Canada 'Deeply disturbing:' Nunavut internet still slower, more costly than rest of country

Wife of Nunavut man who died from COVID-19 pleads with people to get vaccinated

IQALUIT, Nunavut — The wife of a Nunavut man who died from COVID-19 after contracting it in his community is urging the territory's residents to get vaccinated. Diane Sammurtok's husband Luki died in December after being flown from his home in Arviat to a southern hospital. Sammurtok called in to Arviat's local radio station and pleaded with people to get the vaccine. A recording of the call was played at a news conference today and broadcast over radio and television. Speaking through tears and sobs, Sammurtok said she doesn't want anyone to go through what she did.

30 percent have speeds faster than 10 Mbps — more than three times the penetration in Australia. In fact a year ago, the poms were pretty close to where Australia is today where their average broadband speed was 6.5 Mbps, our is now 5.8 Mbps; their penetration over 10 Mbps was 11 percent, here in

I can cut down the servers to 2 but why does more hurt? Wouldn't I want the most options available to make a connection? In the end all of these servers result in the browser emitting more ICE candidates. And so more ICE candidates need to get send to the other browser or ICE agent.

IQALUIT, Nunavut — In Nunavut, it's not unusual for the internet to cut out, slow down or stop working altogether.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Unlike most jurisdictions in Canada, there is no option for unlimited internet. Instead, residents are faced with high prices and heavy fees for higher monthly data caps.

Amy Matychuk, who lives in Iqaluit, says each month she and her fiancé wait for the notice from their internet service provider telling them they've reached their data limit.

Matychuk says the couple spends about $250 a month on internet. Her fiancé is completing his masters, which requires him to be on Zoom nearly eight hours a day.

What we know and don't know about the Scotties, Brier

While there's been more clarity about what the fields for both the Scotties and Brier will look like with just over a month from the beginning of the curling frenzy, set to take place in the Calgary curling bubble, there are still a lot of unknowns. To recap, eight jurisdictions across Canada have now cancelled their playdowns — they include: B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Northern Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Nunavut played a best-of-five men's showdown last weekend. P.E.I., N.L., N.B., N.W.T., and Yukon are all still endeavouring to play some sort of championship to determine their representatives.

See more ideas about Disturbing , No soliciting signs, Bones funny. Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more .

It was more because Biden’s inauguration took place in the middle of a militarily-occupied city, inside a perimeter surrounded by tens of thousands of armed National Guard troops. Reentering an expensive agreement that will make American energy more costly . Putting Americans at greater risk.

"He's at the maximum data he can have on his phone, so once we run out of internet at home he can hot-spot to his phone," she said.

Nunavut’s internet problems aren’t new, but the territory's senator, Dennis Patterson, says the pandemic has made a bad situation even worse.

"Internet continues to be of crucial importance to remote communities in Nunavut. The situation has sadly not changed," Patterson said in an interview.

A report commissioned by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the land-claim body that represents Inuit in the territory, says the fastest possible internet speed in Nunavut is eight times slower than the national average.

The report states Nunavut is the only jurisdiction in Canada without residential access to internet speeds over 25 megabits per second. The highest possible speed in Nunavut is 15 megabits per second.

Sen. Josh Hawley Book Dropped By Simon & Schuster Lands At Conservative Regnery Publishing

Conservative publishing house Regnery has picked up Sen. Josh Hawley’s upcoming book The Tyranny of Big Tech that was dropped by Simon & Schuster after the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol. The Missouri Republican had repeatedly supported and gave voice to President Donald Trump’s disinformation campaign about vote tampering and election results leading up to the deadly attack. Hawley, who was photographed giving a clenched fist salute to Capitol protestors shortly before the gathering turned violent, was dropped by Simon & Schuster on Jan. 7, with the publisher citing Hawley’s “role in what became a dangerous threat.

Many of them served as army generals and navy admirals, defending Russian borders in different wars and battles. Another reason the show has been running for so long is that there is no main storyline, it is very much episodic, each episode telling a story of a separate adventure.

Bitterly carries a feeling of deep sadness; used slightly more in writing than in conversation. . Deeply . ridiculously cheap. highly successful. 7. Everyone got more than 95% correct in the test; it was . . .

Some 86 per cent of Canadian households have access to unlimited data packages and 94 per cent have access to broadband speeds of at least 25 megabits, the report says. It would cost a single Nunavut household at least $7,000 annually to reach the average level of data usage in Canadian households.

Nunavut is also the only Canadian province or territory without access to fibre internet. There are three proposals that could bring it to Nunavut through lines connected to other provinces, but those are still a few years away from completion.

Patterson says one reason internet hasn’t improved in the territory is a lack of competition for service providers. Northwestel, which is owned by Bell, serves all of Nunavut’s 25 communities. Qiniq, its main competitor, also offers internet and mobile phone service but runs off a different network because it doesn't have access to Northwestel's.

Alberta selects Laura Walker, Brendan Bottcher for Scotties, Brier

Curling Alberta has made its decision on what teams will represent the province at this year’s Scotties and Brier in the Calgary bubble. Laura Walker, last year’s provincial champion, has accepted the invitation to play at this year’s Scotties. On the men’s side, Brendan Bottcher will once again be going to the Brier. Bottcher is last year's provincial champion. He has played in the last three Brier championship games, losing twice to Brad Gushue, and two years ago to fellow Albertan Kevin Koe. It's Bottcher's fifth appearance at the Brier. The decision was made Sunday afternoon by the Curling Alberta board members.

But the show did more than just touch the hearts of thousands of its listeners, it actually made an impact. In 2015 the US Department of the Treasury announced that they were redesigning the 10-dollar bill, replacing Hamilton, but thanks to the show’s popularity the plans were reversed.

Trump still has a chance to expose this fraud and hold those responsible for it accountable, but he needs to act fast. Another speculated that Trump does not have very many options to fight this other than to demand a recount, only to potentially be told that one will not be allowed – and then what?

“It's like an airport being owned by one airline and other airlines needed to either build their own airport or pay premium rates to access that airport," Patterson said.

Another reason internet hasn't improved in the territory is because previously announced federal funding has not been distributed, he added.

"There's been no action. It’s deeply disturbing to me."

Last summer, projects in Yukon and the Northwest Territories received $72 million from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to improve broadband internet service.

Nunavut did not receive any money. In a news release at the time, the CRTC said Nunavut projects were deferred to a second round of funding.

"We need immediate relief during the height of the pandemic when all these services in health and education and working at home are so critical," Patterson said.

The CRTC said in an email that it "is continuing to evaluate the applications submitted to the second call for applications."

"Further funding announcements will be made as additional projects are approved."

Early morning fire destroys grocery and retail store in Igloolik, Nunavut

A fire has destroyed a grocery and retail store in Igloolik, Nunavut. Photos on social media from the community of about 1,600 show orange flames and black smoke bursting from the Artic Co-op store. Qaatani Sarpinak, who lives in Igloolik, says the fire started after 4 a.m. and he saw ammunition exploding and vapour coming from propane tanks inside the store. Duane Wilson, vice-president of stakeholder relations with Arctic Co-operatives, says the fire is still burning and it's too early to tell what caused it, but no one has been hurt. Wilson says an emergency response team has assembled at the Co-op to support urgent needs like fuel delivery.

The CRTC said it could not disclose how many Nunavut projects had applied for funding.

Andrew Anderson, communications director with Northwestel, said the company's proposal to the CRTC seeks to bring internet speeds up to 50 megabits per second with an option for unlimited internet. Right now, the company's highest internet package for home users is 150 gigabytes a month and costs $129.

“We’re hopeful that our proposal brings good value to Nunavut and will help meet that standard, but we’re waiting to hear back on that," Anderson said.

For his part, Patterson will continue to push the federal government to make immediate investments for faster, more affordable internet as the pandemic rages on.

"People still need to work and do schooling remotely. It’s no secret that Nunavut has been subject to internet blackouts."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2021

___

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship

Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press