http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ en jimb@nunatsiaq.com Copyright 2010 2010-03-11T16:06:55+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9878_iqaluit_child_porn_collector_jailed_three_months/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9878_iqaluit_child_porn_collector_jailed_three_months/#When:21:13:33Z A former Iqaluit resident, Nathan Evans, has been sentenced to three more months of jail time in addition to time already served, for possession of child pornography and a sexual assault conviction. Police found more than 200 sexually explicit photographs and more than 100 video clips of children from Evans’s computer and external hard drives when they seized them in March 2008. At the time, Evans worked for Qikiqtaaluk Information Technology Corp., an information technology firm owned by NEWS 2010-03-12T21:13:33+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98679_nunavut_mlas_pass_eu_booze_boycott_motion/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98679_nunavut_mlas_pass_eu_booze_boycott_motion/#When:19:40:50Z Nunavut MLAs passed a motion March 11 that calls on the GN to order that the Nunavut Liquor Commission impose a moratorium on its purchase of alcohol products from European Union member states, to protest the EU’s import ban on seal products. All seven cabinet members in attendance abstained from voting on the motion, put forward by Baffin South MLA Fred Schell and seconded by Iqaluit West MLA Paul Okailik. All nine regular MLAs said yes to Schell’s motion. In defence of his proposal, Schell NEWS 2010-03-12T19:40:50+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/120310_kolola_gets_life_sentence_for_murdering_mountie/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/120310_kolola_gets_life_sentence_for_murdering_mountie/#When:16:05:31Z Pingoatuk Kolola will serve a life sentence, with no chance of parole for 25 years, for the first-degree murder of RCMP Const. Douglas Scott. Kolola was found guilty yesterday by an 11-person jury of the 2007 killing of Scott in Kimmirut. Justice Robert Kilpatrick described the murder as a “senseless, tragic” act that will forever haunt Scott’s family, the RCMP, Kolola’s family and the hamlet of Kimmirut. “The human damage caused by this crime is incalculable,” Kilpatrick said before NEWS 2010-03-12T16:05:31+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8769_two_nunavut_deputy_ministers_start_new_jobs_in_july/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/8769_two_nunavut_deputy_ministers_start_new_jobs_in_july/#When:22:52:26Z Premier Eva Aariak announced March 11 that two people will start new deputy minister jobs with the Government of Nunavut at the beginning of July. Janet Slaughter, a family lawyer who has worked for the Nunavut Legal Services Board for the past three years, will serve as deputy minister of justice starting July 1. She succeeds Koovian Flanagan, who departed the job in September 2009. Aluki Rojas, now the deputy minister of Human Resources, will start work July 2 as deputy minister of NEWS 2010-03-11T22:52:26+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9879_nunavut_cop_killer_guilty_of_first-degree_murder/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9879_nunavut_cop_killer_guilty_of_first-degree_murder/#When:18:53:30Z Updated 5:30 p.m. March 11 After nearly four days of deliberation, an 11-person jury has found Pingoatuk Kolola guilty of first-degree murder. Kolola shot and killed RCMP Const. Doug Scott in Kimmirut in November 2007 and has been in custody ever since. “This is probably the saddest case I’ve ever had to deal with. A family lost a lovely young man. Another family lost a father [of] six kids. All for a moment of basically pointless violence and there’s just no happy ending to this for NEWS 2010-03-11T18:53:30+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/989_taissumani_march_12/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/989_taissumani_march_12/#When:16:06:55Z KENN HARPER In 1902 a Scottish ship-owner, J. M. M. Mitchell, established the Dundee Pond’s Bay Company and purchased a sturdy little vessel, the Albert. She — it’s peculiar that ships are called “she” even when they have names like Albert — she had been built in 1890 at Fellows’ Yard in Great Yarmouth as a hospital ship for the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. A sailing vessel 101 feet long, with tonnage of 155 gross and eighty-nine net, she was built of oak with a teak TAISSUMANI 2010-03-11T16:06:55+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/what_happened_to_the_sanikiluaq_deas_money/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/what_happened_to_the_sanikiluaq_deas_money/#When:00:33:51Z I almost missed the postage stamp sized story on the Sanikiluaq District Education Authority. I’d like to know what took the GN so long to help. The current DEA and school staff have performed nothing short of a miracle by being open this year. The GN has known since the beginning of the school year that the school was bankrupt. And they knew that the $38,000 they gave the DEA in September would not help them out of the deep hole they were in. What was the school expected to do for the rest LETTERS 2010-03-11T00:33:51+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/we_miss_you_dearly_anikuluapik/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/we_miss_you_dearly_anikuluapik/#When:00:32:32Z On Dec. 9 2009, my 56-year-old brother, Adamie Alariaq Nutaraluk, suddenly left us in the night. I didn’t get a chance to say good bye to him when I left for a medical appointment in Ottawa a week before it happened, knowing someone from our family would notify him about my absence, but in the end I did say, “Good-bye anikuluapik RIP.” I know saying thank-you eem so tiny, but I would like to thank the following people and agencies who helped us during our time of mourning: Annie Nattaq and LETTERS 2010-03-11T00:32:32+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/bill_fraser_jan._15_1959_march_5_2010/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/bill_fraser_jan._15_1959_march_5_2010/#When:00:30:43Z It is with great sadness that we announce the death of William “Bill” Vance Fraser in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut.   Husband of Dora (Emikotailak) Fraser, father of Jessie and Kelly Fraser, step-father of Peter Emikotailak, Julie Emikotailak, Winnie Arragutainaq and Maxine Angoo. Step-grandfather of eight.   Son of Vance B. Fraser (1931-1989) and Winnie Fraser Mackay, brother of Barry Fraser and uncle of only nephew Drew Fraser.   He is survived by aunts Carole Ferguson, Eleanor Caswell, Hazel LETTERS 2010-03-11T00:30:43+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9879_photo_women_doing_business_for_themselves/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9879_photo_women_doing_business_for_themselves/#When:00:19:33Z Jennifer Noah of Iqaluit, one of many Iqaluit women who operate small home-based businesses, displays her wares at a craft fair held March 7 on International Women’s Day. Through her business, called “Anaana’s Little Helper,” Noah sells Nunavut-inspired sewn and embroidered baby gifts — with the inspiration of her baby daugter, Ayva-Lin Noah and help from her business partner, husband Noah Noah. The Nunavut Status of Women Council organized the event. (PHOTO BY JIM NEWS 2010-03-11T00:19:33+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9789_think-tank_canada_should_push_for_nuclear-free_arctic/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9789_think-tank_canada_should_push_for_nuclear-free_arctic/#When:00:02:20Z JULIET O’NEILL Canwest News Service Special to Nunatsiaq News OTTAWA — Calling for the creation of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Arctic is not alarmist, says an academic report, as foreign ministers of the world’s Arctic nations prepare for a summit in Canada later this month. While the threat of nuclear-weapon use in the Arctic may be nebulous now, the ground should be prepared for potential future confrontations over competing claims for sovereignty, power and resources in the region, NEWS 2010-03-11T00:02:20+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9879_curley_nunavut_to_make_childrens_needs_a_priority/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9879_curley_nunavut_to_make_childrens_needs_a_priority/#When:23:38:45Z Tagak Curley, the Nunavut health minister, said this week that his department wants to make the needs of children a priority in 2010. This means revamping Nunavut’s Child and Family Services Act and looking at “the most appropriate ways to support Nunavut’s families, and to protect our children in our communities when they are living in unsafe conditions,” Curley said, speaking at a committee of the whole meeting March 8 in the Nunavut legislature. Curley said the health department wants to NEWS 2010-03-10T23:38:45+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8769_okalik_sticks_the_needle_into_nunavut_cabinet/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/8769_okalik_sticks_the_needle_into_nunavut_cabinet/#When:23:37:37Z Whenever there’s a chance to needle members of Nunavut’s current cabinet, former premier Paul Okalik, now a regular MLA for Iqaluit West, grabs it. Speaking March 5 at the current sitting of the Nunavut legislature, Okalik asked repeated questions challenging ministers’ actions on a variety of issues, from the presence of mould in buildings to wildlife management and the purchase of tea balls from Northmart for $20,000. Okalik pressed Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk Premier Eva Aariak NEWS 2010-03-10T23:37:37+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9879_inuit_org_wants_tuberculosis_strategy/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9879_inuit_org_wants_tuberculosis_strategy/#When:21:45:49Z Canada’s national Inuit organization wants an Inuit-specific national strategy for handling tuberculosis among Inuit, whose infection rate was 32 times worse than the national average in 2008. In a joint press conference March 10, representatives of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Assembly of First Nations demanded immediate action by the federal government to address skyrocketing rates of tuberculosis among aboriginal Canadians. It is imperative that a separate strategy be created now for NEWS 2010-03-10T21:45:49+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9878_fate_of_nunavut_man_accused_of_police_murder_rests_with_jury/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9878_fate_of_nunavut_man_accused_of_police_murder_rests_with_jury/#When:03:48:42Z The fate of a Nunavut man on trial for the killing of RCMP Const. Douglas Scott in November of 2007 in Kimmirut rests on one issue: intent. As of 6:30 p.m. March 10, an 11-person jury sitting in Iqaluit had yet to reach a verdict. The jury has been been deliberating since mid-afternoon March 8 to decide between first-degree murder or manslaughter. The jury has already reviewed certain trial transcripts from witnesses that they requested from Justice Robert Kilpatrick. “In Canada, any NEWS 2010-03-09T03:48:42+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8769_elisapie_isaac_to_play_iqaluit_at_months_end/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/8769_elisapie_isaac_to_play_iqaluit_at_months_end/#When:23:02:09Z Nunavik singer-songwriter Elisapie Isaac is coming to Iqaluit. The Montreal-based chanteuse, originally from Salluit, will perform March 31 at the Nakasuk school gymnasium, organizers of the Alianait Arts Festival announced this week. Isaac has just finished a short national tour to promote her her new album There Will Be Stars including a performance at the aboriginal pavilion set up for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Isaac also has shows scheduled in Paris, France later this month before NEWS 2010-03-08T23:02:09+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9768_nunavut_holds_the_line_in_stable_2010-11_budget/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9768_nunavut_holds_the_line_in_stable_2010-11_budget/#When:22:36:17Z The Government of Nunavut will spend $1.3 billion over the next 12 months within a balanced budget for 2010-11 that contains no major shifts from the previous year, Finance Minister Keith Peterson said March 8 in a budget speech. “I would say it’s a stable, steady budget, no expectations. It will maintain the status quo,” Peterson told reporters. Between April 1 this year and March 31, 2011, the GN expects to take in nearly $1.3 billion in revenues and spend nearly $1.3 billion on day-to-day NEWS 2010-03-08T22:36:17+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9890_photo_meet_a_wise_woman/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9890_photo_meet_a_wise_woman/#When:22:45:07Z The Nunavut Status of Women Council honour Dr. Patricia DeMaio (far right,) with its Wise Woman of the Year Award for 2010, announced March 7 at a talent show in Iqaluit held to mark International Women’s Day. Council members Trista Mercer (centre) and Neevee Wilkins (left) announced the award, saying DeMaio’s dedication to northern patients is extraordinary. DeMaio, now chief of medical staff for the Qikiqtaaluk region, has worked as a doctor over the past 14 years in Pond Inlet and Iqaluit. NEWS 2010-03-07T22:45:07+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/7689_judge_quebec_ottawa_owe_apology_compensation/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/7689_judge_quebec_ottawa_owe_apology_compensation/#When:17:30:25Z Jean-Jacques Croteau, a retired Quebec superior court judge, recommends that the governments of Quebec and Canada owe an apology plus compensation to the Inuit of Nunavik for the killing of sled dogs between 1950 and 1970. Croteau’s final, French-language report on the alleged slaughter of Inuit sled dogs from 1950 to 1970 in Nunavik is now in the hands of Pierre Corbeil, the provincial native affairs minister, and Pita Aatami , the president of Makivik Corp.. Croteau was mandated in 2007 by NEWS 2010-03-07T17:30:25+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9878_cambridge_bay_complains_about_nunavut_medical_policies_for_non-inuit/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9878_cambridge_bay_complains_about_nunavut_medical_policies_for_non-inuit/#When:16:52:35Z The Cambridge Bay hamlet council passed two motions recently in response to complaints about Government of Nunavut medical travel policies for non-Inuit residents The motions direct the hamlet to write two letters the regional director of health and social services in the Kitikmeot. One letter asks why some people from Cambridge Bay can’t stay at the Larga Kitikmeot patient boarding home in Yellowknife and the other letter inquires about the GN’s patient escort travel policy and procedures NEWS 2010-03-07T16:52:35+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98679_canadian_north_works_with_air_canada_on_joint_iqaluit_services/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98679_canadian_north_works_with_air_canada_on_joint_iqaluit_services/#When:16:49:27Z The Canadian North airline will provide baggage-handling and ticket-counter services to Air Canada when the national airline launches its Iqaluit-Ottawa service March 28, Canadian North said March 5. At the same time, Canadian North will change its schedule to help its passengers make better connections with Air Canada flights in the South, the northern airline said. “Working in cooperation with Air Canada, Canadian North will make schedule adjustments to our flights in and out of our NEWS 2010-03-07T16:49:27+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9876_nunavut_to_vaccinate_girls_against_hpv/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9876_nunavut_to_vaccinate_girls_against_hpv/#When:16:44:46Z The government of Nunavut will vaccinate hundreds of Grade 6 girls against a cancer-causing, sexually transmitted virus, starting March 8. The GN will start the program in schools, where Grade 6 girls who at least nine years old – with parental consent – will be innoculated against human papillomavirus, better known as HPV. Many women who are infected with HPV never know it, and it never affects their lives. The body’s immune system can defeat the virus, and its worst effects never NEWS 2010-03-07T16:44:46+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/050310_kolola_takes_stand_as_only_defence_witness/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/050310_kolola_takes_stand_as_only_defence_witness/#When:22:45:46Z The defence closed its case Friday in the Iqaluit trial of Pingoatuk Kolola, who’s facing a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting death of RCMP Const. Douglas Scott. Kolola appeared as a witness in his own defence Friday morning. He was the only witness for the defence. Kolola said he fired the shot that killed Scott from his hip, holding the rifle with his right hand and cradling his eight-month old son Adam in his left. “I wasn’t shooting at anything in particular,” Kolola told NEWS 2010-03-05T22:45:46+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/89767_nunavut_government_reduces_baffin_bay_polar_bear_quota/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/89767_nunavut_government_reduces_baffin_bay_polar_bear_quota/#When:22:41:27Z Dan Shewchuk, the Nunavut environment minister, announced March 5 that the annual hunting quota for the Baffin Bay sub-population of polar bear will drop from 105 to 65 over the next four years. Since 2004, 105 polar bear tags have been distributed every year to hunters and trappers organizations in Clyde River, Pond Inlet and Qikiqtarjuaq. This July, the Government of Nunavut will issue only 95 tags. After that, the quota will drop by 10 tags a year until the annual quota of 65 is NEWS 2010-03-05T22:41:27+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9867_pond_inlet_rcmp_nab_man_with_box_of_illegal_mickeys/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9867_pond_inlet_rcmp_nab_man_with_box_of_illegal_mickeys/#When:19:41:14Z Police in Pond Inlet have arrested a man seen wandering around Feb. 26 with a box full of mickeys. As members of the RCMP detachment approached the man, he tried to ditch the box, saying it was full of trash. But after police looked inside, they found 10 375-millilitre mickeys of whiskey, with a bootleg value in the community of about $100 each. The man also had $13,300 in his possession, money they allege to be the proceeds of drug trafficking. Police arrested Michael Pitseolak, 23, for NEWS 2010-03-05T19:41:14+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8769_iqaluit_cops_seize_115000_from_ottawa-bound_man/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/8769_iqaluit_cops_seize_115000_from_ottawa-bound_man/#When:17:15:01Z RCMP members in Iqaluit seized $115,000 in cash from a 49-year-old man attempted to travel from Iqaluit to Ottawa on Feb. 23. Police said in a press release March 4 that they found the money, the alleged proceeds of contraband trafficking, hidden in the man’s luggage. Acting on a tip, police went to the Iqaluit airport where they arrested the man and took him back to the local RCMP station A search of the man’s luggage turned up the cash, which police seized. The man was released and is to NEWS 2010-03-05T17:15:01+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9867_nattilik_by-election_likely_on_april_26/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9867_nattilik_by-election_likely_on_april_26/#When:17:04:18Z The Nunavut cabinet announced in a news release March 4 that they favour a by-election date of April 26 for the Nattilik seat, made vacant recently by the resignation of Enuk Pauloosie of Gjoa Haven. Nattilik takes in the communities of Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak, and was previously held by Leona Aglukkaq, now the MP for Nunavut and national health minister. Pauloosie, who won the seat in the Oct. 27, 2008 territorial election, resigned his job Feb. 22. On June 4, 2009, MLAs voted to suspend NEWS 2010-03-05T17:04:18+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/photo_strutting_their_stuff/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/photo_strutting_their_stuff/#When:16:56:38Z Three members of Nunavut’s Arctic Winter Games volleyball team, Amber Eleehetok of Gjoa Haven, Stephan Angotialuk of Repulse Bay and Brittany Masson of Iqaluit, model the blue, orange and red outfit that more than 200 Nunavut athletes, performers, coaches and staff will wear at the games, to be held this year in Grande Prairie, Alta. from March 6 to March 13. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE) NEWS 2010-03-05T16:56:38+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8769_nunavut_mla_floats_eu_booze_boycott/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/8769_nunavut_mla_floats_eu_booze_boycott/#When:16:32:17Z It’s not fair for the European Union to ban the import of seal products when Nunavut’s Liquor Commission continues to order wines and spirits from the 27 EU member countries, Fred Schell, MLA for South Baffin, said in the Nunavut legislature March 4. Schell planned to introduce a motion in the legislature March 5 to ask Nunavut’s liquor commission to stop purchasing wine and spirits from the EU. Speaking March 4 in the legislature, Schell pointed out that South African wines had been subject NEWS 2010-03-05T16:32:17+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9867_gn_medical_travel_office_moves_back_to_iqaluit/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9867_gn_medical_travel_office_moves_back_to_iqaluit/#When:16:06:04Z The Nunavut legislature kicked off its March 4 sitting with an announcement from Health Minister Tagak Curley, who said the Government of Nunavut’s medical travel office for the Baffin region will move back to Iqaluit from Pangnirtung on April 1. The three employees who now work with medical travel in Pangnirtung will remain with the Government of Nunavut, working either in Pangnirtung or Iqaluit, if they chose to move, Curley said. MLAs thumped their desks in approval after Curley said the NEWS 2010-03-05T16:06:04+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9868_accused_in_kuujjuaq_hockey_stick_rape-torture_killing_gets_new_trial/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9868_accused_in_kuujjuaq_hockey_stick_rape-torture_killing_gets_new_trial/#When:15:48:51Z Joey Partridge, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2007, will get a new trial, unless he decides to plead guilty to manslaughter for his role in the brutal killing of Claude Bourget, a Kuujjuaq accounting clerk, on Feb 2, 2005. Partridge, Bobby “Teelu” Snowball Jr and Thomassie Koneak were arrested for the role they played in the death of Claude Bourget, a Kativik Regional Government employee, on Feb 2, 2005. Superior Court Judge Jacques Viens sentenced Partridge to life NEWS 2010-03-05T15:48:51+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/87687_rcmp_wraps_up_probe_of_nunavut_business_credit_corp/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/87687_rcmp_wraps_up_probe_of_nunavut_business_credit_corp/#When:14:43:56Z An RCMP commercial crime unit has finished a lengthy forensic investigation into business loans issued by the Nunavut Business Credit Corp. and will now meet with Crown prosecutors and officials with the Government of Nunavut’s Department of Finance to “determine the next course of action and-or outcome,” the RCMP said March 4. David Simailak, the ex-MLA from Baker Lake, asked the RCMP to do the investigation in early November of 2007, when he still served as minister of finance and minister NEWS 2010-03-05T14:43:56+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/nirb_gives_high_arctic_coal_project_a_thumbs-down_review/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/nirb_gives_high_arctic_coal_project_a_thumbs-down_review/#When:02:10:34Z RANDY BOSWELL Canwest News Service Special to Nunatsiaq News A controversial proposal to open a coal mine on Ellesmere Island — potentially one of the planet’s most northerly industrial operations — has hit a major roadblock after a Nunavut review agency ruled that “the high likelihood of immitigable impacts” to wildlife and globally-significant fossil beds in the region demand that the project be “modified or abandoned” by its B.C.-based developer. The thumbs-down recommendation from the NEWS 2010-03-05T02:10:34+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9867_small_nuggets_for_nunavut_buried_in_federal_budget/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9867_small_nuggets_for_nunavut_buried_in_federal_budget/#When:01:59:24Z Last year’s federal spending spree will wind down this year as Ottawa gets ready to tackle Canada’s $53.8 billion deficit. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled the federal budget Thursday, March 4. It contains the second half of the federal stimulus program, worth $19 billion, but also $17.6 billion in spending cuts over the next five years. “Canadians remain concerned about jobs and the economy,” Flaherty said in his budget speech. “They know that a speedy and strong recovery is not a NEWS 2010-03-05T01:59:24+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/photo_nunavut_mlas_get_back_to_work/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/photo_nunavut_mlas_get_back_to_work/#When:22:12:40Z Nunavut MLAs reconvened in Iqaluit March 4 for a legislative assembly session likely to be dominated by Finance Minister Keith Peterson’s budget speech, to be given March 8, and numerous questions from regular MLAs for cabinet ministers. On March 4, Tagak Curley, the health minister, announced that the troubled three-person medical travel office in Pangnirtung will be moved back to Iqaluit by April 1 this year. Also on March 4, the Nunavut cabinet announced in a news release that they favour a NEWS 2010-03-04T22:12:40+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/89789_watchdog_gives_lukewarm_nod_to_new_nunavik_park/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/89789_watchdog_gives_lukewarm_nod_to_new_nunavik_park/#When:21:58:17Z The Parc national Tursujuq project is “a good project,” although it falls short of offering “all possible protection to rare, endangered or vulnerable species and their habitat,” says a Kativik Environmental Quality Commission decision on the proposed provincial park between Kuujjuaraapik and Umiujaq. Members of the KEQC said Tursujuq “should be authorized” by Quebec in their decision, which was dated November 2009, but only released to the public March 1. The KEQC members added nine NEWS 2010-03-04T21:58:17+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98678_climate-warming_methane_escaping_arctic_ocean/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98678_climate-warming_methane_escaping_arctic_ocean/#When:21:23:09Z MARGARET MUNRO Canwest News Service Large amounts of methane, a potent climate warming gas, are escaping from a remote swath of the Arctic Ocean that holds vast stores of the gas, say scientists, who suspect the seabed is “destabilizing.” An international team reports about seven-million tonnes of methane is venting out of the frigid waters north of Siberia each year, dwarfing marine emissions seen anywhere else on Earth. “The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian NEWS 2010-03-04T21:23:09+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/040310_defence_not_ready_to_proceed_in_kolola_trial_thursday/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/040310_defence_not_ready_to_proceed_in_kolola_trial_thursday/#When:17:35:01Z The first-degree murder trial of Pingoatuk Kolola adjourned unexpectedly today, just as Kolola was expected to enter the witness box to give evidence in his defence. Kolola, 39, is on trial for killing RCMP Const. Douglas Scott, 20, in Kimmirut in November of 2007. As Justice Robert Kilpatrick invited defence lawyer Andy Mahar to make his opening statement, Mahar said Kolola had just raised an issue and would need a 45-minute break. When court resumed, Kilpatrick apologized to the jury, some NEWS 2010-03-04T17:35:01+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98789_lucie_idlout_of_nunavut_nominated_for_juno_award/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98789_lucie_idlout_of_nunavut_nominated_for_juno_award/#When:16:28:52Z The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has nominated Nunavut rocker Lucie Idlout’s Swagger for the Aboriginal Album of the Year category in this year’s Juno awards competition. Swagger, released in 2009, has already won the Best Rock Album of the Year award at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards held earlier this year at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ont. Juno award winners will be declared April 17 at a gala banquet and ceremony inside the St. John’s convention centre. CTV will NEWS 2010-03-04T16:28:52+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/taissumani_march_5/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/taissumani_march_5/#When:15:54:18Z KENN HARPER When I moved north and learned Inuktitut, I began to hear elders speak of a legendary qallunaaq who had been an important figure in the whaling days on the east coast of Baffin Island. Most whalers of the time were given Inuktitut names – like Sivutiksaq (William Duval), or Angakkuq, (George Comer.) But this man’s name was Jiimi Maatsi, an obvious English name rendered into Inuktitut. Still it took me a while to realize that his real name was Jimmy (really James) Mutch. TAISSUMANI 2010-03-04T15:54:18+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9867_housing_rent_scale_leaves_families_in_poverty/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9867_housing_rent_scale_leaves_families_in_poverty/#When:15:46:35Z I have approached the members of our legislative assembly about this and I have not received a response or even a letter to answer what I believe is a very serious issue for Nunavut residents. So I am making it public. It is very hard to get MLAs to respond. My family net income per year is approximately $89,000. We are a family of six. I think when we say my family net income is $89,000 a year that MLAs think that we take it all home. More than half of it is deducted before we get our LETTERS 2010-03-04T15:46:35+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98678_the_children_of_nunavut_deserve_a_secure_future/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98678_the_children_of_nunavut_deserve_a_secure_future/#When:15:39:35Z NICOLAS PAOKTUT ARNATSIAQ Special to Nunatsiaq News Before I boldly dive into my logic and reasoning for this article, let me share with you the hardly promising situation of Nunavut with respect to its youth and children today, in terms of their employment prospects now and in the future. A report put out by Conference Board of Canada, covered by Gabriel Zaraté of Nunatsiaq News on Feb. 5, 2010, confirms that reality. “Nunavut’s youthful population faces many years in which economic growth COMMENTARY 2010-03-04T15:39:35+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8976_resolute_bay_mayor_asks_for_nurse_rotation_scheme/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/8976_resolute_bay_mayor_asks_for_nurse_rotation_scheme/#When:22:47:53Z The mayor of Resolute Bay, Ludy Pudluk, asked Nunavut’s health minister this week if there is any procedure for rotating nurses out of a community once they’ve been there for a while. Nurses can get “tired,” when they’re no longer new in town, Pudluk said. When a nurse is new, they’e excited and happy to be in the community, he said. But after a while, they become less enthusiastic, Pudluk said, suggesting it would be good for nurses in such a situation to at least be temporarily rotated to NEWS 2010-03-03T22:47:53+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/photo_welcome_to_the_yellow_brick_road/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/photo_welcome_to_the_yellow_brick_road/#When:22:38:21Z David Aksawnee, the mayor of Baker Lake, displays the first gold bar produced at Agnico-Eagle’s Meadowbank gold mine on Feb. 27. From left: James Nasso, the chair of Agnico-Eagle’s board; Baker Lake businessman Peter Tapatai; David Aksawnee; Ebe Scherkus, president and CEO of Agnico-Eagle; Baker Lake artist Simon Tookoome; and David Simailak, the deputy mayor of Baker Lake. (PHOTO BY BILL BRADEN) NEWS 2010-03-03T22:38:21+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/nunavut_government_rescues_sanikiluaq_dea/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/nunavut_government_rescues_sanikiluaq_dea/#When:22:35:23Z The Nunavut education department has given Sanikiluaq’s cash-poor district education authority a bail-out of $130,000 to cover its urgent debts and other obligations. Louis Tapardjuk, the education minister, said the money will allow the DEA to buy necessary supplies and hire casual staff, like supply teachers, two of its major financial responsibilities. Of the $130,000, $25,000 will go to buy cleaning supplies, $45,000 to pay off debts, and $60,000 to cover expenses for casual NEWS 2010-03-03T22:35:23+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9879_china_moves_to_become_major_arctic_player/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9879_china_moves_to_become_major_arctic_player/#When:22:32:45Z RANDY BOSWELL Canwest News Service Special to Nunatsiaq News A new report by a leading European think-tank says China is “paying increasing attention to the consequences of the melting of the ice in the Arctic” and positioning itself for an influential role in the emerging realm of polar geopolitics. The “groundbreaking"study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, partly funded by the Norwegian government, also revealed that Canada has already engaged in bilateral meetings NEWS 2010-03-03T22:32:45+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98767_old_arctic_ice_lost_through_greenland-ellesemere_gap/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98767_old_arctic_ice_lost_through_greenland-ellesemere_gap/#When:22:29:16Z RANDY BOSWELL Canwest News Service Special to Nunatsiaq News A team of international scientists is sounding alarms about the state of a natural ice dam in northeastern Canada that has historically prevented older, thicker Arctic Ocean sea ice from drifting south through a narrow passage along Ellesmere Island and melting in warmer waters. A study by U.S. and Danish researchers — including NASA’s leading experts on the polar ice cap — describes how the Nares Strait “ice arches” failed to form NEWS 2010-03-03T22:29:16+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/020310kolola_told_investigators_he_did_not_plan_to_shoot_mountie_jury_hears/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/020310kolola_told_investigators_he_did_not_plan_to_shoot_mountie_jury_hears/#When:00:28:02Z Pingoatuk Kolola admitted to police, after hours of interrogation at the Iqaluit police detachment, that he shot RCMP Const. Douglas Scott, a jury heard Tuesday. Kolola, 39, is accused of shooting Scott in Kimmirut on Nov. 5, 2007 and faces a charge of first-degree murder. Crown prosecutors closed their case Tuesday by playing more than four hours of audio and videotaped interviews that police conducted with Kolola in Iqaluit three days after the shooting. “I did not plan to do it,” Kolola NEWS 2010-03-03T00:28:02+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9878_nunavut_caribou_hunters_fear_impact_of_nwt_harvest/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9878_nunavut_caribou_hunters_fear_impact_of_nwt_harvest/#When:22:36:43Z There’s unease now among hunters and wildlife managers in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut who fear that Northwest Territories hunters may damage herds shared shared by the two territories. Following a Jan. 1 ban on hunting caribou from the Bathurst herd in the Northwest Territories, the Government of the NWT wants the territories hunters to catch caribou from the Ahiak and Bluenose East herds, which are shared with Nunavut. The Bathurst herd has experienced a severe decline in its numbers, NEWS 2010-03-02T22:36:43+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/8678_infamous_nunavik_residence_moving_by_january_2011/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/8678_infamous_nunavik_residence_moving_by_january_2011/#When:22:23:33Z KUUJJUAQ — By January of 2011, Nunavimmiut receiving medical care in Montreal will have a spacious new residence. The Nunavik regional board of health and social services isn’t ready yet to announce exactly where the new 100-bed facility will be located. But it’s likely to be located close to Montreal hospitals and in a former health facility that can easily be renovated to meet standards. A Feb. 25 news release from the health board says the move to relocate Nunavik’s patient services in NEWS 2010-03-02T22:23:33+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9879_polar_bear_may_have_evolved_in_response_to_climate_change/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9879_polar_bear_may_have_evolved_in_response_to_climate_change/#When:22:13:22Z ALLISON CROSS Canwest News Service DNA extracted from a polar bear fossil found in Norway is giving scientists rare insight into the origin of the species, suggesting that polar bears may have evolved from brown bears in response to climate change in the past. “Our results confirm that the polar bear is an evolutionary young species that split off from brown bears some 150,000 years ago and evolved extremely rapidly,” said researcher Charlotte Lindqvist, from State University of New York at NEWS 2010-03-02T22:13:22+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/baffin_mayors_get_sympathy_no_promises_from_minister/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/baffin_mayors_get_sympathy_no_promises_from_minister/#When:17:29:14Z It wasn’t hard for Baffin mayors to recite long lists of demands when they met March 1 with Lorne Kusugak, the Nunavut minister of Community Government and Services, at their annual mayors’ meeting in Iqaluit. But Kusugak was unable to offer the mayors much more than sympathy. Kusugak, a former mayor of Rankin Inlet, told the mayors he knows the pressures they face, but that he couldn’t promise speedy action on most of their demands, which require more studies, official resolutions and more NEWS 2010-03-02T17:29:14+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9867_iqaluit_proposes_small_tax_hike_in_largest_budget_ever/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9867_iqaluit_proposes_small_tax_hike_in_largest_budget_ever/#When:02:18:56Z Iqaluit’s 2010 budget is shaping up to be the largest ever, and homeowners will have to absorb a small property tax hike to pay for it. On Feb. 28, the city’s committee of the whole voted in favour of a 0.5-mill hike to all categories of the city’s mill rate, leading to slight increases in property taxes for 2010. This means the owner of a house assessed at $60,000 would face a tax hike of around $30 per year. Taxes on $200,000 home would rise just over $100 a year. The tax hike is the NEWS 2010-03-02T02:18:56+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9878_lease_disagreement_with_owner_threatens_iqaluit_swimming_pool/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9878_lease_disagreement_with_owner_threatens_iqaluit_swimming_pool/#When:02:16:15Z Iqaluit’s swimming pool might end up being shut down on short notice. A new proposed lease for the pool between the City of Iqaluit and the pool’s owner, Nunastar Properties, states that Nunastar can shut down the pool 90 days after notifying the city that the company plans to do renovations on the building. Speaking to Iqaluit city councillors on Feb. 28, recreation coordinator Amy Elgersma said this clause in the proposed lease would present serious logistical difficulties. Elgersma said NEWS 2010-03-02T02:16:15+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98789_expert_cant_match_shell_casing_with_accused_nunavut_cop-killers_rifle/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98789_expert_cant_match_shell_casing_with_accused_nunavut_cop-killers_rifle/#When:01:46:10Z An RCMP firearms expert told an Iqaluit court March 1 that he couldn’t make a complete match between a shell casing and a rifle found in Pingoatuk Kolola’s home after the shooting death of Const. Douglas Scott in November 2007. Pingoatuk Kolola, 39, has stood trial since the beginning of last week on a first-degree charge related to Scott’s death. Kramer Powley told jurors Monday that the mark left by the firing pin of the rifle appeared to match the mark left on the shell casing. But he NEWS 2010-03-02T01:46:10+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98767_a_nunavut_milestone_meadowbanks_first_gold_bar/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98767_a_nunavut_milestone_meadowbanks_first_gold_bar/#When:22:22:01Z Managers and workers at the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake joined with community leaders Feb. 27 to celebrate the production of the mine’s first gold bar. The gold bar, or brick, weighed about 250 ounces, but by next week the mine will churn out bars weighing 1,000 ounces each, at a rhythm of one per day. This may seem like a small amount but gold now sells for about $1,100 an ounce, giving each bar a value of about $1.1 million. Each ounce of gold will cost $300 to produce, but the NEWS 2010-03-01T22:22:01+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/photo_a_young_athlete_prepares/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/photo_a_young_athlete_prepares/#When:20:28:48Z Eighteen-year-old Adamie Philie of Kangiqsujuaq is competing in three events at this year’s Arctic Winter Games in Grande Prairie, Alberta, which kick off March 6 and run until March 13. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS) NEWS 2010-03-01T20:28:48+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98768_arctic_winter_games_kick_off_march_6_in_alberta/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98768_arctic_winter_games_kick_off_march_6_in_alberta/#When:20:16:15Z SARAH ROGERS and JANE GEORGE KANGIQSUJUAQ — Adamie Philie is a modest athlete. He shouldn’t be. The tall and fit teen is representing Kangiqsujuaq at this year’s Arctic Winter Games in three events— the kneel jump, the triple jump and the high kick. The games take place March 6 to March 13 in Grande Prairie, Alberta. More than 2,000 athletes, coaches and cultural performers are expected to attend from Alaska, northern Alberta, Greenland,  Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Sapmi, Yamal, NEWS 2010-03-01T20:16:15+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/9878_nunavik_residents_want_beefed-up_snowmobile_rules/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/9878_nunavik_residents_want_beefed-up_snowmobile_rules/#When:18:12:56Z KUUJJUAQ — As a 21-year-old Kuujjuaq man fought for his life this past week in a Montreal hospital and his female companion grappled with serious leg injuries, some Nunavimmiut say snowmobile drivers and passengers should wear helmets to protect themselves from severe injury. Bruce Turner, the father of Mae Ningiuruvik, who was injured Feb. 15 in Kuujjuaq when the snowmobile she was riding collided with stopped vehicle, says it’s not the first time in the community that a snowmobile has hit an NEWS 2010-03-01T18:12:56+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98678_ottawa_unveils_new_arctic_ship-registration_rules/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ stories/article/98678_ottawa_unveils_new_arctic_ship-registration_rules/#When:17:36:47Z RANDY BOSWELL Canwest News Service OTTAWA — The Conservative government took another step this past Friday to assert Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic after publishing new rules regulating domestic and foreign ship traffic in northern waters — a potentially controversial registration system scheduled to come into force on Canada Day. The planned Northern Canada Vessel Traffic Services Zone, announced near the end of the day Feb. 26 by Transport Minister John Baird, falls short of opposition NEWS 2010-03-01T17:36:47+00:00