News quiz Sept. 19 | Dirt, gold and deep pockets

Now that the days are shorter and a bit colder, you have more time to read the news, right? Let’s go!

1. Nunavut leaders were hobnobbing in Toronto this week. Why?

A. The Nunavut Trade Show changed venue this year in order to make it easier for southern firms to learn more about investment opportunities across the territory.
B. They were in Toronto as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Canada Investment Summit, which brought together private firms from across the globe to tour national infrastructure projects that need financial backing.
C. Premier John Main was invited to throw the first pitch at Tuesday’s Blue Jays game against the Detroit Tigers. Main invited NTI vice-president Paul Irngaut and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty along, so they could discuss shared priorities while the Jays lost 10-1.

2. What appeared in a Gjoa Haven neighbourhood last week, much to the chagrin of local residents?

A. A polar bear
B. A sinkhole
C. A stinky pile of dirt

3. Actor Natar Ungalaq spoke to Nunatsiaq News last week about his life and career as his breakout movie Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner turned 25 this year. Ungalaq said he saw his first movie in Igloolik, at age 4, from inside the hood of his mother’s amauti. How much did a movie ticket cost in Igloolik when Ungalaq was a child?

A. 10 cents
B. 25 cents
C. 50 cents

4. Two hopefuls are vying for an empty Hudson Bay seat in Nunavut’s legislature: Jason Iqaluq and Nukaja Sala. What do they both agree is one major need for the riding?

A. Housing
B. Lower food costs
C. Better elder care

5. If you read this week’s Taissumani, you’ll know that U.S. President Donald Trump’s grandfather Frederick Trump got rich doing what in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush?

A. Searching for gold, of course.
B. Running a brothel for those panning for gold.
C. Guiding prospectors up the Chilkoot Trail.

Movie star Natar Ungalaq, left, flashes his signature smile beside lifelong friend and collaborator Zacharias Kunuk in Iqaluit’s Astro Theatre in September 2025. They attended the screening of Kunuk’s film “Uiksaringitara (Wrong Husband)”, for which Ungalaq served as acting coach. (Photo by Daron Letts)

Answers:

1. B — Proponents of the Grays Bay Road and Port Project, Iqaluit’s hydro project, the Kivalliq hydro-fibre line and others made an appearance at the Canada Investment Summit in the hopes they could drum up interest in their work. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Government of Nunavut hosted an event Monday to help whet the appetites of those with deep pockets.

2. C — A pile of soil that residents say stank of diesel appeared in a Gjoa Haven neighbourhood last week. Some say it was contaminated debris from a 2022 fire in the hamlet. Others say it came from a parking lot. The pile has since been removed and the hamlet is investigating.

3. B — Movie tickets were 25 cents apiece when actor Natar Ungalaq was a child in Igloolik, he recalled. One could buy two tickets and some popcorn for three quarters.

4. A — Both Hudson Bay MLA candidates list housing as their number-one priority. Jason Iqaluq also wants to see better health-care options and more food security, while Nukaja Sala lists better elder care and a women’s shelter among her priorities. The byelection is scheduled for Sept. 28.

5. B — Frederick Trump opened the Arctic Restaurant in Whitehorse. It offered booze, gambling and “sporting ladies” until the North-West Mounted Police cracked down on these activities. He eventually took his Yukon earnings back to New York City, where he began to invest in real estate. And the rest, as they say, is history.