GG Mary Simon takes German president on tour through Tuk to see climate change
Officials on their way for ‘working visit’ to Yellowknife and Tuktoyaktuk
Governor General Mary Simon will be in Yellowknife and Tuktoyaktuk this week with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to talk with N.W.T. leaders, meet with members of Joint Task Force North and learn about climate change challenges facing northern communities.
Simon is expected to fly into Yellowknife Tuesday.
On the agenda for Simon Tuesday are meetings with N.W.T. Commissioner Margaret Thom about youth and education, and with Premier Caroline Cochrane.
Simon will be travelling with her husband, Whit Fraser, who lived and worked in the Northwest Territories in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
Steinmeier is expected to arrive Wednesday, with the two officials visiting Joint Task Force North before flying to Tuktoyaktuk.
There, they’re set to meet with Indigenous leaders to learn about how climate change is impacting the hamlet.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: ‘Significant’ amounts of mercury in permafrost threatens Arctic food supply, research says, CBC News
Norway: Thawing permafrost melts ground under homes and around Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: 30–50% of critical northern infrastructure could be at high risk by 2050 due to warming, says study, Eye on the Arctic
United States: Alaska villages facing erosion, flooding receive relocation grants, Eye on the Arctic