Our most popular online stories from last week

Nunatsiaqonline was busy last week and most of our traffic was driven by politics and crime, the usual menu for anyone who reads our site regularly.

But the top story you clicked, swiped or tapped most often last week was a late-breaking story on June 12 about a Nunavik plane crash.

So here, in the order of popularity, are our top five stories from June 8 to June 12 according to Google Analytics pageview numbers.

A Piper 23 twin-engine aircraft crashed near Kangirsuk, killing all three passengers on board: father and son Robert Drapeau, 48, and Alexandre Veilleux, 23, of Val d’Or, Que., along with pilot Jean Robert Corbin, 77, of Winnipeg.

The aircraft is believed to have left Val D’Or on June 11. An emergency locator transmitter signal alerted the Kativik Regional Government that the aircraft had touched ground about two kilometres inland from Kangirsuk. A search and rescue team recovered the bodies on June 12.

Our next most popular story featured Iqaluit City Councillor Kenny Bell railing against fellow councillors and city administrators for neglecting his questions and requests for administrative updates.

His councillor’s statement, about preferring to “dig my eyes out with my bare fingers than come to this room,” drew plenty of readers, comments and tweets.

And because readers are always interested in who gets nabbed by the police and why, our third most popular story last week goes to a big marijuana bust in Cambridge Bay.

Police raided a local residence June 4 and confiscated 7.5 kg of weed and charged a local resident with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Of course readers were also interested in discovering the spending habits of Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson who was named by the Auditor General of Canada June 9, along with 29 other sitting and retired senators, in an audit of their expense claims.

Patterson has already repaid $9,223 of the $22,985 in dubious expense claims identified by the auditor general but is currently appealing the remaining portion, which went to pay for legal services.

The last story you made popular last week was a firearms scare at a school in Puvirnituq.

A student in that Nunavik community showed up at Iguarsivik secondary school in search of another student. Police arrested the student and no one was hurt.