Emily Blake
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blakeemily.bsky.social
Emily Blake
@blakeemily.bsky.social
Assistant editor @CabinRadio based in Yellowknife
Pinned
Decided to finally join Blue Sky. I’m the assistant editor with @cabinradio.ca reporting on all things Northwest Territories related.
More than two year's since the NWT's worse wildfire season on record, when the majority of the territory's population was ordered to evacuate, I wanted to see how people are coping with the mental, community and cultural impacts. cabinradio.ca/272558/news/...
How NWT residents are recovering from 2023’s evacuations
More than two years since the NWT's worst wildfire season, people are still healing. Residents and leaders say community, conversation and counselling help.
cabinradio.ca
January 15, 2026 at 9:02 PM
In what one lawyer said was a “pretty extraordinary” decision, an NWT Supreme Court justice has set aside an arbitration agreement and allowed the case to proceed in open court. cabinradio.ca/275201/news/...
Łútsël K’é lawsuit against KPMG can proceed in NWT, judge rules
In a ruling one lawyer called "extraordinary," a judge said the Łútsël K'é Dene First Nation's lawsuit against an accounting firm can proceed in open court.
cabinradio.ca
January 15, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Emily Blake
This morning marks the beginning of a landmark trial in BC where @amberbracken.bsky.social and @thenarwhal.ca are suing the RCMP.

The CAJ continues to stand with Amber and The Narwhal.

Full statement: https://loom.ly/C9tqr00
January 12, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Emily Blake
I called number for the Local Matters campaign from the Canadian Media Guild on Facebook. The call was answered by an employee of the group behind Canada Proud, one of the loudest advocates for defunding the CBC.

www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it
“It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”
www.nationalobserver.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Here are 10 of my favourite photos I took in 2025:

Cars travel on the ice road between Dettah and Yellowknife.
January 1, 2026 at 5:15 AM
As 2025 comes to a close here are 10 of my favourite articles I wrote this year, in no particular order:
I really enjoyed talking to the authors of Price of Gold on what we can learn today from Giant Mine.
cabinradio.ca/264132/news/...
Q&A: The authors of Price of Gold on learning from Giant Mine
We spoke with the authors of a new book on the toxic Giant Mine on what it can teach us about improving mine closure and responding to environmental problems.
cabinradio.ca
January 1, 2026 at 4:30 AM
“If it were to help nation building, then Nunavut children should not have to go to school hungry, people should not have to live in overcrowded housing conditions, students shouldn't have to go to schools that are deteriorating,” Lori Idlout said. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Who benefits from the Arctic economic and security corridor? It depends who you ask | CBC News
Many northern leaders have been touting the Arctic economic and security corridor as a 'nation-building' project that will bring economic benefits to the two territories it straddles, but some communi...
www.cbc.ca
December 22, 2025 at 4:10 PM
The GNWT asked the court to order a man suing a former RCMP officer and the NWT and Canadian governments over alleged childhood sexual abuse to pay security for costs. The NWT Supreme Court found that would not be in the interests of justice. cabinradio.ca/272276/news/...
Judge dismisses security request in sexual abuse suit
Ordering a man suing the GNWT over alleged childhood sexual abuse to pay for some legal costs up front would not be in the interests of justice, a judge ruled.
cabinradio.ca
December 19, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Yikes.
December 3, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Advocates are calling on the NWT government to redirect all out-of-territory gender-affirming healthcare away from Alberta. cabinradio.ca/269199/news/...
Worry Alberta law could impact NWT access to gender-affirming care
Alberta's plan to use the notwithstanding clause to override Charter rights has NWT advocates worried about the impact on gender-affirming care access.
cabinradio.ca
December 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM
“I think we gave it the sort of mournful, haunting spin on it that it deserved,” cabinradio.ca/268352/news/...
PIQSIQ releases ‘mournful, haunting’ rendition of Jingle Bells
Throat-singing sisters PIQSIQ released a "soaring, haunting and ethereal" version of Jingle Bells re-examined through an Inuit and decolonial lens.
cabinradio.ca
November 21, 2025 at 9:43 PM
“Our hope is that these will be taken and used as a basis to update the guidelines, or just to update many aspects of gender-affirming care in the territory and improve people’s lived experiences.” cabinradio.ca/267941/news/...
NWT must improve access to gender-confirming care, says report
A new study calls for changes to the NWT's guidelines on healthcare for transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.
cabinradio.ca
November 21, 2025 at 9:40 PM
An NWT Territorial Court judge reduced a woman’s sentence for a serious assault by six months as RCMP violated her Charter rights by filming her naked in police cells. cabinradio.ca/267404/news/...
Woman’s serious assault sentence is reduced over Charter breach
An NWT Territorial Court judge reduced a woman's sentence for a serious assault as RCMP had violated her Charter rights by videotaping her naked in police cells.
cabinradio.ca
November 19, 2025 at 5:56 PM
In a “highly exceptional” case, an NWT man on house arrest for sexual assault will not face jail time for breaching court-ordered conditions. The original sentencing judge disagreed with a conditional sentence but had little discretion to alter the joint submission. cabinradio.ca/266534/news/...
Joint submission scrutinized in NWT Supreme Court ruling
In an "exceptional" case, a man on house arrest for sexual assault won't face jail for breaching conditions. The ruling looked at the role of joint submissions.
cabinradio.ca
November 12, 2025 at 9:44 PM
I spoke with Maggie Helwig, author of Encampment: Resistance, Grace and an Unhoused Community and rector of St Stephen-in-the-Fields, about encampments, the housing crisis and homelessness. cabinradio.ca/266084/news/...
Q&A: What can YK learn from a Toronto church encampment?
An Anglican priest in Toronto wrote a book about an encampment in her churchyard and the challenges its residents face. Here's what she says others can learn.
cabinradio.ca
November 5, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Reposted by Emily Blake
October 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Was great getting to chat with the authors of Price of Gold about how Indigenous, labour and environmental activists fought back against pollution and what we can learn from Giant Mine today. thhttps://cabinradio.ca/264132/news/yellowknife/qa-the-authors-of-price-of-gold-on-learning-from-giant-mine/
Q&A: The authors of Price of Gold on learning from Giant Mine
We spoke with the authors of a new book on the toxic Giant Mine on what it can teach us about improving mine closure and responding to environmental problems.
cabinradio.ca
October 23, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Wonderful excerpt from Maggie Helwig's book encampment in The Walrus. Just picked up a copy of the book at Yellowknife Books. thewalrus.ca/churchyard-e...
I’m a Priest, and My Churchyard Became an Encampment | The Walrus
I spent years witnessing a homelessness crisis most pretend not to see
thewalrus.ca
October 23, 2025 at 6:31 PM
“He is hearing disproportionately from the industries that represented the 20th century economy, not the 21st century economy … as the rest of the world electrifies and moves towards a cleaner economy.” thenarwhal.ca/carney-natur...
Carney welcomed industry lobby, ignored environmental groups: records | The Narwhal
Records show resource industry lobbyists had regular access to Prime Minister Mark Carney in his first 100 days, while environmental groups were shut out
thenarwhal.ca
October 23, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A representative of the encampment requested fire extinguishers and fire-retardant tarps and tents on Sept10. cabinradio.ca/264384/news/...
Fire at Yellowknife encampment ‘preventable,’ lawyer says
A lawyer representing residents of an encampment in Yellowknife says a fire could have been prevented if the GNWT had provided support.
cabinradio.ca
October 23, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay worked closely with composer Ariel Marx, contributing vocals and throat-singing to the original score of The Last Frontier. cabinradio.ca/264001/news/...
Music from PIQSIQ features in new Apple TV+ series
"It's cool, it feels like a big deal." The soundtrack of new Apple TV+ series The Last Frontier features contributions from Inuit throat-singing sisters PIQSIQ.
cabinradio.ca
October 21, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Following deliberations over the weekend, a mistrial was declared in the case on Sunday evening after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. cabinradio.ca/263929/news/...
Mistrial declared in Behchokǫ̀ murder trial
A mistrial was declared in the trial of Zakk Lafferty due to a hung jury. Lafferty was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Deijean Drybones.
cabinradio.ca
October 20, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Home Base YK staff unionized more than a year ago but still have no collective agreement. The employer and union are now in conciliation. During certification, a report indicating which employees wanted to unionize was inadvertently sent to the employer and union. cabinradio.ca/262425/news/...
Home Base Yellowknife staff spend more than a year in union limbo
Employees at Home Base YK unionized more than a year ago but still have no collective agreement. Now, one employee has filed to decertify the union.
cabinradio.ca
October 16, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Lawyers presented their final arguments in the trial of Zakk Lafferty, 26, who is facing a second-degree murder charge in the August 2023 death of 17-year-old Deijean Drybones. cabinradio.ca/263341/news/...
Lawyers make final arguments in Behchokǫ̀ murder trial
Lawyers presented their final arguments in the trial of Zakk Lafferty, who is facing a second-degree murder charge in the 2023 death of Deijean Drybones.
cabinradio.ca
October 16, 2025 at 10:43 PM