Northwest Territories Journalist Profile

Articles

Hay River begins selling Fraser Place lots

Jan 16, 2025 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

The development is part of the Northwest Territories town’s efforts to increase the housing inventory available in the community. “We’ve been operating with essentially a zero residential inventory, so this will replenish that,” said town senior administrative officer Glenn Smith. The project was approved in 2021 after the area was rezoned, though it received pushback from residents concerned about the removal of green space and potential loss of trail access.
NWT residents share their hopes for 2025

Jan 12, 2025 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

Tommy Lafferty says he’s well aware of the toll that drug and alcohol addiction is taking on Behchoko. There is a “pandemic” of overdoses in the Tlicho community of about 2,000 people, he contends, and many of them are not reported as such. He believes similar problems exist in many other small NWT communities. “We hear about overdose cases every week,” he said. “Some are not being diagnosed accordingly or the public isn’t given accurate information, but people and our families talk.
Climate change is coming for Canada’s critical transport infrastructure

Jan 12, 2025 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

When southwestern British Columbia was hit with the historic 2021 atmospheric river, the Port of Vancouver’s operations ground to a halt, stalling billions of dollars in trade for a week. And that’s only the beginning of the upheaval extreme weather and climate change will wreak on our infrastructure and economy. Canada is not ready to deal with the damage climate change will inflict on transportation hubs that safeguard our supply chains, warns a Senate committee report.
Norman Wells mayor criticizes GNWT’s rejection of proposed state of emergency

Jan 12, 2025 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

Although the GNWT insists that it’s committed to continuing to help struggling residents in Norman Wells amid high costs, Mayor Frank Pope has a different perspective. “Nobody’s sitting down talking to us about a proactive plan moving forward,” he said. “That’s one of my biggest concerns right now. Nobody seems to give a rat’s ass.”On Dec.
Hay River Animal Shelter facing unprecedented number of puppies

Dec 11, 2024 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

Hay River is overrun with puppies. That might sound like a dream scenario to some people, but it’s actually a big problem. Dogs are reproducing at such a rate that the local animal shelter can’t find homes for all of them, meaning some will turn into strays and continue to breed. “One of our biggest struggles is the amount of animals that are being bred in Hay River,” said Heather Tybring, one of the operators of the shelter. “We’ve been asked to help with over 60 puppies in the last year alone.
Inflation and barge crisis push Sahtu to look at more food banks

Dec 11, 2024 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

Norman Wells resident Sandy Whiteman wants residents to have healthier, more affordable food options – and use the food bank if they need to. The Northwest Territories community has faced a spike in gas and heating fuel prices in recent months, with fuel coming in by air after the barge resupply season failed. There are also question marks over the future of Imperial Oil, a major employer in the town.
Inuvik increases fire hall fees for false alarms and nuisance calls

Dec 10, 2024 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

The town defines a false alarm as an emergency call that is set off unnecessarily – or a “needless alarm given in error or with intent to deceive.”Inuvik’s director of protective services and fire chief, Brian Larman, said the fee hike was intended partly to recover costs associated with responding to those calls. On Wednesday, town councillors passed a motion accepting the proposed changes.
How a GNWT funding policy change might affect residents’ water bills

Dec 10, 2024 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories government is changing the way it allocates funding to community governments, as we set out earlier this week, with many communities expecting adjustments to the amount of funds they receive starting next year. When the new policy comes into effect, residents might have to pay substantially more for water, according to five people working in community governments who spoke to Cabin Radio for this article.
How is the GNWT changing the way your community is funded?

Dec 10, 2024 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

The policy changes were approved in October 2023, but the GNWT’s Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is now preparing to implement the funding changes that go along with those policies, according to Gary Brennan, deputy minister of Maca. He said the new funding allocations will start coming into effect in April 2025. Under the new policies, many of the territory’s larger communities will see their funding increase.
Ways to ship things in the N.W.T. when you can’t use Canada Post

Dec 10, 2024 | theregional.com | Northwest Territories

If you’re trying to find alternative ways to move gifts or other items while the strike is ongoing, there may be a few options, depending on where you live. We called a range of companies to see what might be available. The options listed below weren’t set up to get around the strike or as a direct response to it, but instead are options that already existed but which you might not know about if you haven’t had to rely on them before. Here’s what we have learned so far.