Sidney Cohen

Despite this summer’s wildfire emergencies, and recent years’ devastating floods and the COVID-19 pandemic, there are at least 30 people who have said they’re keen to lead the territory through any future crisis as MLAs.

As candidates in the N.W.T. general election began canvassing this week, business advocates expressed their concerns and offered ideas for how to improve the territory’s wilting economy.

The high cost of living in the N.W.T. is a perennial issue. Twenty-one territorial election candidates told CBC it’s one of the biggest challenges facing people in their regions right now.

Northwest Territories voters chose to shake things up this election, with 7 incumbents losing their seats and 9 new faces elected. With three MLAs-elect returning after a hiatus, nine of 19 MLAs-elect are brand new.

Burgundy Diamond Mines says it’s laid off some of its employees and contractors and has temporarily stopped open pit mining at Point Lake — one of its two active operations at the Ekati Diamond Mine. 

While Indigenous leaders and workers absorb the shock of this week's layoffs, industry observers say the scaling back of production at Ekati is a reflection of challenges facing the diamond industry.

The hat had been in the possession of Imperial Oil, which has been operating in Canada for about 145 years and has a collection of Indigenous items. It’s unclear exactly how long the company had it, or how it acquired it in the first place.

Yellowknife firefighters and RCMP responded to a fire at a homeless encampment in the city Wednesday afternoon. Yellowknife's fire chief said that while they haven't yet determined a cause, they believe the fire is related to a person's efforts to keep warm. He said it doesn't appear to have been started intentionally.

Pehdzéh Kı̨ First Nation Chief Jamie Moses said Canadian investment firm Hillcore Group visited Wrigley, N.W.T., in September and pitched collaborating on the road under a P3 model.

Resourcing Tomorrow is billed as “Europe’s largest and most influential mining event," but observers question whether the trip overseas was worth the resources, and say the government should focus more attention on creating an environment at home that’s attractive to investors.