Minister Macdonald provides a response to Wednesday evening’s plane crash and the loss of three firefighting personnel:

“There are no words for how devastated I am by the loss of three of our own. Three members of our wildfire community were lost in a fatal plane crash on Wednesday evening, while carrying out firefighting duties on a wildfire near Fort Simpson, NT.

“I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the families, friends, colleagues and community members of the three people we lost. Know that I join you in your grief today and every day moving forward.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has confirmed the first case of white-nose syndrome (WNS) and the fungus that causes the disease (Pseudogymnoascus destructans or Pd) in the Fort Smith area as part of ongoing bat monitoring. White-nose syndrome is a disease threatening bats across North America. It was detected in a Northern myotis bat (Myotis septentrionalis). This is the northernmost detection of the disease in North America.

This disease does not pose any health risk to humans, and is not known to affect other species of wildlife.

Draft Best Management Practices to mitigate the effects of roads on barren-ground caribou are now ready for public feedback.  Public engagement is a crucial part of the process.  

Preventing human-caused wildfires is a shared responsibility, and we encourage residents and visitors to keep this front of mind this season.

Forest officers are conducting patrols in areas surrounding Yellowknife and across the entire territory to support wildfire prevention efforts and promote compliance with territorial wildfire legislation.

Check against delivery.

Mr. Speaker, we are more prepared for wildfires this year than we have been heading into any other previous season, and that is good news for everyone.

We have new initiatives moving forward. We are building facilities that we need, and we are getting more communities and local people trained and equipped. We have increasingly focused on prevention and mitigation, operational readiness, and strong coordination with communities, Indigenous governments, local fire departments, and other partners.

Today, a new tool in the Northwest Territories wildfire and community emergency response toolkit was unveiled. The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), in partnership with the Northwest Territories Fire Chiefs Association, is implementing a new territorial-wide Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) program.

The program advances the GNWT’s mandate of safer communities and directly addresses a key gap identified in the 2023 wildfire operations review: the need for stronger integration between wildland and structural firefighting during community wildfire threats.

Minister Jay Macdonald, Minister Caitlin Cleveland, and Minister Caroline Wawzonek issued the following statements today in response to the launch of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board’s new Regional Database and Major Project Review Tool.

Minister Jay Macdonald, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Apply now for the Northwest Territories Youth Water Stewardship and Mentorship Grant Program, designed to empower young leaders in water stewardship. This program, offered annually, provides funding opportunities for youth aged 18 to 30 to lead community projects and events that support the vision and goals of Northern Voices, Northern Waters: The NWT Water Stewardship Strategy. This year’s deadline to apply is June 26, 2026, so don’t delay.

Bears are active in the NWT. We’re reminding everyone that avoiding bear encounters starts with you. Residents can take quick and easy steps to practice bear safety this season.

Don’t invite them in! 
Avoiding encounters starts with not inviting bears to your home, cabin, or community. Attractants are almost always the cause. Negative encounters are more likely when bears are in populated areas, and if bears get habituated to human food and garbage, they are more likely to stay close to people and less likely to stay in the wild. 

A key milestone was reached on a critical public safety investment as the Government of the Northwest Territories broke ground on a new Territorial Wildfire Centre building today.

The Territorial Wildfire Centre will be the central artery of the wildfire management program in the NWT – providing the technical needs, warehousing capacity, and facilities required for a modern wildfire management program.