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$1.00 outside Yellowknife "We need the federal government to realize that (small and medium-sized) businesses in the NWT need better support."

NWT Chamber of Commerce executive director Renée Comeau says new federal funding isn't enough for businesses here, page 15.

Drivers struggle to keep shelves stocked

Trucker bringing food into NWT says store won't let him shop for groceries

Volume 49 Issue 7 WEDNESDAY, AprIl 15, 2020 75 CENTS ($1 outside city)

Online first at NNSL.com 'Frontline heroes' campaign reaches Yk

Kevin Morken, a long-haul truck driver who drives between Yellowknife and Edmonton is working longer hours and hauling heavier loads to meet supermarket demands during the Covid-19 pandemic.

photo courtesy of Kevin Morken

NWT landlords can't evict for non-payment

News

Opinion

From the publisher: a fibre-opticcan of worms

NewsPhonebook cover gives artist much-needed exposure

Ski club holds 'un-loppet'

Sports

2 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

Evictions are paused for all tenants who can't make rent during the pandemic, accord-ing to documents two MLAs shared on social media Saturday.

The documents show a temporary change that will allow renters to defer rent until they're able to pay, according to screen shots shared by Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA Lesa Semmler and Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly. 

Under the change, renters can't be evicted as long as they provide written notice to their landlords. The changes were signed by health minister Diane Thom on April 9, according to the documents.

"Better late than never," O'Reilly wrote about the changes.

Last month, he said relief could be offered to renters through a grant program or tax deferrals. He also suggested loans for land-lords, or backing tenants who can't make payments.

Semmler echoed those calls on social media.

"While this is helpful, there is still no financial assistance for tenants or small land-lords," Semmler wrote about the changes.

The changes come weeks after regular MLAs passed a request for the territorial gov-ernment to pause evictions and give financial relief to tenants and small landlords.

How it worksTenants who've lost work and income as

result of the crisis must provide written notice to their landlords. They may also have to pro-vide evidence, if the landlord requests it. 

Further, the notice should explain why they're unable to make rent, and how the ten-ant plans to pay rent later. 

Once they've receiving that notice, land-lords can't apply for eviction for non-payment of rent. They can still apply to evict a tenant for other reasons, like damaging their unit or disturbing their neighbours.

This also includes failing to meet an obli-gation in the tenant's agreement with the land-lord, or if the agreement can't be carried out. Tenants can also be evicted if they impair the safety of the landlord or other tenants.

That said, the territor-ial government hasn't been carrying out evictions before the recent changes, according to an April 3 statement from an unnamed GNWT spokes-person.

That statement said the Sheriff's Office wasn't evict-ing tenants for "failure to pay rent until the public service of the Government of the North-west Territories resumes regular operations after the current public health emergency has sufficiently subsided.

"We would caution that there could still be

evictions where a tenant's conduct has been determined to present a danger to other per-

sons or property, but they would be a rare occurrence," the unnamed spokesperson added.

According to the docu-ments MLAs shared, the government expects tenants to pay rent as soon as they're able.

Payment is required as soon as the regulation is appealed.

"There is uncertainty around how long the impacts of Covid-19 will require this protection to be in place," the documents

said. "(B)ut the situation is being closely monitored and any further changes and the eventual repeal of these protections will be publicly communicated." 

Order from cabinet means tenants can defer rent until they're able to pay

Landlords can't evict for non-payment: GNWT order

by Nick Pearce northern news Services

news

MLA Kevin O'ReiLLy

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 3

A cavalcade of fire trucks, RCMP cruisers and bylaw vehicles looped around the city as passersby beeped their horns and waved in support last week.

Organized by Samantha Janes, the "appreciation parade," the likes of which have been seen across the country, was a nod to health-care employees working on the front lines in the face of Covid-19.

There's been no shortage of similar gestures. Stores are offering free coffee and discounts to essential staff who can't work from home; and appreciation posts on social media aren't hard to come by.

But Ellen Gillies says workers need more.That's why Gillies, along with fellow Our Time Yellowknife volun-

teer members Zoe Guile and Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen, organized Cheers for #FrontlineHeroes – Yellowknife.

It's an initiative pushing for fair and adequate wages, paid sick leaves and more for frontline workers as they put their health on the line to serve others everyday.

"It's really great there's been so much of an outpouring of support and we really wanted to take it step further," Gillies said Monday.

"Gratitude is great but gratitude is not enough," she said.Over the weekend, Yellowknifers were encouraged to post signs in

their windows demanding better support for essential workers – from grocery store clerks and healthcare staff to truck drivers and food service employees.

The social media-driven campaign, mirroring a nationwide trend and inspired by climate group 350 Canada, asked participating resi-dents to put up signs with various slogans: "paid sick leave for all," "frontline heroes deserve decent pay," and "thank you frontline heroes."

The unified message is that workers deserve more.Participating residents also made noise outside their homes on

Saturday as part of the campaign – other cities have witnessed people banging pots and pans to support frontline workers while pushing gov-ernments to enact employment changes. Our Time Yellowknife is also calling on residents to reach out to Premier Caroline Cochrane to share their thoughts on "why #FrontlineHeroes deserve better support," states the Facebook event page.

Earlier this month, the federal government rolled out a $80-plus billion emergency economic relief package for Canadians left laid off, out of work or at home supporting family members in the wake of Covid-19. Here, the territorial government has earmarked more than $21 million in relief funds and the federal government announced more dollars for the North on Tuesday.

But many are falling through the cracks despite efforts to ease the economic strain brought on by the virus, said Gillies.

"It's great that the government has implemented things like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and don't I want to want to understate how important that is to a lot of people, but there are cracks in these programs," she said.

A lot of the relief is aimed at people who have lost work, while many others who may not qualify for emergency benefits are still working and risking their health daily while bringing in far less income, like taxi drivers, said Gillies.

"People need to be safe at work; make a living wage and put food on the table, so we just wanted to make that statement," she said.

Our Time Yellowknife is a volunteer, youth-led initiative promoting a Green New Deal, a climate justice plan that intersects with Indigen-ous sovereignty and social justice, including workers' rights.

Gillies said the group is leading the windowsill-framed campaign

because there's stark parallels between the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis.

"(Covid-19 is) really exposing a lot of inequalities that exist in our society. With both crises, we see the people who are most marginal-ized: black, Indigenous, people of colour, women, the working-class, youth and the elderly. These are people who are running our cash regis-ters, driving us from place to place, taking care of us in the hospital, and they're often the most impacted," said Gillies.

If the voices behind Cheers for #FrontlineHeroes – Yellowknife are heard by governments, and changes are made, they can't come as a temporary, Band-aid fix in the midst of Covid-19, according to Gil-lies. The inequalities revealed during the crisis need solutions that will stick: frontline workers deserve steady incomes, emergency benefits and higher minimum wages, she insisted.

"We've been thinking a lot lately about how often in moments of crisis, what is considered impossible is being expanded to be possible," she added, pointing to governments suspending evictions amid Covid-19, something that would have been inconceivable mere months ago.

In her limited trips around town, Gillies said she's seen over a half a dozen signs posted in support of frontline workers across Yellowknife.

She hopes the support will continue.

news

Did we get it wrong?Yellowknifer is committed to getting facts and

names right. With that goes a commitment to acknow-ledge mistakes and run corrections. If you spot an error in Yellowknifer, call 873-4031 and ask to speak to an editor, or email editorial@nnsl.com. We'll get a correction or clarification in as soon as we can.

NeWsBriefs

Nechalacho ice road closedMaintenance of the ice road from Yellow-

knife Bay to Nechalacho (next to Dettah entrance) has ended for the 2020 season. Por-tions of the ice road are impassable, according to the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.

"The ice road is unsafe for public travel and will be blocked with a snow berm," a post on the YKDFN Facebook account said. "Cheetah Resources thanks the public and traditional users, who responsibly used the road, for their cooperation and ensuring a safe ice road season."

– Craig Gilbert

Covid-19 helps drive NWTjobless rate to four-year highThe unemployment rate in the Northwest

Territories jumped to its highest level since 2016 last month.

On April 9 the NWT Bureau of Statistics reported on data gathered by Statistics Can-ada during the third week of March, March 15 to 21, the first such report since the begin-nings of the federal government's interven-tions to curb the spread of Covid-19.

In the NWT, the unemployment rate rose to 9.3 per cent in March, its highest level since January 2016. The bureau noted that usually in March, unemployment levels drop as the weather warms.

The bureau said 300 jobs were lost in the NWT services sector, most of them in "health care and social assistance, information, cul-ture and recreation and accommodation, and food services," offsetting gains in other sub-sectors.

– Blair McBride

Spring arrives on snowy streets and slippery sidewalks, city says

The city advised residents Tuesday to watch their step as the daily freeze-thaw cycle creates hazards on sidewalks.

"Exercise extreme caution, particularly in mornings and evenings," city spokesperson Alison Harrower wrote. "Help keep Yellow-knife clean by sweeping your sidewalks and picking up garbage from the adjacent curb. Property owners or occupiers with a public sidewalk are asked to clear it of any dirt, sand, and gravel accumulated during the winter."

Warmer temperatures have also forced the closure of the Forrest Drive outdoor skating rink. All other outdoor rinks remain open but their status may change, with little or no notice, due to warming weather.

Snow removal has concluded for the sea-son. City crews are thawing culverts, pump-ing puddles, repairing leaks, performing road maintenance, and fixing potholes to deal with spring road repairs, she wrote.

Report hazards using the city's online "Click & Fix YK" application or by calling 920-5600.

Drivers are asked to slow down, drive with caution, and avoid driving through accumu-lated water while spring road maintenance is underway.

Also: don't splash pedestrians."Drivers are reminded to slow down dur-

ing the spring melt season and take care not to splash pedestrians when driving by."

Likewise, it's time to clear the snow from your roof and awnings to eliminate a falling debris hazard for passerby.

And to minimize property damage and inconvenience, residents should explore drainage solutions such as pumps and drain-age channels.

For the latest spring condition updates, visit www.yellowknife.ca.

– Craig Gilbert

Campaign calls for better pay for 'frontline heroes'

One of several signs displayed in support of frontline work-ers as part of the Cheers for #Frontline-Heroes – Yellow-knife.photo courtesy of Zoe Guile

by Brendan Burke northern news Services

Joins nationwide expressions of support for health-care workers

photo courtesy of Maria Pelova

One of several signs displayed in support of frontline workers as part of the Cheers for #FrontlineHeroes – Yellowknife.

4 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 5news

Pandemic-related shortages at supermarkets are stressful, but not all shoppers know about the stress that truckers face in bringing those products to the shops.

Panic-buying at stores across the NWT has depleted stocks to such a degree that some food items like bread, milk and flour are rationed. Others, like toilet paper and sanitary products, are gone completely, in some cases. 

The knock-on effect of those shortages is felt by truck driv-ers, who are hauling heavier loads, working longer hours and under less predictable schedules than before the Covid-19 pan-demic began.

"As a grocery guy it's been very busy. We're obviously carrying a lot of extra freight for the stores now because they're selling certain things faster than they normally would," Kevin Morken, a long-haul trucker with Federated Cooperative Lim-ited (Co-op) told Yellowknifer on Friday. 

"We've been really pushed to the max and our loads are a lot heavier than normal. They're stacking the trailers as heavy as they can," said Morken, who lives just outside Edmonton. 

On one of his regular trips from Yellowknife to Edmonton, he would take a single trailer to Enterprise before doing a trailer switch. 

But since the pandemic he has been hauling a "rocky," a long trailer and a short trailer in tandem. 

Morken used to work about 55 hours a week going between Yellowknife and Edmonton. 

During the most intense period in mid-March he was work-ing up to 70 hours a week.  

"For two weeks I was doing back-to-back from Yellowknife to Edmonton. Which maxes out my hours. In Alberta we're only allowed 70 hours a week. To do the back-to-back Yellowknife to Edmonton is about 70 hours and 16 minutes."

"I am (now) back to around 55. See how long it lasts." With supply lines across Canada stretched and stressed from

more consumer buying, warehouses run through stocks faster, sometimes leaving truckers with nothing to load up on when they arrive. 

"It's been a real struggle for the warehouses and we've been up to 24 hours behind leaving with our loads. Before Covid we were maybe two hours behind, but nothing crazy. Now, instead of being at the store by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, there have been times when I was there at 3 o'clock in morning," Morken said. 

If he arrives at a warehouse whose stocks are too low all he can do is wait. Sometimes he'll put himself off duty and get some sleep. 

While sleep patterns and schedules that most of us would consider irregular are part of the job for truckers, the past few

weeks have been uniquely difficult. "We're allowed to be at work for 16 hours after we log the

clock in and I'm only allowed to drive for 13 hours. Let's say I turn my clock on at 4 a.m, so 16 hours from then is 10 p.m. but I can't keep driving because I've used up my 16 hours. You have to have eight hours off. But because of all this stuff with Covid it messes everything up. 

"You're doing math all the time in your head. It puts a lot of pressure on everybody, the dispatchers, the truckers, the guys in the stores. Then all of a sudden they have to have staff com-ing in at 2 a.m. There's a lot of pressure."

Morken said that for now the panic-buying has subsided and work patterns at the ware-houses are slowly returning to normal. 

"Now we're only two or three hours behind at the warehouse. But we're still at very heavy volumes." 

Out of concerns of vandalism and fears that people will steal toilet paper from truck stops along the highways, many bathrooms are closed and truckers have fewer options to answer the call of nature. 

"You can't just go to a convenience store and go to the bath-room. They are either closed down or don't want anyone using their bathrooms," Morken said. 

"It's a real hardship. When people work in an office the bathroom is just down the hall. But we don't have that luxury. All the restrooms along Highway 43 are locked up. So we can't go to the bathroom." 

He acknowledges that he is luckier than others because he carries a portable toilet in his truck. 

"(It's) one of those camping ones. So I just take it out and use it in the storage compartment. There's bag for the waste that you take out and throw away."

Some of the highway pullouts in the NWT, such as those at Chan Lake and Dory Point have open outhouses, Morken said, but they're meant for cars and tractor trailers like his can't access them. 

The silver lining is that warming weather is making the bath-room situation more manageable for many truckers, who won't have to worry about relieving themselves in -30 C air for at least another eight months.

The Globe and Mail reported in March that some businesses in Ontario and Alberta had prohibited truckers from using their washrooms. 

But it's happening in Yellowknife as well, said Mike Emblau, a trucker with Rig Logistics who makes two trips per week from Edmonton and delivers to the two Independent stores. 

Since the pandemic started, Trevor's has barred truckers from entering the store, Emblau said. 

"A couple other drivers have been barred from coming in, they told me. On my last trip I tried to go into the store to get some cream for my coffee and the shipping and receiving guy said you can't come in. 

"None of us drivers will ever shop in that store ever again. Even when we're able to again we won't shop in there again, we'll go to Glen's instead. One of our drivers put on a mask and gloves and they still kicked him out. They don't want us in there at all because we're from Alberta and there's more Covid cases down here, that's my interpretation." 

Emblau said the Glen's Independent allows truckers in as usual and that Trevor's is the only open business on his route from Edmonton to the NWT that disallows truckers from entering the building. 

In a statement to Yellowknifer, Independent's parent company Loblaw said that the GNWT has deemed truck drivers entering the territory as an essential service, and are exempt from quar-antining for 14 days, but they should still avoid crowded places.

"Trevor's Independent store in Yellowknife is grateful for the service provided by trucks drivers and is allowing them to use staff washrooms when needed and is offering to shop for truck drivers, to both thank them for their service and to limit their time in store," Loblaw Public Relations said.

Emblau added that the inconveniences caused by Covid are spurring truckers to become more self-sufficient, and like

Morken he carries his own portable toilet and a coffee maker. 

Despite the challenges the pandemic is throwing at truckers, the saving grace is acts of appreciation from members of the community.

"The last time I was in Yellowknife, a guy came up to me at the dock at the Co-op and said Yk 1what a great job you did backing up. I just want to thank you for all that you're doing' and tried to give me a $20 bill.

"Then later a woman came up to me and said Yk 1we're so thankful for you truck drivers' and gave me a care package. I told her Yk 1I sure appreciate that but it would be better if you give that to the food bank or others who need it.' People are really realizing how important the truckers are to every day needs." 

Morken has also noticed more consideration for truckers on the road, with other drivers less "pushy" than before, and perhaps more aware that truckers can't brake or pass as fast as other motorists. 

"The vast majority of us appreciate people even just saying Yk 1thank you.' The fact that people appreciate I'm doing my job really means a lot to me."

Heavier loads and longer hours; Trevor's supplier says he's barred from shopping at store

by Blair McBride northern news Services

photo courtesy of Kevin Morken

Kevin Morken, a long-haul trucker who drives between Yellowknife and Edmonton, is working longer hours and hauling heavier loads to meet supermarket demands during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Impact of panic buying lands on truck drivers

Kevin MORKen

6 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 7news

Robyn Scott's artwork gracing the cover of NWT's phone books was a comfort among cancellations this month.

Scott said it was welcome news when Northwestel chose her painting "Ekwò," which is Tlicho for "caribou," to cover its 2020 to 2021 NWT directory last week. In a month that saw Scott facing eight cancellations of creative projects, it was a silver lining.

It was also unexpected: When Northwestel was col-lecting pieces, Scott wasn't even planning on submitting until friends tagged her in the call for submissions over social media.

"I just threw my hat in the ring and couldn't believe they said yes," Scott said. "I was so overwhelmed and very excited for my first time submitting."

Scott painted the piece last July. The work was a departure since she normally paints birds. With the new work, Scott said she was

interested in creating some-thing "distinctly Northern."

"Caribou really spoke to me on that one because it is an essential part of life in the North, especially for Indigen-ous communities," she said.

When she paints wildlife pieces like that, Scott has an eye for detail, often work-ing off pictures to accurately capture a subject. But for "Ekwò," she chose to take some creative liberties.

To create a more hopeful image, she chose to lift the caribou's nose, and brighten the light surrounding it.

The result is a contrast to another caribou painting she sold to the Tlicho govern-ment. That work converse-ly pastes new headlines of declining caribou numbers in the background.

It was meant to evoke the looming threats facing the animals, she said.

However, with the phone directory painting, she aimed for a more hopeful image. For her, it shows "these animals are proud and strong, and that I believe they're going to

continue to survive despite human intervention," Scott said.

It's also some positive news for the artist, who faced sev-eral cancellations as a result of pandemic restrictions.

Those include an exhibit at the Snow Castle, another as the Northern Arts and Cul-tural Centre's artist of the month, a residency painting in the lobby at Explorer Hotel, a private art exhibit and recep-tion, the NWT Creative Col-lective Writer's workshop ser-ies, a poetry performance, the NorthWords festival panels, and some Fleming College art courses.

Despite winning the Northwestel cover contest, Scott will also miss the cere-mony typically arranged for the directory's chosen artists.

Those setbacks were dis-appointing for Scott, who is just one of several local art-ists dealing complications stemming from the crisis.

"I sat despondent in that for a while, and thought, 'okay well, now what do I do?'" she said.

Reconnecting with the local arts community was the answer. Inspired by musicians like Leela Gilday streaming performances online, Scott decided to partner with Kevin Bolstad for an upcoming vir-tual art gallery tour.

The idea is to hang easels

and paintings on trees and walk through the forest with a video camera to simulate the gallery experience, Scott said. To support artists, view-ers would be able to find individual pieces and their prices online.

For her, it can be an

opportunity to support artists during the pandemic.

"Art is continuing. Even though we're still inside and we're supposed to stay home and stay away from each other, there's still beauty and there's still creating happen-ing," she said.

Selection welcome news as artist faces event cancellations

Yk artist graces NWT phone book cover

by Nick Pearce northern news Services

photo courtesy of northwestel

Robyn Scott's painting, ekwò, has been selected as the cover image of Northwestel's 2020-21 phone directory.

8 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

CommeNTs aNd vieWs from YelloWkNifeR aNd leTTers To The ediTor

Editorial & opinionsThe yellowknife Cham-ber of Commerce made a number of sugges-tions to governments aimed at helping North-ern businesses last week and it appears Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is listening. He announced a new $130-million support package specifically for the territories Tuesday. The devil will be in the details of what exactly Trudeau meant when he referred to relief for commercial renters.nnSl file photo

if you were waiting for a "good on the government for this funding announcement but we're thirsty for details" sort of page 8 today, your ship has come in.

Within hours of Yellowknifer's edi-torial board agreeing that the GNWT or probably the federal government needed to step in and provide a new support package that addresses the fact that Northern businesses and residents live with challenges unique to the territories, including a higher cost of living than other parts of the country, Prime minister Justin Tru-deau announced $130 million in new dollars for Nunavut, the NWT and the Yukon.

most of the money is for health care, some for airline companies, which up here serve as essential services to remote communities, a bunch ($25 million) will go to Nutri-tion North, and some is set aside for small businesses.

Trudeau said clarity on what sup-port businesses can expect would come later but he mentioned com-mercial rent relief, which some Yellowknife business owners said last week would be more important in many cases than the 75 per cent wage subsidy. in a nutshell, it's a fixed cost versus variable cost scenario because businesses like restaurants and salons that have shut down or slowed operations have laid off staff and aren't paying them, but still have to pay their rent.

another stitch with the wage sub-sidy is that it only covers three-quar-ters of the first $58,700 of an individ-ual's salary, which is fine to cover the vast majority of restaurant workers in the south, as one example, but is less helpful here since employers general-ly have to pay higher salaries because of the higher cost of living.

Unsurprising statistics keep rolling in backing up the argument that busi-nesses need help now if we expect to restart the economy with any success. at the end of last week, statistics Canada numbers from march showed just the first inklings of the impact of Covid-19 mitigation measures on the economy nationwide and in the NWT. and at the start of this week, the international monetary fund (imf) projected that the world's economy can expect to contract by three per cent this year, a drastic slowdown deeper than anything seen during the last recession in 2008-09.

for all of the abovementioned reasons and a host of others already familiar to Northerners, businesses here are more exposed to fluctua-tions in the economy. small business owners, especially ones that have been completely shut down, will see

little or no reason to remain in the North if they're faced with a growing pile of bills and zero revenue. The danger here is that the new normal after the pandemic threat recedes, with an economy very nearly com-pletely propped up by well-paying gov-ernment jobs, will contain very little other than government jobs – with large chunks of the private sector completely eradicated and unable to survive in the North.

and what will attract people to live here if many of the amenities Yellow-knifers enjoyed before pandemic – the restaurants, spas and entertain-ment venues – are unable to replicate in a new normal that doesn't allow anything else in to fill the vacuum?

it will need to offer more than good fishing and the aurora borealis if we want to attract much-needed new-comers to Yellowknife.

The details we're hungry for from Trudeau's announcement may well have to come from the GNWT, since most or all of the funding will flow through the territorial government. Premier Caroline Cochrane, who took over the territory's Covid-19 response when she absorbed the role of min-ister of municipal and community affairs, must ensure this latest pack-age, an improvement on the cookie-cutter approach taken thus far by ottawa, gets to where it's needed most, and lobby for more if it proves to not be enough to meet the unique needs of Northern entrepreneurs and the people they employ.

New funding offers hope

Covid-19 could have a more lasting impacton territorial economies than on the rest of Canada

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YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 9

do you agree with the latest public health order banning all public gatherings?

Greg DayAbsolutely. it is import-ant to take the proper steps to fight the spread of the virus.

shadrach McLeodi guess so. At this point we don't know how far or how widespread the virus will be and how it will affect us in the ter-ritory. So we might as well be proactive.

Dr. Courtney Howard Yes. we live really far away from the nearest hospital referral centre. our best chance of staying safe through this pandemic is to fol-low our excellent public health advice to make sure we don't get com-munity transmission.

adele sheldon no, i don't. All of the coronavirus patients that we have had have all been from out of town. if you're having a small gathering of fam-ilies or very, very close friends and you know they haven't been going around in big gather-ings before, then what is the difference?

Tamara young Yes. i agree that every-one must be taking the safety precautions.

Kevin Whitehead Yes. i'm supportive of anything that the Chief Public Health Officer recommends or sug-gests.

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commentary

While the GNWT has been attempting to put regulations in place to keep the public safe, probably one of the greatest failures has been providing safe spaces for the homeless.

When this government first took office, one of its top priorities was providing housing for those on the streets. Yet for reasons we still do not understand, the Arnica Inn was initially allowed to slip through our fingers because of oversights at the highest level of government.

Thankfully, last minute actions taken by the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corpora-tion and the owner of the hotel, who agreed to give the YWCA a grace period before they have to start making mortgage payments, means that the project could come to fruition if someone willing to insure the inn can be found. Once that happens, it will provide critical spaces during this time of pandemic outbreak to the homeless. However, at this present moment it remains closed.

In addition to that, the sobering centre shut its doors to all but 30 residents so that they could self-isolate thus keeping themselves and the community safe. People who have been tested for Covid-19 and are required to isolate are housed at the Aspen Apartments until they clear the required 14-day period.

While this is helpful, there are still many homeless people who have no permanent resi-dence. Some can sleep at the Salvation Army or the Women's Centre overnight, but once those centres are full, they have nowhere to go. Plus, as it currently stands, they need to stay outside for an hour before a GNWT-run day shelter near the Salvation Army opens in the morning. That shelter was closed for several days last week after a fight occurred. Other traditional gathering places like the A&W or the library are closed. They have nowhere.

And then there are the people who work at the shelters, truly on the front lines and fright-ened. This is not fair to them.

In addition, currently the GNWT-run shelter can only accommodate 30 people com-pared to the 60 at the previous day shelter. This means that if the centre is full, the street outreach van can only call the ambulance or RCMP to take intoxicated people to the drunk tank or the hospital. If the ambulance is called in, they must take clients to the hospital where staff are already on high alert preparing for an outbreak we all pray will not happen.

Why this is so important is that one of the greatest fears of all large centres is that the virus will be found in someone on the street and once there, has the real potential to infect everyone else from the community. The first person from Vancouver's east side testing posi-tive was identified only last week – that city's worst nightmare come true. We cannot allow

that to happen here. It is why it is so crucial for the city's street popu-lation to have proper accommoda-tion day and night.

As unfortunate as this is, those in Yellowknife who do not have a place to go and congregate on downtown streets are often treated like animals by the general pub-lic – fearful of the risk they pose. On cold mornings, people still going to work have had to ask groups of them to clear doorways so they could enter their offices. In one instance, one of them spit at a security guard. This would be offensive under normal conditions and actually, in court, spitting is considered a particularly serious

form of assault precisely because of the poten-tial to transmit disease and infection. But during this time of the pandemic, it could be deadly.

Finally, transit drivers have had to turn them away because of their using buses as warming centres. This puts other transit users and the drivers who already put themselves at risk in this line of duty in vulnerable situa-tions.

The GNWT needs to step up to the plate on this matter and work with both the Women's Centre, the Disability Council and the Salva-tion Army to ensure that the homeless popula-tion in Yellowknife and those with compromis-ing lifestyles have places to be where both they and the public are safe.

Helping this population was supposed to be a priority of this government as outlined in its early plans. That has not happened but needs to be done now. It is nothing short of tragic to see how they are literally left in the cold dur-ing this challenging time.

This is the third pandemic in 20 years and we have been warned that more are to come as we continue with this unsustainable lifestyle. Finding more permanent solutions for the homeless is crucial if we want to avoid wide-spread contamination in the future. It would be a gift we give them and ourselves.

Postscript: How we treat the "least among" us is not a reflection on them; it is a reflection on us.

northern news Services

NOTes from the trail

Nancy Vail is a longtime Yellowknifer concerned with

social justice.

Homeless still out in cold after Arnica Inn announcement

nnSl file photo

despite news of a sudden approval of the YwCa's proposal to convert the arnica inn into housing for vulnerable people in the wake of the Covid-19 pan-demic, many Yellowknifers experiencing homelessness are still out in the cold, columnist Nancy Vail writes.

10 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 11commentary

Internet in the North: Opening up a can of fibre-optic worms

My slings and arrows aimed at the Can-adian Radio and Telecommunications Com-

mission last week opened a can of fibre optic worms. As expected, the high costs of our Internet can be traced to the CRTC, which has historically let North-erners down, if not all rural Canadians.

When COVID hit and schools closed, the obvious option was the first one the schools and territorial education departments turned to – online edu-cation.

The problem is not all homes have enough computers and enough

Internet access to handle a distance education load on top of normal web use.

Kirby Marshall's company Global Storm IT specializes in managing and installing net-works, hardware and software. NNSL Media recently did a story on the company, go here. I asked Marshall how many laptops he could get his hands on. The global supply chain is broken, he said, so we won't get as much as we would like.

Asked about weak Internet in the com-munities, Marshall, raised in Fort Smith, Fort Providence and Yellowknife, said Global Storm could set up a high-speed network in any NWT community in about a day. He estimated a $50,000 installation cost (give or take), $5,000 monthly for maintenance and bandwidth from the satellite service. The bandwidth would be managed so the only use could be for education, school curriculum. 

Next, I spoke with Aaron Jaque of CasCom Remote Communication and IT Solutions. Jaque was born and raised in Fort Smith. CasCom recently bought Northern Com-munications and Navigation Systems Ltd. and does remote satellite communications for exploration and mine sites. Jaque said such a high-speed wireless system would be routine to install. Aside from two different specific needs, a community was no different than a mine site in terms of putting in Internet.

SSi Micro is, like Global Storm and Cas-Com, a Northern business success story, only

bigger, born in Fort Providence along with its founder and CEO, Jeff Philipp. Stefanie Philipp is SSi's CFO and they've been married 31 years. You can read their remarkable story here.

After a two-hour phone call with Jeff Phil-ipp, my head was spinning with 40 years of SSi history fighting competitors, governments and regulators, winning some and losing some, culminating with SSi as a multi-million dollar tech company delivering internet and mobile services across Canada (including all 25 Nuna-vut communities) and overseas. Philipp says internet service has been bungled in the North by both the CRTC and Northwestel, by which he means Bell. There's a better way, he insists. 

About the same time, Tom Zubko contacted me. He's owner of New North Networks in Inuvik. Meet him here. The airport is named after his father – Mike Zubko Airport. Here's what Zubko told me his company can provide the people of Inuvik: 

I offer a package of 1 terabyte download for $178. The Northwestel cost for a terabyte in Yellowknife (with overages) would have cost $990.

Zubko is not a fan of either Bell Canada/Northwestel or the CRTC.

So there's the can of fiber optic worms. Hard to understand why Northerners pay so much more for an essential service or what the solution to the present crisis should be. We are at war with Covid-19 and communication is key to keeping social distancing, families talk-ing, children learning, government running, and rebuilding our economy. The compan-ies mentioned here should be included in the conversation, not left out. They are a valuable territorial technical resource.

Time for me to reach out to Northwestel, a company serving three masters - Bell Canada, CRTC and Northern web users. The big ques-tion is will the overage charges go back on. And it would be nice to hear from the CRTC

head Ian Scott to find out what he's going to do to fix this mess.

In the meantime, Northerners who give a damn about the cost and efficiency of North-ern Internet service should make the tiniest effort to go sign the online petition started by Melaw Nakehk'o at change.org. Just over a thousand people have signed up which is not enough. Remember the part of the CRTC man-date that applies to us: 

Connect. These activities (regulating Inter-net, phone, TV, radio) are aimed at ensuring Canadians can connect to quality and innova-tive communication services at affordable prices.

If you are not happy with your monthly Internet bills, signing the petition is one thing you can do. Get busy people. Make your kids do it if you have them. They have the time and it would be good for them to know each gig they gulp over the limit is worth $1.50 of their allowance.

image courtesy of innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

This map, cropped to northern Canada, depicts broadband internet coverage.

from The PUBlisher Bruce Valpy is the publisher and CEO of NNSl Media.

northern news Services

12 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 13news

City council approved a recon-ciliation plan Tuesday night that includes Willideh-language stop signs and more Indigenous advisers at city hall.

Senior administrative officer Sheila Bassi-Kellett presented a list of items last week including the cre-ation of signs in the downtown core that include the language used by Yellowknives Dene residents.

During budget discussions last December, council decided not to extend the city's federally funded Indigenous relations adviser pos-ition held by Maggie Mercredi. Her last day of work was on Feb. 21.

City councillor Stacie Smith had attempted to save the position in December, however, did not receive the rest of council's support.

Bassi-Kellett said $50,000 has been budgeted for 2020 to support reconciliation efforts that include upgraded signage, an Elder-in-resi-dence and the creation of an inter-cultural plan to recognize Indigen-ous history.

Bassi-Kellett credited the public works department for suggesting Indigenous language be included on the street signs.

"We are proposing to start to do this in core areas of downtown and then Old Town and Ndilo and look at spreading out elsewhere," Bassi-Kellett told council.

"Our priority areas are down-town where most people come and see the stop signs and make the connection."

Bassi-Kellett said the city is working with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation for correct spell-ings and history.

The city is also looking at hiring a strategic adviser on reconciliation matters at city hall – to work about 10 days a year and establish an internal committee of at least 50 per cent Indigenous city staff to help move forward with implementing the city's reconciliation plan.

Bassi-Kellett said a number of details are yet to be worked out on the issue of having reconciliation advisers.

Coun. Julian Morse, who chairs

the city's Heritage committee, said there is plenty of work the city has been doing to advance reconcilia-tion that should be considered "pre-cedent setting.

"I think there was a little bit of perception when the funding ran out for the relations adviser that the city was abandoning rec-onciliation," Morse said, noting the YKDFN has had a membership seat on the city's heritage committee for five years.

"So there are lots of cases where we're moving reconciliation for-ward in different ways. And I think ways that (they) could be considered precedent-setting for communities in Canada such as doing the bound-ary change that the city did with YKDFN."

Mayor Rebecca Alty said in an interview that while the city's rec-onciliation plan is to be presented in June, the city wants to work with partnering Indigenous groups in the city like the YKDFN and the North Slave Metis Alliance to implement simple projects that could show the city's commitment in the meantime.

'we are proposing to start to do this in core areas of downtown then Old Town and Ndilo'

Councillors aim for reconciliation with Willideh stop signs, Indigenous advisers

by simon Whitehouse northern news Services

screen capture

yellowknife city council met via video conference during the april 6 government priorities committee.

14 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 15news

Close to $32 million in federal funding is on its way to the NWT for health and economic supports during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The funds are part of a $130-million contribution to the three territories, according to a news release from the Prime Minis-ter's Office on Tuesday morning. 

The share earmarked specifically for the NWT breaks down to $23.4 million for health and social services preparations and response, and up to $8.7 million for air carriers to aid remote communities. 

"We must all work together to take care of Canadians dur-ing this challenging time," Transport Canada Minister Marc Garneau said in a press release. "Our Northern and remote communities rely on air service to bring them food, medical supplies, mail, and other essential goods and services. Our gov-ernment remains committed to maintaining a focused, safe, and reliable air transport network for these communities."

In addition, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) will provide $15 million in support for North-ern businesses. 

Another $25 million will be given to Nutrition North Canada to boost subsidies so families in the territories can afford nutri-tious food and personal hygiene products. 

In a statement following the news release, Dan Vandal, min-ister of Northern Affairs, said the funding to Nutrition North will help take financial pressures off families and they "should not be worried about how to pay for nutritious food or essential household supplies."

"No Canadian should ever have to worry about where to get their food or how to receive essential health care services," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "That is why we are work-ing with the territories and Indigenous partners to address the unique needs of Northern communities as they respond to Covid-19. Together, we will make sure that Northerners can

access the food, supplies, health care, and services they need during this challenging time." 

While details of the $15 million allocated for CanNor were not yet available, local businesses are receptive to Covid-related assistance.

Tim Syer, president of the Yellowknife Cham-ber of Commerce, said the CanNor funding is a "good start" but he wants to see how it will be allocated to the territories.

"Fifteen-million is not a lot between three territories and it will go pretty quickly. I'm look-ing at this as a good 'phase one.' At the same time, I'm very interested in the details of a 'phase two.' (The funding) won't be enough to see busi-nesses through this," Syer said.

However, the NWT Chamber of Commerce is critical of the funding. Executive director Renée Comeau said in an email to Yellowknifer that the Chamber appreciates the federal govern-ment's efforts to help out the North, but $8.7 mil-lion "will not help" and "will only assist maybe one airline.

"All of our locally owned and operated airlines need a focus on recovery/economic stimulus of at least $15 million for the NWT."

"We need the federal government to realize that SME busi-nesses in the NWT need better support, with the cost of doing business in the North, a majority of our businesses are operat-ing with such thin margins that even a 10 per cent decrease of revenue is crossing a line to having to close doors, a reduction of 30 per cent means that chances are the business has already closed and any form of relief is of no assistance."

The Yellowknife Chamber's Business Resilience Working Group (BRWG) last week issued a list of 14 recommendations for helping out enterprises negatively affected by the pandemic.

One of the recommendations calls for a top-up to the federal

wage subsidy program to reflect "the higher costs of doing busi-ness and costs of living that Northerners face," the BRWG said.

Some business owners have said the subsidy details remain vague and that it isn't a cure-all after business activity plum-

meted since March."The wage subsidy helps for sure, but if we

make little money and we pay for the rent we can't even pay the 25 per cent for the wages," Rami Kassem, co-owner of Javaroma cafe, saida. "So, we still keep laying off people. If they find a solution with the federal government and help out small businesses, that would be a big relief."

The $8.7 million announced for NWT air-lines – coupled with up to $5 million for carriers in Nunavut – comes just a week after NWT and Nunavut leaders decried the fall in revenue and passenger numbers among Northern carriers because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green tabled a motion in the legislative assembly on March

27 that sought to come up with a solution for airlines so they can continue supplying communities. Green said the costs of propping up struggling airlines would be higher than what the GNWT can afford.

Trevor Wever, vice-president of business services with Air Tindi, said the airline supported the motion and was prepared to join more discussions on the issue.

The economic downturn spurred Air Tindi to lay off 35 per cent of its staff, reduce its fleet by 40 per cent and cut its flight schedule by more than half, Air Tindi president Chris Reynolds said in a statement on March 20.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed urged that flights to fly-in communities be deemed essential services and Premier Caroline Cochrane said she had asked Trudeau for relief for small regional airlines.

$23.4 million for health and social services, up to $8.7 million for airlines

NWT gets $32M in Covid fundingby Brendan Burke

northern news Services

dAn vAndAL

16 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 17

Northern news readers in the age of Covid-19 have no doubt become somewhat acquainted with the formal designation over the last month or so – most stories covering the territorial government's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak are riddled with the two-word title.

It's not an unknown moniker.South of the border, some familiar-faced

press secretaries have become household names and in Canada, Ian Cameron helms the boat for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau amid a sea of questions for journalists.

Yet here, in the NWT, there's no name attached to the role – a role that's disseminat-ing the bulk of information to worried resi-dents across the NWT amid Covid-19.

In the wake of the alarming spread of the virus and the social clampdown that fol-lowed, all media requests, regardless of their intended recipients in whatever governmental department, are being directed to the press secretary's email.

In an effort to attribute the title to a name, Yellowknifer reached out to the press secre-

tary last week.Yellowknifer was told the GNWT wouldn't

be linking the cascade of government Covid-19-related comments to a sole source – or name.

"Cabinet communications monitors the press secretary email account and we are co-ordinating all responses received with the appropriate departments," read the press sec-retary's response.

"Because of that, it wouldn't be appropriate for the content to be attributed to the person replying to you," continued the statement, which added the press secretary is essentially a "middle man … helping to make sure repor-ters have one place to go to get their informa-tion instead of needing to reach out to multiple departments individually."

That's all well and good for Rylund John-son, who says he "understand(s) the central-izing of one email."

The lack of attribution, however, is troub-ling for the Yellowknife North MLA.

"If Cabinet (communications) is also mas-saging the message coming out of depart-ments and then not attributing decisions to actual people we lack the transparency need-

ed from our government where such import-ant decisions are being made," Johnson told Yellowknifer in an email Monday.

"I find it concerning when answers are attributed to the press secre-tary as some abstract decision-maker as opposed to the people making decisions," added Johnson.

He said GNWT communi-cations is set up to help experts in speaking with the media, not to "create a faceless bar-rier and filter everything into amorphous comms speak that is unhelpful to both the public and the press."

Johnson said he's becoming more and more concerned with the overuse of communications employees speaking for them-selves – instead of messaging coming from department experts or the min-isters in charge.

"In the midst of a health crisis," Johnson said GNWT statements involving health deci-sions should be anchored to the name of doc-

tors or nurses informing the decisions, or the name of the appropriate minister.

In their statement to Yellowknifer last week, the press secretary said attributions

will "on occasion" be sent to the press.

"If the response comes dir-ectly from Dr. Kandola, a min-ister, etc., we'll be sure to let you know so you can attribute it to them," stated the press secretary.

"In the meanwhile, it's best for media to attribute informa-tion from the press secretary as coming from the GNWT, in general," read the response.

Johnson said media should not have quotes attributed to "nameless actors."

"We must know who is making the decisions," he

wrote.In any case, said Johnson, it's never cabinet

communications' job to make any decisions – instead, they're there to simply convey those made by elected officials or frontline experts.

But central email address for inquiries makes sense to Rylund Johnson

Yk MLA questions lack of attribution in GNWT news

by Brendan Burke northern news Services

MLA RyLund jOhnSOn

news

18 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 19

SportS hotline • JameS mccarthyphone: (867) 873-4031 • email: sports@nnsl.com • Fax: (867) 873-8507

Sports & recreation

If you're looking for any-thing athletic to do in Yellow-knife right now, your options are limited.

If you're not into skiing, you can do ... skiing.

The Yellowknife Ski Club is perhaps the only game in town right now when it comes to anything remotely resem-bling sporty activity and one of its big annual events hap-pened earlier this month.

Though there were some minor changes because of you-know-what.

The annual Yellowknife Gold Loppet sponsored by Gold Terra was set to happen on April 5 but the event didn't go off as planned, much like every other sporting event in the world right now. The cancellation didn't stop skiers from heading out onto some groomed trails in the Yellowknife area for what was known as the Great Covid-19 Non-Loppet, which happened on April 5.

This year's re-named event still featured a course in the Yellowknife area but instead of having it start and finish at Vee Lake – which has served as the traditional start/fin-ish line for several years – a 20-km groomed course was built within the city proper.

Instead of hitting check-points such as Walsh Lake and Banting Lake, this year's course saw skiers make their way through Back Bay, Yellowknife Bay, the Yellow-knife Ski Club and around Frame Lake.

Kerry Wheler, the ski club's events co-ordinator, said the event was still planned on happening as advertised in late March but as things began to escalate, the decision was made to scrap it.

"We recognized that having the loppet this year wouldn't be appropriate considering all that's going on," she said. "Vee Lake is our gathering point and there would have been plenty of people all in close proximity and that would have been much too many to be safe. We wanted to uphold the recommendations of the chief public health officer (Dr. Kami Kandola)."

There was no set start time for skiers to hit the course but those who wanted to keep track of how they were doing

could do by using Strava, a program which primar-ily tracks cycling and running exercises, she added.

"I was out myself three times on that Sunday and I saw lots of people, all keeping physical distance, of course," she said. "People were getting on at Back Bay or Yellowknife Bay or Frame Lake. People were just beaming because the

conditions were so good and it was wonderful to see so many people taking advantage of it."

The groomed course was made by a group of volunteers who helped lay tracks down for people on event day with Kevin Hodgins, Niels Konge, Dave Kellett and Ryan McCord

among those helping lay down the tracks.

Konge laid down the stretch by Back Bay as well as the tracks around Frame Lake.

"I've done Vee Lake to Walsh Lake the last couple of years," he said. "A lot of the people who lay down tracks do so with groomers behind their snow machine. I have a Snowcat I use and it lays down a classic track about 16 ft. wide with a flat track for the skate-skiers in between."

The original plans were for everyone to finish at the ski club but without the traditional bowl of chili afterwards, which would have been served inside the club's chalet, because of physical distancing concerns.

As it stands, the club is one of the few recreational locations in the North, and in the country for that matter, which still has its main facili-ties open to the public. Anyone can ski on the trails free of charge until the ski season is deemed to be finished.

"Once the city closed all of its facilities, that's when we responded by making the trails free for the rest of the season," said Wheler. "It's OK to be out skiing, so long as it's done safely, and it's good for all aspects of health, especial-ly mental health. People are trying to cope with the chang-es to life and being active is one way to help people stay fully healthy so we're happy we can provide people with a way to do that."

Konge said he's surprised with how popular the trails have become but he knows it's because things aren't normal, nor will they be once things

begin to clear."Normal won't be what we

had before all this happened," he said. "I've read some things about the distancing and I think it's going to become a part of life now."

Skiers take part in re-jigged event in place of annual Yellowknife gold loppet

Yellowknife's non-loppet Loppet

hedda Kehler, left, and her mother, Sara Mino-gue, pause for a selfie

while out on the course during the Yellowknife

Ski Club's great Covid-19 Non-loppet on april 5.

photo courtesy of Sara Minogue

by James McCarthy northern news Services

photo courtesy of Damian Panayi

Mike Argue skis past the yellowknife Gold Loppet flag at the Yellowknife Ski Club during the club's great Covid-19 Non-loppet on april 5.

"We recognized that having the loppet this year

wouldn't be appropriate."

– Kerry Wheler

20 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 sports & recreation

If this had been a regu-lar sports section, you would be reading about how teams won their respective divisions at the Canadian North Rec Hockey Tournament this past weekend.

Similarly, you would have read about how teams won their divisions the weekend before at the Canadian North Balsillie Cup oldtimers hock-ey tournament.

But this isn't a regular sports section and those tour-naments didn't happen. We're left wondering what's to be.

Both tournaments fell vic-tim to the wave of cancel-lations due to Covid-19 and while they're being fondly missed by some players, the reason why they were can-celled is more than under-stood.

Tehnille Gard would have played in both tourna-ments as she did one year ago. She played in the inaug-ural women's division at the Balsillie Cup in 2019, where she played forward, and then reverted back to her natural position – goaltender – with the Ollerhead Elks for the rec hockey edition.

She said she missed both tournaments big time.

"It just abruptly ended and I was looking forward to both, like a lot of us were," she said. "We had around eight or so teams ready to play in the women's division for the Balsillie Cup and then we got the news. We weren't expecting cancellation but it

happened."Austin Daniels is still

some years away from play-ing in the Balsillie Cup but he was ready to suit up for the Weaver and Devore Maraud-ers for the rec tournament. Daniels was the hero in last year's A division champion-

ship game for the Marauders, scoring the tournament win-ner in sudden-death double overtime against the Diggerz Bandits of Hay River.

He said it's disappointing to not play but he understands why.

"The Easter tournament

is what you look forward to each year but you have to make sure everyone's safe, especially now," he said.

Ryan Nichols would have also pulled double-duty on consecutive weekends and he said the one thing he noticed this year is how not in pain

he was when he woke up on what would have been the Monday morning following the rec tournament.

"I woke up feeling a lot better than I normally would," he said. "You play the whole (Yk Rec League) season for this and for it to be cancelled is a bummer but the right call was made." Nichols also serves as presi-dent of the rec hockey league and had a say in making the final decision on whether to move ahead with this past week-end. Obviously, they didn't as the organizers pulled the plug shortly after the cancellation of the Arctic Winter Games in March.

He said it was a strong case of better safe than sorry.

"We chose to cancel it early because of so many out-of-town teams making reservations for flights and hotels," he said. "We wanted to give them time to make arrangements and not have them come all the way to Yellowknife only to have the tournament cancelled as soon as they got here."

If given an option to play or not to play, both Gard and Daniels would have said yes.

"If there was a way, let's do it, but the right call was made in the end because you just can't take the risk," said Gard.

Daniels agreed."I would have voted yes,

like a lot of the other guys probably would have, but it's for the best," he said. "We have to watch out for each other because we're all going through it. It would have been nice to get some revenge on Fuel Flo, though, for beat-

ing us in the rec league playoffs."

Daniels is referring to the A division play-off final as Fuel Flo beat the Marauders in the cha mpionsh ip game, 4-2.

Nichols, who also plays for the Marauders, said

he, too, wanted another crack at Fuel Flo but that will have to wait.

"We have two good cham-pions with Fuel Flo in A and Kasteel Construction in the B division so congrats to them," he said. "As for next season, we're just going to wait and see what Hockey Canada does. We can have our annual general meeting by video-conference, which is how we've been having our regular board meetings, but it's wait-and-see right now."

While it's tough to give up hockey on such short notice, Gard said there are better days ahead.

"We'll get through this," she said. "We're all doing what we can and that's all we can do."

Canadian North Balsillie Cup and rec Hockey Tournamentcancellations create gap in april sporting calendar

No hockey, big problem by James McCarthy

northern news Services

nnSl file photo

Tehnille Gard stops a point shot for the Ollerhead elks during B division action in the Canadian North rec Hockey Tournament at the Multiplex in april 2019. gard played in that tournament, as well as the Canadian North Balsillie Cup the weekend prior, and missed playing in both this year.

"For it to be cancelled is a bummer, but the right call was made."

– Ryan Nichols

YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020 21sports & recreation

Greg Brandford of Fatburger has his head up on a rush during a division action.

Lonan Bulger, playing with the diggerz Bandits of hay River, prepares to unload a wrist shot dur-ing a division action.

Tye hand of the CR Oilers gets set to fire the puck around the boards during a division action.

Sam Schofield of the Polar united Club looks to come around from behind his net during a division action.

nathan dunne of Ron's starts the breakout from his zone during B division action at the Multiplex on april 20.

josh Round, who played with the dawson Creek Canucks, turns one aside during the B division final.

Another tournament that was

The Easter tradition that is the Canadian North Rec Hockey Tournament didn't happen this year.

But that doesn't mean

we can't take a look at what last year's tournament looked like.

Here are some choice photos from last year's action in the A and B divisions.

northern news Services

HOCKey feature

by James McCarthy

22 YEllowKnifEr, wednesday, April 15, 2020