Safe spaces, Sahtu freezers, Smith parents
Plus our photos of the North's top mine rescuers
Hello readers, this is Emily with a helping of Ollie. This week’s newsletter is a bit of a (delayed) double act.
Happy June and happy Pride month! Our colleague Aastha spent time talking with Fort Smith’s Ryker Lonehardt about organizing the Frank Gruben Pride Festival and Ryker’s own journey. Meanwhile, Yellowknife Catholic Schools said a new principal’s ties to some policies pursued by her old school board in Alberta – like avoiding pronouns and removing Pride materials – won’t affect how YCS approaches student safety.
In the latest on tests finding elevated levels of lead at two Yellowknife schools, the NWT government raised concerns about its own testing while the education department’s deputy minister spoke to Cabin Radio about coordination issues – admitting even he didn’t know about the test results for five months, and that was “not good enough.”
Here’s what else has been going on this week. And welcome to our summer interns! We have a packed house: in recent weeks Miriam, Serra, Sara and Elke have all joined us. You’ll find Elke on the air and see bylines from Miriam, Serra and Sara on our website.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Our best stories
What we’re reading
Stories to catch up on
1. YK1 says Jordan’s Principle cuts mean 79 jobs set to be lost
Yellowknife's YK1 school district said 79 educational assistants stand to lose their jobs because of changes to federal Jordan's Principle funding.
2. Sahtu residents point to community freezers as a solution
"Fresh produce goes really fast. What we need goes fast." These residents of Sahtu communities are united by a desire to use more freezers to keep costs down.
3. Fort Smith parents take French education fight to court
A group of seven parents is taking the NWT government to court in the hope of establishing a separate French-language school in Fort Smith.
4. In pictures: More shots of Oilers fans across the NWT
You sent us even more photos of Oilers superfans across the NWT. Here's the latest batch of images – see if you recognize anyone in our gallery.
5. Northern leopard frog assessed as endangered
The northern leopard frog – seen around some southern NWT rivers – is now assessed as endangered in the territory, having previously been listed as threatened.
6. GNWT formally rejects Norman Wells humanitarian aid motion
The GNWT formally dismissed regular MLAs' calls for a territorial state of emergency – and federal humanitarian aid – over Norman Wells' cost of living crisis.
7. In pictures: NWT’s 2025 Mine Rescue Competition
Rescue experts from northern mines compete each year to be crowned the best at what they do. See the winners' list and photos from this year's competition.
8. ‘Extraordinary’ performances break records at Track and Field 2025
The NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River close this year with at least eight broken records and some details still coming in.
9. Parks Canada to spend $16.5M on Tulita office and cultural centre
A new office and cultural centre for the Nááts'įhch'oh National Park Reserve will be built in Tulita, the federal government announced on Friday.
10. $1 million won on scratch ticket in Yellowknife
A Yellowknife woman won $1 million after purchasing a $100 Ultimate Scratch & Win ticket from the Lakeshore Co-op grocery store.
What we’re reading
The great turning
For Canadian Geographic, Laurie Sarkadi writes about the mental health impacts of NWT’s 2023 wildfire season and how to find hope.