Child abuse, poverty, and overcrowded housing are increasing suicide risk in Nunavut: watchdog

By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News This article contains potentially upsetting information. There were 12 suicides by Nunavummiut under 19-years-old in 2025-26, according to Jane Bates, the Representative for Children and Youth Nunavut. In each of those events, something more could have been done, she suggested. “It was clear from a preliminary review that there were many junctures, many opportunities in which young people may have reached out, or opportunities in which departments could have intervened,” Bates said. An intervention may have not stopped those suicides, Bates cautioned, but an attempt could have been made. Reviewing those suicides is currently on hold because the traumatic stories overwhelmed staff at the Representative for Children and Youth Nunavut. “You can’t look at suicide with one factor. It’s a…

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