{"id":928900,"date":"2026-10-11T10:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T10:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928900\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T10:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T10:30:22","slug":"new-church-set-to-rise-up-after-suspicious-fire-in-kinngait-nunavut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/928900\/","title":{"rendered":"New church set to rise up after ‘suspicious’ fire in Kinngait, Nunavut"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estimated 2 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Anglicans of Kinngait, Nunavut, will soon have a new church building, to replace the structure that burned down more than three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’ll be a time for healing,\u201d says South Baffin MLA David Joanasie. <\/p>\n

St. John church has served the community since 1950s, but burned down along with the local Living Water church in Jan. 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two destructive fires happened within three days of each other. Both the Nunavut Fire Marshal and the RCMP have deemed them “suspicious.\u201d But the investigations did not lead to charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite extensive investigative efforts, no suspects were identified,\u201d Nunavut RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Ashley Daley said in an emailed statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth files have been concluded, however, if new information arises, they can be re-opened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joanasie says there are many community members who have questions about the nature of the fires, but he encourages them not to \u201cgo too far into a rabbit hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plans to rebuild the Anglican church. So I think that we can focus our energies more on something to look forward to,\u201d Joanasie says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kinngait,<\/p>\n

The sketch of the new Anglican church in Kinngait, Nunavut. (Submitted by the Anglican Diocese of the Arctic)<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the local Anglican committee has been raising money to rebuild the church, says the committee\u2019s chairperson Eegevadluk Ogutaq.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, they have raised over a $1 million and received some materials to start the foundation this fall, he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new church we are going to have will be bigger than the church we had,\u201d Ogutaq said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear when the new church could open, but Joanasie hopes to be there for the ribbon-cutting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fires weighed heavy on people’s minds and hearts and left a scar,\u201d Joanasie says. \u201cIt will be a moment of rebirth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-928900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}