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Europe trip lands new investments in NWT satellite facility A recent trip to Europe by NWT ofcials secured addi- tional investment in Inuviks burgeoning remote sensing satellite facility. See page 7. U.S. Olympic gold medal soccer player visits the NWT U.S. gold medal winning soc- cer player Lori Lindsey toured the NWT last week to inspire localathletestoworkhardand follow their dreams. See page 21. SOLSTICE SPLASH Paddlers celebrate the longest day of the year on the Slave River. See page 20. Cree music album aims to inspire language learners A first-of-its-kind musical compilation in the Cree lan- guage launched for free on- line on Aboriginal Day June 21 in the NWT. See page 15. Fort Smith youth get sense of self at culture camps Elementary school students learned all about traditional Aboriginal cultural activities at the annual JBT Culture Camp last week. See pages 12-13. V IS IT W W W .N O R J.C A A national award winning independent newspaper serving northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories since 1977 1.00 June 23 2015 Vol. 39 No. 8 Independent watchdog set up for Giant Mine By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Afteryearsofnegotiationalegally binding agreement that establishes independent oversight for the clean- up of Yellowknifes Giant Mine was nalized last week. The new Environmental Agree- ment for the defunct gold mine that is currently undergoing taxpayer- funded remediation was signed on Wednesday by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation City of Yellow- knife Alternatives North the North Slave Mtis Alliance and both the federal and territorial government. Kevin OReilly a signatory to the agreement on behalf of Alternatives North said the arrangement has been a long time coming. This is something Ive been working on for about 15 or 20 years said OReilly letting out a laugh. But its not just me I think theres a lot of people in the community who have been concerned about multiple roles and responsibilities particularly of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Can- ada AANDC. The agreement guarantees in- dependent oversight of the feder- ally managed remediation project The body which will receive an- nual funding from the Canadian government will review ongo- ing remediation operations and manage research on a permanent solution to the 237000 tonnes through the hearings process to the reviewboardwhoeventuallyincluded the creation of the watchdog as one of its 26 binding recommendations for AANDCs Giant Mine remedia- tion team in its 2003 report. OReillysaidindependentoversight wasalwaysaconcernforAlternatives Northandtheotherpartiesatthetable becauseofthemanyconictingroles heldbyAANDCwhichwasessentially boththeregulatorandtheproponent throughout the review process. Themessshallwesaywasallowed tohappenundertheirwatchthenthe same department inherited this site and became responsible for manag- ing and attempting to remediate the site.Whiledoingthattheywerecar- rying out inspections of themselves thesameministerreceivedthereport from the review board will eventu- ally sign off on a water licence and theyhavetocomeupwiththemoney for this OReilly said. See Body on page 3. through the establishment of an independent not-for-prot body of experts appointed by the signatories to the agreement. The signatories have 45 days from the effective date to appoint their representatives. of toxic arsenic trioxide stored underground. The call to establish independent oversight was brought forward to AANDC prior to the environmental assessment process and then again We felt in the interest of transparency accountability and ensuring better commu- nications and so on that having somebody independent watch what is happening is a good idea. Kevin OReilly Alternatives North PhotoDaliCarmichaelopment NEHIYAWNIKAMONAKOYOYOWAKOHCINANASKOMOWIN NWTCreeLanguageProgram EducationCultureEconomicDevelopment Raylene Powder centre dazzled her way into rst place at the Fort Smith Aboriginal Day traditional dress competition with Henry Beaver right in second and Fuzzy Victor Marie in third. For more pictures from the communitys weekend-long celebration head to pages 10 11.