Northwest Territories

Residents of the Northwest Territories are likely among the first Canadians to feel the full effects of the news vacuum now in place on Facebook as they flee their home communities without access to what has long been a key source of information in the North. A person uses a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canadians under threat of wildfires and lack of access to local news

Facebook battle with federal government having an impact on those looking for wildfire information

Residents of the Northwest Territories are likely among the first Canadians to feel the full effects of the news vacuum now in place on Facebook as they flee their home communities without access to what has long been a key source of information in the North. A person uses a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, July 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Evacuees from Yellowknife, territorial capital of the Northwest Territories, are greeted with the Aurora Borealis as they arrive to a free campsite provided by the community in High Level, Alta., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden

‘Ghost town’: thousands continue to flee Yellowknife as wildfires loom

’There is no looting, your homes are safe, you’ve gotta lock up and head out of town’

Evacuees from Yellowknife, territorial capital of the Northwest Territories, are greeted with the Aurora Borealis as they arrive to a free campsite provided by the community in High Level, Alta., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden
Vehicles line-up for fuel at Fort Providence, N.W.T., on the only road south from Yellowknife, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Remaining Yellowknifers urged to get out as sprinklers, fire guards set up

Another 22 evacuation flights are scheduled today, fire is about 15 kilometres from the city

Vehicles line-up for fuel at Fort Providence, N.W.T., on the only road south from Yellowknife, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
WestJet says it’s adjusting prices and adding capacity to help with evacuation efforts from Yellowknife. A WestJet plane waits at a gate at Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

WestJet, Air Canada adjust prices and schedules amid Yellowknife evacuation

Airlines taking steps to avoid elevated prices, adding extra flights and swapping in bigger planes

WestJet says it’s adjusting prices and adding capacity to help with evacuation efforts from Yellowknife. A WestJet plane waits at a gate at Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
People without vehicles line up to register for a flight to Calgary in Yellowknife on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden

Convoys, airport lineups: Yellowknife residents leave city as fire creeps closer

Convoys organized amid concerns flames could push toward Highway 3, the main evacuation route

People without vehicles line up to register for a flight to Calgary in Yellowknife on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden
Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Residents of the capital of the Northwest Territories and two neighbouring First Nation communities have been ordered to evacuate by Friday because of an encroaching wildfire. B.C. is preparing to accept hospital and care home wildfire evacuees from the N.W.T. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski

N.W.T. sending 55 hospital patients, care home residents to B.C.

They are set to arrive through Vancouver International Airport

Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Residents of the capital of the Northwest Territories and two neighbouring First Nation communities have been ordered to evacuate by Friday because of an encroaching wildfire. B.C. is preparing to accept hospital and care home wildfire evacuees from the N.W.T. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Residents of the capital of the Northwest Territories and two neighbouring First Nation communities have been ordered to evacuate by Friday because of an encroaching wildfire. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski

Trudeau calls urgent ministers’ meeting as fire forces Yellowknife evacuation

Officials in Northwest Territories say the evacuation has so far been safe and orderly

Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Residents of the capital of the Northwest Territories and two neighbouring First Nation communities have been ordered to evacuate by Friday because of an encroaching wildfire. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky as sandhill cranes feed with houseboats in the distance in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski

Wildfires still menacing large areas of N.W.T., creep close to Yellowknife

Wildfires menacing the capital of the Northwest Territories crept closer Wednesday, moving…

Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky as sandhill cranes feed with houseboats in the distance in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski

Firefighters hoping for rain for ‘reprieve’ in battling N.W.T. wildfires

236 wildfires tearing through the northern boreal forest have sent northern residents scrambling

Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
Wildfire smoke fills the air at Boundary Creek, Northwest Territories about 25 kilometers east of Yellowknife, on Tuesday Aug. 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden

‘Raining ashes’: N.W.T. evacuees recall long drives, flight from wildfires

‘Being evacuated two times in 24 hours is nothing like I have ever experienced’

Wildfire smoke fills the air at Boundary Creek, Northwest Territories about 25 kilometers east of Yellowknife, on Tuesday Aug. 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden
<div>Transportation authorities in the Northwest Territories say the highway out of a community near the Alberta boundary that’s being evacuated due to wildfires has now closed. The Northwest Territories provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa on June 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</div>

City of Yellowknife declares state of local emergency due to wildfires

‘The highways are compromised, it’s a very serious situation’

<div>Transportation authorities in the Northwest Territories say the highway out of a community near the Alberta boundary that’s being evacuated due to wildfires has now closed. The Northwest Territories provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa on June 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</div>
A soapstone carving is seen in front of the Western Arctic Regional Visitor’s Centre in Inuvik, N.W.T., Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Environment Canada says parts of the Northwest Territories are seeing record-breaking temperatures this summer as heat waves sweep the country. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Emily Blake

Record-breaking heat sweeps Northwest Territories

Environment Canada reports new highs in multiple communities in the far north

A soapstone carving is seen in front of the Western Arctic Regional Visitor’s Centre in Inuvik, N.W.T., Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Environment Canada says parts of the Northwest Territories are seeing record-breaking temperatures this summer as heat waves sweep the country. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Emily Blake
Bison are shown at Metis Crossing Wildlife Park in Alberta. The Northwest Territories Department of Environment and Climate Change reported the suspected outbreak last week after 15 bison carcasses were found in an area between Fort Smith and Fort Resolution. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Olivia Bako-Metis Nation of Alberta **MANDATORY CREDIT**

N.W.T. confirms anthrax outbreak in Slave River Lowlands bison

Parks Canada says the public safety risk is very low

Bison are shown at Metis Crossing Wildlife Park in Alberta. The Northwest Territories Department of Environment and Climate Change reported the suspected outbreak last week after 15 bison carcasses were found in an area between Fort Smith and Fort Resolution. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Olivia Bako-Metis Nation of Alberta **MANDATORY CREDIT**
The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police “E” Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. Police in the Northwest Territories are warning residents not to take justice into their own hands after they say a group of people in Fort McPherson assaulted two men suspected of drug trafficking and stealing a vehicle. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

RCMP warn against vigilante justice after assaults in Northwest Territories

Insp. Yannick Hamel says people involved in vigilante justice can put themselves and others at risk

The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police “E” Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. Police in the Northwest Territories are warning residents not to take justice into their own hands after they say a group of people in Fort McPherson assaulted two men suspected of drug trafficking and stealing a vehicle. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Fire and smoke from a wildfire are shown in Hay River, Northwest Territories. A First Nation reserve and nearby town in the southern Northwest Territories have been evacuated as a wildfire spreads in the area. THE CANADIAN PRESS/James Cardinal Jr.

Wildfire evacuates Hay River, nearby reserve in Northwest Territories

K’atl’oodeeche First Nation, Hay River, N.W.T., order evacuations as wildfire spreads

Fire and smoke from a wildfire are shown in Hay River, Northwest Territories. A First Nation reserve and nearby town in the southern Northwest Territories have been evacuated as a wildfire spreads in the area. THE CANADIAN PRESS/James Cardinal Jr.
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, left, and Northwest Territories MLA for Nahendeh Shane Thompson bow during a prayer performed via videoconference and shown on screen during a news conference at the COP 15 summit on biodiversity, in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe

Feds, Northwest Territories to create Indigenous protected area for Great Bear Lake

‘It will be a place of refuge for the future of people, for all living things.’

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, left, and Northwest Territories MLA for Nahendeh Shane Thompson bow during a prayer performed via videoconference and shown on screen during a news conference at the COP 15 summit on biodiversity, in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter McCabe
A wind turbine is shown at a wind farm near Pincher Creek, Alta., Wednesday, March 9, 2016. An energy-focused think tank says Indigenous energy sovereignty in Canada’s North is “absolutely critical and fundamental” to addressing climate change, but more support is needed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Indigenous communities leading the switch to renewable energy in the North

Action vital as territories warming at two to four times the global average

A wind turbine is shown at a wind farm near Pincher Creek, Alta., Wednesday, March 9, 2016. An energy-focused think tank says Indigenous energy sovereignty in Canada’s North is “absolutely critical and fundamental” to addressing climate change, but more support is needed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
The MV Kelly Ovayuak barge is shown in this 2019 handout photo. The N.W.T. government announced late last week it was cancelling the annual barge delivery to Sachs Harbour due to bad weather and a late start to the sailing season because of climate change, delayed buoy placement, and flooding in Hay River and Inuvik this spring. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Northwest Territories Department of Infrastructure *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Residents waiting on freight after N.W.T. cancels annual barge to Sachs Harbour

Bad weather and multiple climate change-related issues keeping residents from delivery

The MV Kelly Ovayuak barge is shown in this 2019 handout photo. The N.W.T. government announced late last week it was cancelling the annual barge delivery to Sachs Harbour due to bad weather and a late start to the sailing season because of climate change, delayed buoy placement, and flooding in Hay River and Inuvik this spring. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Northwest Territories Department of Infrastructure *MANDATORY CREDIT*
The Giant Mine site is shown during a site surface tour of the Giant Mine Remediation Project near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski

Gold, arsenic and murder: $1-billion cleanup underway at notorious N.W.T. gold mine

Efforts ongoing to clean up Giant Mine, one of the most contaminated places in Canada

The Giant Mine site is shown during a site surface tour of the Giant Mine Remediation Project near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
Two Northwest Territories youth joined NASA researchers aboard a Gulfstream III jet earlier this month as they soared above Great Slave Lake and parts of of Nunavut and Alberta. Jacki Moore-Tsetta stands with NASA’s Greg Nelson (left) and Shawn Kern (right) in front of the NASA aircraft in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jacki Moore-Tsetta

‘From leaf to space’: N.W.T. youth join NASA flight surveying climate change effects

Jet flight part of project ABoVE, examining the Arctic and boreal forests

Two Northwest Territories youth joined NASA researchers aboard a Gulfstream III jet earlier this month as they soared above Great Slave Lake and parts of of Nunavut and Alberta. Jacki Moore-Tsetta stands with NASA’s Greg Nelson (left) and Shawn Kern (right) in front of the NASA aircraft in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jacki Moore-Tsetta