Hay River, Northwest Territories
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| Town of Hay River Xatl'o Dehe   Hay River
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| — Town — | |
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| Motto: Hub of the North | |
| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | Canada |
| Territory | Northwest Territories |
| Region | South Slave Region |
| Constituency | Hay River North Hay River South |
| Census division | Fort Smith Region, Northwest Territories |
| Incorporated (town) | 16 June 1963 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Jean-Marc Miltenberger |
| - Town Manager | Terry Molenkamp |
| - MLA | Paul Delorey (North) |
| - MLA | Jane Groenewegen (South) |
| Area | |
| - Land | 132.59 km² (51.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 165 m (541 ft) |
| Population | |
| - Total | 3,648 |
| - Density | 27.5/km² (71.2/sq mi) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| - Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| Canadian Postal code | X0E 0R0 - 0R9/1G1 - 1G5 |
| Area code(s) | 867 |
| Telephone exchange | 874/5 |
| Sources: Community Governance Data List[1] 2006 Canada Census[2], Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre[3], Canada Flight Supplement[4] |
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Hay River, known as "the Hub of the North"[5] is a town in the Northwest Territories, Canada, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Hay River. The town is separated into two sections, a new town and an old town with the Hay River Airport between them. The town is in the South Slave Region, and along with Fort Smith is one of the two regional centres.[6]
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[edit] Demographics
Hay River has a population of 3,648, and the nearby Hay River Reserve (Katl'odeeche First Nation) another 309,[7] according to the 2006 Census.[2] The aboriginal population in Hay River is 1,600, up from 1,565 at the 2001 Census, and is made up of First Nations, Métis people and Inuit.[8] The main languages in the town are South Slavey, Chipewyan, Michif and English.[9]
[edit] History
The area has been in use by First Nations, known as the Long Spear people as far back as 7000 BC.[9]
According to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories the first buildings were those of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1868 followed by a Roman Catholic Mission in 1869 and an Anglican Mission in 1894.[9]
However, according to the town, the first permanent settlement in the area of Hay River was established in what is now the Katl'odeeche First Nation. This was sometime between 1892-93. This first settlement was established by Chief Chiatlo and a group of people by the building of log cabins and bringing dairy cows. This was followed in 1893 by the Anglican Mission, at the request of Chief Chiatlo in 1893 with the Roman Catholic Mission and the Hudson's Bay Company arriving later.[5]
A school, health centre and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police followed, and as part of the Canol Road project the United States Army Corps of Engineers built a runway on Vale Island. In the late 1940s the Government of Canada built a gravel road, now the Mackenzie Highway, from Grimshaw, Alberta to Hay River making it the first community in the NWT to be linked with southern Canada.[5]
In 1959, the Northern Transportation Company Limited located their main base in Hay River and over the years developed the facilities. Today the base is the major staging point for the annual sealift along the Mackenzie River, via Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk and the communities of the Arctic Ocean, as far east as Taloyoak, Nunavut and west to Barrow, Alaska.[10][5]
By 1964, as part of the Pine Point Mine development, the Mackenzie Northern Railway was constructed. The railway, through Canadian National Railway in Edmonton, makes Hay River the northernmost point in Canada, and all of North America, which is connected to the continental railway system.[10][5] The Alaska Railroad is located farther north but is orphaned from the network.
In 1978, Hay River along with, the now abandoned, Pine Point hosted the fifth Arctic Winter Games.
[edit] Services
The community has a full hospital, the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital, a woman's shelter/transition house, a dental clinic and an ambulance service.[11][12] The RCMP detachment has eight members and the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre is located here.[11] There are two grocery stores in Hay River, including the Northern Store, branches of both the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Royal Bank of Canada and both True Value and Home Hardware.[11][12]
Airlines servicing Hay River include the locally based Buffalo Airways, who provide scheduled flights to Yellowknife as well as charter services and a courier service throughout the north.[13][14] Both First Air and Canadian North provide scheduled services to Yellowknife with connections elsewhere,[15] while Canadian also provides direct flights to Edmonton.[16] Other companies offering charter services in HAy River include, Landa Air, Carter Air Services (fixed-wing aircraft), Denendeh Helicopters and Remote Helicopters.[17]
[edit] Education
The town is part of the South Slave Divisional Education Council and supports three schools, Harry Camsell School, Princess Alexandra Middle School and Diamond Jenness Secondary School.[18] Harry Camsell is for primary school and serves students from kindergarten to Grade 3.[19] Princess Alexandra, named for and opened by Princess Alexandra in 1967,[20] is a middle school and serves Grade 4 to Grade 7.[21] Diamond Jenness, named for Diamond Jenness and opened in 1973,[22] is the high school and serves Grade 8 to Grade 12.[23] The town also supports a Community Learning Centre and a Career Centre.[11]
[edit] Media and communications
Radio stations in Hay River include, CBDJ-FM (93.7) broadcasting CBC Radio One, CJCD-FM (100.1), owned by Vista Broadcast Group, broadcast from Yellowknife, and CKLB-FM (101.9) a community radio station aimed at First Nations people also from Yellowknife, CFMI-FM from Vancouver and CKHR, a community radio station in Hay River.[17]
The town controls television broadcasting and it is paid for through property taxes and includes, CIHC-TV, a community channel, CBEBT-1 from Yellowknife is the CBC North channel and CH4435 (Télévision de Radio-Canada) broadcasting in French.
The Hub is an independent weekly newspaper published by Chris Brodeur. Besides Hay River, the paper is available in Yellowknife, Enterprise, Fort Smith, Inuvik, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution and Grande Prairie.[24]
Internet services are provided by SSI Micro and Bell Sympatico, land based telephone by Northwestel and cell phones by NMI Mobility.[17][12]
[edit] Climate
Hay River has a subarctic climate with summer lasting for about three months. Although winter temperatures are usually below freezing, every month of the year has seen temperatures above zero. Rainfall, which can occur throughout the year, averages 203.1 mm (8.0 in) and snowfall 125 cm (49.2 in). From December to January on average there are 58.7 days when the wind chill is below -30, which indicates that frostbite may occur within 10 - 30 minutes.[25][26]
| Weather averages for Hay River Airport, NWT | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.7 (51) | 13.9 (57) | 15.6 (60) | 24.1 (75) | 33.3 (92) | 34.0 (93) | 35.0 (95) | 36.7 (98) | 30.0 (86) | 25.0 (77) | 15.0 (59) | 12.2 (54) | 36.7 (98) |
| Average high °C (°F) | -18.4 (-1) | -14.7 (6) | -8.2 (17) | 3.0 (37) | 11.6 (53) | 18.0 (64) | 21.1 (70) | 19.6 (67) | 13.2 (56) | 4.1 (39) | -7.9 (18) | -15.8 (4) | 2.1 (36) |
| Average low °C (°F) | -27.6 (-18) | -25.6 (-14) | -20.6 (-5) | -8.4 (17) | 0.7 (33) | 7.0 (45) | 10.6 (51) | 9.3 (49) | 3.8 (39) | -3.3 (26) | -15.9 (3) | -24.8 (-13) | -7.9 (18) |
| Record low °C (°F) | -47.8 (-54) | -48.3 (-55) | -44.4 (-48) | -38.9 (-38) | -18.9 (-2) | -5.6 (22) | 1.0 (34) | -1.1 (30) | -11.7 (11) | -24.3 (-12) | -40.8 (-41) | -47.2 (-53) | -48.3 (-55) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 16.4 (0.6) | 14.6 (0.6) | 13.7 (0.5) | 12.2 (0.5) | 24.8 (1) | 32.8 (1.3) | 41.9 (1.6) | 50.5 (2) | 39.6 (1.6) | 33.8 (1.3) | 24.2 (1) | 16.0 (0.6) | 320.4 (12.6) |
| Source: Environment Canada [26] | |||||||||||||
[edit] Notable people
- Paul Delorey, professional curler and current speaker in the Northwest Territories Legislature, represents Hay River North
- Jane Groenewegen, current member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from Hay River South
- Rob McVicar, goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks
- John Pollard, member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1987 until 1995
- Geoff Sanderson, ice hockey winger currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers
- Donald Morton Stewart, former mayor and speaker of the Northwest Territories Legislature
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Community Governance Data List
- ^ a b 2006 Canada Census, Hay River
- ^ Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre - official names
- ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 10 April 2008 to 0901Z 5 June 2008
- ^ a b c d e Hay River history
- ^ MACA Regions
- ^ 2006 Canada Census, Hay River Reserve
- ^ 2001 Canada Census
- ^ a b c Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, Hay River profile
- ^ a b NTCL services
- ^ a b c d Infrastructure profile
- ^ a b c Northwestel
- ^ Buffalo Airways passenger services
- ^ Buffalo Airways courier service
- ^ First Air
- ^ Canadian North
- ^ a b c Hay River profile
- ^ South Slave Divisional Education Council
- ^ Harry Camsell School
- ^ Princess Alexandra School - About our school
- ^ Princess Alexandra School
- ^ Diamond Jenness School - About our school
- ^ Diamond Jenness School
- ^ The Hub
- ^ Wind Chill Hazards and Risk of Frostbite
- ^ a b Canadian Climate Normals 1971-2000. Retrieved on 12 March, 2008.
[edit] Further reading
- DiLabio, R. N. W. Kimberlitic Indicator Minerals in the Geological Survey of Canada's Archived Till Samples Results of Analysis of Samples from Victoria Island and the Hay River Area, Northwest Territories. [Canada]: Geological Survey of Canada, 1997.
