The Government of the Northwest Territories is now offering funding to organizations to help families get out on the land. The program is designed to offset the costs of participating in outdoor learning experiences like camping, boating, fishing and hunting, and traditional activities, so more northerners can get involved.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) are pleased to announce the launch of a credited “Hunter Education” course for high school students in the Northwest Territories (NWT). This course will provide new hunters with the fundamental knowledge and basic skills needed for them to become respectful and safe hunters.
Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Shane Thompson and Great Slave MLA Katrina Nokleby issued the following joint statement on COP26 and climate action in the NWT:
“Our territory took a strong message to COP26 this year - that the NWT has been and will continue to face some of the most significant impacts of climate change.
“While the NWT continues to do our part to reach emission targets, the northern context is unique and requires special consideration surrounding the expectations and support by the federal government.
The NWT will become the second jurisdiction in Canada to integrate a Statement of Environmental Values into government decision-making.
The creation of a Statement of Environmental Values is a requirement under the Environmental Rights Act, which was amended in 2019. The Statement explains how environmental considerations, including the right to a healthy environment, will be integrated into decisions that might have a significant impact on the environment.
The Draft Statement of Environmental Values is built upon seven principles:
The Government of the Northwest Territories is pleased to announce the release of the next Water Strategy Action Plan, the Northwest Territories’ plan to responsibly and collaboratively steward our waters.
The NWT Water Stewardship Strategy Action Plan, 2021-2025 sets clear actions under four priority areas:
The Northwest Territories is bringing a strong message to the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Our message
As a territory, we are responsible for less than 0.2% of Canada’s Greenhouse Gas emissions.
And yet in the north, we are experiencing the effects of climate change three times faster than southern Canada.
It already affects our lives in very real ways.
There are currently higher-than-normal water levels on the Tazin and Talston Rivers – and this could impact NWT residents and land-users.
Although there are no NWT communities downstream on the Tazin or Taltson Rivers; there are cabins and camps and the water levels may put them at risk.
The Taltson currently sits at about 0.5 metres lower than the record high water level last fall and water level and flow in the Tazin have not decreased as expected. This could result in sustained high water in the Taltson River during freeze-up.
Some NWT communities will now be able to recycle an expanded list of electronics. Residents in Yellowknife, N’Dilo, Dettah, Hay River, Kátł’odeeche First Nation, Enterprise, Kakisa, Inuvik, Fort Smith, Fort Providence and Norman Wells will be able to bring an expanded list of electronics and electrical products to their recycling depots over the next two years. Over 500 electronics and electrical products are now able to be recycled in these communities.
The Government of the Northwest Territories (NWT) and Canada are working together collaboratively to ensure activities are completed to minimize potential risk at the former Ptarmigan Mine site.
Work is being initiated following an investigation under the territorial Environmental Rights Act (ERA) that brought forward concerns about dust blowing onto the Ingraham Trail near the Ptarmigan Mine site in advance of the completion of negotiations to determine which government will be responsible for the site.
Actions to be Taken
The Government of the Northwest Territories has released a report from an independent consultant with expertise in caribou modelling. The report focuses on sustainable harvest levels for boreal caribou across the southern NWT.
