Yellowknifer

Sechile Sedare, the brother and sister musical duo Jay and Leela Gilday, are bringing their act home to the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre on Friday night. Their new musical compilation has been two years in the making, and it reflects the siblings’ lived experience, according to Leela. Much of that comes from Yellowknife, the place where their parents still live and which they have identified as home since birth, although Jay now resides in Edmonton. Sechile Sedare — the name of

A local lady is looking forward to leading the newly-announced U15 women’s national team announced by Softball Canada. Vernon’s Michelle Webster is the coach of the 22 athletes ahead of the tentatively scheduled WBSC U15 Women’s Pan American Championship in February 2027 in Montería, Colombia. The 2027 championship will build on Canada’s emerging presence in international U15 softball, since Canada made its debut at the U15 Women’s Pan American Championship

The federal government unveiled its spending plans for the next 12 months and in it is one big project that people have been asking about for a long time. The federal budget was released by Finance Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne on Thursday afternoon in the House of Commons and among all of the commitments made by the Liberals – a grand total of $502.8 billion worth – the Mackenzie Valley Highway was among them. A total of $3.1 billion over the next five years has been committ

The next time you’re at the hospital in Hay River, you may notice some changes to the decor in some spots. That’s because the hospital has what’s known as Smilezones. Seven of these sorts of areas were officially unveiled on Oct. 28 and are located within the hallways and exam rooms of the hospital’s primary care department, public health and specialty clinics. Installation of the rooms was completed back in August. Hay River is the first community in the NWT to receive s

Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne unveiled the 2026 budget in Ottawa on Thursday, promising a slew of initiatives to help boost the economy amid trade uncertainty. Titled “Masters of Our Destiny,” the budget document is fully geared toward protecting Canadian economic sovereignty. It also keeps spending in the red for the foreseeable future. This budget projects a $62.3-billion deficit this fiscal year, which would grow slightly to $62.5 billion next year, t

About 15 people turned out to a zine-making workshop at Makerspace Monday night focused on the topic of energy. It was the third zine session — self-published mini magazines — coordinated by Seniors for Climate Change designed to bring people of all ages together to focus on the environment. Presenting was the Mine Training Society’s Steve Daniels, who heads the SNOW program, which trains people in five topics related to environmental stewardship: solar, wind, biomass, small-sc

Four Canadian Armed Forces members injured in the fire at CFB Wainwright have been transferred to health-care facilities in B.C. and Ontario. The transfers follow “careful medical assessment and recommendations from medical professionals,” according to the latest update from the Department of National Defence Wednesday (Nov. 4). The four were moved to be closer to their home communities where they can continue receiving the medical care they need, while being closer to family and lov

Premier John Main will negotiate offshore oil and gas drilling rights after devolution takes effect on April 1, 2027, he announced in the legislative assembly on Nov. 3. Main said the federal government should lift its ban on oil and gas drilling in Arctic waters, which was implemented in 2016. “Nunavut is home to rich resources, and our position is further that Nunavummiut should be put in a position to make the decisions around those resources, not Ottawa,” Main said. The Govern

An NWT delegation was among nearly 2,500 people from roughly 70 countries gathered for the Arctic Circle Assembly from Oct. 8-10 in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital. The three days entailed more than 700 speakers at close to 200 different sessions. NWT Premier R.J. Simpson, who was in attendance, said the assembly focused on security/sovereignty, economic development and infrastructure issues. “With growing international attention on the North, it was an important opportunity to bring

Elected Tlicho leaders are calling for an Indigenous-controlled police force, but the GNWT says it can’t support the idea. Bertha Rabesca Zoe says one of the most important parts of her job as an elected leader is working to address the drug trade within her community. “When pension comes, child tax credit, paydays, income support, those are the days that we hear a lot [of drug trafficking reports],” she said. She’s personally staked out residences suspected of drug tra

The remains of Pte. Aidan Goulding, who was killed in the fire at CFB Wainwright last month, arrived in Vancouver Wednesday. A motorcade excorted the hearse as it left Vancouver International Airport and headed to a funeral home in New Westminster on Nov. 4. Media were invited to the motorcade at the request of Goulding’s family. Goulding, who was from North Vancouver, was one of four people killed in the fire on Oct. 17. Thirty-nine others were seriously injured. Along with Goulding, the

Yellowknife’s new municipal government is officially on the job. Tuesday saw Mayor Melissa Syer and the eight councillors who will serve alongside her officially sworn into office at city hall. City manager Stephen Van Dine oversaw the ceremony while NWT Supreme Court Justice Shannon Smallwood was responsible for ensuring the oaths of office were administered. In opening the event, Van Dine said it was another chapter in how local democracy works. “Those who will take their oaths of

The RCMP are actively investigating what appears to be a recording device found in the girls’ changeroom at Paul William Kaeser (PWK) High School in Fort Smith. The South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC) was first notified of the device on Nov. 2, according to a GNWT news release issued on Nov. 4. The recording device was discovered during ventilation duct cleaning at the school on Nov. 1, according to a release from the SSDEC. According to the news release, the SSDEC immediate

The scholastic volleyball season is officially over in the NWT Senior Spike It! in Yellowknife brought things to a close on Sunday with the eight banners handed out. There were four divisions with two banners up for grabs in each one: Tier 1, which represents the top bracket, and Tier 2 for the lower-ranked playoff teams. In terms of the South Slave, Diamond Jenness Secondary School snagged itself the 18U Boys Tier 2 banner, while Chief Sunrise of KFN scored the Tier 2 banner in the 15U Girls di

Over the past few weeks, we have talked about confidence, belonging, growth and connection. We have looked at what happens when we create spaces where people feel welcome, when we learn together, when we give ourselves permission to try, even when we are not there yet. This week, I want to do something a little different. Instead of giving you something to think about, I want to give you something to try. I have a challenge for you. Do one small thing for someone you do not know. Nothing big. No

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced Russian hockey players will not be granted visas for the 2027 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in Red Deer and Edmonton. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in late October that the Russian Ice Hockey Federation will be allowed to enter a Russian team in all IIHF Championships “with immediate effect.” “The IIHF disagrees with this aspect of the ruling and maintains that its decisions were necessary to protect the safety

Last week, Jean and I went to visit my cousin, Lizzie Beaulieu, in Fort Resolution. She is the matriarch of the Erasmus family. Lizzie is the daughter of my dad’s sister, Caroline, and it was such a pleasure to sit and talk with her. Lizzie said her mother, Caroline Erasmus, married James Bouvier in Fort Providence, and they had three children before he drowned when he went to check the nets one windy day in 1930. Caroline was pregnant with Lizzie at the time. A week after her dad passed,

Multiple MLAs are making repeated calls for the Environment and Climate Change minister to do more in protecting the NWT’s water amid the threat of toxic oil sands mine tailings being dumped into the Athabasca River, which flows north. The Alberta Energy Regulator is not forcing Suncor to undergo a provincial environmental impact assessment in order to release 10 to 12 million cubic metres of “treated wastewater” annually from its oil sands Base Plant into the Athabasca River.

The search for a missing Yellowknife woman has come to a sad end. RCMP announced Wednesday morning that Mary Broussard, 70, was found deceased shortly after the search operation resumed at around 8:30 a.m. She was reported missing on Tuesday, and was last seen on Nov. 1 at 2:30 p.m. near the Bristol Monument Park loop. According to police, K-9 units, ground searchers and drones were part of the search. Yellowknife Search and Rescue (YKSAR) was also part of it and continued the search until the e

Lesa Semmler, former GNWT Health minister, has joined the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), as that organization’s health, wellness and beneficiary services associate executive director, effective Nov. 9. The announcement came on Nov. 3, shortly after the IRC concluded an investigation into its chair and CEO, Erwin Elias, and cleared him of any bylaws breach. Semmler will work alongside health, wellness and beneficiary services executive director Evelyn Storr. The IRC stated that S