State of emergency - NNSL Media · State of emergency Community COVID-19 reports from around NWT...

State of emergency

Community COVID-19 reports from around NWT

GOAT hunt: who is the greatest NWT athlete

They are the champions

photo courtesy of Stephanie Parkes

The Inuvik East Three Eagles U15 basketball team are Territorial Champions after sweeping the Yellowknife Senior Cager Feb. 27-March 1. L-R: Coach Josie McConnell, Jared Day, Kunal Sharma, Kolsen Church, Mason MacNeil, Hamza Mourtada, AJ Abba, Justin Stewart, Dwayne Raddi and coach Stephanie Parkes.

Volume 74 Issue 47 MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2020 $.95 (plus GST)

'Pike' Mike dodgingquarantine

A state of emergency has been declared for the Northwest Territories.

The Minister of Municipal and Commun-ity Affairs (MACA), Paulie Chinna, declared a territory-wide state of emergency under the Emergency Management Act to support ongoing efforts to protect public health in the Northwest Territories Friday morning. The state of emer-gency will be in effect from "March 24 through April 7."

"This decision does not indicate a significant change in circumstances or an increased risk to the people of the Northwest Territories," a press release read. "The need to declare a state of emergency at this time is to make it more effi-

cient to deploy resources to protect residents and enhance our response to the orders made by the Chief Public Health Officer."

This step has been taken to ensure the Emergency Management Organ-ization (EMO) is better able to sup-port the implementation of the orders issued by the Chief Public Health Officer to help slow the spread of COVID-19, and gives the EMO the authority to control and direct all persons, including the GNWT and public agencies involved in emer-gency management plans or programs under the Emergency Management Act, according to the announcement.

"At this time, all residents are urged to follow these Orders and all other direction and advice from the Chief Public Health Officer."

Premier Caroline Cochrane said "all levels of government are taking this pandemic very seriously.

"Declaring a state of emergency, as many other jurisdictions have, will help ensure that our officials have all the tools they need to do their jobs to protect and care for residents. We will continue to work closely with the federal government,

provinces and territories to ensure coordinated approaches to the pandemic."

The state of emergency was declared on

the recommendation of the head of the Emer-gency Management Organization, Ivan Russell, according to the news release. The NWT com-missioner grants additional powers to Chinna and those designated by her "to do all acts and take all necessary proceedings, for the duration of the order, to deal with an emergency."

Steps already taken by the GNWT to sup-port the implementation of the public health order include establishing isolation centres and putting measures in place to receive travellers at airports in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Hay River and Fort Smith, and at ground entry points to secure borders in Enterprise, Fort Smith, Liard and Dempster entry points, according to the GNWT.

Public safety notices related to COVID-19 are posted on the GNWT website.

Territorial government assumes unprecedented powers in fight against COVID-19by Staff

Northern News ServicesNWT

PAULIE CHINNA

Business welcomes wage subsidy hike

Publication mail Contract #40012157

7 71605 00200 2

"If COVID gets here, it will overwhelm our medical system in about two seconds flat."

Kimberley Young, the new SAO of Radilih Koe/Fort Good Hope, worries about her community's preparedness, page 13.

2 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020

NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020 3

Did we get it wrong?News/North is committed to getting facts and

names right. With that goes a commitment to acknowledge mistakes and run corrections. If you spot an error in News/North, call (867) 873-4031 and ask to speak to an editor, or email [email protected]. We'll get a correction or clarification in as soon as we can.

NewsBriefs

Liard highway closedAcho Dene Kue/Fort Liard

The Liard Highway was closed to all traffic at 5 p.m. March 24. Highway 7 will be closed beginning at kilometre 1 and extending to kilo-metre 5. Drivers are advised to use Highway 1 to enter or leave the territory, which is open for limited exceptions.

"The Commissioner of the Northwest Ter-ritories has made this order under the Public Highways Act in order to support the order of the Chief Public Health Officer respecting travel into the Northwest Territories required to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the Northwest Ter-ritories," a news release read.

"Drivers are reminded that it is unsafe and illegal to drive on a closed highway. Please obey all traffic signs and barricades."

– Craig Gilbert

Screening stepped up in InuvikInuvik

Anyone returning to the Beaufort Delta from outside the Northwest Territories will be screened and have to spend 14-days in isolation in Inuvik.

The town announced the measures at approxi-mately 11:30 a.m. March 23, adding checkpoints are in place both at Mike Zubko Airport and on the Dempster Highway.

Anyone who lands at the airport or arrives through the Dempster Highway will first be screened and required to fill out a self-isolation plan and submit it to the NWT government.

Even travellers returning to Tuktoyaktuk, Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik, Ulukhaktok, Paulatuk or Sachs Harbour will be required to self-isolate in Inuvik for the 14-day period.

– Eric Bowling

Airline lays off one-quarterof workforce

Somba K'e/YellowknifeSummit Air announced today that 45 employ-

ees will be on "temporary leave" the airline due to the COVID-19-caused economic slowdown.

The company, which until Friday had 170 employees based in Yellowknife, Edmonton and Calgary, said Friday the move was necessary to protect the business.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the temporary closure or reduced operation of many of our customers businesses and operations, resulting in significant reductions in Summit Air's revenue and flying hours," Lane Zirnhelt, chief operating officer with the Summit Aviation Group.

– Simon Whitehouse

NNSL papers online and freeNorthern News Services and Canarctic

Graphics, which prints our newspapers, made the difficult decision this weekend to suspend print publication until further notice. Our number one concern at the moment is for the well-being of our staff and the public.

Now that COVID-19 has been detected in the Northwest Territories, continuing with print operations is simply not possible.

That said, we still have stories to write and advertisers to feature, which is why ALL our newspapers will continue in a PDF format on this website free of charge for all readers. Look for your copy of News/North, Nunavut News, Hay River Hub, Inuvik Drum, Kivalliq News and Yellowknifer at its usual time at the top of our homepage. And please visit our contact page if you have a story people need to know about, you need an advertisement or just want to tell us what you think or how we're doing.

In the meantime, be safe and check out nnsl. com for the latest news!

– Bruce Valpy

news

"Pike" Mike Harrison, star of reality tele-vision show Ice Lake Rebels, is learning how uncompromising the territorial government is when it comes to its self-isolation directives aimed at returning NWT residents.

Harrison is a homesteader and has a ter-ritorial land-lease in a cabin at the very small settlement of Lindberg Landing in the south-ern Dehcho region near Blackstone Territorial Park, about 150 km from the B.C. border on Highway 7.

The community is about 300 km from Fort Nelson, B.C. across the NWT border – a normal access point for Harrison when he is trying to get back home. According to Google Maps, this is roughly a four hour and 21 minute road trip.

Harrison has spent the last several months travelling on Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island on the west coast of B.C.

"When I saw Premier Caroline Cochrane declaring a public health emergency and clos-ing the borders, I was making arrangements to come home back to my residence " he said. "So I decided to drive."

At the time of Cochrane's announcement, Harrison said he was staying in isolation at St. Mary's Resort on Salt Spring Island and was practising social distancing on his own - staying out of restaurants and avoiding eat-ing out, while confining himself to his own private suite.

On March 24, travelling in his 2002 Ford Escape, he jumped on a ferry and drove to Quesnel before arriving in Fort Nelson at about 9 p.m. It was there at his hotel that he found out he could not move across the border to his remote cabin to self-isolate. The border crossing at Highway 7 was closed at 5 p.m.

"There were no notices or anything and boom I can't drive across the border back to my residence where I can be isolated. My remote residence."

Dr. Kami Kandola, chief public medical officer for the Northwest Territories said on March 21 that all NWT residents returning to the territory have to self-isolate for 14 days and provide information as to where they have been as well as names and addresses. The Highway 7 order came a few days later.

The GNWT COVID-19 website explicitly states that:

"Anyone arriving in the NWT must self-isolate and stay at home for 14 days in Yellow-knife, Inuvik, Hay River or Fort Smith only. No NWT resident is allowed to self-isolate in a small community or other regional centre other than the four listed communities if they have returned from outside the NWT.

"This is a measure to avoid overwhelming health centres in small remote communities, and ensure those exposed to COVID-19 are close a well-equipped hospital care."

In B.C. when deadline passedBecause Harrison was still in Fort Nelson

when the deadline passed, he was in effect put in what he calls a 'COVID predicament' and expected to make a long, 12-hour road trip from to Fort St. John and then into Alberta and up north toward Highway 1 and Hay River. It is the closest of the four options for self-isolation which are even further away.

Harrison, who is 60-years-old, said having to make the trip would likely mean being in contact with other people due to the need to make stops for food and fuel.

"I have to go into quarantine at Hay River and in order to get to that quarantine I have been put at risk by this exceptional road trip I have to make," he said in frustration.

"Instead of me just getting at the border, having someone say 'this guy is a resident, he is not going into a community, let him go to

his spot where he is isolated.'"Harrison said he reached out to the office

of Shane Thompson, his MLA, for assistance but wasn't able to talk to him the morning of March 25.

"The next step for me? What would be great is that I would like to have a campaign that says 'Pike Mike - Let him into Highway 7,'" he said about what he would do next. "I need to get my people on this and make a dozen phone calls, send a million emails, leap frog.

"It is stupid to make Pike Mike go and quarantine over here when you should just put him in his cabin down there. So maybe someone could meet me at the border and let me in."

Harrison was one of several Northerners to appear in the reality television show Ice Lake Rebels, which depicted houseboat life in the capital on Yellowknife Bay. It aired for two seasons on Animal Planet from 2014 to 2016.

A request for comment on this story was submitted to MLA Thompson March 25.

"Pike" Mike Harri-son travelling across the Liard River on the B.C. side of the border in 2016. The Ice Lake Rebels reality television star was forced to turn back this week after being unable to cross into the NWT due to the Highway 7 closure at the border.photo courtesy of Mike Harrision

Ice Lake Rebels star stuck in 'COVID-predicament'

South Dehcho resident aimed to get home to self-isolate at remote cabin

by Simon Whitehouse Northern News Services

Dehcho

photo courtesy of Katrina Nokleby/GNWT

A Department of Transportation worker guards the roadblock on Highway 7 after the Dehcho thoroughfare was closed to all but essential traffic.

Update to this story On Friday, Mike Harrison called News/North from Hay River after making it through the

border checkpoint. He said he was intending to drive on to his cabin residence at Lindburg Landing - about a 470-km drive - without going through quarantine.

"The brunt of the story is I am breaking the law somewhat except ... they will have a hard time making those charges stick and it would be funny if goes to the courts," he said.

"In all practical sense i am violating the legislation and so I'm making that independent decision and I'm arguing that if it goes to litigation, I will plead not guilty and my defense will be that they didn't assess me individually based on my particular situation and lumped me into a policy that services people living in communities and they're putting me at risk."

On Saturday morning, NWT chief medical officer Kami Kandola released a statement condemning Harrison's actions. Click on the link for the story.

https://nnsl.com/yellowknifer/covid-19-chief-public-health-officer-denounces-returning-residents-border-defiance/

https://nnsl.com/yellowknifer/covid-19-chief-public-health-officer-denounces-returning-residents-border-defiance/


Supermarkets in small commun-ities across the NWT are facing the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic with their own product policies and safety measures.

Even before the first case of coronavirus was reported in the NWT, the Kaeser's Store in Fort Smith has been vigilant in trying to stop the spread of the virus.

"We have asked the customers to come shopping by themselves and not in groups or families. We've asked for individual shopping," store manager Nick Kaeser told News/North.

His shop removed many of its shopping carts to limit the number of customers who could be inside at one time, and staff disinfect the cart handles after each customer is done with them.

"I've also limited the number of staff who are in the office at any one time. We've reduced hours. Most of the customers have been really recep-tive to what I've been doing," Kaeser said.

Like other supermarkets in the NWT, Kaeser's is facing product

shortages but not necessarily as a result of panic-buying by customers, as seen in other stores.

The manager said the supply lines have been strained, there have been delays in groceries reaching the ware-houses and availability of some prod-ucts is more sporadic than before.

"One truck didn't have our meat but the next one did. Theoretically we're one truck behind," Kaeser said.

As a strategy, Kaeser explained that he has been following the news of the pandemic for a few months and has anticipated shortages.

"I've been buying a lot more quan-tity than I normally did and having in-store features," he said. "There's a lot of product missing – don't get me wrong. But it's going quite well."

NorthMart and Northern StoresSome outlets of the NorthMart

and Northern Stores have experienced shortages of products but haven't yet run out of essential food items.

"We're stocked fully because of the winter road. My concern is if this continues we might run out if the barge arrives, in a worst case scenario where people start panic shopping. But we have quite a bit of stock right

now so im not too concerned," said Peter Jirjis, manger of the Northern Store in Norman Wells.

Unlike elsewhere, Jirjis shop has not even run out of toilet paper.

At the Northmart in Hay River, stock levels have been restored after customers slowed down their shop-ping activity.

"We have toilet paper now, we didn't before," said manager Darryl Proulx.

"Because we're a hub we get cus-tomers from Simpson, Fort Reso-lution, Fort Providence, even some from Alberta. Some First Nations are coming to stock up for their Elders. I'll give them what I can but it's really hard now to get product because the company is telling us to not go crazy on our orders because then other stores won't be able to get it," he said.

The Fort Smith outlet announced in a social media post that on Friday it was offering exclusive shopping hours for seniors and Elders from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"Beginning March 30, we will make our store available to first responders and their spouses from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m," the post said.

The Northern Stores are also

installing plexiglass shields in front of priority checkout counters and other areas in the shops where there are high amounts of staff and cus-tomer interaction, according to a news release from parent company The North West Company.

"We expect to receive delivery of the units in the next few days and will commence installation shortly thereafter in all stores. This added

protection will help to enhance the safety of our employees," said com-pany president Alex Yeo.

Front-line staff have also received a temporary, $2 an hour pay rise retroactive to March 8 in recognition of their work during the pandemic. That increase will be effective until April 4 and Yeo said the company is "committed to extending this tempor-ary pay increase as needed."

news

Northern supermarkets challenged by pandemic

Photo courtesy of Sheila Champion

Supermarkets in small communities across the NWT have implemented several safety measures and product rules to avoid shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Heightened safety measures, product changes introducedby Blair McBride

Northern News ServicesNWT


Small business owners in the Northwest Territories strained by collapsing demand amid a global pandemic may see some relief from Ottawa soon.

The federal government has committed to raising its crisis wage subsidy from 10 per cent to 75 per cent, offer-ing up to $40,000 in loans that will be interest free for one year, and deferring GST/HST and import/export fees until June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday.

Renee Comeau, executive director of the NWT Cham-ber of Commerce, called it a "great step."

The chamber recently co-signed a letter with other business associations asking for federal support to stave off layoffs. She saw Ottawa's response as answering those calls, but added there was more work to be done to keep businesses afloat.

It will come as a relief to stressed businesses wor-ried over payroll expenses and costs like rent – which also should be addressed, she said.

Meanwhile, the interest-free loan would be essential as businesses look to cover incoming payments, she said.

"It's a quick and easy way for businesses to get cash flow injected back in so that they're able to catch up with their sup-ply chain," she said.

While some NWT busi-ness owners shared relief with News/North, others were still buckling under the economic crunch.

"A huge boost" For her part, Laurie Young,

owner of Fort Smith's The Rusty Raven, said the assist-ance could save some staff positions at her business.

"The 75 per cent of the wage that I pay my staff is bet-ter than the 60 per cent they'd get from unemployment," she said.

Friday's news came after Young decided to close shop last Saturday. Ottawa's origin-ally proposed 10 per cent was little more than a token, she said, and wouldn't have made much difference. The update pleased her.

"That's going to be a huge boost to us. Having absolutely no income coming in, it makes it pretty rough," she said.

She was less concerned with federal loan programs, saying she would work with NWT's Business Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC) first.

At the territorial level, Minister of Finance Caroline Wawzonek on March 20 said

the corporation would also offer low interest loans and was deferring payments for up to three months between April 1 and Sept. 30.

For Young, however, it's always a fight for staff in a small town. If some residents choose to stay in Fort Smith, or opt to return because there's work, it will make a differ-ence.

John Doody, who co-owns The Dancing Moose Cafe with his wife in Yellowknife, didn't see the benefit for his busi-ness.

"For restaurants in town, it's essentially useless," he said.

There simply isn't enough demand. When the crisis began, he felt the business may be able to continue since the crowds remained strong.

But within days the cafe was down to one or two tables. Considering the loan aspect, Doody said he would rather draw on savings, but that it could help retailers.

"A wage subsidy now would just mean we're paying people to stand around," he said. "For us, it's useless."

Wherever possible, small business owners need some slack, according to Mary Beckett, a longtime consultant and business owner in Inuvik who ran as NWT's federal NDP candidate last fall.

"I feel heartbroken for everybody who runs business-es," she said. "But I know from running a business for many, many, many years, there's always cycles.

"It's always a case of hang-ing on by your teeth until things come around again."

She said new businesses or those already close to the wire, particularly in small communities, may not be able to bounce back. But those with strong business models prior to the crisis should be able weather the coming weeks or months until demand recovers, she said.

For others, the economic impact setting in as residents

stay home has been devastat-ing.

Terry Rowe, general man-ager of the Ptarmigan Inn in Hay River, felt the pandemic's economic strain last week, when he personally laid off about 50 staff. It's a temporary measure, he told News/North, but a hard one.

Much of it stems from responding to the public

health crisis that led the town to shutter non-essential ser-vices, including its restaurant and gym.

It continues to offer take-out, but that's slowed along-side overnight stays at the hotel. That means there's little demand left to support staff as catering and events cancel as borders close.

The staff were understand-

ing of the circumstances, but it's been "stressful," he said.

He hoped to apply to gov-ernment support soon. How-ever, in the future, he said, he may be "pulling (his) hair out" as a result of the damage to the business' cash flow, he said.

Utilities, taxes, and other costs waited just ahead, with little revenue to balance them.

NWT Chamber of Commerce praises seven-fold increase by federal government

photo courtesy of Pamela Basil Paulette

A young customer at the Rusty Raven cafe in Fort Smith in December. Owner Laurie Young says a 75 per cent wage subsidy announced by the prime minister March 27 would be a huge boost with "absolutely no income coming in."

news

Small businesses welcome super-sized wage subsidy

by Nick Pearce Northern News Services

NWT

6 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020 communities

The small community of Kakisa, about a half-hour's drive southeast of Fort Providence, has always been isolated and self-dependent.

Community members are taking the necessary precautions to keep it that way during the coronavirus pan-demic, says longtime Chief Lloyd Chicot of the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation in Kakisa.

Chicot said the community of 36 is trying to keep track of people who leave the community and those who may be visiting from afar. A roadblock has been set up at the junction into Kakisa from High-way 1 to monitor who comes and goes, and there are regular updated announcements to inform Elders and community members about health precautions that have to be taken.

"There is not much we can do because we are a small commun-ity and we are limited for funding and resources and things like that," Chicot said. "We are doing our best to limit the amount of contact from people, including members going south and coming back."

He said people seem to be OK as far as having supplies like food and other items available. There is almost always plenty of wood around too, he added.

He is concerned about individ-uals who are transient.

"It (food and emergency supplies) is not too much of an issue for us

here but there are some that do go out saying that they are getting gro-ceries, but we're not really sure who they are getting in contact with," he said. "That is one of the things we are running into."

There is no local health centre so notices are handed out to households about the need to take health precau-tions, he added.

In the case of an emergency, the band is looking for units that could be used if there is the need, he added.

"It has not been a real concern because

it has always been isolated and stuff," Chicot of the lack of a health care centre. "Rarely we get a (medic-al professional) once a month, except for mental health help. When a nurse does come, they come for vaccina-tion because people do need it for influenza and things like that."

Chicot said band members are going out on the land and hunting as per usual, however he does have some concern about people keeping properly informed as the corona-virus situation develops.

"We are trying to (get people to be aware of health precautions) but there are a few that don't abide by anything you say or tell them and they still go out," he said. "There is at least one person who is going out and then bringing people in from different communities and some of them are transient."

Chicot said he's concerned because if something happens while people are away from the commun-

ity "they are on their own.""They need to come into the

office so that we can let them know and stuff like that," he said of coronavirus updates. "There are a few people that don't do that and they're on their own and when some-thing happens they usually end up running over here."

The community is also trying to get people to stay in their homes

and most are abiding by the rules and are in good spirits, according to the chief.

"That is the message that we have been giving but the kids keep com-ing to the office here and so we have information set up in the office for anyone that comes and we also have hand sanitizer," he said.

"Anyone that comes into the office we encourage to wash their

hands in the bathroom."Extra cleaning efforts are made

outside of the regular work that the janitor does at the office, too, he said.

With the school being closed, it means kids sometimes hang around the band office, but Chicot said it presents parents a great opportunity to teach their children at home and engage with the local culture.

by Simon WhitehouseNorthern News Services

Kakisa

Ample food, wood, but social distancing a concernKakisa keeps control of isolated status

photo courtesy of MACA/GNWT

Longtime Kakisa Chief Lloyd Chicot says his community is staying vigilant against COVID-19 but is concerned about people bringing strangers into the community.

COmmuNIty Report

NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020 7news

Michael McLeod, Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories, may have started the year aiming to have a federal budget for Northerners that would address their most pressing concerns.

Housing inadequacy. Infrastructure deficits. Climate change challenges. Early childhood education shortages. The list of needs in the NWT have been endless since last fall's federal and territorial elections.

Many of those earlier priorities are up in the air now with federal budget 2020 postponed to a yet unknown date and as all levels of government attempt to manage the immediate and grow-ing risk of coronavirus entering the North.

Like many other MPs across the country, McLeod was work-ing from his home community of Fort Providence this week where he has been with his family since the House of Commons suspended its session on March 13. He returned home on March 16 where he has been doing work by phone and email.

As member representing a vast territory, he is no longer using airplane flights to travel and is no longer attending public gather-ings.

Most of his days are now tied up with phone calls and other communications with constituents, mining industry professionals and other members of the NWT private sector, as well as political leaders in Ottawa.

"We are working non-stop. We have briefings and caucus calls after caucus calls and also I get daily briefings from national caucus and we have an all-parliamentarian briefing everyday," said McLeod during an interview March 27.

Canada Response BenefitOn Wednesday, the federal government passed C-13, a

$107-billion economic aid package that is set to roll out in the coming weeks to assist businesses and workers. Among the items it will include are a Canada Response Benefit which will provide $2,000 a month in income support for up to four months for Canadian workers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. The benefit will also help people who "lost their job, are sick, quarantined, or taking care of someone who is sick with COVID-19" and who may be forced to stay at home to look after their children due to a lack of day care.

Other increases include $2 billion in extra child care benefits and employment insurance.

"We need to be able to roll out the emergency response benefit and make sure that it is in place and make sure that people can access it and know how to get it," McLeod said.

"We have to recognize this pandemic is a once in a generation challenge and the greatest health-care risk in our history. It has many people nervous, scared and confused as to what is happen-ing. There are many things we have to ensure that are happen-ing. We need to make sure that supports are there that focus on ensuring that Northerners and Canadians can pay for their rent, groceries. We have to ensure that we help businesses pay their employees and their bills in this time of uncertainty.

"It looks like we are just at the starting end of the curve and there may be more need."

McLeod said he is fully on board with Premier Caroline Cochrane and her government's position that more money needs to be coming from the federal government to support a territory of sparse and isolated communities lacking roads and other infra-structure as well as accessible health care as compared to most jurisdictions in southern Canada.

"The GNWT has made it pretty clear what they need in terms of resources and it is pretty comprehensive and they did a really good job," he said. "The premiers's office has been in contact with me and we all agree we need more money and that is what we are working on.

Finance committee McLeod sits on the House of Commons finance committee

that will be overseeing the federal aid that will go to Canadians. The committee's role will be to regularly examine how monies are spent and to ensure they are accountable to Parliament.

"I will be part of the oversight on the bill that was passed," he said. "It is hard to tell (the full impact it will have on Northern-ers) because we are thinking - how long is this pandemic going to last? There are a lot of things that are just so grey at this point."

Constituent concerns McLeod said he is hearing from constituents that they are

concerned about whether there will be cuts in other areas as the federal government diverts its attention to the ongoing crisis.

"For the most part it is business as usual," he said of those concerns. "But we have to make sure things keep going because we are at the year-end and people are nervous.

"The other thing I'm hearing is that a number of people not taking the pandemic serious enough and that there is too much socializing and I think a lot of the community leaders are taking it upon themselves to get the message out. At least that is what I'm hearing.

"I think you will see that stepped up a lot. As time goes on, it is going to start sinking in."

Asked about the lack of protective medical gear and how that might impact health-care workers in the North, McLeod said it is one concern among many that he aiming to address with this week's stimulus funding.

"That is part of what we want as part of funding and the carve out of money that we want," he said. "Protective medical equip-ment is one but there is so many things than protective medical gear for resources to what government needs and supports."

Asked what he would say to Northern workers who are home self-isolating with children, he said it is a necessary health and safety precaution and that it may be an opportunity for northern families to better connect.

"I think we have a lot of people in the different fields includ-ing in education that are trying to reach out to people at home and home is the safest place to be with limited contact with anybody from the outside," he said.

"It may be a good time for families to go out on the land or do projects together in their home.

"For the most part we have to keep people safe and we're really nervous about this pandemic spiking where too many are sick at the same time and we know it is going to happen. We know it is going to get worse before it gets better and we want to spread it out so it is at least manageable."


NWT

MP Michael McLeod live from home community of Fort Providence

COVID-19 'going to get worse before it gets better' says MP

NNSL file photo

NWT MP Michael McLeod says he is no longer attending public meetings but is keeping the lines of com-munication open from home.


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Editorial & Opinions

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The incarcerated population in the NWT is completely unable to adhere to social distancing protocols aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 in the general population. This puts everybody in the territory at risk.

Full jails are a health hazard

Non-violent prisoners should be releasedto protect inmates and the general public

friday saw the Congress of aboriginal Peoples, a national organization with headquarters in Ottawa, join the chorus calling for low-risk inmates in custody in the three jails in the Northwest territor-ies to be released on compassion-ate grounds with an eye to avoiding spreading the coronavirus within.

there are many inmates with pre-existing health conditions, and a vast majority of them are Indigenous – 83 per cent overall. In the case of the women's jail in fort smith, all 10 inmates identified as Indigenous when we ran a story on over-representation in Nwt jails at the end of January.

"the lives of detainees and the safety of the general public are endangered by unnecessarily keeping anyone in confined living spaces where they cannot avoid infection," Kim Beudin, the organiz-ation's national vice chief, wrote in an open letter to Premier Caroline Cochrane. "Cases of coronavirus have already been detected in insti-tutions in multiple provinces, and overcrowding conditions threaten to create a breeding ground for the virus."

she added that reports from "various" provincial correctional centres indicate the presence of black mold, a lack of proper medi-cation and medical care.

the Northwest territories is far from alone in being asked to release inmates. Prime minister Justin trudeau faced a number of questions about releasing low-risk inmates across the country.

Overcrowding and safety con-cerns at NsCC in particular are well-documented. Before the Con-servatives clamped down, judges were granting offenders up to three days' credit for every day served for that exact reason.

these prisoner advocates are not promoting the release of murderers and rapists, and neither is News/North. this is about getting non-violent, elderly and infirm prisoners out of overcrowded jails that could quickly go epidemic. Guards and other employees are then put at risk, which in turn raises the chan-ces of them infecting members of the general public when they leave work and go on with their lives.

most of the inmates in Nwt jails are on remand awaiting trial, meaning they haven't even been convicted of a crime, or they are serving time for what could be described as procedural infractions

like missing court dates or falling off the wagon while under orders to abstain from alcohol and drugs.

Beaudin raises another level of concern, that being that while incarcerated, Indigenous inmates have their treaty and section 35 rights stripped away.

a state of emergency has been declared for the Nwt and it must apply to its incarcerated popula-tion, too. for this and other rea-sons, Justice minister Caroline wawzonek's update on her depart-ment's plan to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in Nwt jails last week was welcome.

she said from now on there will be only one inmate housed in each cell (noting none of the Nwt jails are at or near capacity, so this is possible). Visitation had already been limited to the essential, including meetings with lawyers, and social distancing protocols have been put in place.

Corrections officers are also apparently being equipped with safety equipment, gloves at a min-imum, and more if an inmate is symptomatic.

Details on the plan to release non-violent inmates are being kept secret, but what information has been posted online represents an encouraging made-in-the-North solution to an acute and urgent problem.

Northern News ServicesTHe ISSue:

JAILS AND COVID-19

We SAY:LeT LoW-rIsK INmaTes ouT

NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020 9editorial – opinions

In these uncertain times, it might be a good for us to familiarize ourselves with the teach-ings of the medicine wheel. In my last week of school before it was cancelled, our class was fortunate to have an Elder come in and teach us about the importance of living our lives in relation to that of the medicine wheel and I'd like to relay some of his important messages.

The symbolism of the colours of the wheel are similar across Nations but there are different variations. Each quadrant of the circle represents the four directions, the four seasons, the four elements, spirit animals and plants, and the four stages of human life.

The circle starts in the East where the sun rises which is why the East is represented by the color yellow for the sun. The East repre-sents spring. The birth and creation of all living things. The element of the East is fire. We all have a fire that burns inside of us and con-tinues even after we are gone from this world. The eagle is the animals that represents the East as it is the animal that soars closest to the creator in the sky, because of this, the eagle can see far into the future. Some of us might be wondering if there is an end to this difficult time and we can look to the East for answers. When our foreseeable plans are cancelled, and we dread the future because our end of month bill payments are adding up we can look to the East and know that there will be an end to the hardships that we are going through right now.

Then we go to the bottom of the medicine wheel. The South. Red is representative of the South for the rich red earth that we walk upon in the summer seasons. Summer soil is a good time for planting seeds. It is a time of growth and change for the human spirit. It is the age of children growing up with curiosity, exploring and discovering the world around them. The animal most represented in the South is the deer. The southern portion of the wheel rep-resents learning and having an open mind for receiving new teachings and lessons. It repre-sents abundance and energy. The South shows us how we can improve on the choices that we make every day. We are all powerful in our own way and we can choose to use this power in a kind, good, and lighthearted way.

The buffalo is our cousin to the West. The West is seen as the color black. The West tells us to look inside for answers within ourselves. The West represents the dark stillness of night, but it also represents the water, where the moonlight directly affects the movement of water. It is a time to harvest and to be thankful

for what we have. To be present. To count our blessings. To support and protect each other. To share teachings as a parent would do for their children. We must protect each other like the buffalo herds do when they join, strength in numbers, as a community to protect their

calves when they are in danger. The North quadrant of the wheel

represents the color white for win-ter. White symbolizes spirit and wisdom. The winter wind is domin-ated by the crisp northern air that we need to breathe for invigoration and clarity. The North is where we find the spirit of the bear or the white buffalo. The North portion of the wheel reminds us of the spirit world through the constellations and northern lights and how we can find our way home through the lights above. "Old man winter" represents the Elderly and those that have passed before us. It represents strength and perseverance. The North reminds us to reflect on our lives and the world around us and now is a great time to do so. While we are at home in these difficult

times, we can reflect on our lives, how far we have come and where we can make improve-ments. The North reminds us to listen to the guidance and wisdom of our Elders and ances-tors.

Lastly, we can't forget where our body, mind and spirit fits into all of this. The center of the wheel. If all directions of the wheel are balanced, then the core of our beings will be in harmony. The center of the medicine wheel represents who we are but since we are con-nected to everything around us, the elements, the animals, the spirit world, and each other, we are not fully balanced without one or the other.

Trauma in any form can affect how we live within the medicine wheel. Turning to the medicine wheel can help us to heal the trauma we experience in our lives. The medicine wheel is about relating to all things associated in life and in the spirit world. If we are off balance, we can look to the four directions to help put us back into balance. For instance, if we are always travelling in the East and looking too far ahead into the future we might be worried about things to come, to help ground us we can look to the West where we can learn to still in our minds and be calm. We can look inside ourselves and make peace with the present moment asking for help from the community to support and provide us with assistance. If we are overly focused on having fun all the time and have too much energy bottle up we can look to the North for patience and wisdom from the Elders.

All things balance each other out within the medicine wheel. If we think of the world as one big medicine wheel we can see that it has been out of alignment for some time now and

because we are not separate from the world and the world is not separate from us, if we put our own selves into alignment we are also help-ing to shift the world back into balance.

"What is the worst part of the COVID-19 crisis?"

Sarah Camsell "My mom is someone who may not be able to fight the virus and win."

Michelle Gruben "Worst part - not going to work! Gonna go crazy staying home."

Angus Pinchin“I don’t have a worst part as I'm thankful to creator for my family and friends and my health and my job.”

Lori Ann Ganiinzhih "Worried about my family in B.C. and Alberta, hope they are all OK."

Angela Mae Ruben "Worrying about family and friends that live out of the territory and the ones that may have to travel for medical.

Tanner Rae Ritias“Working for the mines, and not getting a straight answer as to the new regulations for travel and self-quaran-tines between flights.”

We asked you!with Eric Bowling

[email protected]

Looking to the medicine wheelNorthern News Services

NoRTheRNWildflowerCatherine Lafferty is a published author and an Indigenous Law Student who grew up in Yel-lowknife.

Wikimedia photo

The medicine wheel, like this sacred and historic site in Wyomind, USA, is a central concept in Indigenous teachings, columnist Catherine Lafferty writes.

10 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020 11

Inuvik ground ambulance primary care paramedic Malcolm.

Around the world, medical professionals and paramedics in particular have embarked on a campaign to convince people to respect social distancing and self-isolation protocols.

The "I stay at work for you, you stay home for us" photo campaign has been adopted by doctors, nurses and others in Hong Kong, the United States, Malaysia and Canada, among others.

Advanced Medical Solutions of Yellow-knife, which provides medical supplies and paramedic services by land and by air, is no exception. Their staff have been posting photos of them holding a sign depicting the

slogan on social media."Our Team is recognizing #International-

DayOfHappiness and their #HappyAct is to send you a note to #StayHomeForThem," a post from March 20 read. "Choose Happiness and together we will have a healthy North!"

They came to work for you You stay at home for them!

photos courtesy of AMS

Advanced Medical Solutions president and CEO Sean Ivens.

Lena Ivens, the boss's daughter, helps out when needed.

paramedic Feature

by Advanced Medical Solutions

Northern News Services

Inuvik-based flight nurse Gary.

Inuvik ground ambulance emergency medical responder Paul.

Inuvik-based flight paramedic Brenton.

Inuvik ground ambulance emergency medical responder Angel.

Inuvik ground ambulance PCP Adam.

Inuvik-based flight nurse James.

photo storyphoto story


Fort Liard's mayor says the hamlet is focus-ing on keeping Elders safe and informed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're trying to protect our Elders – our community," said Hillary Deneron.

Following days of anxiety-inducing uncer-tainty, Deneron said she received word from the territorial government that essential supply chain workers – truckers bringing in groceries and fuel – would still be allowed across the B.C. border.

The GNWT moved to shut down the border to non-essential visitors last week.

To get the word out, Deneron spent hours posting updates on community bulletin boards in Fort Liard – part of an effort to get crucial messages across to Elders and other community members who don't have internet access.

"You don't see very many GNWT posts com-ing in on paper. Everything is on social media or their website," Deneron told News/North.

A lot of Elders in the community of some

500 people don't speak or understand English, said Deneron. That's why leaders are focusing

on communicating social dis-tancing and health safety advice to Elders who aren't seeing GNWT COVID-19 updates, the bulk of which are being posted online in English.

Keep your distanceDeneron is a co-owner at the Liard Valley

General Store, a crucial grocery outpost in the hamlet. She said she's been driving home social distancing messages to residents who come into the store: keep your distance and stay at home when you can.

"Young or old, it doesn't matter. We're mak-ing it clear to everybody," she said. "We're tell-ing community members not to take this lightly, that this is a serious matter."

But in a small community where people often socialize in large groups, Deneron said the message isn't getting across to everyone.

"We are huggers and hand-shakers. Some people aren't taking it as seriously as it should be taken," she said.

At her shop, Deneron said there has been some hoarding of supplies – something she's actively discouraging – but she's not worried

about a shortage of goods at the moment.The store, which receives grocery shipments

from Edmonton, is currently well-stocked, said Deneron. But it is short on some items in the wake of COVID-19, particularly dried products like flour, pasta and rice.

Despite the well-stocked store, Deneron does have some concerns about how Fort Liard will confront COVID-19 in the event of an outbreak in the community.

"We do not have the proper medical facility here (or) the health care professionals," she said. "We don't have it here."

In Fort Liard, there are three permanent nurses, said Deneron.

A doctor from outside of the hamlet makes trips to Fort Liard on a day-to-day basis, she added.

Deneron said she's encouraging residents to get out on the land as a way of practising social distancing. So far, she's seen many families and community members heed the advice.

With schools closed and kids at home, Dene-ron said she's been urging parents to let children play inside and outside – while following social distancing protocol – but she's stressing a need for households to instill structure so that at-home students can regain a sense of normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

by Brendan BurkeNorthern News Services

Acho Dene Koe/Fort liard

General store owner hammering home social distancing messagingFocus on Elders in Fort Liard

The entrance to the hamlet of Fort Liard, which lies just North of the B.C.-NWT border in the west end of the ter-ritory. Highway 7 is also known as the "Liard High-way," and was closed to all but essential travel-lers by order of the chief officer of public health in late March.Craig Gilbert/NNSL photo

COmmuNIty Report

communities


Frustrated and concerned, Fort Good Hope's senior administrative officer says some community members aren't following social dis-tancing protocol amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They're not taking it ser-iously," said Kimberley Young, who became SAO less than a month ago.

Young said people are continuing to gather socially despite stern warnings from the territory's chief medical officer, who has recommended cancelling all social gather-ings, regardless of the size.

The territory's first COVID-19 case was con-firmed in Yellowknife during the March 21 to 22 weekend.

The Sahtu community of Fort Good Hope has a popula-tion of about 515 people.

Band meetings and non-essential services have been shut down, but Young said community members are still hosting parties and gathering in large numbers. Meanwhile, she said she's facing an ava-lanche of COVID-19-related

calls."We are bombarded con-

stantly every-day with phone calls and questions from the pub-lic that we're trying our best to answer," said Young. "It's a very frustrating time for

everybody in general."Young said she's "very

c o n c e r n e d" about what could happen if the corona-virus reaches Fort Good Hope.

"It's been extremely dif-ficult because we're trying to

implement measures to keep everybody safe and people in the community aren't lis-tening and we're trying to get answers from people who aren't in their offices any-more," she continued.

"If COVID gets here, it will overwhelm our medical system in about two seconds flat."

Indigenous communities in the NWT are not prepared for a possible outbreak of COVID-19 and assistance is needed.

"We don't have the medical resources they have in the cit-ies. We don't have the (med-ical) respiratory systems in our communities. If something were to happen we wouldn't be able to take in more patients," Garry Bailey, president of the NWT Metis Nation told News/North on Friday.

"There are other health issues as well that we've bene dealing with. Diabetes, asth-ma, elderly people are mon-itored daily. Anything can happen."

The federal government announced $305 million in funding through the Indigen-ous Community Support Fund. First Nations commun-ities in the NWT will receive $6 million and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) will receive $5.8 million. Metis communities across Canada have been allocated $30 million for their share.

Bailey said he's optimistic about funding for the NWT Metis Nation but added that the government hasn't yet released the funding criteria.

"I hope to hear some-

thing by April 6. We've got to develop an application for it," he said.

"Funding would defin-itely help us ... We're down on masks and hand sanitiz-ers. We're short of all that stuff. Another big concern is our nurses are doing shift work when they come into our communities, we're con-cerned they'll be short-staffed. It could get down to the point where we're down to only one nurse. Our nurses (might) end up almost working 24 hours a day."

The Metis Nation president said that a lot of its members have lost their jobs because of the economic fallout from the pandemic and people are trying to get out onto the land to maintain social distancing.

The needs of Dene com-munities in the NWT are also high and Dene Nation chief Norman Yakeleya told repor-ters on Thursday that "every-one is trying really hard. But we're not ready."

The chief, speaking over satellite phone from his cabin near Fort Providence outlined the findings of a survey of the NWT's 27 Dene communities that comprise 15,000 people.

"We have at least 3,200 people that likely need addi-tional medical assistance because they're in the high-

risk (health) category," he said, citing such issues as diabetes, heart conditions and pregnant women.

"Eighty-nine per cent of the communities indicate they need additional medical assistance. All of them require disposable gloves, masks and sanitizers.

"Forty-seven per cent have indicated they have no way of medically transporting any ill people to the larger centres" because many communities are accessible only by plane, he said.

The capacity to conduct swab tests for COVID-19 was uncertain because many remote communities don't have full-time nurses and Yakeleya said he has been ask-ing the health authorities to set up drive-through clinics in the communities.

"The picture in our small communities indicates they're in dire straights. We need help. We're asking the federal gov-ernment to do whatever it can to get the funding into our Indigenous communities."

Yakeleya said the Dene Nation has also asked the GNWT to increase the quanti-ties of medical supplies in the communities.

News/North reached out to the IRC for comment on the coronavirus situation but

didn't receive a response by press time.

As of Friday morning there has been one positive case of COVID-19 reported in the NWT, with 607 tests con-

ducted and 307 tests pending.There were 4,018 cases of

coronavirus across Canada

and 39 deaths, according to a report on Friday by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

by Brendan Burke Northern News Services

Radilih Koe/Fort Good Hope

Indigenous communities not ready for COVID-19 outbreaks

Concerns in Radilih Koe

communities

by Blair McBride Northern News Services

NWT

COmmuNIty Report

Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Indigenous communities in the NWT, including the NWT Metis Nation are unprepared for an outbreak of COVID-19 and are in immediate need of the promised federal funding for coronavirus relief. The leaders pictured are, left to right, Arthur Beck of the Fort Resolution Metis Council, Garry Bailey of the Northwest Territory metis Nation, Ken Hudson of the Fort smith metis Council and Trevor Beck of the Hay River Metis Government Council.

Millions of dollars in federal assistance needed immediately

'They're not taking it seriously,' says new SAO


The Village of Fort Simpson is get-ting ready for the worst possible case of the coronavirus as the streets went empty last week.

Mayor Sean Whelly said Wed-nesday that as the regional centre for government and as an access point for healthcare, food and emergency sup-plies from surround-ing communities like Wrigley, Nahanni Butte and Jean Marie River, the com-munity of just more than 1,000 people seems eerily quiet.

"We are a regional government centre, so there are a lot of people off work," Whelly said. "So it is really just the essential services that are going. I have noticed very few out-of-town people coming in. People from the satellite communities used to come in frequently, but I've noticed that is not happening so much."

Like other communities, the Northern store has run short on things like bread, toilet paper, and sanitizing products, he said.

Meanwhile, village facilities such as the library, fitness centre, com-munity hall and village offices are all closed to the public.

The municipality held a public engagement session on COVID-19 with village councillors and Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson on March 16. On March 23, the village activated its

emergency operations centre, which brings together a body of authorities to manage local public emergencies.

The centre is based on the com-munity's Emergency Response Plan and in the past has been used to deal with circumstances that go beyond what one organization can handle, such as wildfires and floods.

Like other munici-palities in the NWT, the village is mostly following the lead of the territorial govern-ment in the manage-ment of the pandemic

but it's important to have local co-ordination among groups like the vil-lage, the band office, GNWT officials, the RCMP and health-care workers, Whelly said.

Employees from the public works department have been working on rotating shifts during the pandemic crisis, said Whelly.

Fortunately, it's not a typically busy time of year.

"At least the other guys are at home – one week on and one week off. Back up – if we needed a sewer unplugged or something like that, you need guys, so we try to balance who is on and who is off. "

The village deferred its normal regular council meeting on March 23 in favour of an operations centre meeting at the Liidlii Kue First Nation band office. The band manager, vil-lage manager and Whelly joined about a dozen people on a conference call for about an hour and a half.

Discussions included what to do if the situation grows worse and how to protect the community. The village anticipates the territorial government will declare a full state of emergency at some point that will give the gov-ernment greater powers to act.

Right now, the village and First Nation leaders are trying to coordinate to respond to such a situation.

As for heath needs, Whelly said the community expects it will be pretty much on its own if a pandemic strikes.

"We sort of know that if a lot of people started to get sick here that by the time that would happen, Yellowknife would probably be loaded up with it and we would be on our own," said Whelly. "Nobody says that exactly but that is pretty much the way I see it. No one asks the question, 'how many ventilators are at the health centre.'

"It is almost like we don't want to know the answer because it's probably not good."

Whelly remains hopeful, however,

that the Dehcho region will be left relatively unscathed by the virus. He said people in Fort Simpson have been doing a good job social distancing from each other.

The streets are virtually deserted, he said.

"I took a drive around yesterday evening and there was literally not a vehicle moving and not a person walk-ing around," said Whelly. "So I think people are trying pretty hard to do that self-isolating and distancing and everything else."


liidlii Kue/Fort Simpson

Mayor Sean Whelly shares pandemic concerns from regional centre

Hush falls over Fort Simpson

NNSL file photo

Fort Simpson enacted a regional emergency operations centre on March 23 in response to the ongoing pandemic.

COmmuNIty Report

communities


Assistance available for youthNWT

Children and youth throughout the North may be able to receive support during the current situation with COVID-19 through Jordan's Principle and the Child First Initiative.

"This could include (but is not limited to) products and servi-ces such as: groceries or respite care," states a bulletin.

Supporting documentation will not be required for requests stemming from the impact of COVID-19. This is to maintain social distancing practices by having families avoid going to doc-tors, schools, social workers and other professionals.

Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative serves to address any unmet health, social or education need, according to the bulletin.

– Erin Steele

North-Wright Airwayssuspends service

Sahtu RegionTo help combat the spread of COVID-19 North-Wright Air-

ways has temporarily suspended all scheduled passenger flights in the Sahtu region.

The suspension of service began March 25 and is scheduled to be in effect until April 13.

"The time is now to close the connection from the Sahtu Region to Yellowknife. If we act fast and act early, we may be able to keep the virus out of our communities," states a bulletin on social media from the company.

"Community leaders, along with North-Wright Airways, will reassess the situation on a weekly basis and will reopen the scheduled service when it is deemed safe to do so."

– Erin Steele

Hamlet announces changesDeh Gah Got'ie Koe/Fort Providence

Select community services in Fort Providence will remain in place while the Hamlet of Fort Providence office closes.

The hamlet office closed March 23 along with select hamlet facilities. The community hall, arena, and fire hall are closed to the public until further notice.

Administrative staff and finance staff will continue to work from home.

The Public Works Department will continue to provide water delivery, community fire protection and sewage collection along with garbage pick-up, road maintenance and landfill access.

The changes come in response to the Chief Public Health Officer's recommendations for social distancing and minimizing person-to-person contact due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

– Erin Steele

Church provides at-home Sunday school packages

Lli Goline/Norman WellsKids stuck at home in social isolation with their families now

have a way to fight against the boredom thanks to the Norman Wells Community Church.

"Due to church cancellations and COVID-19, the Norman Wells Community Church is dropping off at-home Sunday school

packages to those interested," states a bulletin on social media.The Sunday school package includes a bible story along with a craft, lesson and gift bag.

Parents are encouraged to provide their address and the num-ber of children in their household to the Norman Wells Commun-ity Church in order to have a package left at their door.

– Erin Steele

Emergency measure bylawand plan enacted

Lli Goline/Norman WellsThe Town of Norman Wells approved the updated Emergency

Measures ByLaw and Plan during a special council meeting March 22.

"The bylaw will allow us to put the measures in place to legally respond to the developing situation within the Northwest Territories and our community," states a letter from the mayor.

Roles and responsibilities for emergency management are broken down into three areas.

The Community Emergency Response Committee's role is to

provide information on support from their organizations and to help shape plans and procedures.

The Emergency Management Agency collects the information from the committee and provides to council for consideration.

– Erin Steele

Counseling services availableLiidlii Kue/Fort Simpson

While residents are practicing social distancing, the children and youth of Fort Simpson will continue to have access to mental health services thanks to the NWT Health and Social Services Authority.

"Counseling appointments will be scheduled and conducted over the phone through this period of time," states a bulletin on social media. "We are here for anyone who needs support through these difficult times, whether you have accessed service before or if this is your first time."

Phone appointments with the Community Counseling Pro-gram will be scheduled between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

– Erin Steele

Around the NorthIf you have an item of interest from your community, call (867) 873-4031, or email: [email protected]

Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

DON't FORGet tO FeeD FiDOSteve Anderson, a co-owner and manager at Super A Foods, said a variety of items have been in demand since public fears arose about coronavirus/COVID-19, including somewhat surprising things like dog food.


Hay River Mayor Kandis Jame-son believes that most people in Hay River have heeded the call to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, particularly by staying home unless absolutely necessary.

"I believe our community overall is listening and doing what they're sup-posed to be doing," she said on March 26. "Of course, you're always going to have those that think it's not a big deal -- 'people are overreacting' -- that kind of deal. But hopefully we can get more information out to the public on why this is so important at this time to be doing this."

Jameson said that "absolutely" most people are following advice to stay at home, and it can be seen in the community.

"When you're out and about, things have slowed down, defin-itely," she said.

The mayor said everyone's prior-ity needs to be health, compassion and caring for each other, not the economy.

"That's our message right now," she said. "We really, really are push-ing that people need to do self-iso-lation. You need to understand how important this is for this commun-ity, for the NWT and our health-care system."

In particular, she is pleased by the response to her call for non-

essential businesses to close.

"Most business-es have closed and people are choosing to do the right thing for your family, for

your community, for your country," she said.

Jameson noted that the Town of Hay River itself is ready for COVID-19.

"I think council and administra-tion, we've been ahead of the game and hopefully still are," she said. "We've done a lot of preparation for this knowing that it was coming."

Jameson noted the town has had meetings with many people and organizations – the NWT Associa-tion of Communities, Premier Caro-line Cochrane, territorial ministers, representatives of the community's health-care system, the RCMP and others.

"Hay River is prepared, of that I have every, every, every faith that we have done everything we can to try and mitigate the situation," she said. "Our administration has really done some great work and they still are."

The municipality is satisfied with the food supply in the com-munity, she added.

The Town of Hay River has planned for and is continuing to provide essential services, said

Jameson."We weren't going to be that

community that looked back and wished we'd started this two weeks earlier. I think we're in a good place as a community and I hope people just hunker down, do what we've got to do now, and it will save us in the long run. We know that."

And as for families who are now at home, Jameson suggested they might consider getting back to basics to pass the time with their

children."I think the world has slowed

down and we're going back to basics," she said.

"And we need to use our imagin-ations as adults to keep these kids occupied. It's a great, great time to connect to family. Let's focus on the good, and we can work through the bad together. And I honestly think it's a huge opportunity to reconnect with your kids and reconnect with each other."

by Paul BickfordNorthern News Services

Hay River

Kandis Jameson says Hay river is prepared for the challengeHub residents heeding COVID call

NNSL file photo

Hay River Mayor Kandis Jameson is pleased by residents' response to the COVID-19 crisis.

COmmuNIty Report

communities


Offices are closed and arenas are empty, but Inuvik is bustling with good deeds as resi-dents took to the internet to quickly offer their services for their neighbours in need.

Just after lunch on March 17, Jonathon Michel created a Facebook group called Care-mongering Inuvik. Within 48 hours it had swelled to 476 members and counting.

"I read a news article about Canadians in cities launch-ing caremongering Facebook groups to spread care and acts of kindness to others in need of support. I thought it was a great idea," said Michel.

"So many creative and caring offers for support for people in self-isolation. Babysit-ting is a huge one."

Some residents in isolation have been able to get help getting walks shovelled and gro-ceries delivered. One area in need mentioned is the need to connect with Elders via apps like Facetime to keep people connected.

Angel Simon offered to walk dogs, Melissa Rogers and her family baked bannock and donuts to give to those in need and Veronica Kasook offered to help Elders and low-income families with their taxes. Lastly, RCMP offi-cer Stephanie Leduc has been distributing activity books and crayons to help the young

ones keep occupied.Others used it as a means to keep the

public aware of changes to services to help people cope, such as a notice from the Inuvik Food Bank which noted the group was waving the $10 handling fee and offering home deliv-ery for Elders with mobility issues. Eduardo Lorenzo Wright of the Inuvik Native Band identified himself as the point of contact for

the organization and offered caribou meat for seniors, sin-gle parent families, Elders and health challenged individuals.

All in all, Michel estimated the band of heroes had grown to 15 and counting.

Also available through the group are the GNWT and federal guides for self-monitoring and self-isolation, as well as a set of guidelines for helpers to follow to ensure safe handling practices – washing hands before handling a delivery and minimizing how much time is spent talking while making a delivery, for example. Deliveries are also to be left at is pre-determined location to prevent accidental exposure. Dog walkers are asked to use their own leashes when walking pets.

"Another part of why I thought this page would be good for the community is that it promotes the social distancing and staying home if you're sick, proper hand washing and prevention advisories from the Chief Public Health Officers of the NWT and Canada,"

said Michel. "If anybody has offers of ways that they

can help or if they're stuck and they have a need, this page might be a good resource for them. It is for a positive, safe and healthy way

to help and support each other during a chal-lenging time.

Hopefully people can feel less isolated and alone, while keeping up the physical social distancing."

Caremongering Inuvik group swells to 476 people

Inuvik bands together

screenshot sourced from Facebook

Jonathan Michel, creator of the Caremongering Inuvik group on Facebook, shares a PSA at Northmart in Inuvik about social distancing.

by eric BowlingNorthern News Services

Inuvik

A few residents in Aklavik had inquired to hamlet senior administrative officer Fred Behr-ens about the possibility of shutting down the ice road to Inuvik to keep the COVID-19 virus out but Behrens said that is simply not possible.

"One of my councillors went on Facebook this morning and mentioned something about closing the roads," he said. "So I had to go on there and say 'No, no, no, we can't do that. It's not in our authority.'

"We can't close the road, its for us to get into Inuvik for food and such."

He said the ice road is now effectively the lifeline for the community to bring in food, medicines and other sundries and if shut down, supplies would have to be airlifted into the community.

That was probably the biggest issue that's come across Behrens' desk this week since all travel in and out of the Northwest Territories became restricted to essential travel only last week.

He noted municipal services remain at full gusto and anyone who needs extra water is free to contact the municipality or the housing cor-poration to make a request. Billing payments have been delayed, though Behrens requests people who are overdue on their bills con-tact him to make arrangements to bring their accounts back to the black.

Residents were on their own for arranging sports or other activities, however.

"Unfortunately we've had to close all our recreational facilities and my casual staff have been let go, though we only had a couple of days left for them anyway," he said. "People can and have always cruised around town on their snowmobiles – with safe distancing and all the rest of it."

Although it was suggested, Behrens said the hamlet is definitely not considering a ban on alcohol during the crisis. Aklavik does not have a liquor store.

"When we declared the state of emergency

the RCMP were wondering about a temporary prohibition order, but there's no way we're going to do that," he said. "We don't have any type of restriction on if you can drink or not drink in the community. An individual has the right do whatever they want in the community."

With residents still trickling back in, par-ticularly from schools, Behrens there is a small amount of apprehension in the community, but noted the required 14-days of isolation for any-one coming back into the territory had largely put that to rest.

A brochure with information on how to protect oneself and loved ones was sent out earlier in the week, along with exercise guides and several colouring books to help the children

stay occupied.He noted getting the rules out to residents

was key, but he was happy with the measures being taken throughout the territory.

"There's definitely a lot less people walking around this week than there was last week," he said. "A lot of people are out at their camps, which takes a lot of the stress out of the people in the community.

"As long as people are in their camps, their pretty well isolated from everyone and every-thing."

He noted the community had four residents currently in quarantine at the Mackenzie Hotel in Inuvik but all of them are students.

"We had one lady just come back from

school and of course her parents tried to go meet her at the airport," said Behrens. "But she was whisked away pretty fast apparently. But they were able to scream at each other over long distances."

Overall, Behrens said there is an air of cau-tious optimism.

"There's definitely people who are worried, but with the actions the territorial government are having, I think that has ease a lot of the concerns that small community members have had," he said.

"If it hits a small community like ours, it would be devastating. But if we can keep it out with these measures, hopefully we will be in for a good time instead of a bunch of sadness."

'Cautious optimism' in Aklavik

NNSL file photo

The Aklavik jamboree, also known as the Mad Trapper Rendezvous, took place March 29 to April 2 last year. The event was cancelled for 2020 as a COVID-19 precaution.

Ice road to Inuvik becomes lifeline to hamlet of nearly 600by eric Bowling

Northern News ServicesAklavik

COmmuNIty Report

communities

COmmuNIty Report


SportS hotline • JameS mccarthyphone: (867) 873-4031 • email: [email protected] • Fax: (867) 873-8507

Sports & recreation

You will have noticed there isn't much hap-pening in the world of sports right now. No live anything and no sports highlights to make fun of. So what's a sports writer to do? Easy: you make something up.

This isn't made up but it is an exercise to gauge the interest of the people. Who do you think the best sports team to ever come out of the NWT is? That's what we're going to try and determine and by determine, we mean you.

Over the next two issues, you will see the 16 choices made by myself, sports editor James McCarthy for who should be con-sidered. The top eight seeds are contained within this article with the next eight seeds the following Monday. You will have a chance to choose and we'll give you the ways to vote in the next edition of NWT News/North.

For now, enjoy and see if you agree with these:

No. 1 – 2014 NWT Rebels women's broom-ball team

I know those of you who are in broomball will be wondering why I chose the Rebels over the Yellowknife Ravens. Yes, they both won the world championship that year but the tiebreaker is the Rebels winning Team of the Year at the 2015 Sport North Awards.

Jenny Crawford was named the tourna-ment's most valuable player that year and also made the tournament all-star team, as did Tina Locke-Setter.

I still say both teams should have shared the honour but since I don't decide that, the Rebels come out on top because of that and will be your top seed.

No. 2 – 2014 Yellowknife Ravens men's broomball team

See above only seeded second.No. 3 – 2013-2014 Yellowknife Wolfpack

peewee development hockey teamHow does the Wolfpack fit in to all of this,

you may ask? Easy: one of the greatest seasons ever seen by a minor hockey team representing the capital.

The Wolfpack tore up the western portion of North America, winning tournaments left, right and centre in places such as Alberta,

B.C., Saskatchewan, California and Arizona. When they were done laying waste to whatever was in front of them, they had played 62 tour-nament games – 59 wins, two regulation-time losses and one shootout loss. And they still didn't win Team of the Year.

Take a look at the names who have come from that outfit: Jack Works, Liam Tereposky, Lonan Bulger, Anna MacCara, Sam Schofield, Ethan Anstey, Annie King. The ringleader? Who else: Dan Schofield.

Impressive enough to earn the third seed in the bracket.

No. 4 – Team Galusha 2018-2019 curling rink

The first of our curling entries sees Kerry Galusha and her then-rink of Sarah Koltun, Shona Barbour and Brittany Tran do the World Curling Tour for the first time as a unit and found plenty of success that season.

They hit the pay window more than once, capped off by victory at the Royal LePage Fall

Women's Classic and becoming the first team from the North to win a professional bonspiel. We won't talk about how the Scotties finished up for the ladies that year but it was a banner year for the NWT and it made people really sit up and take notice.

Team Galusha is your fourth seed.No. 5 – 1974 Yellowknife Junior Merchants

softball team As much as I wanted to seed this team first

(both from a nostalgic point of view and I love softball) I have to play by my own rules.

The Merchants are the first of the national championship teams to make it into the brack-et by virtue of being the very first team from North of 60 to win a national championship of any kind in any sport. They ran the table in the round-robin to advance to the playoffs but lost to Ontario in the first round, meaning they had to take the long route to win it by beating

Quebec in the final, 6-5.It was a win for the ages as the team

received an honour guard upon their return to Yellowknife Airport and a parade on Franklin Ave.

Pitcher Leroy Eliason was named the tournament's most valuable player and Greg Vaydik made the tournament's all-star team.

Again, this is my sentimental top seed but they're fifth for these purposes.

No. 6 – 1976 and 1977 NWT firefighters curling rink (Howard Brazeau, Dick Cisa-roski, Jim Schaefer, Mickey MacEachern)

There's a common misconception going around that the 1983 Elks Corby Cup-winning rink skipped by Klaus Schoenne won the first national curling championship for the NWT.

Wrong and the Fort Smith Fire Department will tell you why.

In 1976, the Fort Smith Fire Department represented the NWT at the Canadian Fire-fighters Curling Championship in Charlotte-town and went on to win the whole thing. Not to be outdone, they went again in 1977 to Ottawa and won that as well, successfully defending their title. That was the first time a rink from the NWT won a national curling championship and it's almost forgotten. What a shame because Howard Brazeau and his rink of Dick Cisaroski, Jim Schaefer and Mickey MacEachern deserve their moment.

They are your sixth seeds.No. 7 – 1983 Elks Corby Cup champions

(Klaus Schoenne, Don Sian, Doug Bothamley, Randy Waddell)

Schoenne's rink does hold a first in curling circles and that's the first rink from Yellow-knife to win a national bonspiel.

The Elks 314 rink almost didn't make it into the playoff round as they had to come through a five-team tiebreaker just to get the final play-off spot and move into the semifinals. After beating B.C., Schoenne and company would beat Alberta to win the title and set off some kind of excitement.

Schoenne said the other teams felt they had cheated because the championship was held in

Who is the GOAT of the NWT?A challenge to determine the greatest sports team

of all time to ever come out of the NWT

photo courtesy of Sport North

Some of the Yellowknife Junior Merchants congregate at the pitcher's circle during a break in the action at the 1974 Canadian Junior Men's Softball Cham-pionship in Ottawa. The Merchants became the first team from the North to win a national championship of any kind in any sport when they beat Quebec in the final for the title.

photo courtesy of NWT Rebels

The 2014 edition of the NWT Rebels women's broomball team won the World Women's Broomball Championship that year and are the top seeds for the Greatest Of All Time bracket tournament. The champs are, front row from left, Denise Pyke, Grace Lau-a, Kyra Powder, sarah elsasser, Danielle Hawes and Terri-Lynn Locke-Setter; back row from left, Aki Iwase, Angela Love, Janelle James, Adriana Zibolenova, Orla Tobin, Jenny Crawford, Martha Goodman, Brenda Tittlemier and Tina Locke-Setter.

Please see page 19

photo courtesy of Canadian Firefighters Curling Association

The Fort Smith Fire Department won back-to-back Canadian Firefighters Curl-ing Association championships in 1976 and 1977. They are, from left, Howard Brazeau, Dick Cisaroski, Jim Schaefer and Mickey MacEachern.

by James McCarthy Northern News Services

NWT


Add another log to the fire, if you will, because there's another Games which won't be happening this year.

But unlike the Arctic Winter Games, which were gutted altogether, the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) still plans on having some semblance of competi-tion in a year's time.

The host society for the 2020 edition in Halifax and the NAIG Council decided to postpone the Games for one year, meaning everything will happen in 2021. The announcement was made on Wednesday morning through a press release from the host society.

In the release, Tex Mar-shall, the host society's presi-dent, stated that the collective goal was to keep everyone safe and healthy.

"To abide by the recom-mendations and guidance of the Nova Scotia government and its health-care profession-als is critical to slowing and eliminating this pandemic,

even if it means the delay of something amazing," he said.

Aaron Wells, executive director of the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT, sits on the NAIG Council as the NWT representative and said the council had a conference call to discuss what was hap-pening.

"The chief public health officer in Nova Scotia had made the recommendation that we consider postponing the Games for a year and that's what was agreed to," he said. "Now, we work toward 2021."

The future of the Games had been discussed for some time before making the deci-sion on Wednesday, he added, and that there was still a small push to try and have the Games happen in July.

"The postponement is the lesser of two evils in a way," he said. "There could have been an outright cancellation, like what happened with the Arctic Winter Games, but all things considered, this is the best plan of action."

Jordee Reid is the chef de mission for Team NT and she

said the postponement was expected.

"It was a matter of time," she said. "We've seen how everything has gone so far and you just can't take the risk. We were still moving forward at the beginning of the month

with our preparations but now we have some time to plan." That's what makes this so much different than the Arc-tic Winter Games deal, she added.

"This wasn't like the Arc-tic Winter Games, where it

sneaked up on them and they had no choice but to cancel," she said.

"We still had a few months and now, we have an whole year to make a plan and make sure we're totally ready."

One thing the NAIG Coun-

cil agreed upon was allowing athletes who would have aged out the chance to come back and compete. The NAIG Council and host society both agreed to raise the age limit for each sport by one year to allow for athletes who would have missed out a chance to play.

For example, if a sport had U16 and U19 categories, they will now be bumped to U17 and U20 respectively.

Reid supports that idea."We were lagging behind a

bit because we only had three sports where the athletes were picked but imagine the other jurisdictions who may have had a lot of athletes already chosen," she said. "Involving them, even if they're just a year older, is great."

Wells said the next step is to tell the various territorial sports organizations (TSO) what will happen from here on in.

"We'll be getting lots of questions from the TSO's and we'll try and get them as many answers as we can," he said. "I'm hoping to have more details (soon)."

Yellowknife that year and the only way they could have won it was because of ill-gotten gains. Sticking it to sore los-ers is always fun.

Your seventh seeds for the bracket.

No. 8 – 2008 NWT fire-fighters curling rink (Steve Moss, Chris Haichert, Ingo Bauer, Kevin Whitehead)

The NWT has won the Canadian Firefighters Curl-ing Championship three times. Brazeau won two and here's the third.

Steve Moss and his rink of Chris Haichert, Ingo Bauer,

Kevin Whitehead went to the 2008 championship in Rich-mond, B.C., and were the best team of the entire tourna-ment.

Yes, they won but did it in style, running the table and going undefeated.

No rink from the NWT has ever done that as a nation-al competition and that is what makes this an impres-sive victory.

Haichert has moved to Saskatchewan since winning the title with the NWT and won the 2019 title with his new province but he's part of the no. 8 seed for this year's bracket.

sports & recreation

SportS Cardcurling

adrianna Hendrick

AGe: 14 COMMuNITY: Inuvik

Adrianna has been one of the finest young curlers to represent the NWT over the years. She competed at the 2019 Canada Winter Games as well at the Can-adian Juniors this past January, among other appearances.

Another Games gets shelved2020 North American Indigenous Games postponed for one year due to COVID-19

photo courtesy of Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT

Team NWT is in place for the opening ceremony of the 2017 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) in Toronto. The territory will have to wait a year to sit through another NAIG opening ceremony as the 2020 edition, scheduled for Halifax this coming July, has been postponed for at least one year due to the COVID-19 threat.

photo courtesy of Team Galusha

Shona Barbour, left, Sarah Koltun, Kerry Galu-sha and Brittany Tran became the first team from the North to win a professional curling bonspiel when they won the 2018 Royal LePage Women's Fall Classic, a World Curling Tour event.

Continued from page 18

by James McCarthy Northern News Services

NWT

Champions of champions

20 NEWS/NORTH NWT, Monday, March 30, 2020 sports & recreation

Do you all have enough toilet paper? If not, you can go win a roll at some restaurants around the world.

Yes, some establishments have decided to have a bit of fun with the whole Chicken Little-type deal with TP. You know those arcade-like games where you drop a claw and try to pick up a prize you know you'll never win? Well, some owners have replaced the toys with, yes, buttwipe. I had a laugh when I saw the one restaurant in Bridlington, England, which appears to be the first. Many others have fol-lowed suit and I think it's hilarious. You may not but since exploding diarrhea isn't one of the symptoms of COVID-19, the need to stock up on toilet paper escapes me. I'd like to stock up on foodstuffs more than worrying about how I'm going to clean myself.

Anyway …

let's go … Smolevichi!So the entire sports world has decided to

shut itself down so no one catches COVID-19. I get it but it's getting to be a bit too much. Thankfully, we have the Belarusian Premier League to keep us entertained.

That's right – the top soccer league in Russia minor is up and going with no regard to COVID-19 whatsoever. Alexander Lukashenko, the country's president (dictator, depending on who you talk to), ordered the league to continue regardless of the situation surrounding coronavirus. He figures more people are going to die from the panic about the virus than the virus itself.

Games are going on with fans in the stands and it has me thinking: do you think sports networks around the world have been secretly trying to negotiate deals to broadcast this live? Don't think there hasn't been an overture or two from an outlet desperate for any live sports coverage it can get its hands on.

And the league probably knows the des-peration involved, meaning it can control what

stations pay for said soccer action. If I was in charge of the league, I would be in talks with anyone willing to pay my price. You want my product, it's the only thing going today and it fills broadcast blocks. What's it worth to you?

The other thing to think about is sportsbooks, or gambling com-panies. With no sports to lay bets on, they'll see this as a way to make a few bucks at least. It's not the English Premier League or La Liga in Spain but it's soccer and people will bet on it, if only to try and keep their sanity while they waste away in social distancing

exercises.In the meantime, pick your favourite team

and cheer for them, if only for a season. This is the only live sports action you're going to see for weeks. I'm all about the underdog so I'm picking Smolevichi. They're a newly-pro-moted side. Dinamo Brest are the defending champions but BATE Borisov has been the big dog in the league for several years.

Here's a stunner … In perhaps the worst-kept secret going

today, the International Olympic Committee has decided to postpone the Summer Olym-pics, which were set to happen in Tokyo, Japan this July. Three guesses as to why.

Really, there was no way this was going to go off as planned and leave it to Canada to lead the way in telling the organizing commit-tee it wouldn't be sending a team to either the Olympics itself or the Paralympics. Australia followed suit and it all went downhill from there.

The positives are obvious: athletes get another year to train, Tokyo gets another year to prepare for the influx of athletes and people that will converge on the Japanese capital and no having to worry about Russia sending its athletes to screw around with drug testing. Everyone's a winner with this decision!

This will become the first time an Olympic Games – winter or summer – has been post-poned for reasons not related to war or conflict

and like everything else in the sports world, it would seem, we wait to see what happens. The Games are now set to happen in 2021 and that just might throw off the rotation but who cares? It's still going to happen, right?

And finally … Good Idea: Seniors playing Human Hungry

Hungry Hippos to pass the time while isolated thanks to COVID-19.

Bad Idea: Why in the hell didn't we think of that?

We're all doing our thing and trying to keep our brains from going to mush while COVID-19 takes over the world. There's only so many games of I Spy you can play with a four-year-old before you begin to wonder if there really is light at the end of the tunnel.

Leave it to the folks at the Bryn Celyn Care Home in south Wales to come up with an idea I wish I could do. The home's residents

have been recent participants in a human form of Hungry Hungry Hippos. I kid thee not – there's a video and it shows how the residents are sitting in wheelchairs with baskets on the end of broomsticks, trying to catch balls, all while being pushed back and forth by the home's employees. If you've ever played Hun-gry Hungry Hippos, you will understand why this is probably the coolest thing you will see all day.

For those of us who whine about having it tough because we're under isolation, remember this: the old folks have it much tougher. They have no choice but to be shut-ins because they are more susceptible to whatever COVID-19 rains down. The difference is that they know how to pass the time better than we ever will.

If you needed a reminder of how much smarter they are than we ever will be, watch the video.

Until next time, folks …

Who you got in the Belarus Premier League this season?

Northern News Services

SPORTS Talk

with James McCarthy

Wikimedia Commons photo

Alexander Lukashenko, left, president of Belarus, shakes hands with Volody-myr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, during a meeting between the two in 2019. Lukashenko isn't one to let something go too easily, even during a declared pandemic, and that includes soccer.

State of emergency - NNSL Media · State of emergency Community COVID-19 reports from around NWT...

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