Nunatsiaq News

Gjoa Haven residents can now drink tap water without boiling it first, after the Department of Health lifted the community’s boil water advisory, which was in place for nearly seven months. Last Friday, the Government of Nunavut received two consecutive bacteriological samples for Gjoa Haven, said health department spokesperson Charmaine Deogracias in an interview. Both tested negative for fecal coliform and total coliform — bacteria that can indicate contamination from human or animal waste. Re

After a series of delays, Simeonie Issigaitok has received a four-and-a-half year sentence in a federal penitentiary for sexually touching children under the age of 16. Court staff brought the 73-year-old Sanirajak man from into an Iqaluit courtroom Tuesday in a wheelchair. Through an interpreter, he listened expressionless, occasionally nodding his head, as Justice Christian Lyons read his sentence. “Vulnerability of Inuit children and, in particular Inuit girls, is demonstrated by the persiste

A new cancer-fighting partnership between the City of Iqaluit and Qikiqtani General Hospital might be the first such collaboration in the world, says the Ontario doctor behind the research that made the partnership possible. Dr. Matthew Kwon, a family physician at the hospital, made a pitch to city council July 28 to waive fees at the Iqaluit Aquatic Centre for 10 cancer patients, based on research in an article in the June 2025 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. Kwon is working on

Photographs taken in the 1960s are heading back to one of the Kugaaruk families they depict, thanks to help from an amateur historian based in Nashville. Lucy Immingark of Kugaaruk plans to display the photos at the hamlet office. (Photo courtesy of Lucy Immingark) Jim Miller’s late grandmother discovered the photos in the mid-1980s in the trash room of her Burlington, Ont., apartment building. The nine colour images show Inuit building an igloo, drying fish and enjoying the warmth of a qu

For the English version of this story, please see Larga Kitikmeot boarding home in Yellowknife to open in 2027. ᓛᒐ ᕿᑎᕐᒥᐅᑦ, ᑐᓂᓯᕙᒃᑐᒥ ᑐᔪᕐᒥᓂᕐᒥ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᐊᐅᓪᓛᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᔭᓗᓇᐃᕝᒧᑦ ᐃᓅᓕᓴᖅᑕᐅᔭᖅᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᔪᒥ ᑐᔪᕐᒥᕕᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᐅᔪᒥ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᐅᓂᖓᓂ ᐊᖏᓂᖅᓴᒧᑦ ᐃᓇᖏᖅᓯᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥ ᒪᑐᐃᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑦ ᐊᐅᔭᐅᓛᖅᑐᒥ. ᐱᖓᓱᓂ-ᖁᓕᓕᖕᓂᑦ ᑐᔪᕐᒥᕕᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ 5602 50 Ave.−ᒥ, ᓇᖕᒥᓂᕆᔭᐅᔪᒥ ᕿᑎᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᑎᒥᖁᑕᐅᔪᓂ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓄᓇᓯ ᑎᒥᖁᑕᐅᔪᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᖃᕋᓴᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᔪᓚᐃ 21−ᒥ $4.25 ᒥᓕᐊᓐᓄᑦ. ᓄᑖᖑᔪᖅ 75-ᓂ ᐃᒡᓗᕈᓯᓕᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᓇᑉᐸᖅᑎᕆᔭᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᖅ 346 Borden Dr.−ᒥ, 6-ᒥᓂᑦᒥ ᐊᖁᓐᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᔪᒥ ᐃᒡᓗᕐᔪᐊᖑᔪᒥ, ᖃᓱᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᐊ

While many Iqaluit residents head onto the land with ATVs during the summer, Police officers are doing the same. Members of the public might see officers patrolling Iqaluit and Apex on the detachment’s pair of Polaris Sportsman 570 ATVs. They’re getting on their quads as part of a community outreach project that aims to increase visibility — particularly in places harder to access in traditional police vehicles, like the beachfront, the old airport, Sylvia Grinnell Park, the Road to Nowher

For the English version of this story, please see Kinngait walks away with Nunavut’s most active community title. ᑭᙵᐃᑦ ᓵᓚᒃᓴᐅᓯᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᓄᓇᕗᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᓵᓚᒃᓴᕋᓱᑎᒥ ᑕᒪᑐᒪᓂ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᒧᑦ ᖃᓗᐃᓕᐅᓛᖑᓇᓱᒃᑐᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ. ᕼᐋᒻᒪᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᓵᓚᒃᓴᖅᑐᑦ 2026-ᒥ ᐹᑎᓯᐹᒃᓴᓐᑯᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖅᑎᑎᓂᖏᓐᓂ, ᓵᓚᒃᓴᐅᓯᐊᖅᖢᑎ $10,000-ᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᐱᙳᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᖅᑲᐃᓕᓴᕈᑎᒃᓴᓄᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᖢᓂ. “ᐅᓇ ᐱᐅᔪᖅ ᓇᓕᐊᓐᓄᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓄᑦ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᒥ ᐊᑎᓕᐅᓚᐅᕋᑦᑕ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᑎᐅᓇᓱᒃᑐᒥ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᖁᕕᐊᓱᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᒃᑯᓕᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑕ ᓵᓚᒃᓴᕋᑦᑕᒎᖅ,” ᑭᙵᐃᑦ ᒪᐃᔭᖓ ᔨᒥ ᐋᓂᖕ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᕐᑐᖅ ᐊᐱᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᕐᑐᖅ 385-ᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒦᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ

Kathleen Lanoue Suicide is a difficult topic to think and talk about. Please take care while reading this. Suicide, the act of taking one’s own life, is a declared crisis in Nunavut. The Canadian Mental Health Association says rates of suicide in Nunavut are between five and 25 times higher than the national average. Canada’s history and treatment of Indigenous Peoples has contributed to why this social problem exists. Suicide is distress response, loss of hope and safety, and perception t

Everyone knows about the Titanic, the ship built to be unsinkable. Great hype surrounded its launch and sea trials. When it was ready to begin its maiden voyage, it left Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. All went well until April 14, when it suddenly collided with an iceberg. The ship went to the bottom of the Atlantic. Of the 2,200 passengers aboard, almost 1,500 people died. Greenland had its own version of the Titanic. It was not as large a ship, but the disaster, to the people of Gre

So far, Nunatsiaq News has dedicated three stories — a total of 696 words — to what came of the Greenland flag that Iqaluit city councillors voted in January to hoist in solidarity with their northern neighbours, after threats from United States President Donald Trump. Why do we care so much? It’s just a flag. The City of Iqaluit is responsible for many other more important things, like zoning issues, firefighting, animal control, and allocating hundreds of millions of dollars in water and

It’s time for your weekly checkup: How much information have you retained from last week’s news? Let’s get rollin’! 1. What is the biggest cost Nunavut’s government incurs in health-care delivery, according to Premier John Main? A. Hospital and clinic maintenance B. Jet fuel for medevacs and medical travel C. Payroll 2. Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa had nice words to say about Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Minister Rebecca Alty, whom he knows personall

Water deliveries and sewage pump-outs in Baker Lake are delayed this week due to a fuel shortage in the community. The Hamlet of Baker Lake issued a public service announcement Thursday about the issue, advising people to conserve water until the next fuel resupply comes. Nunatsiaq News asked the hamlet of Baker Lake and the Government of Nunavut why there is a fuel shortage in the community and what other effects residents might be experiencing due to the fuel shortage, but did not receive an a

Drum dancer Donovan Gordon-Tootoo says he was surprised to learn he already knew many of the Inuit artists he is set to share the stage with Saturday at the launch of a new Ottawa concert series highlighting Inuit music from across the circumpolar Arctic. “Being able to perform with people I’ve known for a while and getting the chance to see them highlight their skills and talents – it’s exciting,” Gordon-Tootoo said Friday in an interview. He’s scheduled to be the opening act

RCMP in Arviat are asking for the public’s help in finding who is behind several tire slashing incidents over the past few months. The first incident was reported on April 16, police said Wednesday in a news release. Since then, there have been five other tire slashing incidents in the hamlet, mainly affecting Eskimo Point Lumber Supplies and the local elder’s centre, said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. George Henrie in an email. The incidents have caused more than $20,000 in estimated damag

The blood was fake, but the standing ovation on July 7 was bona fide after Mistress Aurora’s first-place drag performance at the Lookout Bar and Nightclub in Ottawa’s Byward Market. Mistress Aurora is the G-rated version of the stage name used by Iqaluit’s Nuka Fennell, a transgender woman rising up in Ottawa’s professional drag scene. Before her second act, the crew covered the stage in plastic. In gothic attire and glamorous mascara, the artist strutted into the spotlight wearing a long black

Housing in Nunavut is getting more unaffordable, and this problem is especially bad for Inuit, finds a report released Wednesday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The report explores housing conditions in Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Whitehorse, including trends in supply and demand, as well as affordability and the role of public housing. CMHC compared data collected in 2025 to those in its last northern housing report, released in 2021. Iqaluit residents put an average 56 per cent of their

A Quebec Chief Justice has ruled that a class action lawsuit alleging Inuit detainees were held longer than legally permitted before receiving bail hearings will remain in Montreal instead of moving to Amos, where many members were jailed. Lawyer Alexandre Brosseau-Wery, who represents plaintiff Michael Carrier, argued that the same transportation challenges cited in the lawsuit would make it harder for class members to participate in the case. Carrier, who is from Kangirsuk, filed the lawsuit i

Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona stands below the reproduction of her Sedna wall hanging installed on a parking garage on York Street in the ByWard Market as part of Ottawa’s Arts Corridor public art route. (Photo courtesy of Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona) The work of an Inuk artist based in Ottawa has reached a scale she has never before experienced: towering several storeys above a street as part of a new downtown art display. “I think this is one of the first times that my artwork has been bigger than me,” Ga