Latest Election News

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Dehcho region education system faces ‘formal review’ by independent investigator CKLB 101.9
June 20, 2025
...review will examine whether governance and operational responsibilities are being fulfilled by all parties,' says Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland “Over the past several months, the Government of the Northwest Territories has heard serious concerns from parents, educators, community members, and...
Assembly hears financial costs of First Responder Bill My Yellow Knife Now
June 20, 2025
...firefighters including Christian Bittrolff, local 2890 president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, and MLAs Robert Hawkins and Kieron Testart. The Bill aims to make it easier for first responders to access health care services and workers’ compensation for common conditions in the line...
Minister launching investigation into Dehcho ‘education concerns’ Cabin Radio
June 20, 2025
...this week on calls for the principal at Fort Simpson’s elementary school to be removed. In a Friday afternoon news release, education minister Caitlin Cleveland announced an independently led investigation will begin next month. She said the GNWT had heard concerns related to “governance, financial...
Did Indigenous Services Canada know the NWT has almost no reserves? Cabin Radio
June 20, 2025
...in Inuvik in June 2025. Tony Devlin/Arctic Development Expo Premier RJ Simpson, Wawzonek, education minister Caitlin Cleveland and health minister Lesa Semmler all say they have met with federal counterparts about this issue – and others – in recent weeks. “I’m not in the room when the federal...
Indigenous leaders and GNWT reps gather in times marked by “uncertainty” My Yellow Knife Now
June 19, 2025
...Premier R.J. Simpson, Deputy Premier Caroline Wawzonek, Minister Lesa Semmler, Minister Caitlin Cleveland, Minister Vince McKay and Minister Lucy Kuptana. The Northwest Territories Council of Leaders Memorandum of Understanding was signed by leadership in June 2021. The MOU’s four year term and...
Ministers call for federal action to protect Jordan’s Principle My Yellow Knife Now
June 12, 2025
...a trip to Ottawa, the Honourable Minister Caitlin Cleveland and the Honourable Minister Lesa Semmler issued a joint statement yesterday on recent changes to Jordan’s Principle, urging swift federal action to protect the program. Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty, Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Danny...
N.W.T. ministers press feds to maintain Jordan’s Principle funding through 2026 CBC North
June 12, 2025
...Education District No. 1 (YK1) alone, schools are bracing to lose 79 EAs. On a trip to Ottawa earlier this month, N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland said she and other N.W.T. cabinet ministers stressed the urgency of the funding, in as many meetings as they could. "If you want more tradespeople,...
Ottawa ‘undermining intent of Jordan’s Principle,’ NWT ministers say Cabin Radio
June 11, 2025
Two NWT ministers say the federal government’s changes to Jordan’s Principle threaten to break promises that the program was set up to fulfill. Schools in the territory say dozens of educational assistants are set to be laid off following changes to Jordan’s Principle announced in February. The YK1 school district told those workers it had not heard back from Jordan’s Principle managers about the funding required to sustain the positions. Ministers met with Ottawa counterpartsIn their message, the NWT ministers said families were being “left to fight for services their children need and deserve” through the Jordan’s Principle changes, a blunt rebuke of Ottawa in terms the territory rarely uses. In sum, the ministers said the current federal approach “risks undermining the very intent of Jordan’s Principle” that no First Nations child should be denied access to services because of jurisdictional wrangling or administrative hurdles.
‘Heartbroken’ school staff mull future after Jordan’s Principle cuts Cabin Radio
June 9, 2025
...francophone school board said three of its support assistant positions may be in jeopardy – communities beyond Yellowknife are also hit. MLA Richard Edjericon has described multiple jobs being lost in places like Łútsël K’é and Fort Resolution. In total, the NWT’s Department of Education, Culture...
YK1 says Jordan’s Principle cuts mean 79 jobs set to be lost Cabin Radio
June 3, 2025
...YK1 stated. The extent to which other school districts in the NWT are affected was not immediately clear. In late May, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon said for weeks, “schools across the North have watched as their applications for Jordan’s Principle funding for the fall have come back denied,...
NWT goes back to Ottawa for more Fort Prov transmission line cash Cabin Radio
June 2, 2025
...it hoped to have the transmission line built and operational by the spring of 2026. However, that has changed again. In the legislature last week, Caroline Wawzonek – in her new role as minister of “strategic infrastructure, energy and supply chains” – said the GNWT has now asked for 100-percent federal...
When will the NWT’s new public safety legislation kick in? Cabin Radio
May 30, 2025
...Act – allowing property connected to crime to be frozen or taken away from someone – and a Trespass Act, which the NWT currently lacks. Jay Macdonald, who recently took over from Simpson as justice minister, said the Scan and civil forfeiture pieces of work are “a lot more complex” than the...
Jordan’s Principle funding shortfalls fail students with loss of teaching assistants CKLB 101.9
May 29, 2025
...opportunity, she risks becoming the first education Minister in the North leaving education in worse shape than she found it. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland said she is travelling to Ottawa next week to meet with her federal counterparts. “When this program was introduced, and over the last number of...
Impacts of Jordan’s principle funding cuts already evident in N.W.T. community CBC North
May 29, 2025
...changes would impact teaching assistant positions , considering the majority are funded through Jordan's Principle. MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh, Richard Edjericon says schools have since realized that the cuts will in fact affect those positions. "Let me give you a concrete example of how devastating these...
Northern ministers to lobby Ottawa over Jordan’s Principle changes Cabin Radio
May 29, 2025
...off-reserve would not be approved unless required by “substantive equity.” Speaking in the NWT legislature on Wednesday, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon said for weeks, “schools across the North have watched as their applications for Jordan’s Principle funding for the fall have come back denied,...
Hydro plant back to full power after 18 months of ‘unknown’ faults Cabin Radio
May 29, 2025
...on Wednesday a joint energy and climate change strategy that will address reliability of power generation in the territory, among other issues. Jay Macdonald and Caroline Wawzonek said a joint strategy will arrive in 2026. “Our power infrastructure is ageing and increasingly vulnerable to the impacts...
MLAs vote to examine tightening their social media rules Cabin Radio
May 29, 2025
...communities and infrastructure minister, abstained. ‘Trying to sanitize political speech’ On the other side of the House, Inuvik Boot Lake’s Denny Rodgers said he was “not convinced” and Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely said he did not “really see the validity” in the motion, but both said they would...
Coast guard heads out to determine Mackenzie’s 2025 navigability Cabin Radio
May 28, 2025
...Canadian Coast Guard has gone out today to assess the water levels at the mouth of the Mackenzie River,” communities and infrastructure minister Vince McKay told the legislature on Wednesday afternoon. The coast guard places navigation buoys in the Mackenzie each summer. Last year, that work couldn’t...
GNWT to launch ‘third-party investigation’ over school lead tests Cabin Radio
May 28, 2025
...[I] was able to ensure that drinking and cooking water was no longer able to be used,” Cleveland said, answering questions from Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart. “I have provided direction to the GNWT – because it is multiple departments – to do a third-party investigation so we can understand the...
Minister starts investigation into ‘unacceptable’ school lead situation Cabin Radio
May 28, 2025
...minister Caitlin Cleveland says she’s launching an immediate independent investigation into the circumstances around tests that found elevated lead in the water at two Yellowknife schools. In a statement released at 9pm on Wednesday, Cleveland said she was “deeply concerned by the recent test results...
N.W.T. minister heading to Ottawa next week to follow up on nominee program changes CBC North
May 28, 2025
...for a two year N.W.T. specific timeframe and to enhance support for settlement services. These are all fantastic pieces," said Great Slave MLA Kate Reid. Cleveland discussed she has already expressed the issue to the federal government by letter. Reid added that she has heard concerns about the...
Residents, downtown homeless campers ‘all have to get along,’ says Premier R.J. Simpson CKLB 101.9
May 28, 2025
...Lake North school received news that drinking water in those schools was higher than allowed under Health Canada’s guidelines. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland said all school water systems were tested, and two of the schools came back as needing confirmation testing. The Departments of Education and...
Avens criticizes GNWT over $400K related to evacuation expenses Cabin Radio
May 28, 2025
...said could “jeopardize the future of long-term care in the NWT” if the territory does not act. In the legislature on Tuesday, health minister Lesa Semmler said the issue had “gone back and forth” and the $400,000 was judged to involve costs that were not eligible for reimbursement. Neither Avens...
Cleveland to lobby in Ottawa for more nominee program slots Cabin Radio
May 28, 2025
...those questions,” Cleveland said, adding the federal election may have been the reason for Ottawa’s lack of reply. On Tuesday, Great Slave MLA Kate Reid asked the minister whether the redesigned program will attempt to avoid a scenario where potential applicants are “left in limbo.” If the...
Encampment, residents and GNWT ‘have to get along’ Cabin Radio
May 27, 2025
...to have pets, searches for drugs and alcohol, and a lack of space to store belongings. Also in the legislature on Tuesday, Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan described a meeting on homelessness in Yellowknife earlier this month at which participants identified a need for “real-time, individual-level...
YK school lead tests were first of their kind, minister says Cabin Radio
May 27, 2025
...drinking and cooking after tests found lead levels beyond Health Canada guidelines. In the legislature on Tuesday afternoon, Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan asked education minister Caitlin Cleveland when the two schools’ water was last tested for lead in this manner. While communities’ drinking...
Morgan’s nurses’ bargaining bill passes second reading Cabin Radio
May 27, 2025
...would be best addressed through a comprehensive government-led bill. Everyone agrees Public Service Act ‘is a mess’ Only Great Slave MLA Kate Reid, a former president of a UNW local at the GNWT, voted against second reading of the bill. “I think we can all agree … the Public Service Act is...
Firefighters and MLAs draft bill to access cancer treatment and PTSD supports My Yellow Knife Now
May 27, 2025
...local firefighters at the city of Yellowknife’s fire hall including Christian Bittrolff, Local 2890 President, MLAs Robert Hawkins and Kieron Testart announced new legislation geared at protecting first responders. They were joined by Yellowknife City Councillor Garett Cochrane, and Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh...
Testart plans to introduce first responder compensation legislation Cabin Radio
May 26, 2025
...he said. “We need you not to fight for coverage. We need you to know coverage will be there if you need it,” said Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who plans to second the bill. “We don’t want you fighting the wrong fight. We want you to fight the type of fight of the protection of our...
First responders shouldn’t have to prove jobs caused illness to WSCC, says MLA CBC North
May 26, 2025
...Territories MLA Kieron Testart is proposing a private members bill that would make it easier for first responders in the territory to access workers compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, cancers and heart disease. At a press conference Monday, Testart said he'll table a private members bill...
GNWT to allow homeless encampments this summer on Commissioner’s land CKLB 101.9
May 26, 2025
...questioned if enough is being done to allow people to stay in their home communities, either with shelters but preferably through more housing. George Nerysoo is MLA for Mackenzie Delta said, “it has to come to the communities to try to help resolve this, these social development problems.” ...
MLAs turn up volume in NWT Assembly; Speaker’s temper blows CKLB 101.9
May 25, 2025
...I want this job? Not in moments like this,’ sighs a frustrated Shane Thompson in the NWT Assembly A sensitive subject brought back to the NWT Assembly by Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon resulted in some frayed nerves and unparliamentary language at the end of last week. In February, Edjericon...
Shauna Morgan introduces nurses’ collective bargaining bill Cabin Radio
May 25, 2025
...the UNW/PSAC remain fully committed to advancing thoughtful and effective legislative amendments,” read the statement, signed by finance minister Caroline Wawzonek, UNW president Gayla Thunstrom and PSAC regional executive vice-president Josée-Anne Spirito. “We believe that a collaborative approach,...
Tin Can Hill won’t be a territorial park. How about a city park? Cabin Radio
May 24, 2025
...MLA Jack Penney urged the territorial government to turn Tin Can Hill into a territorial park when Youth Parliament convened. His adult equivalent, Kate Reid, gave Penney’s statement a second airing in the legislature on Thursday and asked tourism minister Caitlin Cleveland about the prospect of Tin Can...
‘Colonial mindset’ preventing return of child’s remains to her community, says N.W.T. MLA CBC North
May 23, 2025
...are subject to Archaeological Sites Act reveals the same colonial mindset that led to the creation of the residential school to begin with," Richard Edjericon said, MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh. Richard Edjericon is the MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh. (Julie Plourde/Radio-Canada) Chief Louis Balsillie of...
Premier says sorry to residents over NWT’s 2023 fire season Cabin Radio
May 23, 2025
...who had terrible experiences. Many of us had bad experiences. We’re all coming to terms with it,” Simpson said when asked by Great Slave MLA Kate Reid if he would apologize for what residents endured. Many thousands of people were forced from their homes, some for a month or more. Residents have...
Testart calls on minister to act on Fort Simpson school issues Cabin Radio
May 23, 2025
...Authority and Dehcho Divisional Education Council. Fort Simpson is part of the Nahendeh electoral district represented by Speaker of the House Shane Thompson, whose role dictates that he cannot raise this kind of contentious issue in the House in a way other MLAs can. Earlier in May, Testart wrote on...
MLAs in emotional exchanges over residential school burial sites Cabin Radio
May 22, 2025
...governments to advance reconciliation, Edjericon raised the prospect of the minister resigning. As he did so, Cleveland’s cabinet colleague Caroline Wawzonek – acting in Premier RJ Simpson’s absence (he is at the western premiers’ conference) – rose immediately from her seat on a point of order. ...
MLA calls for regulation of NWT counsellors and psychotherapists Cabin Radio
May 22, 2025
...Lake MLA Julian Morse says the NWT needs a regulatory body for counsellors and psychotherapists. On Wednesday, Morse told the legislature some professionals in those fields had expressed concern at the absence of a regulator. “Anyone in the NWT can currently offer counselling or psychotherapy...
Confederation, diamonds and cargo up for discussion as Assembly returns CKLB 101.9
May 22, 2025
...some of that insight that you might not get through the media or through a briefing note,” Simpson said in answering Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins’ question. “And so the type of advice that he gives is quality.” Quipped Hawkins: “(That’s) more than the prime minister gets paid,...
Protests against Danielle Smith merge outside NWT legislature Cabin Radio
May 22, 2025
...some services are no longer available in Alberta. In the legislature earlier on Wednesday, Semmler – responding to questions from Great Slave MLA Kate Reid – said she wanted to “assure NWT residents that healthcare services for transgender individuals, including children and youth, will continue to...
Legislative Assembly expected to address what MLAs say is “healthcare crisis” My Yellow Knife Now
May 21, 2025
...at the Legislative Assembly. The N.W.T. Legislative Assembly began its seven day spring sitting today in the city of Yellowknife. On May 8 MLAs Robert Hawkins, Richard Edjericon, and Kieron Testart called on GNWT to “take responsibility and act immediately” to address the crisis. In a joint...
Simpson faces Smith questions as western premiers meet in NWT Cabin Radio
May 21, 2025
...working toward that end.” Minister says ‘alternate pathways’ in place Also on Wednesday, Great Slave MLA Kate Reid asked health minister Lesa Semmler about supports for trans residents of the territory. Alberta law now bars anyone aged under 16 in the province from receiving hormone therapy and...
Health care, wildfire report in spotlight as N.W.T. MLAs begin 7-day spring sitting CBC North
May 21, 2025
...answers to this," he said. "We need to have a real plan, and we just haven't seen that yet." On May 8, Testart, along with MLAs Robert Hawkins and Richard Edjericon, issued a news release outlining 13 calls to action to address the health-care crisis. That includes phasing out agency nurses by 2026, implementing...
Inuvik passes motion to open town liquor store on Sundays Cabin Radio
May 20, 2025
...Trapper, is open on Sundays. “We don’t need a liquor store on a Sunday, it’s a rest day,” she said. “Six days a week is good enough.” Lenora McLeod said Sundays offer people a chance to be sober and spend quality time with their families. McLeod believes Inuvik has “far more things to...
Plan for healthcare change comes with promise to ‘do something’ Cabin Radio
May 16, 2025
...had helpful interactions with him and anticipate a continued productive working relationship.” Not every MLA expressed criticisms. Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya, for example, said she recognized that “we’re in a time of instant gratification … I know process takes time, and going through a lot of what...
Health staff gave up long weekend plans to keep Yellowknife ER open, official says CBC North
May 16, 2025
...as he says NTHSSA officials have been meeting regularly with the N.W.T. Medical Association and are working on shared priorities. Health Minister Lesa Semmler also pushed back on the suggestion that the emergency department might close because of staffing. "Statements like that put the fear in our...
Nurses’ survey records support for separate collective agreement Cabin Radio
May 13, 2025
...Yellowknife from 5pm this Friday. That meeting appears likely to focus on nurses’ representation as well as broader issues. Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan is expected to introduce a private member’s bill this month that, if passed, would allow NWT nurses to pursue their own collective agreements. ...
N.W.T. premier supports minister amid criticisms of territory’s health care CBC North
May 9, 2025
...three MLAs accused Minister Lesa Semmler of not taking her role seriously and threatened to oust her from the job. In a news release Thursday, MLAs Kieron Testart, Robert Hawkins and Richard Edjericon shared a list of actions they want to see taken to improve health care, including negotiating licence-sharing...
Premier backs Semmler as 3 MLAs float idea of removing her Cabin Radio
May 9, 2025
...leadership council. In a Thursday news release, Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart, Yellowknife Centre’s Robert Hawkins and Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh’s Richard Edjericon demanded “immediate action” from the GNWT on a range of measures, many of them recently set out by physicians’ group the NWT Medical...
Lack of rent control in N.W.T. to be reassessed this year, minister says CBC North
May 6, 2025
...in small communities are typically occupied by essential workers such as teachers and healthcare workers or community members. Housing Minister Lucy Kuptana said increasing the rents was a "tough but necessary decision" in a statement to CBC. She said the adjustment was crucial to maintain fairness in...
Yellowknife youth MLAs focus on Frame Lake, Tin Can Hill Cabin Radio
May 3, 2025
...to pursue this important issue and attempt to find a solution.” Range Lake youth MLA Tendesai Mufandaedza stands to deliver a statement. Photo: Robert Hawkins All 19 youth MLAs had the opportunity to present statements to the House before a series of debates began on topics like drugs and education. ...
How the NWT’s youth parliament just voted on drugs Cabin Radio
May 2, 2025
...said. Kailee Wentland addresses the legislature on May 1, 2025. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio Leanne Karembera speaks during Youth Parliament. Photo: Robert Hawkins Those remarks triggered a debate about whether giving longer sentences to lower-level offenders is worth it to send a larger message. “If we are...
N.W.T. doctors say pay hike for locum physicians a good start CBC North
May 1, 2025
... "We know care is best provided by people who know their patients, who know the system, who know and love the territory." Health Minister Lesa Semmler says health systems across the country are in crisis, and her department is working on various long-term reforms to improve primary care in the...
‘It’s going to hit people really hard’: Housing N.W.T. hiking rent by hundreds of dollars for some units CBC North
May 1, 2025
...legislative assembly. Some city and territorial officials argued that a cap would hurt the market and therefore fewer new units might be built. Jay Macdonald is the territorial justice minister and would be responsible for any changes made to the N.W.T. Residential Tenancy Act. CBC News requested an...
‘You hope there’s enough interest that the Arctic is still a priority’ Cabin Radio
April 30, 2025
...think the message is very clear. We all stand united as Canadians for Canada – and Canadians were choosing the best.” Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said he will make every effort to draw Alty’s attention to the Slave Geological Province highway, Taltson hydro expansion, regulatory issues...
Defence lawyer calls for improvements to NWT legal aid Cabin Radio
April 28, 2025
...it covers. (Jay Macdonald has been responsible for the justice portfolio since a cabinet shuffle in March.) At that briefing, Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo questioned whether the NWT government would consider expanding legal aid to include legal help for wills and estates, while Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon...
More than 100 attend NWT nominee program town hall Cabin Radio
April 24, 2025
...accepting 50 refugees. The two – who were the hosts of Tuesday’s meeting – say they want the NWT’s minister responsible for immigration, Caitlin Cleveland, to take the offer. “I think immigrants and temporary workers and foreign workers who are in this country contributing to the economy have been...
Foreign workers in N.W.T. say they can’t wait much longer for answers, after Nominee Program cuts CBC North
April 23, 2025
...full year of work. "This is it — I don't have any other option now," he said. The town hall at the Northern United Place, held by Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart and Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, was meant to give the MLAs a better understanding of what people tied to the nominee program are facing,...
Is the mine bailout a misguided ‘hail mary’ or a necessary jolt? Cabin Radio
April 23, 2025
...you need a really good jolt to maybe hear the message that’s been there.” NWT finance minister Caroline Wawzonek has just agreed to give three diamond mines an $11-million tax break plus access to another $4 million once reserved for emissions reduction projects. In exchange, she wants those...
Diamond mines to receive ‘targeted’ financial relief from territorial government CKLB 101.9
April 22, 2025
... Since diamond mining began in the NWT, more than $9.1 billion has been spent with Indigenous businesses and beneficiaries. Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek stated the measures are designed to protect our economy from sudden shock. “The diamond sector has been central to the Northwest Territories’...
NWT commits millions to help prop up its diamond mines Cabin Radio
April 22, 2025
...the Diavik diamond mine. Aastha Sethi/Cabin Radio “This is about protecting our economy from sudden shock,” said territorial finance minister Caroline Wawzonek in a statement. “The diamond sector has been central to the Northwest Territories’ economy for decades, and we have a responsibility to act...
Inuvik to hold appreciation event for first responders Cabin Radio
April 15, 2025
...North return tickets between Inuvik and Edmonton. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Inuvik Community Corporation, NorthMart and Inuvik MLAs Denny Rodgers and Lesa Semmler are contributing to the event. More broadly, this week is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. The City of Yellowknife...
Hawkins and Testart to hold nominee program town hall Cabin Radio
April 10, 2025
...a time when our economy is already in a precarious position.” Both the federal government and the NWT’s minister responsible for immigration, Caitlin Cleveland, have said discussions are under way that involve how asylum seekers arriving in Canada are handled. Ottawa has said it is asking all provinces and...
N.W.T. Chamber of Mines suggests tax relief for territory’s struggling diamond mines CBC North
April 8, 2025
...ministers meet with the mines According to the N.W.T.'s ministerial activities advisory, Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek and Employment Minister Caitlin Cleveland met with the three diamond mines virtually on April 2. In an email to CBC News, Cleveland said the parties discussed "the challenges in the global...
N.W.T. asks regulator to intervene in CN Rail’s decision to scrap rail line CBC North
April 7, 2025
...follow a three-year process to shut down a section of track. After a year on the list, CN can attempt to sell it. Former infrastructure minister Caroline Wawzonek said earlier that the territory wouldn't fund the repair, as the $15 million needed to fix the 30-kilometre stretch "isn't an appropriate use of...
Changes in GNWT’s minister duties and leadership announced My Yellow Knife Now
March 31, 2025
...in their statement. Minister Kuptana is also continuing to serve as the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. - Advertisement - Minister Caroline Wawzonek is continuing as Minister of Finance and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation along with her role as Deputy Premier....
N.W.T. premier creates new ministry for ‘major, nation-building’ infrastructure projects CBC North
March 31, 2025
...will continue on as finance minister as well minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. (Natalie Pressman/CBC) Minister Vince McKay will now take on the infrastructure portfolio in cabinet, previously held by Wawzonek. McKay will also continue as minister of municipal and...
NWT premier announces cabinet shuffle Cabin Radio
March 31, 2025
...Board. Responsibility for the territory’s homelessness strategy will move from the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs to Housing NWT. Lucy Kuptana is the minister responsible for the housing corporation while Simpson is the minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. Monday’s release...
What NWT auto dealers make of the looming car tariffs Cabin Radio
March 31, 2025
...electric vehicle rebates this coming year – deleting the $153,000 it set aside last year. In the legislature last month, Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan said the GNWT had considered its EV rebate program to be “one of the most effective programs for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that we...
N.W.T. scrapping consumer carbon tax following federal cancellation CBC North
March 19, 2025
...to kill the measure. The N.W.T. is one of three provinces and territories that has its own carbon tax legislation, something Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek said would allow the territory more flexibility to adjust how the tax is applied to northerners. That means that federal changes don't automatically...
Will the NWT’s forgotten ferry ever make a comeback? Cabin Radio
March 17, 2025
... However, asked by Yakeleya if the Merv Hardie is salvageable and could be returned to service somewhere in the system, infrastructure minister Caroline Wawzonek appeared to rule out any comeback. The GNWT “doesn’t have specific plans to attempt to refurbish the Merv Hardie or to get it back up to...
MLA drafts bill that would allow nurses to bargain separately Cabin Radio
March 15, 2025
...reading, and she had been informally consulting with various nurses and one senior figure at the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Great Slave MLA Kate Reid, who was formerly the president of a UNW local, said she had not yet read Morgan’s draft bill but worried about government interfering in matters...
N.W.T. MLAs to discuss separate collective agreement for nurses CBC North
March 14, 2025
MLA has brought forward a proposed bill for public discussion that would allow nurses to have their own bargaining unit when negotiating a collective agreement. She said she has been taking the lead from nurses and informally consulting with UNW member nurses across different N.W.T. "We rarely put health-care workers themselves at the centre of the solution. "From the perspective of workers, to hear from them directly so our recommendations can better reflect the realities of front-line workers," Morgan said. Regular MLAs voted unanimously in favour of a review of the challenges nurses and healthcare workers face.
Carney scraps parts of Canada’s carbon tax, GNWT sets out response Cabin Radio
March 14, 2025
...be able to propose any required legislative amendments for consideration by the Legislative Assembly in an upcoming session.” Finance minister Caroline Wawzonek had previously suggested her department could use the same strategy Carney appeared to use on Friday: dropping the tax to zero. Increasing rebates...
Carney scraps parts of Canada’s carbon tax, NWT response not clear Cabin Radio
March 14, 2025
...entirely to a cap and trade system,” she said in February, “I’m not in a position to say what response we would have here.” Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart said on Thursday that MLAs still did not “have clarity” on what will happen in the NWT in this situation. It’s certain that the territory...
N.W.T. budget passes with $41.6M addition to housing CBC North
March 14, 2025
... Community learning centres, Arctic defence Other members spoke about the collaborative process that led to the additional housing investment. Denny Rodgers, chair of the Accountability and Oversight Committee of all regular members, said the budget reflects input from all 19 members. "Whether you...
The NWT’s budget has new housing cash. What will it buy? Cabin Radio
March 14, 2025
...done. “Now we have that funding, and now we can open up these units and we can reduce waitlists in the communities,” he said. Housing minister Lucy Kuptana told reporters on Thursday night: “This critical investment will support the replacement of aged public housing units and address needed repairs...
Private smoking in public housing to be butted out across the NWT CKLB 101.9
March 14, 2025
...to be implemented in a staged approach for Housing NWT-owned units, including market rentals Housing Minister Lucy Kuptana on Thursday told the NWT Assembly smoking will not be permitted in all new buildings and in any new or amended leases for existing public housing and market rentals. She said:...
With added housing cash, NWT’s 2025-26 budget comfortably passes Cabin Radio
March 13, 2025
...and inspiring goal could be increasing rates of homeownership in the territory.” “I still don’t have a health cabin in Kakisa,” Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya said, setting out what she had hoped for. “People in Enterprise still can’t go home. But we are working together, and I’m working with my...
Motion to halt Indigenous Employment Policy is defeated Cabin Radio
March 13, 2025
...(behind Indigenous northerners) for territorial government jobs. On Thursday, one MLA who doesn’t back the new policy – Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins – brought forward a motion calling for an “immediate halt” to its rollout. Even if the motion had passed, the legislature does not give...
Elders can be financially, emotionally abused by family members seeking cash for drugs CKLB 101.9
March 13, 2025
...these problems. Drugs have made their way into our communities and users are taking advantage of the elders.” Yakeleya asked Health Minister Lesa Semmler what specific measures are being done to address the issue of elder abuse, particularly in relation to financial exploitation and neglect within the...
NWT adds $41M in housing spending to draft budget Cabin Radio
March 13, 2025
... MLAs must still vote to pass the budget before that spending is finalized. That vote is expected later this week. Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Denny Rodgers, who chairs an accountability and oversight committee made up of all 11 regular MLAs, said housing is a priority need. He described the new spending...
‘Policies and procedures protect the criminals,’ says angry MLA CKLB 101.9
March 12, 2025
...Delta's George Nerysoo says Housing NWT units in Fort McPherson are openly used as drug dens A clearly frustrated elected official from a small Gwich’in community says complaints of drug dealing in public housing are ignored by authorities at all levels. Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo said he...
Some MLAs still critical of Indigenous Employment Policy Cabin Radio
March 11, 2025
...pathway” to working in the public service. Concerns about dropping priority groups Not all MLAs are happy with the new policy. Great Slave MLA Kate Reid said while she will back the new policy if it is supported by Indigenous MLAs, she was concerned that, unlike the affirmative action policy, the...
NWT immigration cap could go up again if it takes more asylum seekers Cabin Radio
March 11, 2025
...there revolves around the Northwest Territories welcoming asylum seekers to the territory,” she said, responding to questions from Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart. NWT Liberal MP Michael McLeod had previously observed that Ottawa appeared to be tying immigration allotments to jurisdictions’ willingness to...
Hawkins ordered to withdraw remarks aimed at Morgan Cabin Radio
March 11, 2025
...28, Thompson inadvertently mixed up regular MLA Morgan’s Yellowknife North district with Yellowknife South, the constituency of cabinet member Caroline Wawzonek. Hawkins, in an apparent jab related to regular MLAs voting with cabinet, was heard to make reference to the two being “the same thing.” ...
Women’s society disputes Northview claims of housing program Cabin Radio
March 11, 2025
...YKWS in delivering this program,” according to the letter. Quest for dedicated building Following the presentation on Wednesday, Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart – Wellborn’s spouse – asked if Northview has a practice of blacklisting tenants. Wellborn said Northview has no “formal system for that.”...
New transitional housing project opens in Yellowknife Cabin Radio
March 10, 2025
...the first time, residents will have access to both addiction recovery support and safe transitional housing within the territory,” health minister Lesa Semmler said as dignitaries opened the facility on Monday. “Tharp gives participants the stability they need to rebuild their lives, reconnect with their...
5-bedroom transitional home opens in Yellowknife for people back from addictions treatment CBC North
March 10, 2025
...neighbourhood, the home will have staff with training in addictions treatment on-site 24 hours a day. Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler said it would provide "stable, sober housing" for residents. Semmler said her department would be working closely with the Salvation Army, which...