Yellowknife youth MLAs focus on Frame Lake, Tin Can Hill

Two of the teenagers representing Yellowknife in this week’s Youth Parliament sought better protection for some of the city’s most prominent natural features.

Great Slave youth MLA Jack Penney urged the territorial government to turn Tin Can Hill into a territorial park.

The green space is currently an off-leash area for dog walking. For years, the GNWT had pursued it as a possible location for a polytechnic university campus. That deal with the city now appears to be off, or at least on pause.

Penney said the GNWT should go through with the land transfer and make the hill a territorial park rather than a campus, saying that would “ensure long-term environmental stewardship while respecting Indigenous history and providing opportunities for education and sustainable tourism.”

By doing so, he said, “we not only protect the land but we invest in our community.”

Frame Lake youth MLA Peter Mahon examined the fate of the lake for which that electoral district is named.

Considered a dead lake for decades, Frame Lake was once a popular swimming destination before pollution and garbage destroyed its aquatic ecosystem.

“As of right now, the amazing nature of the lake is being severely hampered by its pollution,” Mahon said during Youth Parliament’s one-day sitting on Thursday. (It’s an annual week-long exercise during which teenagers take the place of the real MLAs.)

Mahon said rehabilitating the lake “has the ability to bring the whole city together around a beautiful body of water.”

He said an aerator installed on the lake by mining firm Rio Tinto was a “very positive step” but the territory and city could do much more.

“For example, a constant flow of water out of the lake could be explored by ECC in partnership with the City of Yellowknife,” he said, referring to the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

“I strongly encourage the minister to pursue this important issue and attempt to find a solution.”

All 19 youth MLAs had the opportunity to present statements to the House before a series of debates began on topics like drugs and education.

Other statements looked at topics like vaping and smoking, which were raised as concerns by both Thebacha youth MLA Areeba Amir and Inuvik Twin Lakes’ Dallas Krutko.

Amir called for more education on the dangers of vaping, the creation of support groups with student mentors, addition of more activities to stop young people from becoming bored and “sinking into drug usage” in smaller communities, and the provision of other forms of counselling and medical support.

Krutko said teachers needed to more closely police students in schools who might find excuses to slip away and vape.

“I’d advise teachers to check on them if they’re not back in time. I see no reason for anyone to be getting a drink or using the bathroom for more than 10 minutes,” he said, advocating for more use of hall passes to monitor students.

Many of the youth MLAs’ statements examined topics that the adult MLAs consider to be ongoing crises in the territory.

Healthcare staffing shortages, drug usage in small communities and the cost of living were each raised multiple times.

Elsewhere, Kam Lake youth MLA Liyah Yakeleya-Grymaloski – stepping into education minister Caitlin Cleveland’s shoes for the week – praised the NWT’s recent adoption of the BC curriculum.

Range Lake’s Tendesai Mufandaedza described her creation of a youth collective for Black people at her school, saying she had found a “lack of recognition and understanding of Black culture” and hoped to provide an inclusive space where Black youth can feel more connected.

She now hopes to expand that concept to other schools in the territory.

Nahendeh’s Payton Bennett described the ways in which sports can become a constructive outlet for NWT youth, while Hay River South’s Kailee Wentland – in communities minister Vince McKay’s seat – praised the resilience of NWT residents after recent disasters.

“It is essential that we do not only repair what has been damaged but also build,” Wentland said, adding the climate must be kept in mind as that building and rebuilding occurs.