Breaking Ice
The Northern Region of Canada is an unbelievable place. A place that exists outside of the regular day to day understanding of life for most people. It is a place of extremes, from weather, remoteness, beauty, logistics, to costs, community and adventure. This kind of environment does not create soft people. Living & working in the North has given me the great pleasure of meeting and getting to know these extraordinary individuals. On Breaking Ice we will sit down and talk unfiltered with people about their lives, business and passions.
Episodes
39 episodes
Jasmine Bailes - Community Life, Black Spruce Education & The Value of Expeditions
Jasmine Bailes grew up in Norman Wells, spending much of her childhood living “out in DOT” with her family—an experience that deeply rooted her connection to the land. Over the years, she had the opportunity to work with Gana River Outfitters a...
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59:26
McKinley Winters - Nutrition North, Discovering Faith & Choosing a New Path
Nutrition North is a organization that helps make perishable, nutritious food more accessible and more affordable than it otherwise would be to residents of eligible isolated northern communities without year-round surface (road, rail or marine...
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55:07
Harold Grinde - Gana River Outfitters, Hunting in the Mackenzies & the Value of Hard Work.
Harold Grinde owns Gana River Outfitters in the Mackenzie Mountains. Early on in his life he was captured by hunting and has worked as a guide all over North-Western Canada which eventually led him to Gana River Outfitters and eventually assumi...
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1:02:12
Leon Andrew - Life on the Land, Local Legends & A Changing World
Leon Andrew is a local Elder who needs no introduction if you have spent time in the Sahtú. His heritage is from the Mountain Dené; he spent the first 16 years of his life living on the land. In this episode, he recounts stories from his life, ...
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59:41
Kevin Frank - Fitness, Motivation & Millennial Mindset
Kevin is a friend that I met in the Gym in Norman Wells one evening, we hit it off since then and spoke for around 2 hours that evening. Since then we decided it was a good idea to sit down and make an episode together. We come from different b...
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1:08:18
Bryson Rogers - Beginning a new Journey, Healing Your Self & The Sahtú Support Association.
I discovered Bryson through his recent post on the Norman Wells Announcements page, where he laid out his intention and the beginnings of The Sahtú Support Association. It piqued my interest, and after connecting on Facebook, we decided to reco...
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54:10
Rebecca Alty - Liberal Candidate for MP in the NWT, Being Mayor & Choosing Yellowknife.
Rebecca is the current Mayor of Yellowknife serving her 2nd term and has taken a leave to run as the Liberal MP for the NWT. We managed to sit down together during her visit to Norman Wells while campaigning in the Sahtú. We discussed her roots...
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1:02:34
Kyle Newhook - The role of Aviation in the North, Choosing Norman Wells & Unusual Collections
Kyle Newhook is the Operations Manager for North-Wright Airways. He discovered Norman Wells at the start of his aviation career and basically never looked back. In this episode he tells the story of ending up here, how his perspective of aviati...
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59:54
Drayton Walker - Ditchers Landscaping, Entrepreneurship & Serving Community
Last summer, right after I started the podcast, I talked to Drayton about being a guest; he immediately said yes, but his busy season was in full swing. Finally, this week, we had the chance to sit down together. We talked about how he started ...
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58:58
Dennis Rusch - Leadership, Becoming a Father & Male Responsibility
Dennis Rusch lived in Norman Wells for nearly a decade; during that time, he worked as a helicopter pilot. He has since moved to Yellowknife and is now working with Acasta Heliflight. Dennis is an avid hunter, adventurer, and soon-to-be father....
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1:03:05
Doris Howard - Bearing Responsibility, Discovering Faith & Aiming Upwards
A friend of mine suggested that I Invite Doris on the show, and let me say that Doris is a remarkable person. Having endured the challenges she has and to have come out on the other still striving towards a better world. I was left in awe with ...
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1:17:49
Brandon Scott - Becoming a Leader, Protective Services and New Chapters.
Brandon Scott is the current Fire Chief in Norman Wells. After Spending summers in the Sahtú as a kid he decided to move to Norman Wells full time to work as a power engineer with the GNWT. As the years past he saw an opportunity to embark on a...
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53:34
Dorathy Wright - Fashion Week, Chasing your Passion & Sharing Knowledge
Dorathy is an entrepreneur living in Norman Wells Chasing her passion in Fashion in 2025 she will be travelling to Fashion Week in Paris to showcase her work. We sat down to learn about her roots, how she manages to start a business like hers i...
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59:25
Shamar Bennett - Growing up in Jamaica, Moving to Norman Wells & Playing Soccer for the NWT
Moving to Norman Wells for anyone not in the lifestyle here can be a big adjustment for anyone. But coming from Jamaica is a massive change. Shamar Bennett and I dig into his past, what the move was like, and the differences and similarities be...
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58:54
Tommy Kakfwi - Hosting Radio, Childhood Tuberculosis & Spirit of Adventure
Tommy and I got to know each other about 1 year ago when I was doing some work in Fort Good Hope. More recently we came across each other at the Legion in Norman Wells and decided we would do a podcast together. Out of sheer curiosity he ...
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57:35
Nicolas Akas - Life before Canada, Loving Radio & Moving to the West
Nicolas Akas and I had an opportunity to sit down together this past summer. I expected our conversation to be interesting, but he blew me away with his story. From his life in Africa and the development of his career there, being a radio perso...
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59:19
Josh Ferguson - Growing up in Mexico, Career Path & State of mind.
Thank everyone who has been following the show; it's been great to have the opportunity to connect with all of the guests that we have had thus far. It's about time that I share who I am. Many of you know me already, but many of you don't. In t...
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1:07:23
Al Pace - Discovering Adventure, Canoe Tripping & Canoe North Adventures
This Summer, Al and I got the chance to sit down before he headed back down south for the winter. Al is one of the Owner Operators of Canoe North Adventures Situated in Norman Wells. In this episode we talk about how he discovered his love for ...
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1:03:02
Sara-Jayne Dempster - The Humanitarian Crisis, What is the NTFL & Discovering the North.
It was great to sit with Sara-Jayne today to discuss all things NTFL and how they aim to help the Norman Wells advocacy effort moving forward. We also learn about her past and how she found herself as the president of the NTFL. The advocacy eff...
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46:27
Senator Paul Prosper - Humble Roots, Becoming a Senator & Visiting Norman Wells
It was an honour to have the chance to sit down with Senator Prosper yesterday November 4th. Paul is a Canadian Senator from Nova Scotia, he was also the Former Chief of the Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation. During our discussion we talked about his roo...
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29:58
Danny McNeely - An Update, Heating Fuel, Ottawa & the Legislature.
This episode of the Breaking Ice podcast is an update from Danny McNeeley. There has been a recent surge in fuel prices in Norman Wells, specifically heating fuel. As we enter the winter, this is a dire situation with dire consequences for many...
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36:56
Frank Pope - Norman Wells Municipal Election, Candidate for Mayor
I want to introduce Frank Pope. Frank is the incumbent mayor and has been a part of local politics for many years now. In this episode, we discuss why he seeks reelection this time and how he feels his skills are best suited for the job in the ...
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1:01:19
Heidi Hodgson - Norman Wells Municipal Election Candidate for Council
I want to introduce Heidi Hodgson. I am grateful that we had the opportunity to sit down together to discuss her perspectives on the issues facing Norman Wells and how she aims to serve the community as a councillor in the upcoming term. Heidi ...
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55:33
Bob Greek - Norman Wells Municipal Election Candidate for Council
I want to introduce Bob Greek. Bob is a longtime resident of Norman Wells who has worked in logistics for most of his career. He has sat on Council before and looks to be re-elected this year to help us navigate our supply chain & cost of l...
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1:06:56
Alexis Peachy - Norman Wells Municipal Election Candidate for Council
I want to introduce Alexis Peachey. She is a current counsellor for the municipality of Norman Wells and is seeking reelection in this next term in this episode. We will get to know her views on several issues and understand a little bit of her...
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1:03:01