COVID-19 Daily News Digest – December 15th, 2020
Manitoba First Nation plans to ease holiday restrictions, premier urges community to reconsider
“Be very, very, very cautious about that. When people travel, they travel with COVID,” Pallister said. “I would ask (Chief Glenn Hudson) not to do that.”
People have interpreted that press release as an open invitation clause per se, but it’s not,” Hudson told CTV News Monday. “It’s very much controlled.”
He said many people returning for Christmas are members of the First Nation who have left to work or study.
In a statement, a provincial spokesperson said, “The entire province is under the Critical (red) level restrictions. However, bylaws enacted by a First Nation under the Indian Act directed at preventing the spread of communicable diseases in the communities take precedence. We will continue to work with First Nations leadership to control the spread of COVID-19 in First Nations communities.”
Reconciliation delayed and anti-Indigenous racism rising: TRC commissioners
“The pace is what consensus is. We thought, as the commissioners, we would be farther ahead by now after five years,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press Monday.
“It’s kind of an urgent matter now to really refocus on the calls to action.”
He said the three TRC commissioners haven’t been together since the commission finished its work five years ago.
Northern First Nations Look for Answers as Work Camps Bring the Virus
Gellenbeck says that many of the community’s current cases originated from two work camps: Coastal GasLink’s Huckleberry Lodge south of Houston and the LNG Canada camp in Kitimat, where an outbreak declared Nov. 19 reached 56 cases last week. On Friday, Northern Health Authority said only one case remained active.
When asked for details about how work camps respond to positive COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Health said in an email that each has an approved COVID-19 safety plan based on the type and size of the camp. The ministry did not respond to more detailed questions about the process when a worker tests positive, whether consideration is given to their ability to self-isolate and follow-up procedures once workers are back in their home communities.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/12/15/Work-Camps-Bring-Virus-Northern-First-Nations/
Three active cases remain in Flin Flon district, outbreaks in remote communities continue
“People are telling me they are terrified of what is happening. The First Nation has called for assistance from the federal government including military assistance. I have been advised by the community that a military mission will be arriving,” reads a Dec. 14 statement from Ashton.
“The community has identified a full range of needs, even something as basic as the need to fly cleaning supplies made they have already purchased.”
Legislation improvements for Indigenous rights still leaves us in uncharted territory: Canadian senator
Scott Tannas, Canadian senator, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the latest proposed adaption of UNDRIP into Canadian law and what he believes remains to be addressed prior to passing bill C-15.
With council vote looming, Peepeekisis Cree Nation urban member calls for election reform
All eligible band members from Peepeekisis Cree Nation can cast a ballot in this week’s election for two council positions, but some may have trouble doing so due to COVID-19.
Advance polls open on Tuesday and the formal vote will be hosted on Wednesday.
Indigenous Services Canada population data from November showed 2,336 of Peepeekisis’s 3,057 members live off-reserve.
19 Indigenous participants training to become wellness counsellors
This is part of the Northern Indigenous Counsellor Training (NICT) program run by Jean and Roy Erasmus, owners of Dene Wellness Warriors, an Indigenous-run counselling service in Yellowknife. The NICT is being offered in partnership with Vancouver-based Rhodes Wellness College.
Jean says the NICT program will provide much needed and culturally appropriate services to underserved areas of the territory.
“I see it as our people helping our people,” Jean says.
B.C. musician and teacher who died of COVID-19 was devoted to community and ‘never afraid to show love’
“What matters most is the way that you’ve touched the lives of your community and the people around you,” Jullian said.
“Our experience in school, oftentimes, we faced blatant racism because we were Indigenous and it was very frustrating … and he made it safe for us to come in here and enjoy our high school,” Campbell said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/anton-kolstee-covid19-1.5839806