Nunatsiaq News

The broken child welfare system in Nunavut is rooted in the territorial government’s colonial approach to the problem, say some with years of experience with the system. “The taking of Indigenous children never stopped at residential school,” said Jeremy Young, who was separated from his mother as a child. “It only continued with foster care.” Young spoke to Nunatsiaq News about his experience in Nunavut’s foster care system Thursday in response to the latest report by the federal au

For the English version of this story, please see NuBrew stops canning, blames regulatory changes. ᓄᓇᕗᒥᑦ ᕕᐊᓕᐅᖅᑏᑦ, ᐊᑕᐅᓯᑐᐊᖅ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᕕᐊᓕᐅᖅᕕᒃ, ᓄᖅᑲᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᕕᐊᓕᐅᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐅᑯᐊ ᓄᓇᕗᒥᑦ ᐃᒥᐊᓗᒃᒧᑦ ᑲᒥᓴᓐᑯᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔩᑎᓪᓗᒋ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐃᒥᐊᓗᒃ ᐊᑭᓕᐅᑎᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ. ᐊᑭᑦᑐᕆᐊᕐᓂᐅᔪᖅ ᒪᑯᓄᖓ ᓄᓇᕗᒥᑦ ᐃᒥᐊᓗᒃᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓱᐴᕐᑐᒐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐅᑯᓇᙵᑦ ᑲᒥᓴᓐᑯᓐᓂ ᐅᑯᓄᖓ ᓄᓇᕗᒥᑦ ᕕᐊᓕᐅᖅᑎᒃᑯᓐᓄ 76 ᐳᓴᓐᑎᒥ ᐊᑭᑭᓐᓂᕐᓴᐅᕙᓚᐅᕐᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᒪᑯᓇᙵᓪᓕ ᕕᐊᓂ ᓄᓇᕗᒧᑦ ᑎᑭᑎᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ. ᐱᒋᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᔫᓂ 1 ᑖᓐᓇ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᙱᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᒥᒃᖠᕚᓕᕈᑎᐅᓚᐅᕐᑐᖅ 40 ᐳᓴᓐᑎᒥ. “ᐊᔾᓕᒋᙱᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᖓᓕ ᐊᑭᑦᑐᕆᐊᕈᑎᒋᔭᕗᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐅᑯᐊ ᐊᖏᔪᑦ ᕕᐊᓕᐅᕐᕕᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᑯᑎᑐᓇᖅ ᐋᓐᕼᐊᐅᓱ-ᐳᔅ ᒥᒃᖠᕚᓪᓕᓚᐅᕐᒪᓐ,”

Aqqusariaq Recovery Centre will open its doors to the public for the first time next week in an open house. Health Minister Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster announced the event in a minister’s statement in the legislative assembly Wednesday. She announced the open house, hosted by the territorial government, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and Indigenous Services Canada, will take place on Nov. 13, but did not announce a time. “This will be an opportunity for Nunavummiut to tour Aqqusariaq and recognize

This story was updated on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Hamlet of Gjoa Haven has called off a search for an elder who went missing two weeks ago. On the morning of Oct. 21, 84-year-old David Siksik left home on his Honda ATV without a satellite messenger device to set fishing nets at a lake about 32 kilometres north of the community. He never returned home, though his son, Allen Siksik, still believes he might. “I do have hope,” Siksik said in an interview Thursday. &#82

A Quebec coroner is investigating the death of a four-year-old Inuk girl who died while under the supervision of Montreal’s youth protection services. The girl, whose mother is from Nunavik, died in a hospital on March 31, after a worker at Batshaw Youth and Family Centres failed to respond to a request for an urgent visit at her family home, according to reporting by Radio-Canada. “We can confirm that an investigation into the causes and circumstances of this death is being conducte

The Government of Nunavut plans to issue a new request for proposals for the operation of Larga Baffin, a boarding home for Inuit travelling to Ottawa for medical reasons. The move is the latest in protracted negotiations between Larga Baffin Ltd., the facility’s current operator, and the territorial government, and could affect expansion plans for the facility. Larga Baffin submitted a response to the GN’s initial request for proposals, which closed in May 2024, to operate the board

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the territory’s three regional Inuit associations are holding elections to fill a variety of leadership positions. The nomination period for those hoping to fill two vice-presidential roles up for grabs at NTI opened Monday and will close on Friday. The two vice-president positions appears to be a change from the organization’s current structure. Paul Irngaut is currently the NTI vice-president but going back to 2010, NTI held elections for two vice-preside

Iqaluit’s Astro Theatre was filled with people Tuesday evening for the première of a documentary that follows a group of tuberculosis survivors and youth as they find closure over their forced relocations decades ago. Between the 1940s-1960s, the federal government transported thousands of Inuit to southern sanatoriums for tuberculosis treatment without their consent or without informing them about what was happening. Many Inuit never returned home. Taqqut Productions joined hands with The

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. will receive $65.3 million in federal funding for Inuit housing over five years, an expenditure MP Lori Idlout says is welcome but must be part of a long-term commitment to address the territory’s housing crisis. “I know that when I still go to the communities, housing is always the first thing that’s mentioned to me as an important issue,” Idlout said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s great to see our government hearing that.” The funding comes from a $13

One day after the federal auditor general’s office published its latest report on the state of Nunavut’s foster care system, Premier John Main pledged his government will do better. “This report is upsetting,” Main said during a news conference at the legislative assembly Wednesday. “The responsibilities that lie with our government are serious and we need to live up to the duties that have been entrusted to us.” Deputy auditor general Andrew Hayes tabled the report, Foster Care in Nunavut

Two years after a police intervention in Salluit ended with Joshua Papigatuk dead and his twin brother Garnet Papigatuk seriously injured, Quebec prosecutors have decided whether the officers involved will face criminal charges but are waiting to speak to the family before making their decision public. Lucas Bastien, spokesperson for the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, said an announcement is expected soon but did not specify when. “Our decision to proceed or not can only be made pu

This story was updated on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, at 5:53 p.m. ET. Nunavut’s Department of Family Services “did not provide timely and effective foster care services to protect and support the safety and well-being of children,” says Canada’s deputy auditor general Andrew Hayes. Family Services Minister Gwen Healey Akearok sits in the Legislative Assembly last week. On Tuesday, Canada’s auditor general published a report that found her department “did not provide timely and effe

The federal government has topped up a cabin program meant to reduce homelessness in Nunavut, Family Services Minister Gwen Healey Akearok announced Oct. 27. Close to $514,000 will go towards the territory’s Ikur’raq Cabins Initiative, a project meant to give people a temporary place of respite from overcrowding, violence and addiction issues. The money will fund 15 cabins. “Out-of-shelter homelessness is a major public health and safety issue,” Akearok said in her minister’s stateme

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. has set a new vision for responding to climate change in the territory. The plan – Anijaarniq Strategy: An Inuit Approach to Addressing Climate Change in Nunavut – identifies 15 goals based on engagement sessions with Nunavummiut.  Nunavut’s three Inuit associations, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, Kivalliq Inuit Association, and Qikiqtani Inuit Association hosted the workshops over 2024 and 2025.  “This is one of the most intensive processes I believe that we

Updated on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 at 3 p.m. ET A former Kinngait RCMP officer faces two counts of sexual assault for incidents alleged to have occurred while he was posted to the community’s detachment. The Nunavut RCMP announced the charges against Edward George Zacher Tuesday in a news release. Later that day, RCMP released an update saying Calgary police laid the charges, but did not say when that happened. Zacher is described in the news release as a “former” Nunavut RCMP of

This story was updated Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, at 6:05 p.m. ET. Brian Koonoo has resigned as a Nunavut cabinet minister effective immediately, Premier John Main announced Monday evening, citing “personal reasons.” In an interview, Koonoo said “there’s probably 10,000 reasons” for his decision. “The main parts are my family’s homesick and we want to be together again,” he said. “And I would like to start supporting my constituency more in a full capa

Nunavut’s cabinet ministers will discuss a proposed pilot project that would see only Inuit hired for territorial government positions in the Kitikmeot Region. Human Resources Minister Annie Tattuinee says she will bring a proposal for a Kitikmeot-based Inuit hiring pilot project to cabinet. (Photo by Daron Letts) Cambridge Bay MLA Fred Pedersen pitched the idea in the legislative assembly Monday. “We can take it into consideration,” said Human Resources Minister Annie Tattuinee. Pedersen’

Forty-seven girls in Iqaluit trained with a professional women’s hockey team over the weekend. From right, players Sophia Mearns, Mary Suvega, Olivia Sulurayok and Hazel Kilukishak, in the back, await their turn to get back onto the ice between drills at a Nunavut Ukpiit Hockey Association camp. (Photo by Lilli Akpaleeapik) The Nunavut Ukpiit Hockey Association hosted the camp Friday to Sunday at the Arctic Winter Games Arena in collaboration with the Toronto Sceptres, a Professional Women

A 14-year-old girl who was reported missing in Ottawa in the 1000 block of Gladstone Avenue last week has been found “safe and sound,” police say. The Ottawa Police Service issued a release on Oct. 29 saying that the youth went missing the evening prior. Police spokesperson Julie Kavanagh told Nunatsiaq News by email that the girl was found Oct. 30, two days after police first appealed to the public for help.