http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/ en jimb@nunatsiaq.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-02T19:19:00+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674qikiqtani_hospital_tests_same-day_patient_care/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674qikiqtani_hospital_tests_same-day_patient_care/ People in Iqaluit who need to see a doctor about urgent non-emergency medical issues have a new option at the Qikiqtani General Hospital. The hospital is testing a new “rapid access clinic,” in a pilot project created to divert patients with urgent matters from the emergency room. “Before we had people sitting in emergency for a long time because they needed a prescription refilled or they had a sore throat,” said Darlene MacPherson, director of clinical services at the QGH. “This is pulling NEWS 2012-02-03T21:06:42+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674coroner_to_hold_inquest_into_2009_death_of_iqaluit_man/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674coroner_to_hold_inquest_into_2009_death_of_iqaluit_man/ A long-awaited inquest into the circumstances surrounding the 2009 death of Adamie Nutaraluk at RCMP cells in Iqaluit will go ahead March 12 to March 16, the Office the Chief Coroner said Feb. 3. Nutaraluk, 55, died on the morning of Dec. 9, 2009 inside an RCMP cell, after police found him in an unresponsive state. An ambulance rushed him to the Qikiqtani General Hospital, but health workers were unable to revive him. Over the previous 24 hours, police had arrested and detained Nutaraluk NEWS 2012-02-03T20:22:32+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674police_seize_16_pounds_of_weed_at_iqaluit_airport/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674police_seize_16_pounds_of_weed_at_iqaluit_airport/ The Nunavut RCMP drug section have laid a charge of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking against an Iqaluit woman following the seizure of 16 pounds of weed Jan. 29 at the Iqaluit airport. Police made the seizure after questioning the woman after her arrival on a flight from Ottawa, an RCMP press release said. After arresting her, police found the drugs hidden in empty snack boxes inside her luggage. The woman, 38, was processed, then released from custody. She’ll appear in NEWS 2012-02-03T19:17:07+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674young_family_of_three_feared_dead_in_taloyoak_fire/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674young_family_of_three_feared_dead_in_taloyoak_fire/ (Updated 2:50, Feb. 3) A fire that swept through a unit within a fourplex apartment building in Taloyoak Feb. 2 has killed a family of three, Nunavut RCMP and other sources said Feb. 3. A source in Taloyoak told Nunatsiaq News a 23-year-old woman and her two children, boys aged four and two, are dead. The woman was pregnant with what would have been her third child. The father of the two children is a man from Taloyoak who now lives in Yellowknife, the source said. The fire stared between NEWS 2012-02-03T16:48:59+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674charest_sells_big_opportunity_to_northern_crowd/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674charest_sells_big_opportunity_to_northern_crowd/ OTTAWA — Quebec Premier Jean Charest touted Quebec’s Plan Nord to an audience of northern government and business leaders Feb. 2, selling the scheme as a way to benefit the aboriginal people who inhabit the province’s north. Speaking to a luncheon at the Northern Lights business and cultural showcase in Ottawa, Charest told his audience that his 25-year plan to develop Quebec above its 49th parallel responds to a strong demand for natural resources, coupled with better access to the region NEWS 2012-02-03T14:14:38+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674seal_skin_solidarity_on_parliament_hill/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674seal_skin_solidarity_on_parliament_hill/ OTTAWA – Downtown Ottawa was awash with fuzzy accessories Feb. 2, as government officials and Inuit leaders donned seal skin in support of the industry. Even Prime Minister Stephen Harper was spotted on Parliament Hill sporting seal skin, presented to him by Rankin Inlet mayor Pujjuut Kusugak, as part of a government show of support for the country’s controversial and troubled sealing industry. “Canada’s sealing industry sustains thousands of Northern and East Coast jobs and the traditional NEWS 2012-02-03T00:20:15+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674bill_c-10_will_hit_nunavut_hard_shewchuk_tells_senators/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674bill_c-10_will_hit_nunavut_hard_shewchuk_tells_senators/ Dan Shewchuk, the Nunavut justice minister, told the Senate legal affairs committee Feb. 2 that Bill C-10, the Conservative government’s omnibus crime bill, will create big costs and other problems for Nunavut’s justice and correctional systems. Bill C-10, known as the Safe Streets and Communities Act, would amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other federal laws to limit the use of conditional sentencing, create more mandatory minimum sentences and make the youth NEWS 2012-02-02T22:20:47+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674taloyoak_principal_wins_national_honour/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674taloyoak_principal_wins_national_honour/ What makes an outstanding principal? You can ask Gina Pizzo, the veteran principal of Netsilik School in Taloyoak, recently named one of Canada’s outstanding principals for the year 2012. Pizzo received the award for her ability to bring the community into the classroom and instill cultural pride among her students. “I think it is really important in the education of any child that they have a strong sense of where they come from,” Pizzo said. “My role is to prepare them for the future so NEWS 2012-02-02T21:43:37+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674down_with_sensational_crime_coverage/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674down_with_sensational_crime_coverage/ Dear Nunatsiaq News journalists and editors, I find myself concerned by your paper’s continued zeal in reporting the drug busts and booze raids around Nunavut and your enthusiastic support of law enforcement’s war against recreational drug and alcohol consumption. I presume, after the many decades your paper has been publishing this type of casually dramatic law and order related story (Jan. 27, 2012,)  that a demonstrably constructive effect on northern residents’ consumption and habits LETTERS 2012-02-02T19:19:00+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674telesat_to_spend_40_to_upgrade_northern_broadband_services/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674telesat_to_spend_40_to_upgrade_northern_broadband_services/ OTTAWA -— Satellite provider Telesat said Feb. 2 that it plans to spend $40 million to upgrade broadband equipment and services in Nunavut and across the northern territories over the next 10 years. Paul Bush, Telesat’s vice-president of business development, said the upgrades would address the gaps identified in a recent communications assessment report prepared by the Northern Communications and Information Systems working group. The report painted the Arctic communications scene as one NEWS 2012-02-02T16:32:12+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674taissumani_feb._3/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674taissumani_feb._3/ Over 100 years ago, an old man in northern Greenland told a story. It was a tale about white men, strangers to the land of the Inuit, and about the Inuit perception of these newcomers. The story began with the story-teller recounting the legend of the origin of the qallunaat – the white men – who were born from the union of a woman and her dog and who, as infants, sailed away to the south on a boot sole. Their Inuk mother had shouted after them, “You shall be fighting men!” The Inuk who TAISSUMANI 2012-02-02T16:30:08+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_bylaw_officer_put_taxi_driver_in_harms_way/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_bylaw_officer_put_taxi_driver_in_harms_way/ I am writing this letter concerning an issue I had when my taxi was pulled over last month for speeding. I am not writing to dispute the the ticket, but am very upset by the dangerous situation that I was put in. At approximately 1:00 a.m. my car was loaded with four drunk, abusive passengers when I was pulled over to speak to the bylaw officer. I was approximately 100 metres from the Elks and they were trying to get there before last call. After speaking to the bylaw officer, I asked him if LETTERS 2012-02-02T16:19:36+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674hats_off_to_city_of_iqaluit_work_crews/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674hats_off_to_city_of_iqaluit_work_crews/ The City of Iqaluit has been under fire of late from many quarters. However, there are many who work for the city who we never hear about. They are the unsung heros who bring us water and haul away our sewage. They get very little press and yet perform vital tasks. We on trucked service take for granted that our water tanks are always full and the sewage tank is empty. It seems we give little thought to those men and women who deliver these services. It’s amazing to see, in this day and LETTERS 2012-02-02T16:16:29+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674thank_you_for_taissumani_articles_about_sam_ford_and_mary_edmunds/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674thank_you_for_taissumani_articles_about_sam_ford_and_mary_edmunds/ Thank you so very much for telling this story Kenn. Sam Ford is my father’s (Jackie Napayok) and Sam (nee Ford) Voisey’s grandfather. Their mother was Charlotte, who had the two boys prior to marrying Henry Voisey. That’s why Sam Voisey carried his name, although he was not the natural son of Henry Voisey. Although I knew her name, I had always wondered who Sam Ford’s wife was and which family she came from. I’m very interested in finding out if you could direct me to this information?  That LETTERS 2012-02-02T16:09:19+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674china_hopes_to_settle_arctic_disputes_by_peaceful_means_ambassador/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674china_hopes_to_settle_arctic_disputes_by_peaceful_means_ambassador/ LYNN MOORE Postmedia News China hopes to solve “by peaceful means” any disputes with Canada concerning the Arctic, China’s ambassador to Canada told a Montreal audience Wednesday. Canada is to take over the chair of the Arctic Council in 2013, a body on which China wants observer status. After a luncheon speech on China-Canada relations at which he said Canada and China are “natural partners” that should increase the array of goods they trade, Ambassador Zhang Junsai was asked about NEWS 2012-02-02T02:00:17+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_making_progress_on_its_suicide_action_plan/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_making_progress_on_its_suicide_action_plan/ The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Health and Social Services says it is “making progress” in rolling out its Nunavut Suicide Prevention Strategy. Speaking at a Feb. 1 press conference in Iqaluit, deputy health minister Peter Ma said the government’s strategy was going “as planned”, while its architects work out an action plan. Ma was responding to concerns after reports that 2011 was one of the worst for suicide statistics in Nunavut: thirty-three Nunavut residents, including a NEWS 2012-02-01T21:35:59+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674win_a_nunavik_fishing_trip_with_mary_simon_as_your_guide/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674win_a_nunavik_fishing_trip_with_mary_simon_as_your_guide/ Looking for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Nunavik, that will also help support the region’s youth? Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Mary Simon has an offer to make: she wants to take you fishing near her home town, and she’ll even clean and filet your catch. Simon’s husband, Whit Fraser, chair of the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, will be auctioning off a 2012 fishing trip with his wife along the Koksoak river, outside of Kuujjuaq. The trip is one of several items that will be taking NEWS 2012-02-01T19:31:24+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674new_album_from_kuujjuaq_rocker_political_but_playful/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674new_album_from_kuujjuaq_rocker_political_but_playful/ Kuujjuaq rocker Sinuupa has released his first album in more than a decade — a bluesy blend of north and south aimed at an even wider audience. The album, titled Culture Shock, is clean in its composition, easy on the ears, but the album’s goal is also to evoke the “shakiness, weirdness of how an Inuk feels” out of his element, says Etua Snowball, the singer and songwriter also know as Sinuupa. The album draws on more than 25 years of song writing from this Kuujjuaq-based musician, with some NEWS 2012-02-01T19:27:53+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674response_agencies_look_back_at_resolute_air_disaster/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674response_agencies_look_back_at_resolute_air_disaster/ At a two-day workshop in Iqaluit, police debriefed agencies on the crash of First Air flight 6560 near Resolute Bay Aug. 20. About 40 representatives from federal and territorial agencies, as well as airlines that serve the north, attended the discussion on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The RCMP have identified shortfalls within the communications network they set up at the crash site, where they set up three separate sites during the crash for information to flow through. This caused delays in NEWS 2012-02-01T20:00:03+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_northern_lights_leading_ladies/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_northern_lights_leading_ladies/ NEWS 2012-02-01T15:27:29+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_man_charged_with_manslaughter_in_december_death/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_man_charged_with_manslaughter_in_december_death/ An Iqaluit man has been charged in connection with a homicide investigation that started Dec.12, Chief Supt. Steve McVarnock said during a press conference at Iqaluit’s RCMP detachment Jan. 31. Alec Petooloosie, 22, has been charged with manslaughter in the death of 36-year-old Matthew Petooloosie of Iqaluit. Petooloosie, who police say is the victim’s nephew, made his first court appearance Jan.31. Police and first responders discovered the body of Matthew Petooloosie Dec. 12 after they NEWS 2012-02-01T16:18:26+00:00 http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674newmont_puts_the_brakes_on_hope_bay_project/ http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674newmont_puts_the_brakes_on_hope_bay_project/ The Newmont Mining Corp. will put its Hope Bay gold project in the Kitikmeot region into limbo pending a review aimed at figuring out how and when they will continue developing the site, the company said Jan. 31 in a statement. To that end, the company has approved “care and maintenance” funding for Hope Bay, the statement said. But at the same time, all “development and surface exploration activities” are postponed pending the review. And Newmont’s website says Hope Bay is not included in NEWS 2012-02-01T13:37:34+00:00