By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The severe state of mental health issues among youth in the North isn’t a shock to anyone anymore, says 22-year-old Gwen Natsiq. Representing Canada as a youth delegate at the Inuit Circumpolar Council’s general assembly in Iqaluit, Natsiq spoke about how she’s been personally affected by Nunavut’s high rate of suicide. “In the past five years alone, I have lost around eight people to suicide,” she said. There are generally 25 to 37 suicides in Nunavut each year, giving the territory of 40,000 people by far the highest suicide rate in the country, data from the Nunavut Coroner’s Office shows. “This is a level of loss that many people living in the south of Canada may never experience in their…
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