Qikiqtani hospital tests same-day patient care

“If everybody is happy, we are happy”

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...

Coroner to hold inquest into 2009 death of Iqaluit man

Adamie Nutaraluk, 55, died Dec. 9, 2009 in RCMP cells

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...

Police seize 16 pounds of weed at Iqaluit airport

Woman, 38, charged with possession for trafficking

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...

Young family of three die in Taloyoak fire

Pregnant woman, 23, and two children, aged two and four, found dead

(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...

Plan Nord a “big opportunity,” Charest tells northern crowd

Plan's goal is to benefit "those who live in the North — in particular First Nations and Inuit"

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...

A show of seal skin solidarity on Parliament Hill

GN, NACA hand out hundreds of seal skin lapels Feb. 2

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...

Bill C-10 will hit Nunavut hard, Shewchuk tells senators

"Bill C-10 will have repercussions on our territory"

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...

Taloyoak principal wins national honour

“The school has become a cultural centre”

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...

Telesat to spend $40 million as share of upgrade to northern broadband services

Upgrades would more than double communications capacity serving the Arctic

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...