North of 60 Blog

The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly convened May 26^th to June 12^th, 2020, to continue the second session of the 19^th Assembly, which was unexpectedly cut short in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary purpose was to pass the 2020-21 budget, however, the Assembly did consider the following bills:

Bill 6-19(2) – An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly ...

A group of businesspeople in Yukon has challenged the constitutionality of various measures taken by the Yukon government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Yukon has mostly closed its borders except to residents and essential workers, and has made a number of orders affecting daily life and the economy.

The petition, filed ...

On April 21, 2020, a single judge of the Nunavut Court of Appeal released its decision in R. v Irngaut (2020 NUCA 04), a saga about an allegedly illegal caribou harvest. The Court held that the Government of Nunavut, the party who initiated the appeal, does not have standing to pursue the appeal.

The Court held that, absent legislative amendments to the Summary Conviction ...

Covid-19 has brought massive disruption to life across the North. The unprecedented changes to daily life pose many difficult questions for local governments about their role in responding to the pandemic. Although much of the response is being led at the federal, provincial, and territorial levels, particularly through the orders and advice of the Chief Public Health ...

NWT Legislative Beat

The first session of the 19^th Legislative Assembly convened on October 25, 2019. The 19^th Assembly is a historic Assembly, with the NWT having gone from having the lowest percentage of elected female MLAs to the highest in the country at 48% with the general election of October 1, 2019. Given that most new assemblies take some time to develop legislative ...

What Types of Businesses Can Reopen?

In the Northwest Territories, the Chief Public Health Officer has ordered that certain types of businesses shall close: recreational facilities (including but not limited to arenas, pools, and gymnasiums), community centres and youth centres, bottle depots, gyms and fitness centres, museums and art galleries, and businesses where ...

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into everyone’s plans, to say the least. Yet, projects must continue, documents must be registered, and litigation goes on. While as of this week, with no confirmed cases in the North, we hope that matters will improve and continue to open up, much uncertainty remains. Things are changing quickly.

To help stay on top of new developments and ...