Nunavut government shuts down Cambridge Bay youth group home
Facility to close after Department of Family Services investigated reports of child harm
The Nunik Care Services youth group home in Cambridge Bay is closing after a territorial government investigation into reports of child harm there. (File photo)
A Cambridge Bay youth group home is closing after an investigation into a report of possible child harm at the facility.
The Nunik Care Services youth group home has until March 11 to “facilitate the safe and orderly transition of children and youth” from the home, the Department of Family Services announced Feb. 28 in a news release.
Details of the incident that spurred the report are unclear, but Nunavut RCMP confirmed the involvement of Cambridge Bay officers in an investigation into alleged “physical incidents” at the home.
“RCMP did not find evidence to support charges in relation to the alleged physical incidents, therefore no one was charged,” Cpl. George Henrie, the Nunavut RCMP spokesperson, said in an email Thursday.
“The Cambridge Bay RCMP did notify child family services of the alleged incidents, and the outcome of their investigation.”
The department opened its investigation in November. As a result of that, on Jan. 10 the department sent a letter to Nunik executive director Solomon Bucknor informing him the facility’s licence would be revoked.
Bucknor, reached on Thursday, said he was still working to move out of the home but declined to comment.
Nunik has capacity for 10 beds, according to its website. It is unclear how many youths are still residing at the home or where they will go once it is closed.
The facility has been controversial in Cambridge Bay. CBC News reported in December that a petition circulated in the community calling for the Nunavut government to close the home due to acts of vandalism and theft that residents blamed on youths living there.
“I don’t have anything official [but] I heard complaints about increased vandalism since the home was open,” said Cambridge Bay chief administrative officer Jim MacEachern.
Henrie confirmed Cambridge Bay police investigated reports of vandalism and theft by youths living at Nunik but did not provide any specifics.
The Department of Family Services did not provide answers to a list of questions provided by Nunatsiaq News regarding Nunik group home. The department also did not respond to a request for an interview.
Good decision, thanks to Cody E. for getting this started.
Probably sending them unlicensed group homes down south
Funny theyre blaming a “physical incident” when these group homes are outta control and nobody wants em in their towns. They should close down all the group homes and send them south where they have enough staff to keep them running proper. No supervision. They all let kids go out at 3am and cause trouble and vandalize and steal cigarette butts. Zero discipline.
“Stealing cigarette ?”
Give nea break
It’s time for our community to take real action—not just talk—when it comes to supporting our children and youth. We have always said we don’t want our young people sent down South, yet when local service providers step up to do the hard work, they face unnecessary roadblocks. We can’t be hypocrites. We must decide: Do we truly want our youth to receive services in their birth communities, or are we willing to let them be sent away?
The RCMP found no criminal wrongdoing, so why is the Department of Family Services still trying to shut down an essential service? It’s clear—this is about power, not protection. Instead of working with dedicated service providers, they’re driving them out. This isn’t just bureaucracy; it’s bullying.
Nunatsiaq, where is your journalistic integrity? Your role is to report the truth, to hold those in power accountable—not to stay silent while this department continues its harmful practices. The Auditor General’s report has exposed serious issues, yet we hear from the Minister that everything is fine. Fine? With children placed in unlicensed homes? With personal vendettas influencing critical decisions about youth placements? Who is protecting this department from accountability?
And to the Premier—what have you truly done about your mandate to ensure Inuit receive services in their home communities? Are you delivering on your promises, or just making rounds?
This should anger all of us. We cannot sit by while our children suffer under a broken system. This so-called “investigation” ended in December, yet the department continued placing youth in the very home they claim is unsafe. So who is really at fault here?
The people of Nunavut deserve better. We must demand real accountability. And Nunatsiaq, it’s time to step up and do the job your community expects of you—report the truth, without bias, and expose these failures for what they are.
This is a short sighted comment. Why don’t you want your own people to receive care in their hometown? You want to send them to places down South where you don’t even know how they are doing and if anyone is checking on them. My goodness. So sad
The majority of them are not in their home town. They were shipped from their hometown to here.
The Premier’s mandate is super obvious in all those photo ops… OH, the love he has for elders too. And let’s not forget all the frequent flyer miles he’s racked up – we’re talking millions of miles here, folks! Let’s remember this October. Nunavummiut need accountability, honesty, and more action than words. The biggest improvement is ‘no longer pretends to sound like PO’
When things go wrong, when people make mistakes, the situation needs to be treated as a learning opportunity, not a time for punishment.
This is not the first incident.
The group home in Iqaluit was closed.
The Elders facility in Iqaluit was closed, renovated and the contract given to a southern firm.
The contract to manage the Tammaativvik Boarding Home in Iqaluit was cancelled and given to a southern firm.
In each case, the GN has decided to terminate, rather than help hard-working Nunavummiut learn and improve.
That seems contrary to the spirit of the creation of Nunavut.
Even though one would like to feel differently, everyone recognizes that every file handled by GN, NTI and the RIAs since 1999, has been a grossly mishandled file.
Whether one examines the failures in the elementary and secondary school systems, housing, justice, Hamlets, health, health care, adult education, finance, HR, child services, infrastructure the results are the same: regression, corruption, entrenchment. It’s the same regardless if one examines administration, operations, capital projects.
The outcome is a deepening Nunaslum, a broader welfare state and a harder line of expected privilege. The disadvantaged fall deeper into dismay. Entrepreneurism is not fostered. Learning is not fostered. Honesty is not fostered. Personal responsibility is not fostered. Volunteerism is not fostered. Tolerance is not fostered. Conscientiousness is not fostered.
Blame is fostered. Privilege is fostered. Welfare is fostered. Bureaucracy is fostered. Unproductivity is fostered. Authority is fostered. Corruption is fostered. Nepotism is fostered. Pretence is fostered. Politics is fostered. Nunavut 2025