The Honourable R.J. Simpson, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) held a day-long meeting with education leaders on June 8, marking the first such meeting to be held in person since January 2020.

The Minister opened the meeting by acknowledging the significance of meeting in person, and noted the resiliency displayed by education leaders throughout the pandemic. He also welcomed the many education body superintendents who were in attendance.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources wants NWT residents to think about bear safety this summer. The NWT is home to black bears, grizzly bears, and polar bears, and as temperatures rise and residents head out on the land, bears are active across the territory. While bears normally avoid contact with people, residents must be aware that we live in bear territory and bear encounters can occur anytime humans and bears occupy the same land.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) is asking the public for their input on proposed amendments to the Northwest Territories (NWT) Child Day Care Act (Act) to support transformation of the early learning and child care system.

Ministerial Activities Advisory for the week of June 14-20, 2022

Ministerial Travel

Please note that travel schedules may change with little or no notice. This schedule is accurate as of June 13, 2022.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) is pleased to announce a new exhibit featuring the handcrafted woven artwork of Cathie Harper. It is opening this week at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (PWNHC) on June 16, 2022.

Due to very dry conditions with no forecasted rain through the weekend and into next week, the City of Yellowknife has implemented a fire ban on open air fires within the City’s municipal boundaries. The ban prohibits open fires, including the use of approved fire pits.

Effective immediately and until further notice, a fire ban is now also in place for:

•              Fred Henne Territorial Park

•              Yellowknife River Territorial Park

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is running a pilot project to determine if commercially preparing moosehides to be traditionally tanned in the Northwest Territories (NWT) is a viable business practice, benefitting NWT tanners and artisans.

The Northwest Territories Cumulative Impact Monitoring Program (NWT CIMP) is providing $1.7 million in 2022-23 to support 29 monitoring and research projects. Funding recipients include Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, universities, and territorial and federal government departments.

This year, approximately $1.2 million is being provided for ongoing projects and approximately $500,000 is being provided for eight new projects.

As the Northwest Territories (NWT) moves into summer, tourism operators are beginning to welcome visitors back, and funding is once again available to support the restart of licensed tourism-operations through the Tourism Restart Investment Program (TRIP).

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has accepted a letter of offer from Fireweed Zinc Ltd. (Fireweed) to acquire its Mactung property.

The GNWT took ownership of Mactung in 2015 as part of the insolvency of North American Tungsten Corporation Limited in order to protect the economic value of the property’s tungsten deposit for future development. 

The GNWT’s goal has always been to return the property to the private sector once its commodity value recovered.