Politics

From the February March Issue of EDGEYK: No pressure or anything, but Sheila Bassi-Kellett’s appointment as Senior City Administrator is good news

It’s nearing five months since the last NWT Commissioner retired. So where is the new appointee?

The Minister for the Status of Women in a critical conversation about gender-based violence and the challenges women face in small Northern communities

On EDGE: ANALYSIS “We are fully adopting this and working to implement it within the laws of Canada.” Federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett attempted to set the record straight about Canada’s promised implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) this week at the United Nations headquarters in

With around $450,000 spent by candidates during last fall’s territorial election, give or take a few unlisted expense reports, we’re still a few pennies shy of what it costs to run a U.S. Presidential election. But that’s not to say candidates didn’t do some serious pocket-digging — into their own as well as their friends’

On EDGE | ANALYSIS In what has been referred to as “Métis are Indians!” Day all over social media, April 14, 2016 will go down as another pivotal moment in Canadian legal history as it pertains to Aboriginal peoples. The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed in a unanimous 9-0 ruling Thursday morning that Métis and

The prospect of $150 million being slashed from the territorial budget is sending jitters across Yellowknife, government town that it is. No layoffs have been announced yet – numbers won’t become clear until the budget is tabled in June – but austerity rumours are flying fast and the Union of Northern Workers is digging in

While the number of women in the NWT Legislative Assembly may not have increased since the previous election, the 18th Assembly seems to have kicked off with a commitment to finding solutions to gendered violence and inequality in the territory. The territorial government designated funding for the first time in many years to send representatives

Who’s the Inventor? With laptop and espresso on hand, David Wasylciw’s a well-known sight to the denizens of Javaroma, that is, when he’s not tweeting up a storm from the legislative assembly. The public policy and IT consultant moved North in 2008 and has since worked for the GNWT and the private sector, even taking

The ‘sunny ways’ of the new Liberal government are casting a new light on the Dehcho region, where Grand Chief Herb Norwegian says leaders are planning to take full advantage of the new “cleansing, reconciliatory atmosphere” in Ottawa and the territorial government to finalize their land claim, which has been dragging on for over 20

Finance minister Robert C. McLeod wants public input on the GNWT’s upcoming cash crunch. In preparation for what promises to be a lively budget debate this spring, the Finance department is inviting NWT residents to visit its website between March 11 and March 20 to answer a series of questions “about their priorities for GNWT

A short-list of female all-stars from the Northwest Territories is stacking up on social media as suggested names of who can take the place of NWT Commissioner George Tuccaro when he reaches the end of his six-year term in May. Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green says it’s time for a woman to be appointed to

 On EDGE | ANALYSIS It’s often been said in Canadian politics that if you’re a Prime Minister or premier looking to hamstring a potential challenger to your leadership, your best bet is to make that person the finance minister, where they’re sure to become your government’s routine bearer of bad news. Former finance minister Michael

A sneak peek, from the upcoming February/March issue of the print edition of EDGE YK magazine:  For over a year, various people from Tulita, Deline and Fort Good Hope asked me to run for MLA in the Sahtu riding. I resisted. Since I retired from the CBC in Yellowknife a few years ago, I’ve really

On EDGE | ANALYSIS The GNWT is now projecting a $32-million operating deficit by the end of the 18th Assembly. If nothing changes, over the next five years revenues are expected to drop by 1.7 percent, mostly due to poor mining prospects and reductions in federal transfers, while expenditures are forecast to grow by 4.05