businesses
NWT Highway 1 leading up from Alberta is in such bad shape that trucks now have weight limits. For some firms, that came with no warning and means higher costs.
8. Crews find campfires abandoned in YK, Fort Smith, Norman Wells
NWT Fire says crews attended five separate campsites over the holiday weekend at which fires had been abandoned without being put out.
9. Meet two experts looking to help make Hay River safer
Briefings from a psychology professor and a different approach to community development are tools being suggested to help tackle public safety in Hay River.
10. North-Wright Air’s history immortalized in print
Wings Over the Sahtu, a new book, is a love letter to the region that documents the evolution of Norman Wells-based North-Wright Air.
What we’re reading
‘A visceral way of connecting with your culture’: How Isaruit Inuit Arts brings country food to urban Inuit in Ottawa
“Being able to eat your own food is a pillar of culture.” This article in Canadian Geographic explores how an organization is helping Inuit in Ottawa stay connected with their culture and how they get country food from the North to the south.
It’s the Algorithm, Skiers
In this article for Up Here magazine, Amy Kenny writes about how a 14-year-old in Whitehorse is developing an algorithm he hopes Team Canada’s cross-country team will use at the 2026 Olympics.