The Week's News: The 'concrete jungle,' new roads and the Zoo
Plus dinosaurs, giraffes and an alien put on a show at a Yellowknife school
Dearest readers (yes, I did just finish watching season 3 of Bridgerton), this is Emily, Cabin Radio’s assistant editor.
People across Canada celebrated National Indigenous Peoples Day on Friday. Here in Yellowknife, hundreds of people came out to the North Slave Métis Alliance’s fish fry. The Yellowknives Dene First Nation held a gathering at the sacred Wıìlıìdeh Site while still finding a way to let people watch the Oilers game.
In other news, two big infrastructure projects in the North are making headway.
The federal government announced up to $25 million to build a permanent highway from Highway 7 to the proposed Prairie Creek mine in the NWT’s Dehcho region. Meanwhile, the company behind the massive Grays Bay project, which proposes an Arctic deepwater port and an infrastructure corridor connecting Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region to southern Canada, said it is restarting the environmental assessment process.
In wildfire news, while the fire threatening Fort Good Hope jumped a containment line north of the community on Wednesday night, firefighters were able to protect the community and douse those hotspots.
Also this week, we had an update on a scorpion that ended up in Yellowknife, a relic from the most famous bar in the NWT found a new home, and Fort Smith’s Jane Dragon was appointed to the Order of Canada.
Read on to see highlights from a show put on by Yellowknife teachers and a preview of this weekend’s Emo Night.
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
Our most important stories
Yellowknife’s masked singer
A sample of Emo night
What we’re reading
Stories to catch up on
Icon of an ‘incredibly wild’ past finds a home on Hay River’s horizon
The Zoo is a part of Hay River legend, a bar considered "the most famous in all of the Northwest Territories." Now, its old sign has a permanent home.
‘You send an Elder to the concrete jungle and expect them to survive’
At a briefing on systemic racism in NWT health, MLAs heard language help isn't always there when it's needed, leaving patients reliant on relatives – or alone.
‘The homeless, they’re not here. You’re speaking on their behalf’
At a community roundtable on homelessness, Yellowknife advocates said the voices of people experiencing homelessness need to be heard when drawing up solutions.
Fort Smith’s Jane Dragon becomes Member of the Order of Canada
Fort Smith Elder Jane Dragon was hailed as a "pillar in her community" as the governor general's office announced her appointment to the Order of Canada.
‘I’m going crazy.’ YK woman faces three-month wait for CT scan
A 75-year-old says she's in "extreme pain" while waiting three months for a scan in Yellowknife. Officials say demand has almost tripled in less than a decade.
Inuvik hospital breached employee’s rights, adjudicator finds
An NWT human rights adjudicator found Inuvik's hospital breached a worker's right to medical confidentiality and discriminated against him based on disability.
Listen: The song of a Truth and Reconciliation commissioner
Listen to a conversation with former Truth and Reconciliation commissioner Marie Wilson, a Yellowknifer whose new book "takes people on the journey" of the TRC.
Businesses led by women rejuvenate a formerly dusty Yellowknife mall
For years, Yellowknife's Center Ice Plaza was a shopping afterthought. Now, women leading a range of small businesses are breathing new life into it.
Gahcho Kué says it has passed $2 billion in NWT spending
As the NWT searches for an economic successor to diamonds, the Gahcho Kué mine said its lifetime spend in the NWT had passed more than $2 billion.
Tony the scorpion finds new purpose at Royal Alberta Museum
Tony the scorpion, found in a Yellowknife bathroom, is now destined for a life of luxury in Alberta, teaching children about the international wildlife trade.
Virtual club for teen chefs launches in four NWT communities
After a culinary program in British Columbia became a hit among teenagers, the Northwest Territories has decided to introduce one of its own.
Late Fort Smith veteran honoured for historical military role
Alexander Kennedy, who joined the 1880s Nile Expedition before moving to Fort Smith, is being honoured and given a new headstone at a ceremony in the town.
From toddlers to Elders, a Yellowknife hide camp reaches everyone
At a hide camp in front of a Yellowknife school, you can find everything from kids learning traditional games to adult students practising their Tłı̨chǫ.
The Masked Singer: Yellowknife teacher edition
Teachers and support staff at Yellowknife’s NJ Macpherson School ended the academic year with their own version of The Masked Singer.
Some of the teachers made things even more challenging by lip-syncing to their backing track – in other words, not singing at all – which meant students had to establish who they were from their dancing alone
Watch: A preview of Emo night
Musician Tyler White-Keyes joined Jesse Wheeler and AJ Goodwin on Mornings at the Cabin ahead of Emo Night at the Top Knight in Yellowknife.
What we’re reading
The 2024 Audubon Photo Awards: The Top 100
Every year, Audubon magazine holds an annual photo competition. This year it published the top 100 photos from more than 8,500 submissions across the US and Canada, taking readers on “a dazzling tour of the avian world” from an American avocet in Utah to a flightless cormorant on the Galápagos Islands.
Ontario MP apologizes for Canada map that combines two territories
The territories are often overlooked in Canada-wide data reports and polls, but rarely are they left out of national maps. Ottawa Centre Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi recently apologized after mailing a map to constituents that forgot the border between the Yukon and Northwest Territories among other errors.
How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
I first learned about the widespread issue of forever chemicals from the film Dark Waters, based on the true story of Robert Bilott's fight against chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont. (I highly recommend his book of the same name on the case.) For ProPublica, Sharon Lerner writes about former 3M employee Kris Hansen's research – which found fluorochemicals were in people’s bodies – and efforts to silence that work.