Construction on the Mackenzie Valley Highway will begin this summer, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Yellowknife Thursday.
For decades, there has been only one way to drive to the Canada’s Arctic Coast: the Dempster Highway via the Yukon to Inuvik, then to Tuktoyaktuk on the newer extension.
Now the federal government has announced the first phase of construction on a project that will create a new all-season route to Inuvik by extending the existing highway further down the Mackenzie River Valley.
They are also advancing a project to build a new deep water port on the central Arctic Coast and a new highway to connect the port to the continent. If it is constructed, it would be the first highway to the territory of Nunavut.
Both projects would have environmental implications along their routes, but also are expected to improve access to and for communities in the north.
Watching the Very Important Speech just now, I suddenly remembered I made this panoramic view too late last year - on the Sixteenth of March, so I didn't post it then. Now I'm on time! Sometimes happiness is the cyclical nature of old fandom events. \o/
This is simply two frames from the speech scene merged together - it's interesting how it's not very obvious in the scene that Thatcher and Fraser are standing side by side like this: the camera strictly pairs Thatcher with Turnbull and Fraser with Ray K. I had to take a close look at the scene to make sure this is indeed the way these four stand together.
Happy 11th of March, due South fans! Sign ups for this year's big bang are now officially open! \o/
due South and other Canadian Six Degrees fandoms are eligible; check out our FAQ to see if your fandom qualifies.
For primary sign-ups, you can make 20,000-word fics or podfics or equivalent art/vids/craft of any sort, for due South or any other Canadian Six Degrees fandom.
Head to this dreamwidth post to check out this year's schedule and to sign up!
PSA: new type of bots plaguing AO3’s comments section.
as obvious as it is that these are all bots/scam, I believe there are still people who believe they are legit and fall victims to these trolls. so if you get a comment like these, don’t panic, don’t delete your works. they are all bots. you’re fine.
Reminds me of the scam texts and voicemails claiming that the “Canada Tax Agency” (not a real agency) has issued a warrant for your arrest (not a thing they do). Unless, of course, you pay your back taxes (which aren’t really owing) with cryptocurrency or gift cards!
Like those tax scams, these comments are probably something that those of us who have lived a long time in democracies with freedom of speech can just brush off. But there are a lot of countries that actually have an “Internet crimes police” that actually does arrest people for things said online. For people in these countries, these scam threats may seem more credible - and much more distressing.
Just an FYI, there is a spam bot leaving comments on every Due South fic (and likely other fandoms) working in reverse chronological order, with the apparent goal of getting writers' who engage to share their email or Discord contact information.
The new twist is that the bot leaves gushing, over-the-top praise that includes specific information about the fic. The comments all follow the same template and appear to be AI-generated (for example, the first sentence almost always ends with an emoji; the bot overuses certain words and phrases like chaotic, joy, "my heart"; comments are all approximately the same length; bot comments on only one chapter and mistakenly refers to single-chapter fics as a "chapter"). The bot moved through the fics too fast for a human to actually read them. The bot is not leaving comments on podfics, art, or videos currently, probably because the AI they are using only processes text.
All of the comments on Due South fics have been from the same account, which has no history on AO3. Many of us have blocked the account. However, a different account could easily do the same thing.
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: due South
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Renfield Turnbull & Francesca Vecchio
Characters: Francesca Vecchio, Renfield Turnbull, Benton Fraser, Margaret Thatcher (due South), Ray Vecchio
Additional Tags: Curling, Male-Female Friendship, Personal Growth, Sports, Post-Season 2, due South Seekrit Santa Challenge, Francesca POV, Cute
Summary:
When the Canadian Consulate needs a second female player for their curling team, Turnbull volunteers to train Francesca, who discovers she has a hidden talent.
The @duesouthseekritsanta authors have now been revealed, so I can post my latest work.
Curling may be the most Due South sport, but we never got to see the team play it! So, in Rock, Skip, and a Broom, Francesca Vecchio joins the consulate's curling team to defend Canadian honour against the Swiss.
Watching that other show where Jared Harris tries desperately to stop a bad situation from getting worse and killing everyone. Only, instead of a hundred-odd British sailors, it's the entire population of Europe.
It's Boxing Day where I am (the future) so have some recs from the 2025 Due South Seekrit Santa fic exchange, which I did not participate in (but hopefully next year!). In alphabetical order:
A Day's Work: Fraser/Thatcher, E, bringing your D/S kinks to work. This is exactly what I want out of this ship.
Buoys: Fraser/Kowalski, Bob Fraser. Fraser and RayK are stuck in a lake (again) and Bob has mostly unhelpful advice. Perfect little weird DS adventure.
The Cold: Gen, Frank Zuko reflects on how his life got him to the point he's at right at the end of Juliet is Bleeding. Really good character study.
loves, old and new: Vecchio/Stella, Fraser/Kowalski implied, G. Post-canon but not yet in Florida, RayV and Stella go on a date. Cute, bridges a gap the show just skates over.
luck, be a lady: Canon divergence AU, Fraser/Vecchio, comic. Fraser and Kowalski head to Vegas to help out Ray Vecchio, and it's Ms Fraser to the rescue again. Love the art style and efficient storytelling.
not the end of the world: Fraser/Kowalski, episode coda to Good for the Soul, bittersweet but hopeful in the same way as the episode is.
Rock, Skip and a Broom: Gen, Turnbull & Frannie. Frannie is recruited to join the consulate curling team and defend Canadian honour against the Swiss. Lots of fun and bonus excellent Thatcher.
Strike Another Match: Ray Kowalski/Sam Franklin, implied Fraser/Kowalski. Ray reflects on the truths and lies of his relationship with Franklin post-The Ladies' Man. Also manages to use Stella and Frannie in very clever little cameos, which I loved.
You Know With Love Come Strange Currencies: Fraser/Vecchio/Kowalski, AU S3. Vecchio never goes undercover and Ray Kowalski gets reassigned to the 2-7, at which point Fraser starts going 'hi Ray can we keep him I want to keep him c'mon Ray c'mon' (metaphorically speaking). Reworks much of S3 in a fun but not over-pedantic way.
A round of applause to @verushkak70 for this multimedia fanart and poem inspired by my recent Due South/Polar Explorer RPF fanfic, The Last Link. Each of the eight images captures a moment in the story, while the final poem, "Under the Ice" highlights the "strange, sad, and macabre" aspects of the inspiration.
Giving a shout-out today to this beautiful book trailer and cover page by @lomelindelaurea for my recent Due South/Polar Explorer RPF fanfic, The Last Link. The mournful recorder performance of “Northwest Passage” pairs perfectly with the charcoal drawings for each chapter, while the cover art evokes the majestic loneliness of the Arctic.
Chapters: 14/14
Fandom: due South, Polar Explorer RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Benton Fraser & Ray Kowalski
Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker (due South), John Franklin (1786-1847)
Additional Tags: Adventure, Ghosts, Post-Canon, The Hand of Franklin (due South), Canada, Nunavut, Inuit oral history, Includes hunting and death of wild animals, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Stealth North of North Cameo
Summary:
“They forged the last link with their lives”
– Sir John Richardson, friend and physician to Sir John Franklin
Nunavut, Canada
April 1999
Five hundred miles north of nowhere, frozen, hungry, and feeling useless, Ray Kowalski is ready to give up on finding the Hand of Franklin and head back to Chicago. But when the ghost of Sir John Franklin appears, Ray and Fraser realize that only they can help him move on. Will finding the last link claim their lives - or show them the road back home again?
Thank you to @kittkatk for beta reading this fic.
Check out the complementary works for this fic, from @verushkak70 and @lomelindelaurea at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/74205501 and https://archiveofourown.org/works/74415616/chapters/195035706
