Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper June 18, 2020

INTERESTING NEWS Canada’s Oldest First Nations Newspaper - Serving Nuu-chah-nulth-aht since 1974 Canadian Publications Mail Product Vol. 47 - No. 12—June 18, 2020 haas^i>sa Sales Agreement No. 40047776

Photo by Melissa Renwick

Marissa Mack (centre) yells “no justice, no peace,” while walking through the streets of Tofino during a protest that was held in honour of Chantel Moore and George Floyd, on Monday, June 8.

Service for Chantel Moore comes to Tseshaht territory Mother vows to ‘never let them forget her name’ as she fights for justice after New Brunswick police shooting

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Port Alberni, BC – Twelve days after the fatal police shooting of Tla-o-qui-aht’s Chantel Moore the family is making the long, cross-country trip back home to British Columbia from New Brunswick.

Moore, 26, was shot five times, according to family members, by an Edmunston Police Force officer in the early morning hours of June 4 in her apartment during a wellness check.

Moore’s family has said that the young woman had been communicating with her boyfriend, who was away in Montreal.

She is reported to have told him that someone was bothering her. Fearing for her safety, the boyfriend called Edmunston police and requested a wellness check on his frightened girlfriend.

The police, according to Moore’s grandmother, Grace Frank, arrived at the home of Martha Martin about 3 a.m. looking for Moore. Martin, who is Chantel’s mother, gave the officer the address of the apartment Moore had recently moved into.

Details of what happened at Moore’s apartment are not available to the public.

Immediately following the incident, the Edmunston Police Force chief stated that Moore had threatened the officer with a knife; a claim that family and friends of Moore say they doubt.

Grace Frank said they have been advised by investigators not to divulge any information about the incident.

Moore was born in Edmunston, NB, in 1994. Shortly afterward, she and her mother moved to Vancouver Island,

where Moore grew up, living in Tofino, Nanaimo, Port Alberni and Campbell River.

Later on she gave birth to a girl named Gracie. Moore spent some time in Port Alberni working at the Tseshaht Market and making many friends in the Tseshaht community.

Just a few months ago Moore returned to Edmunston to be closer to her mother and daughter.

According to Martin, her daughter had dreams.

“She wanted to be an engineer, was looking into school, she wanted to learn more French; she wanted to move to New York,” Martin told Ha-Shilth-Sa. In fact, just days before her death, Moore began purchasing her college books.

The Quebec Independent Police Investigation Agency were in Edmunston in the days following the shooting. They will investigate the police officer’s actions in relation to the shooting of Moore.

They were called back to New Brunswick to investigate another police shooting that occurred June 12, while Moore’s family members were still in the province.

On Friday, June 12, the Sunny Corner RCMP responded to a call about an unwanted guest at a local pastor’s residence.

Rodney Levi, 48, a Metepenagiag First Nation man, was shot and killed by an RCMP officer. The lead pastor of the church has since said that Levi was a welcome guest at the church.

Nuu-chah-nulth members in Edmunston went to visit with grieving relatives of Levi.

Frank says that a third family joined

Inside this issue...

Woman fatally shot in New Brunswick.....................Page 3 RCMP uses eagle feathers to give strength...............Page 5 Nations causiously open up.......................................Page 7 Salmon hatcheries, harvest & habitat.............Pages 10 & 11 Crash with a logging truck on Bamfield Main.........Page 17

Chantel Moore them at the June 15 gathering; relatives of Brady Francis, a 22-year-old member of the Elsipogtog First Nation who died in a 2018 hit-and-run incident. According to Frank, she heard that the driver who hit Francis was a drunk and got away with a crime.

According to news reports, Maurice Johnson, 57, pleaded not guilty of failing to stop at the scene of an accident that caused death. He reportedly said he thought he hit a deer. He was acquitted by a judge in May 2020, leaving Francis’ family feeling they were robbed of justice.

Frank says that her family paid respects to the Levi family.

“I cried with them,” she said, adding that it was nice to have so much support.

She says that the families pledged to stand together to seek justice for their loved ones.

Members of the Wolastoqey First Nation in New Brunswick have been caring for the Nuu-chah-nulth family of Moore during their stay. Frank has expressed

her deep gratitude for the care they have received as they grieve their loss.

A private funeral service for Moore was held in New Brunswick on June 11. Both Nuu-chah-nulth and Wolastoqey cultural practices were observed at the service.

Besides the investigation by the Quebec Independent Agency, the New Brunswick Department of Public Safety announced that a coroner’s inquest would be held into Moore’s death.

Both processes could take months.

In a joint statement, six chiefs of the Wolastoqey Nation demanded an independent review of the justice system following the shooting of Moore.

The family of Chantel Moore are making their way back home on June 16.

Since her death, there have been dozens of demonstrations across Canada demanding justice.

Martha Martin and her family planned to land in Nanaimo June 17 and make their way to Victoria, where they will take part in a peaceful demonstration at the B.C. legislature on Thursday, June 18.

The family will then make their way to Port Alberni, where a memorial service for Chantel Moore will be held on the Tseshaht side of Paper Mill Dam park.

Social distancing guidelines are in place and people are asked to bring lawn chairs.

Martha Martin says she will be wearing yellow in honour of her Chantel. “(In messages) my daughter always said, ‘stay golden’ with yellow hearts after it,” Martin shared.

She said that she will fight for justice for her daughter.

“I will never let them forget her name,” she vowed.

If undeliverable, please return to: Ha-Shilth-Sa P.O. Box 1383, Port Alberni, B.C. V9Y 7M2

Page 2— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

Protestors march for Chantel Moore, George Floyd Demonstrations spread across Vancouver Island in the aftermath of the New Brunswick tragedy in early June

By Melissa Renwick Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Ucluelet, BC - When Marissa Mack reached the edge of the whisky dock in Ucluelet, she turned around and began to cry when her eyes met the assembly behind her. Over 100 protestors poured around the corner at the top of the hill, far surpassing the 50 people she expected.

On June 7 demonstrators from Ucluelet, Tofino and the surrounding Nuu-chahnulth communities gathered to march for Chantel Moore, a Tla-o-qui-aht woman who was fatally shot by the police in New Brunswick on June 4, and for George Floyd, a 46-year old black man who was killed by a white police officer on May 25 in Mineapolis. A similar march was held in Port Alberni the day before and in Tofino on June 8.

“I had no relationship to her other than the colour of our skin,” said Mack, who organized the demonstration in honour of Moore. “All lives don’t matter until black and brown lives matter.”

The protest marked the “beginning of a revolution,” said Mack. “It’s the beginning of changing the corrupt, broken system that controls us.”

As the crowd marched through the streets they screamed, “say her name!” of Chantel Moore, and persisted with chants of “say his name!” in honour of George Floyd.

Once the protestors caught up to Mack, she instructed them to lie down on the dock. With their faces to the ground, they remained silent for 8 minutes and 46 seconds – the amount of time that Floyd was pinned down under the knee of Min-

Photo by Melissa Renwick

Sayeh Martin (centre left) and Marissa Mack (centre right) look to each other as they lead protestors down the streets of Ucluelet in honour of Chantel Moore and George Floyd, on Sunday, June 6. neapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.

Speakers like Dan Wright urged the a show of solidarity, Sgt. Steve Mancini An eagle soared above as the wind blew crowd to educate themselves, fearing and Constable Yannick Harry took a knee across the dock, muting the sobs that that in a couple of weeks everyone will beside elder Richard Mundy at the end of were uttered from the crowd. move on to the next “fad,” or news event. the march.

Rendered speechless by the show of “Don’t leave us all still standing here “George Floyd and Chantel Moore support, Mack said that the protestors alone,” he pleaded. deserve better,” said Mack. “That’s what “are helping us use our voice. We’re not The Ucluelet RCMP assisted the this is for. It was for them.” listened to as brown people. We need the demonstration by blocking off vehicle extra boost of support.” access to keep the protestors safe, and in

June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 3

Tla-o-qui-aht woman fatally shot in New Brunswick Incident spawns list of unanswered questions, after 26-year-old killed during a police check on her well being

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Edmonston, New Brunswick – A Tla-oqui-aht grandmother is devastated after waking to the news that her 26-year-old granddaughter, Chantel Moore was shot dead by a police officer who was called to the residence to perform a wellness check.

Grace Frank said it was shortly after midnight when she received an urgent message to contact a Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation elected counsellor on June 4.

When she made the call she was confused and had difficulty understanding what was being said.

“She was crying, she said Chan…and I asked her, ‘what’s wrong?’,” said Frank.

Frank was told that Chantel was gone.

“When I asked her what happened she said she wasn’t sure; she said Martha (Chantel’s mother) called her crying and she couldn’t understand what she was saying,” said Frank.

In shock and disbelief, Frank phoned her daughter, who lives in New Brunswick.

“She told me that the cops came to her house around midnight their time, they’re four hours ahead of us,” Frank shared.

According to Martha, the lone police officer said he was looking for Chantel after receiving a call from the young woman’s boyfriend. The boyfriend, who is in Montreal, is said to have told the police that he had been receiving troubling text messages from Chantel complaining that someone was bothering her and that she was scared.

“He called New Brunswick police with his concerns and they went to Martha’s looking for her,” said Frank.

But Chantel had just moved out of her mother’s home and into a new apartment just a few days before. Martha gave the officer her daughter’s new address – an apartment in downtown Edmunston.

About two hours later the police returned to Martha’s home, this time to deliver devastating news. They told Martha that her daughter was shot and killed.

The Edmunston Police Force said in a news release issued today that they were contacted to conduct a wellness check.

“Around 2:30 a.m., the Edmundston Police Force received a request to check on the well-being of a woman at an apartment building on Hill Street in Edmundston. The responding police officer was confronted at the scene by a woman

holding a knife who made threats,” the statement reads.

“Martha told me that police went to her again to tell her what happened; she was told Chantel attacked the officer with knife and they’re saying it’s self-defense, so they shot her five times...Oooh, why would they shoot her five times?” Frank cried in anguish.

Edmunston Police Inspector Steve Robinson told reporters, “At first the officer went on scene, and all of a sudden the person just exited the apartment with a knife and was attacking the officer.”

“He had no choice but to defend himself,” said Robinson.

The police statement says that resuscitation efforts were made but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Frank, her granddaughter Chantel was born March 31, 1995, in New Brunswick. The second of four children, Chantel was adopted by a family in Nanaimo where she lived for eight or nine years.

“She came back to us when she 14 years old,” said Frank adding that she raised her then teenaged granddaughter for a few years.

“When she was with me she was always a happy-go-lucky girl, she always wanted to help people. She made friends so easily, she never judged anybody,” said Frank of Chantel.

As a young adult, Chantel moved to Campbell River and had her daughter Gracie with a boyfriend. Gracie was named after her great grandmother. Chantel moved to Port Alberni 2014, making many friends.

It was only about two months ago that she moved to New Brunswick to be closer to her mother and her daughter.

“She loved her daughter so much,” said Frank, adding that Chantel wanted to start a new life. “She was working, got a new apartment.”

Chantel had plans to go to college and had started purchasing her books.

“Aww, she was so smart!” said Frank before melting into sobs.

It is believed that Chantel was alone in her apartment when the police officer came to her door.

When asked what she thought of the police claim that she had attacked the officer, Frank had this to say, “I really don’t believe that. I honestly don’t think that Chantel would ever hurt somebody.”

Frank said her granddaughter was a kind, loving, caring person that had a

Supplied photo

Chantel Moore, a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, was fatally shot by a police officer in New Brunswick on June 4 during a wellness check at her home. heart of gold. ston’s elected officials have all pitched in Chantel’s Tla-o-qui-aht family are reto help get them there. ceiving support from friends and relatives The Edmundston Police Force has who have started fundraising efforts to requested the services of an independent help fly relatives to New Brunswick. agency to conduct a review of the inci“We’re getting help all around,” said dent to ensure police actions were approFrank. priate and conform to policing standards.

Support is coming in from a GoFundMe An autopsy has been scheduled, and the page as well as donations of money. investigation is continuing.

Frank says the community of Edmun-

Page 4— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

‘The thin blue line’: Reflections on the role of policing Indigenous unit officers stress the value of building trusting relationships as frustration grows after shootings

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor Port Alberni, BC - As protests continue across the United States over the police targeting of black Americans, scrutiny is intensifying north of the border as well, sparked by the killing of two Indigenous people this month when police were called to residences in New Brunswick.

Tragedy hit Nuu-chah-nulth families on June 4 when Chantel Moore, a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, was shot and killed by a member of Edmunston Police Force. In response to concerns reported to the police, the officer was called to the 26-year-old’s home in the middle of the night to check on her well being, but the visit ended with Moore being shot at least five times. Edmunston police stated that the officer was acting in self defence when the young woman attacked him with a knife, but unanswered questions into the incident have prompted a probe from the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, an independent police investigations agency from Quebec that handles incidents in New Brunswick.

Then, nine days later another Indigenous person was killed during a police call in the Maritime province. Rodney Levi was shot dead when RCMP were called to a residence in northern New Brunswick.

The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes is also investigating the death of the 48-year-old Metepenagiag First Nation man.

Members of Moore’s family have openly questioned if they can ever trust police again, while the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council is denouncing the shootings.

“We are outraged by the violence and deaths by police in New Brunswick,” stated NTC President Judith Sayers in a press release. “Within nine days, two Indigenous people were shot and killed senselessly.”

The NTC release lists six other Indigenous people who were fatally shot by police since April. Additionally concerning are numbers that show Aboriginal people are being increasingly arrested and detained – at rates far above their proportion of Canada’s population. According to statistics Canada, Aboriginal people make up 5.9 per cent of B.C.’s population, but in 2017/18 they comprised 32 per cent of custody admissions. This is 10 points higher than the incarceration rate from a decade ago, and similar to the rate across Canada for Indigenous people.

As protests against the killing of Moore continue this week, NTC Vice-President Mariah Charleson believes that there’s good reason why recent events are resonating with some many First Nations people.

“We’ve seen the injustices for far too long. We’ve either witnessed it or we’ve experienced it in some form throughout our life,” she said. “It’s a huge history of oppression, and how we view policing, it hasn’t been in a positive way for so long that it doesn’t just turn in a day.”

Overcoming history In Port Alberni, where Moore spent part of her youth, RCMP Corp. Pete Batt has been working for the last seven years trying to overcome this history. As a member of the detachment’s three-officer Indigenous policing program, he’s found that an essential start of building relationships with First Nations is taking the time to listen. He recalls a story from a Uchucklesaht elder, who as a child encountered visitors to her home in Elotes on the Uchucklesaht Inlet.

“All she remembers from being an

Photo by Melissa Renwick

Constable Yannick Harry (left) and Sgt. Steve Mancini take a knee beside elder Richard Mundy in a display of solidarity during a peaceful protest in honour of Chantel Moore and George Floyd, in Ucluelet, on Sunday, June 6. eight-year-old was that there was a police De-escalating situations trained to de-escalate situations still officer who stood there and did nothing This has been a focus for the Indigenous results in senseless killings,” states the while the Indian agent kicked in doors policing program, but with multiple calls tribal council’s release. “What we need and took anything that had any cultural on each shift, it’s a challenge for every are trained, unarmed, non-violent first designs, anything that looked like it officer at the detachment to fully underresponders to respond to crisis situations might be ‘Indian’ in nature, took it down stand each client’s history to the same de- involving wellness checks, mental health by the wharf and burned it,” said Batt. gree, said Donahue. A major development and addictions.”

“So her belief has always been that the was formalized last year in a partnership But Batt cautions that over his years police don’t do anything when wrongs with the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s in policing there have been situations are being done, and she taught that to her Teechutkl Mental Health, which allows where if he didn’t have his tools – includkids.”

RCMP to directly refer to the Quu’asa ing pepper spray, a taser and gun – he This distrust carried through generations program First Nations people who are in wouldn’t have made it out alive. in the family, one example of a negaa crisis.

“In some of these situations I think we tive relationship that Indigenous people “If they’re always coming to the attenwould be sending people to their death,” across Canada still struggle with. tion of the police, there’s a reason why,” he said. “The reality is even with my “That happened everywhere, the police said Donahue, adding that the expertise taser, my baton, my OC spray, my handwere standing there when children were of counsellors and cultural support work- cuffs and my gun, I’ve suffered injuries taken from homes to go to residential ers is necessary to prevent escalating at work that have resulted in multiple school,” reflected Batt. situations. “Also making them part of surgeries and lifelong injuries - and that Although younger generations of First that solution is huge, letting them resolve was with the training I had.”

Nations have no recollection of Indian some of those issues alongside of us is Regardless of the how much trust agents or residential school, trouble with key.” one has in the police, Batt points to an authority continues at an alarming rate: With so many mental health-related emblem on the uniform to illustrate the the most recent statistics from B.C. show calls demanding police attention, some intended role of the service: A Canadian that Indigenous youth account for 43 per question the role that officers currently flag with a thin blue line running through cent of those in custody. fill. The NTC points to the recent shootit.

In Port Alberni Indigenous policing ing of Rodney Levi as an example.

“That blue line represents the line behas tried to break this trend by having a “Immediate action must be taken to tween civil society and chaos, and police presence in schools, including developre-evaluate the role of police in respondofficers see themselves as that line.” ing relationships at Haahuupayak on the ing to crisis situations, as having officers Tseshaht reserve.

“Relationships take time to build, especially when you’ve got a culture or a community that maybe doesn’t have the trust with the police,” said Corp. Jay Donahue of the Port Alberni RCMP. “Constant contact with our Indigenous LLP partners, the community, is imperative to Lawyers break some of those cycles.”

Education on the recent past that CanaProudly serving First Nations since 1966 da’s Indigenous people carry with them must resonate through Canada’s justice system, says Charleson, who has trained over 1,000 BC Corrections employees.

She found that a timeline of oppression, including the potlatch ban, residential schools and names being replaced by Indian agents, was particularly effective.

“It was the tearjerker for people,” said Charleson, adding that more “trauma-informed” education is needed for police as well. “I think that the biggest amount of progress that still needs to be done is that every single police officer does require cultural competency training to understand the basic histories of First Nations people. I think the lack of that education Suite 500, 221 W. Esplanade has played a huge role in why so many of North Vancouver, B.C. our Indigenous people are treated in an unjust way by RCMP.”

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June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 5

RCMP uses eagle feathers to give strength to the public New protocol introduced to help foster open and trusting communication with police while giving statements

By Karly Blats Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor Port Alberni, BC - Striving to build trust and strengthen relationships between the police and Indigenous people, the Port Alberni RCMP is using eagle feathers to give those in need courage and strength when speaking with authorities.

The Eagle Feather Protocol is a collaboration between the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s Quu’asa program, School District 70 and the Port Alberni RCMP. The initiative began about a year ago when Grade 5 to 7 students gleamed feathers from bald eagles that were provided by the BC Conservation Service, who located eagles that died through accidental or natural means.

The eagle teachings took place at the Tseshaht Longhouse for students to learn about Nuu-chah-nulth culture. After a week of teachings, SD70 gifted 12 eagle feathers to the Port Alberni RCMP detachment to be used by witnesses and individuals needing strength and courage to speak to officers.

The Eagle Feather Protocol started in Nova Scotia and has spread to several provinces where it’s used in legal situations. When the feather protocol arrived in British Columbia, politicians and lawyers faced the challenge of having a large and diverse range of Indigenous cultural beliefs about the bald eagle. In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta, Indigenous culture around the bald eagle is fairly consistent, unlike in B.C. Therefore, the protocol has been very slow to adapt in British Columbia, according to Port Alberni RCMP Const.

Pete Batt.

In Port Alberni, the beliefs around the bald eagle are fairly consistent within Nuu-chah-nulth communities, families and nations. The feathers of the eagle represent courage and strength.

“Our local nations have asked that we adopt the feather on a much simpler basis than what has been used elsewhere,” said Batt during a ceremony at the Quu’asa building on June 5. “We were asked to use the feather in the same way that our Nuu-chah-nulth students use them in

Photo by Karly Blats

Peggy Tatoosh, SD70 Indigenous Education team member, receives a thank you gift from Port Alberni RCMP Const. Pete Batt during the Eagle Feather Protocol ceremony on June 5. our schools—a symbol of courage and complish,” Batt said.

Nations people wanted to be heard and strength, to hold when students find it difBatt said there’s been a spike in mental didn’t hold grudges against those who ficult to speak.” health-related issues in the community listened to them.

During the ceremony, Joseph Tom, since the COVID-19 pandemic began in “Dad told me and my siblings stories senior culture worker with the Quu’asa mid March, and that people are havlike this as we grew up so that we would program, blessed the feathers and prayed ing trouble feeling at ease. He said the understand that we needed to commubefore handing them over to the RCMP. feathers can be used as a tool to help in nicate with people to understand their Batt said the eagle feather protocol troubling situations. situations,” Batt said. “These feathers are wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction to address re“Each watch will have a feather that meant to help facilitate communication. cent police brutality against people of co- they will take care of…and they will The feather helps our clients speak. Dad’s lour in the United States - or the killing of simply lay it out in front of the client on brass buttons are a reminder for us, as Nuu-chah-nulth’s Chantel Moore by the the table where we do the interview,” police officers, to listen.”

Edmunston Police force in New BrunsBatt said. “If it’s someone who’s raised in Peggy Tatoosh, SD70 Indigenous wick on June 4 - but that the ceremony the culture and knows about the feather, Education team member, said the Eagle was put on hold due to COVID-19. it’s a very organic thing, they will just Feather Protocol couldn’t come at a better Ironically, the ceremony was interrupted pick it up and it’s a comfort for them, it’s time, as there is so much public turmoil by an Indigenous man who pulled up next strength to deal with something.” towards police right now. to the Quu’asa building and yelled “racist Each feather is in a folder with a card “A lot of our fellow human beings think cops” out the window of his vehicle. that states the purpose of the feather is to nothing is being listened to, nothing is “I think it’s very pertinent that someone be offered to a person to hold and to give being done…I argue that behind the came along and said what he said during strength and courage while speaking to scenes there are people that are listening the whole thing, because this is exactly police. and they’re trying,” she said. “I apprecithe opposite of what we’re trying to acOn the outside of the feather folders, ate the respect that’s being shown within there are RCMP brass buttons that came our Nuu-chah-nulth territories…by using from Batt’s late father’s uniforms. something cultural.”

“My father was an RCMP member who “I have some of my own family that are faced many challenges when working on the street, that are drug addicts, alcowith Indigenous clients,” Batt said. “He holics,” added Tatoosh. “[W]hen I work saw Indian reserves that had been guarhard as a mama bear to help them I usuanteed to First Nations in years past taken ally help them with something cultural, their graduating class without putting away from them in the name of industry so this is good work but there’s lots more them at risk. According to Maaqtusiis and economic development.” work to be done.”

School principal Kate Drexler, plans are Batt said his father learned that First in the works and awaiting approval from community officials.

On June 16, Elected Chief Greg Louie stated in his daily update that Ahousaht elected councilor Sabrina Campbell has arranged a celebratory parade of graduates.

According to a flyer posted on social media, the Maaqtusiis Secondary School Class of 2020 will be celebrated with a car parade. This will allow residents to mark the momentous occasion while maintaining social distancing requirements. The flyer states that it will be a community celebration for all Maaqtusiis School graduates from pre-school to high school.

The parade will take place June 20 at 8:20 p.m. Graduates are invited to dress up and join a parade, where they will be cheered on by the community.

“It’s time to throw your caps up in the air,” reads the grad poster posted on 3008 5th Ave Port Alberni, BC w phone: 250.720.2700 w www.acrd.bc.ca social media.

Maaqtusiis class of 2020 to be celebrated outdoors

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

Ahousaht, BC – Despite no reports of COVID-19 on Vancouver Island for more than a month, Ahousaht leadership isn’t taking any chances with the safety of the community.

Ahousaht Education director Rebecca Atleo says that parents of the graduates have met to discuss options for a safe graduation celebration. She said that any plans for the celebration must be approved by Ahousaht’s Emergency Operations Centre, leadership and Island Health.

With a provincial state of emergency still in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, conventional graduation ceremonies where graduates, friends and family fill the school gym is not possible.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, had said that with no effective treatment for the virus, her March 17 order banning gatherings of more than 50 people remains in place.

For that reason, the community has had to come up with a new plan to celebrate

ALBERNI-CLAYOQUOT REGIONAL DISTRICT

Happy National Aboriginal Day to our First Nation communities.

Page 6— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020 Ha-Shilth-Sa newspaper is published by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council for distribution to the members of the NTC-member First Nations, as well as other interested groups and individuals.

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Ahousaht launches sobriety program Lodge converted into recovery centre, as community continues ban on alcohol

By Melissa Renwick Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Ahousaht, BC - In its ongoing efforts to become a dry community, Ahousaht has established a new sobriety initiative.

It came to a head at the end of April, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when community members no longer felt protected or safe to walk their streets.

Using cultural and hereditary laws to protect their people, community leaders began by placing a 9 p.m. curfew, which has since been adjusted to 8 p.m. It led to a decrease in group gatherings and house parties, which community members feared would trigger a coronavirus outbreak.

The quiet streets prompted members to ask that more measures be placed to combat COVID-19 and the pervasive alcoholism within Ahousaht, recounted Maaqutusiis Hahoulthee Stewardship Society (MHSS) general manager John Caton.

In response, community leaders banned together and established a 6-week sobriety health and wellness program “last minute,” said Ahousaht Community Health Services manager Julia Atleo.

With the Lone Cone Hostel and Campground being closed to visitors, the facility has been re-purposed into a treatment centre.

“MHSS has basically said that the wellness of the community and the health of the community is far more important than opening up this summer to tourists at Lone Cone,” said Caton.

The ten volunteers who stepped up to be the first cohort are now into their fourth week of the program.

“You can really see the change in them,” said hereditary chief Walter Thomas.

“They’re glowing. You can feel it – their energy is really good.”

The first group has inspired a second wave of 15 volunteers to go through the program at the end of the month. Rather than following the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, they are using cultural healing practices, such as sweats and brushings.

The ability to heal at home and with their own people is what has “hit them in

Photo by Melisssa Renwick

Daniel John loads items from the non-profit organization, Power To Be, onto the Ahousaht Lone Cone crew boat in Tofino, on June 8. the heart,” said Caton of the volunteers currently in the program.

“We can’t wait for the federal government to fix things,” said Tyee Ha’wilth Maquinna, Lewis George. “We have to do it ourselves.”

With the help of the Victoria-based non-profit organization, Power To Be, a $2-million health and wellness center is in the works. But the construction of the 32-bed residential wellness centre was put on on hold due to the ongoing pandemic.

To help the community as they await the new facility, the not-for-profit organization Power To Give donated $100,000 to the community to run two sessions of the new sobriety program.

Tim Cormode, CEO of Power to Be, and chief strategy officer, Jason Cole, delivered a care package by float plane to the Tofino harbour on June 8. Representatives from Ahousaht’s hereditary chiefs and health authority greeted them with

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songs and drumming.

“It’s nice to see communities empowered that are often ignored and neglected,” said Cormode. “These communities are starting to see possibilities they’ve been told they could have for years and years – false promises that have never ever happened.”

Grassroots and not-for-profit organizations rallied together to create care packages valued at $7,000 for remote communities, like Ahousaht.

The items, which included mason jars to store traditional medicines, were transferred from the plane to the Ahousaht Lone Cone crew boat, to be delivered to the hostel-turned-treatment facility on Meares Island.

While George said he is proud of the work being done, he knows that it’s just the beginning.

“It’s not just six weeks that it’s got to happen,” he said. “It’s going to be a lifetime.”

Ha-Shilth-Sa belongs to every Nuu-chah-nulth person including those who have passed on, and those who are not yet born. A community newspaper cannot exist without community involvement. If you have any great pictures you’ve taken, stories or poems you’ve written, or artwork you have done, please let us know so we can include it in your newspaper. E-mail holly.stocking@nuuchahnulth.org. This

year is Ha-Shilth-Sa’s 46th year of serving the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations.

We look forward to your continued input and support.

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June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 7

Nations cautiously open up as COVID cases decline Screened members are now permitted to visit family in villages within Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht territory

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter West Coast Vancouver Island – The Province of British Columbia is in Phase 3 of it’s COVID-19 reopening plan, meaning restaurants, gyms and salons are allowed to reopen at half capacity and with strict guidelines.

But first nations leaders are wary of opening up their territories.

“There are concerns of when people do visit the beaches even though they are closed,” said Elmer Frank of Tla-oqui-aht. “Rightfully so, our communities are more vulnerable and [it] could be detrimental should the virus come to our communities.”

Curtis Dick of Ahousaht concurs. In a video message to members, the Emergency Operations Centre manager noted that people are still being infected in the Lower Mainland and Washington State.

Dick works closely with emergency services personnel in Tofino and their concern is that if an outbreak were to occur in the Clayoquot Sound region, Tofino General Hospital does not have the resources to respond.

In a joint statement Adrian Dix, minister of health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, reported on June 11 there were 14 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the provincial total to 2,694.

There are 183 active cases in BC. There were no new deaths, so the provincial death toll stands at 167.

On a more positive note, there are no new or active cases in the Island Health Region, which encompasses Vancouver Island. The BC Center for Disease Control reports that there were 130 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Vancouver Island; 125 cases recovered and five have died.

There have been no new reported cases on Vancouver Island since May 7, thanks to the early protective measures leadership took to protect the people. But Dr. Henry warns that there are still active cases in other nearby regions and she reminds people to be careful.

Nuu-chah-nulth leadership are heeding Dr. Henry’s advice and are taking a more cautious approach to reopening their communities.

On June 9 the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council issued a statement regarding public access to the Ḥahuułi of Nuuchah-nulth Ha’wiih.

Photo by Melissa Renwick

Surfers walk from the water after a surf on Long Beach, on Thursday, June 11, with the Tla-o-qui-aht community of Esowista in the background.

“As Nuu-chah-nulth, we must take bubbles” to do it carefully. For example, extraordinary measures, that go far urban members wishing to visit family at above and beyond Provincial and Federal home must be healthy.

Health Guidelines, to protect our commu“Right now, the people allowed at nities and members from this devastating Esowista are family of Tla-o-qui-aht disease-COVID-19,” said NTC Vicemembers who live on Vancouver Island,” President Mariah Charleson.

Frank stated. “It is likely that our comWhile British Columbia is in phase 3 munities will be monitored with security of re-opening the province for business, at the entrance at least throughout the Nuu-chah-nulth leadership will continue summer so that those who enter our comprotective measures to keep their villages munities are within social bubbles of our safe. members, and thus will help with contact Elmer Frank is the Tla-o-qui-aht Emertracing in the event that there are any gency Operations Center director. He cases reported in our communities.” says that his nation has developed a plan Additionally, there will be no large for slowly opening up their communigatherings in small spaces permitted for ties by gradually easing off of protective the time being. restrictions.

“We are advising there still needs to be “In each phase, it includes that we must proper social and physical distancing that be prepared to go back to full lockdown needs to be practiced,” he added. in the event that there may be outbreaks Long Beach is a tourist mecca in the and we are carefully monitoring spikes of summer and it sits right next to Esowista. increases of the virus,” Frank said in an For that reason, TFN has declared the email. beach at and north of Incinerator Rock For now, Tla-o-qui-aht communities of will be closed to visitors and tourists.

Esowista, Ty-Histanis and Opitsaht reThis includes Schooner Cove. main closed to the public. Residents and Frank noted that only those traveling Tla-o-qui-aht members are the only ones for essential purposes are permitted in permitted to enter the villages.

TFN territory at least until June 15, 2020.

Frank says that they are advising memHe advises that surfers and other tourists bers that wish to increase their “social to check Health Canada and provincial

websites for information.

On June 12, Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Melissa Renwick went out to Long Beach and reported that the parking lot was roughly one third full.

“I saw one license plate from Manitoba, one from Alberta, two from Ontario and two from California, within an hour span,” she said. “There were many people strolling the beach with their cameras in hand and one man had a selfie stick out as he panned the entire beach.”

In Ahousaht, Elected Chief Greg Louie says that protective measures will remain in place at Ahousaht for the foreseeable future, even though Vancouver Island has no active cases. Louie is concerned about the virus coming to the island as tourists pour in.

In Ahousaht the curfew is still enforced by tribal police that have been deputized by the Ha’wiih. The same crew monitors the docks as members come and go and they patrol the village, ensuring people are indoors.

In addition, Ahousaht Guardians patrol the waters and beaches in their territory.

If they come across hikers or kayakers, for example, they ask them to leave the area.

Louie pointed out that Premier John Horgan recently extended the provincial state of emergency to June 23.

Ahousaht has a policy in place for members that wish to come home for visits.

Members must contact the nation to pass through a screening questionnaire. Louie says that if they are approved for a visit they must wear PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

Beginning June 15, contractors that have passed health screening will be permitted to come to Ahousaht to work on major projects Ahousaht has on the go, including the wastewater treatment plant, road paving and drainage projects.

“Each employee will complete and sign a health questionnaire and they will be given a photo identification tag with the Ahousaht logo so that they can board boats in Tofino to Ahousaht,” said Louie.

Workers have been instructed not to interact with locals in the community.

Louie says they don’t know when things will go back to normal.

“We are going day by day, week by week; we can’t let our guard down, yet,” he added.

Read all our back issues at issuu.com/hashilthsa

Page 8— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

Photo by Eric Plummer

To control the spread of COVID-19, measures were introduced in April to prevent crowds on Victoria’s Pandora Avenue in front of the city’s safe injection site.

B.C. sees record-high overdose deaths in May

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor Vancouver Island, BC - Recent numbers of illicit drug overdoses are suggesting that measures in place during the COVID-19 pandemic are taking an increasingly lethal toll on British Columbia’s other public health emergency.

In May the province saw 170 deaths linked to drug overdoses – the highest monthly total since the opioid crisis was declared a public health emergency in April 2016, according to numbers announced on June 11 by the BC Coroners Service. At least three of these deaths were to members of Nuu-chah-nulth nations, according to information gathered by the Ha-Shilth-Sa. This breaks a decline in the number of fatal overdoses that was seen before the novel coronavirus commanded the attention of health authorities in mid March.

B.C.’s illicit drug death total dropped from 1,546 in 2018 to 979 last year.

But a rise became evident in March, when B.C.’s fatality total surpassed 100 for the first time in a year. The increase has continued through the COVID-19 pandemic, and May’s fatal overdose tally exceeds the total number of people in B.C. who have died with COVID-19 since the respiratory disease began spreading early this year. “[W]ith the immense pressure of two public health emergencies, so many unprecedented factors are bearing down swiftly on us all at once,” said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy in a media statement. “Borders are closed and the usual illegal supply chains are disrupted, leading to drugs that are more toxic than ever.”

Toxicology analysis shows that 119 of the 170 overdose deaths in May were linked to Fentanyl. In April and May, 19 per cent of those who died had “extreme concentrations” of Fentanyl, reports the Coroners Service, compared to the nine per cent rate found in fatal overdoses over the first three months of this year.

Despite the rise in fatalities, ambulance calls for overdoses have not increased during the pandemic. BC Emergency Health Services reports a stable rate of 20 overdose calls per 100,000 residents in the province this year, less than what paramedics saw in 2019, when the rate spiked at 30 per 100,000 residents in March of last year.

Kevin Hollett, communications lead for the B.C. Centre on Substance Use, attributes the recent rise in fatal overdoses to street drugs becoming more dangerous during the pandemic, rather than people using more. The usual drug supply chains have been disrupted, resulting in dealers selling more hazardous combinations.

“It already was incredibly toxic and

dangerous, but it’s getting worse,” said Hollett. “We know that the illegal drug supply is a global supply chain, so production, trafficking, all of those things getting disrupted through closed borders and other preventative measures…that’s definitely a contributing factor.”

The Coroners Service has reported no deaths in B.C.’s 32 safe injection sites, which are supervised to protect users from dying. These locations were declared essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, although sanitizing and social distancing measures have been introduced to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Port Alberni’s safe injection site on 3rd Avenue has continued to see consistent use, although fewer clients than usual were visiting the site this spring, according to Wes Hewitt, executive director of the Port Alberni Shelter Society, who spoke with Ha-Shilth-Sa in late May. In Victoria, The Harbour on Pandora Avenue, which is Vancouver Island’s busiest safe injection site, shifted its services to a supervised mobile program to ensure COVID-19 social distancing measures are followed.

“Starting April 3, the onsite overdose prevention site will shift to a mobile service, providing harm reduction and overdose prevention in the community,” stated Island Health on The Harbour’s services during the pandemic.

Hollett said the pandemic has not encouraged people to use at injection sites.

“Like anyone else, people who use drugs are hearing the public health messaging about physcial distancing, following that advice and not wanting to go to spaces indoors where the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is going to be greater,” he said. “In Vancouver, access to the supervised consumption sites there have gone down 45 per cent over the last couple of months.”

Provincial health authorities have also focused on methods to separate people from the increasingly toxic drug supply.

In May 1,686 prescriptions were made for hydromorphone, a synthetic opiate, showing a 149 per cent increase compared to what was dispensed in March.

No overdose deaths have been linked to hydromorphone, according to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

But Hollett cautions that much more needs to be done.

“It’s estimated that there some 50,000 people with an opioid use disorder in B.C., and we’re talking about 1,700 or so who have had access to the safe supply measures,” he said. “Efforts to separate people from the toxic drug supply are what’s needed, but until we’re able to really scale that up and look at different options for how people can do that, this isn’t going to get any better.”

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June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 9

Page 10— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

Harvest, hatchery, habitat: Bringing chinook back from

Nuu-chah-nulth could lead the way in a wild stock rebuilding strategy in their territory if an effective partnership wit

By Mike Youds Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

This is the second in a 3-part series of Ha-Shilth-Sa articles on wild salmon harvest, hatcheries and habitat.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada wants a comprehensive rebuilding plan ready within a year’s time for chinook salmon on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and says NTC could play a lead role in the process.

A fresh opportunity to rescue dwindling stocks of the largest, most prized and most threatened of Pacific salmon species arrives in fall through amendments to the federal Fisheries Act. After years of declining numbers, a “fish stock” designation under the act will automatically require implementation of a rebuilding plan within two years, DFO’s Rebecca Reid, Pacific Region director, wrote in a recent letter to the Council of Ha’wiih Forum on Fisheries.

Reid said the department will consider a combination of harvest, hatchery, and habitat-related strategies to foster the rebuilding of depleted chinook stocks, including consideration of the efficacy of mass marking and mark-selective fisheries in collaboration with First Nations, the provincial government, commercial and recreational harvesters, and environmental non-governmental organizations.

The rebuilding initiative stems from legislation restoring fish habitat protections removed by the Harper Conservative government, said Wilf Luedke, chief biologist with DFO’s south coast area stock assessment branch in Nanaimo. Among amendments is one that makes a rebuilding plan mandatory when stocks hit a low point.

West coast Vancouver Island chinook have been chosen to pilot the new legislation, he said.

“There is some rebuilding funding now to start the process,” Luedke said. A first step is to form a steering committee of DFO, NTC and other groups. The plan is supposed to be completed by March 2021, he said.

“What we’re looking for is a lead,” he said, suggesting NTC could step up.

Habitat damage from decades of logging and overfishing are often blamed for declines in wild salmon populations, but Luedke believes there is no single, smoking gun in the case of west coast chinook.

Even in relatively intact watersheds, such as those of the Megin and Moyeha rivers in the Clayoquot Sound region, chinook survival rates have plummeted, he noted, adding that he can understand the depth of frustration among First Nations.

“If you’re Ahousaht trying to get fish out of the Megin River, you can’t,” he said.

Luedke blames warming ocean conditions, specifically a string of back-to-back El Nino warm-water years that brought a steady decline of wild chinook starting in the 1990s. Mackerel migrated north from California and decimated small chinook fry at one point. Chinook stocks that once had ocean survival rates of five to 15 per cent 30 years ago have plummeted to 0.5 to five percent.

“The ocean’s just not the same place anymore,” he said, alluding to a general decline in productivity. “If we get to one or two percent (marine survival), then we’re out of the woods.”

U.S. research suggests an integrated approach — the “three Hs,” a combination of fish habitat restoration, hatchery production and stricter harvest management through mark-selective fisheries — to be the best approach, he said.

Wesley Smith (Ahousaht), left, and Waylon Savey (Mowachaht/Muchalaht) sample fry from the Bedwell River in Clayoquot Sound Dick, observes.

“We’re looking at things like mass markflourish of zooplankton and insects? compounding effect. ing at Conuma (hatchery),” Luedke said.

Another aspect of his research investigates “Let’s look at the pathogens juvenile “Could we just catch hatchery fish? Every whether chinook decline is related to sea salmon have after they swim past the hatchery fish could be clipped.” lice, which spiked last summer at several river, the estuary, and after the fish farm,” Clayoquot Sound fish farms, forcing temDick said.

Juveniles studied porary closures.

Smaller, less developed The central region biologist also pointed A lot of scientific research has already juveniles would be more vulnerable to sea to research at Nitinat River Hatchery in been done on 15 west coast watersheds, lice. If that were the case, a higher density Ditidaht territory to improve juvenile such as the Sarita, Bedwell, Tranquil and of fish farms in certain areas could have a survival. They’ve been raising hatchery Burman. Luedke took note of scientific groundwork by Huu-ay-aht First Nations as well as by Uu-a-thluk biologist Jared Dick to the north. Could traditional Nuuchah-nulth knowledge, combined with new understanding from research, blaze a path back to health for west coast wild chinook?

Focused on answering critical questions about juvenile chinook growth and survival, Dick has made some revealing findings.

“What we’re finding with small coastal streams chinook are coming out at a half gram, a really small size of fry,” he said.

Some are so under-developed they haven’t absorbed their yolk sacs from the alevin stage. That could contribute to higher mortality because smaller fry are less resilient in response to stressful events.

That’s why hatcheries are studying release of larger fish of five to 10 grams, Dick said.

Young chinook rely on estuary health for shelter and nourishment before migrating to sea, habitat often affected by logging activity and resulting silt deposits along the west coast.

“If freshwater habitat is so degraded, you always want to keep estuary habitat as healthy as possible to protect the growth of juveniles,” Dick said.

Fry could be arriving in the estuaries too early in the year, he suggests. In a warmer climate, thermal signals that tell the egg when to hatch could be occurring too early in the season. Are they arriving in estuarThe Megin River during low water. The Clayoquot Sound watershed used to support s ies too soon to benefit fully from the spring and chum in abundance.

June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 11

m the brink

th DFO comes to fruition

Photo by Jared Dick

d as Našuk, belonging to biologist Jared

smolts in conditions closer to natural habitat and varying the diet to include zooplankton in order to train them for marine habitation.

A three-year pilot project at Conuma hatchery — mass marking all hatchery produced chinook — was set to begin this spring but the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed that research for a year.

Photos by Mike Youds

spawning chinook, sockeye, coho, pink

Hatchery pros and cons

The federal government’s floating of a chinook rebuilding plan wasn’t news to Andrew Jackson, Tla-o-qui-aht fisheries manager, who has discussed the idea with DFO staff. He’s heard of too many plans in his 29 years on the job to feel confidence in this one.

“We need a production plan” for the whole region, he said, taking stock of existing salmon hatchery facilities. There are two major hatcheries in the south, at Robertson Creek and Nitinat, and one up north at Conuma. Small hatcheries are situated in Tofino and at Kennedy River in Clayoquot Sound.

“We’re the only region without a major hatchery,” Jackson said. “No wonder we’re the region with no fish.”

While the status quo is not working for chinook, he also believes hatchery production is an essential rebuilding tool if used carefully.

“There have been pros and cons,” Jackson said.

Smaller chinook caught nowadays is a trend he attributes to hatcheries diluting the gene pool. Tla-o-qui-aht used to capture brood stock for the Kennedy River hatchery that ranged from 70 to 90 pounds; now they’re more likely to be in the 30-pound range.

“Without hatcheries, there would be a lot of stocks extirpated by now,” he said. “Genetically, we’ve altered the makeup.”

He sees lots of opportunity to restore habitat in the Tranquil and Kennedy basins, to name just two watersheds while the production of hatchery chinook could help rebuild Nuu-chah-nulth fisheries, taking the pressure off tightly managed wild chinook.

He, too, sees harvest management as part of the rebuilding equation.

“You can’t have ongoing fishing in a stock you’re trying to rebuild … It’s just too much of a small stock out there. That’s why we’re in trouble. Why not just leave it?”

Jackson suggested the west coast recreational fishery could be temporarily diverted to terminal fisheries, held in or near spawning rivers, as another means of closely managing wild stocks.

But first they need to “sit down and talk about recreational fishing,” which takes the biggest share of west coast chinook.

“They definitely need to work with us,”

Lindsey Tatoosh holds aloft a chinook salmon while taking eggs in fall 2018 at Robertson Creek Hatchery. Marking of hatchery chinook is used to gain a better understanding of wild chinook once they leave freshwater. he said. “We never said we want it all. We want to look after it.”

Disputes over fishery allocation have long hindered co-operation needed to protect wild salmon.

“Salmon fisheries, salmon resources are usually conflicted and B.C.’s have been for more than 100 years,” said Eric Angel, Uua-thluk program manager. “Fisheries are always tough to deal with in terms of allocation because it’s like everyone wants a piece of it and the government places itself in the position of deciding that.”

That’s why he wants to see a sea change, a transformative approach to salmon that recognizes their extraordinary role as a

keystone species integral to the ecosystem rather than simply as a commodity for trade and consumption.

In other words, don’t get hung up on allocation.

Luedke said details need to be worked out for the chinook rebuilding plan and expects a busy schedule of workshops ahead over the next six months.

“I think ‘harvest’ has a bunch of pieces to it,” he offered, speculating on the thorniest of issues. “Is there sorting going on in the fishery? Do we need a cultural change in fishing to let the big ones go? There’s a lot of tools we could bring in that we need to explore.”

Photo by Irine Polyzogopoulos

Some fisheries experts are stressing the need for hatcheries to rebuild declining stocks of chinook salmon on Vancouver Island.

Page 12— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

Tourism businesses secure federal financial support Almost one third of Canada’s Aboriginal tourism operators will receive government funding during pandemic

By Sam Laskaris Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor Ottawa, ON– Help is on the way.

But it remains to be seen how much of an impact federal financial assistance announced on Friday will have on some Indigenous tourism businesses that are run in Nuu-chah-nulth territory.

The Canadian government announced on Friday, June 12 it would be providing an additional $133 million to support Indigenous businesses through the pandemic and into recovery.

This funding includes $16 million that will be specifically utilized for a stimulus development fund to assist Indigenous tourism businesses. This money will be distributed by the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC), which has been lobbying for more federal support for the past few months.

Marc Miller, the minister of Indigenous Services, felt it was necessary for his government to assist Indigenous businesses who have been reeling since pandemic restrictions were enforced.

“Indigenous businesses are the driving force of many local economies,” Miller said. “With this additional support, Indigenous communities and businesses will have the flexibility they need to respond to their unique economic needs through this difficult time.”

Gord Johns, the MP for CourtenayAlberni, said Friday’s announcement was welcome news.

“New Democrats have been calling on the government repeatedly to support these Indigenous business owners and their workers since April,” he said. “It’s encouraging that they have finally agreed to help support Indigenous businesses across the country.”

Johns, however, would like to see funding handed out as quickly as possible, especially to those who are part of the Indigenous tourism sector.

“Indigenous tourism in Canada is growing incredibly quickly but, as an emerging and vulnerable sector of the economy, it’s crucial that these business owners and workers get direct assistance now,” Johns said. “They have already waited months for help and continue to face tremendous financial uncertainty.”

Photo by Karly Blats

The Chims Guest House, operated by Tseshaht First Nation member Naomi Nicholson, who is pictured here with partner Ed, is currently being renovated with a goal of reopening in 2021.

Johns also believes even more federal globally,” he said.

She said Johns sent her a personal mesfunding will be necessary for Indigenous Tewanee Joseph, the interim Chief sage on Friday about the new funding. businesses to survive.

Governance and Partnership Officer with “He said, ‘We did it. We were able to “The tourism season has started and Indigenous Tourism BC, also welcomed get some money and to hold on tight’,” many businesses have to remain closed the funding announcement. But he also Nicholson said. so further help will be needed over the believes further financial support will be Nicholson, however, had already made coming months as we support Indigenous required. up her mind not to open up either of her businesses on the path to recovery,” he “I think the $16 million is a start,” businesses this year. In part to some other said.

Joseph said. “But when you look at the funding she was able to secure, NichThere are about 1,900 Indigenous tourrecovery (plans) there’s going to be a olson is doing some renovations on her ism businesses across the country. More need for so much more.” guest house now in the hopes of providthan 600 of those had applied to ITAC Tseshaht First Nation member Naomi ing lodging services starting in 2021. once it was announced grants of up to Nicholson is one of those who will News she will be soon receiving a $25,000 were available. receive a grant thanks to the latest fund$25,000 grant brought relief.

With previously announced funding, ing announcement. Nicholson operates a “I’d be in a lot of debt right now if it ITAC was only able to assist less than pair of Indigenous businesses that have wasn’t for that,” Nicholson said, addone-third of those businesses who had been shut down since March when the ing grant money will go towards paying applied for a grant. But now, with the pandemic spread in earnest across the some of her current bills. “It’s not like increased funding detailed last week, country.

I’m going to go on vacation with it.”

ITAC officials will be able to assist all of Nicholson has been running the SecludShe’s unsure how many Nuu-chah-nulth the 600 plus businesses that registered for ed Wellness Centre, which specializes businesses in the tourism sector won’t support. in massages, for more than eight years. survive the pandemic, even with grant Keith Henry, ITAC’s president and But she’s eligible for one of the ITACfunding announced last week. That’s CEO, was pleased with the latest funding distributed grants now, as she also runs because even though provincial restricannouncement.

Chims Guest House, classified as part tions are being lifted, the Nuu-chah-nulth “This $16 million in funding will go a of the Indigenous tourism industry as it Tribal Council announced last week it long way to help our Indigenous tourism offers Indigenous-themed experiences for would still restrict visitors to its villages operators stay in business and in turn sup- visitors. in order to keep its residents safe. port Canada’s tourism industry overall by Nicholson had made a powerful video “There are jurisdictional issues about providing the type of authentic cultural back in late March, which was widely who has authority to shut down businessIndigenous experiences which are in distributed, on the fact she had no income es and clear them to reopen,” Nicholson demand by visitors domestically and coming in from either of her businesses. said.

Phrase of the week: q’aatakn’is^%in q’uu%usna Pronounced ‘Cut tock nish in har koo us nah’, this means ‘we are proud to be native people’ Supplied by Tuuput cuu.

Ivy Cargill-Martin Illustration

June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 13

Alberni receives funding for poverty reduction

The city has the highest municipal child poverty rate in B.C., leading to provincial support to explore solutions

By Karly Blats Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor Port Alberni, BC - The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) and the City of Port Alberni have received funding from the province to develop poverty reduction action plans.

With grants from the Poverty Reduction Planning and Action Program, 54 local governments throughout the province, through 29 projects, will develop poverty reduction plans and projects that directly support people in their communities. The 29 projects are receiving a total of $1.4 million, from a $5 million provincial grant to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM), with individual project funding ranging from $16,000 to $150,000.

The ACRD was awarded $25,000 and the city received $21,950 in funding.

“This funding means that we can move forward in creating more concise action planning around poverty reduction,” said Marcie DeWitt, Alberni-Clayoquot Health Network coordinator. “We’ve been doing work with local leaders and communities since 2016 but with these bigger systemic issues it’s slow work, so really having that little bit of extra capacity to pull together the planning and really focus on the community engagement will go a long way in making sure we can start coordinating efforts better together as a region.”

In the ACRD, 29 per cent of children and youth aged 0-17 live in a low-income family, and within city limits, 33 per cent of children and youth live in a lowincome family. According to the 2018 Alberni Valley Vital Signs report, this is the highest municipal child poverty rate in the province.

The Alberni Valley’s homeless population was counted in April 2018, showing that there are at least 147 homeless people in the Valley. Wes Hewitt, executive director of the Port Alberni Shelter Society, said another point-in-time homeless count was planned for earlier this year but has been put on hold due to Covid-19.

Photo by Eric Plummer

Port Alberni is on a list of communities being funded for efforts to reduce poverty. The city has highest child poverty rate in B.C., according to a 2018 report.

Hewitt also said about 44 per cent of Health Network, signed a poverty reducThe City of Port Alberni’s grant fundthe Port Alberni Shelter’s occupants are tion protocol for the Alberni-Clayoquot ing will support the development of an Indigenous. region, which was a first step towards Uptown District Revitalization Strategy DeWitt said a poverty reduction action establishing a multi-jurisdictional col(UDRS). The funding will be applied plan will help with identifying short, laboration to tackle poverty in the Alberni to the UDRS planning and engagement medium and long-term goals that would Valley. process, specifically to collaborate with assist with combating poverty in the Since signing the protocol, DeWitt said local stakeholders, social service providregion. the health network has seen an increased ers, vulnerable populations and residents “The plan itself is to do community enwillingness from local leadership to talk living in poverty. gagement around poverty reduction and about social determinants of health like The city’s goals for the UDRS are to what that looks like for people with lived housing, transportation and access to identify a high-level vision to guide city experience, and then also doing some health services. council and staff’s efforts aimed at the policy review,” DeWitt said. “Also giving “We have seen some projects that have Uptown District revitalization, work local municipalities and local governbeen easier since [signing the protocol], with the public, businesses, stakeholders ments some really concise areas where one of which would be the implementaand neighbourhood residents to identify their policies might be contributing to tion of BC Transit in West Coast comcurrent issues, challenges and possible further inequities in the system.” munities. That’s something we’ve been solutions and to prepare information that In 2017, DeWitt, Scott Fraser, MLA for advocating for with ACRD communican also be embedded within the city’s the Mid-Island Pacific Rim, Gord Johns, ties for a while and seems to be moving Official Community Plan.

MP for Courtenay-Alberni, and Penny through now quite easily,” DeWitt said.

“As part of the consultation program, Cote, chair of the Alberni-Clayoquot “Also our work in ensuring that our nathe city recently conducted a survey on tions are included in that has been a very the revitalization of the Uptown District, easy process and hasn’t taken a lot of to which 70 per cent of respondents convincing on my part to make sure those thought that the city should do more to individuals are included. Just hearing support individuals experiencing challocal leaders being the ones to suggest lenges around poverty, mental health and those kinds of steps has been a really big addictions,” said Katelyn McDougall, part of the shift that we’ve seen.” manager of planning with the City of Port Alberni in a press release. “Over 50 per Fraser, who is also the minister of Indig- cent of survey respondents also identified enous Relations and Reconciliation, said poverty reduction to be a top priority to with many people in the ACRD strughelp encourage revitalization in the area.” gling to get by, the government has made The first phase of the consultation tackling poverty a priority since day one. program launched on April 30, 2020, “This funding means that vulnerable using the city’s www.letsconnectpa.ca people will be better able to meet their local engagement platform. During the basic needs, access services and supthree-week consultation program, the city ports,” Fraser said in a press release. received 599 survey responses. McDouFraser said an action plan will help gall will present other findings from provide local stakeholders with concise the consultation program at the June 22 action steps on ways to increase access to regular meeting of council. services and supports.

Page 14— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

Tofino businesses cautiously re-open amid COVID-19 Tourism remains quiet in early June, as shops track visitors, encourage sanitization and limit customer access

By Melissa Renwick Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Tofino, BC - Lewis George was one of the first to close down his business operations in Tofino amid growing fears of COVID-19.

The Hereditary Chief of Ahousaht swiftly made the call on March 17 when one of his employees showed up to work sick.

After months of uncertainty of when businesses would be able to re-open safely again, the storeowner welcomed customers back on June 1.

“It’s been pretty quiet – really, really quiet,” said George. “It’s a forecast of what may be.”

With a slew of new safety measures in place, George and his wife, Cathy, are operating cautiously to ensure that their staff and visitors are kept safe.

Directional signs mark the route within the business and they are limiting occupancy to six people at a time. Plexi-glass has been installed in front of the gallery’s registers and a sanitization station has been placed at the store’s entrance.

The business took it one step further by creating a document to record customer’s contact details upon entry. While there have been a few who have resisted providing their personal details, George said it’s the most effective way of being able to contact visitors should an outbreak occur.

“The big worry is asymptomatic people that are carrying the virus,” he said.

Following the advice from the Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and through conversations with the TofinoLong Beach Chamber of Commerce, George said that they are only accepting

Photo by Melissa Renwick

Leandra Charlie said that she still hasn’t gotten used to having to wear a face mask while working at the Dockside Smoked Fish Store. “I have a little one at home that I have to think of,” she said, on Thursday, June 4.

50 per cent threshold to allow 48 hours reservations for the Himwitsa Lodge Like most businesses in town, The Best to pass after a guest has checked out for from B.C. residents at this time.

Western Tin Wis welcomed their first “We’re not the only business that’s beguests at the resort on June 1. the room to be turned into a vacant, clean room. All marketing campaigns outside ing affected,” he said. “And I really feel “It does feel good to have a little bit bad about those businesses that are going more life here at the resort and bringing of B.C. have ceased and they’ve transitioned to touchless check-in and payment under that’ll never come back.” our staff back with the right protocols,” processes. Other amenities, like the hot Although hotels are deemed an essensaid Deaton. tial service, The Best Western Tin Wis While he said that business is still very tub, are closed until July.

“We’re in very uncertain times,” said temporarily closed its doors in late-March slow, he remains optimistic that the resort out of respect to the local community. will get by through the outpour of calls George, who fears that COVID-19 may never go away.

“It is a sensitive area with limited and inquiries from prospective guests. resources,“ said general manager Jared In order to keep staff and guests safe, Deaton. the resort has established a maximum of

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June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 15

NCN leaders warn against reopening US borders Data shows Vancouver Island COVID-19-free for weeks, but nations fear tourism could bring further infection

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor Vancouver Island, BC - Nuu-chah-nulth leaders are speaking against reopening the US border, amid concerns that visitors from states with high coronavirus infection rates could join the growing crowds travelling through the province this summer.

The Canada-US border remains restricted to the essential transport of goods, although in early June the federal government eased measures to allow access to immediate family members of Canadian residents – with the requirement that all visitors must quarantine for 14 days upon entry.

The border closure has been extended until July 21, a measure that Nuu-chahnulth leaders pushed for to protect residents in the Ḥahuułi. In a press release on June 9, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council stressed that the protection of its members must be assured before recreational activities bring the risk of infection into vulnerable Indigenous communities with little access to health care.

On June 9 the NTC passed a motion that access to the traditional territories of Vancouver Island’s west coast nations must remain restricted to residents until COVID-19 testing is “readily and consistently available”. The motion also calls for the screening of visitors to ensure they don’t have symptoms, and that proper contact tracing is in place for residents if a coronavirus infection becomes evident.

After half a year of the novel coronavirus spreading around the world, British Columbia has come out ahead of the pack among North American jurisdictions trying to control the spread of the highly infectious respiratory disease. The province’s over 2,700 confirmed cases have declined to less than 200 identified as being active, with approximately a dozen patients in hospital. As of June 15, 168 people in B.C. have died with COVID-19.

Photo by Melissa Renwick

A “resident’s only” sign is mounted at the entrance of Ty-Histanis as the community continues to monitor incoming and outgoing traffic, on Friday, June 12.

But the numbers show a far more severe declared over through recovery or death. here, but not a lot that come for the situation south of the border in WashingBut based on discussions between First campground,” said Dennis. ton state, which is has approximately two Nations and Parks Canada, the popular Travel across the Alberta border has not million more residents than B.C.’s popuWest Coast Trail will remain closed for been restricted, bringing an additional lation of five million. Over 1,200 people the time being, said Dennis. concern of cases returning to Vancouver in Washington have died with COVID-19 The Pachena Bay campground is also Island. With a population of 4.3 million, out of the state’s case count of over closed, although the chief councillor said Alberta has fewer residents that B.C., but 25,000 – nearly ten times the infection there is a possibility it could reopen in twice as many active cases of COVID-19 rate tracked in B.C. July, depending on infection rates and the with over 400. Alberta has tracked over “That’s very concerning when you see risk of COVID-19 spreading from other 7,300 infections over the course of the that kind of number,” said Robert Dennis areas. The campground is normally acpandemic, but more than 317,000 tests Sr., Chief Councillor for the Huu-aycessed though the Huu-ay-aht village of have also been performed to detect cases, aht First Nations, adding that public Anacla, but this might change if the site nearly double the testing performed in demonstrations against police targeting reopens this summer.

B.C. over this year. might end up increasing the spread of “There are some things that we’re conAlthough B.C.’s cases remain low, ProCOVID-19 in the USA. “Because of the sidering in the even that we do reopen,” vincial Health Officer Dr. Bonny Henry nation-wide protests in the states and said Dennis. “We might look at separate expects that COVID-19 will remain a where a lot of those protests have no access to the campground and blocking concern for some time. social distancing, I think this could lead off the whole campground to the village.”

“There continues to be no effective to another spike.”

During past summers the area has been treatment, and the virus will continue in There have been no new cases on Vana destination for fishers from the United our communities for months to come,” couver Island since May 7, and for weeks States. she advised during a media address on any of the island’s infections have been “We get a lot of fishermen that come June 15.

Page 16— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

New report reveals road sediment is causing impacts Salmon are being affected by loosely regulated logging practices, states a Forest Practices Board investigation

By Melissa Renwick Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter When Roger Dunlop moved to British Columbia in 1987, he was horrified that the province had no requirements for land reclamation within the forestry industry.

“In Alberta you’d be in jail or in the poor house from escalating fines if you didn’t have the soil surfaces revegetated within a growing season,” said the Uu-athluk biologist.

Not much has changed since then, said Dunlop, as there are no requirements for immediate revegetation while logging in B.C..

Extensive erosion control measures are implemented along public highways and in cities, where all of the road ditches are revegatated. However, this does not happen within the forests of B.C., where erosion is widespread from grading and hauling on gravel roads, he said.

During the winter months, massive amounts of rain washes fine sediment from road surfaces into the surrounding streams, where fish eggs are incubating. The sediment not only reduces the quality of spawning channels by diluting the available gravel, but also decreases the survival rate of the eggs, said Forest Practices Board Chair Kevin Kriese.

The board launched an investigation in the spring of 2018 examining the impact road sediment has on fish habitat.

Photo by Melissa Renwick

An active logging road sits on the outskirts of the Pacific Rim National Park near Long Beach, on Thursday, June 4 In three of the five watersheds that were of good forest practices will make sure since Fisheries and Oceans Canada assessed, B.C’s independent forestry you aren’t damaging fish and fish habitat. established a new Fisheries Act, which watchdog found that sediment from roads That’s why it matters.” pledged new provisions and stronger poses a high risk to fish habitat.

“It’s one of our main food resources,” protections to support the sustainabilThere are feasible practices to do better said Francis Martin of the Tla-o-qui-aht ity of Canada’s marine resources, the for sediment management, Kriese said.

First Nation. “I worry about the future for Forest Practices Board argues that not The province needs to tighten up the reg- younger generations.” enough is being done. ulation in the Forest and Range Practices The Ainslie watershed, near the town of The board has presented their recomAct, he added. This would make it clear Boston Bar, flows into the Fraser River. It mendations to the province, which has six to operators that they must minimize was one of the case-study watersheds that months to respond. the input of sediment into fish streams found road sediments pose a high risk of The investigation has garnered a lot throughout all phases of road developharm to the fish habitat. interest, Kriese said. ment – including design, construction, This comes at a pressing time, as 2019 “I think that just reflects the fact that maintenance and deactivation. delivered the lowest returns on record for people care about what happens to fish “People in B.C. care a lot about fish,” Fraser River sockeye. habitat in B.C.” said Kriese. “And one of the promises While it has been nearly one year

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June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 17

Forester feels ‘fortunate’ after crash with logging truck

Collision flags dust hazard on the only road access to the community, and the need for Bamfield Main upgrades

By Mike Youds Ha-Shilth-Sa Cotributor Anacla, BC - Driving north from Anacla in early June on Bamfield Main, Stan Coleman wasn’t expecting to encounter anything more than the usual plumes of dust kicked up by vehicles on the industrial road at this time of year.

“Basically, I’m driving along and hit a huge plume of dust and couldn’t see anything,” said Coleman, a forest consultant for Huu-ay-aht First Nations.

He didn’t know there was a loaded logging truck just ahead. The logging truck’s trailer chassis and the engine of Coleman’s Toyota Four Runner bore the impact of the collision, sparing him of injury, but it was a close call.

“Not even an ache,” he said. “I wasn’t going very fast, which also helped. It was surreal.”

The forester’s truck, on the other hand, is a write-off. Its demolished front end, hood peeled back like a tin can lid, presents another compelling argument for making the notorious route safer.

“My reflex time wasn’t good enough.

I didn’t have time to stop. When you hit that plume of dust, you’ve got to stop quickly.”

The logging truck driver was not at fault, he stressed.

“He felt a little bump but not much at all,” said Coleman, who considers himself “a very fortunate individual.”

Coleman has been driving the road for 40 years, so he’s well aware of its hazards.

“Luckily, he was fine, but he totalled his vehicle,” said Huu-ay-aht Chief Councillor Robert Dennis Sr. Since the route opened in 1964, Huuay-aht has lost eight citizens on the road and witnessed countless accidents, many related to dust obscuring visibility.

Huu-ay-aht First Nations used the accident to warn summer travellers of the road’s dust hazard and remind government of its commitment to upgrade the well-travelled route. Drivers should keep headlights and taillights turned on to en-

Stan Coleman’s Toyota Four Runner is a write-off after a collision on Bamfield Main in early June. sure their vehicles are visible to others.

RCMP Const. Pete Batt also urges people to keep their speed down, especially when conditions are dusty.

“You need time to stop at the last second with all this dust on the road,” he said.

“If you are doing the trip in less than 90 minutes, you are driving too fast.”

Every winter, heavy rains swell streams, washing out bridges and sections of road, cutting off Anacla and Bamfield for brief periods. That occurred last winter when the bridge at Kilometre 45 was taken out.

In September 2019, a University of Victoria coach accident claimed the lives of two students along the 85-kilometre stretch of logging road. For years, Huuay-aht has sought road improvements

after successive tragedies struck the isolated west coast communities reliant on the road.

Chip seal will address road surface issues as well as the dust, Coleman said.

Dust is the main issue half the time, he noted.

“That’s why we’ve been pushing government to make it a safer road,” said Coleman, who believes the work could begin as early as this year if provincial funding comes through. Chip seal is a road surface treatment that combines one or more layers of pavement with one or more layers of aggregate. “It is the way to go.”

Premier John Horgan travelled the road last spring, met with Huu-ay-aht leadership and committed to safety upgrades.

In a meeting in late May with Huu-ayaht, MLA and Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Scott Fraser promised he would continue to press for

Photo by Stan Coleman

approvals necessary to move the project ahead.

“Everyone supports and understands the need for this work to be done,” Chief Dennis explained. “We are hopeful that the province will approve this project soon so that we can improve safety and save lives.”

Huu-ay-aht First Nations have committed $5 million to the project with another $25.7 million needed to complete it.

In addition to making the road safer for residents, workers and visitors, improving the road is an important step for the whole region and can be part of the economic recovery strategy for the Alberni Valley, Huu-ay-aht said.

The City of Port Alberni and the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District have offered full support, as have other area First Nations communities, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre and companies that use the road.

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Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day. June 21 2020 From the Board of Education 4690 Roger Street, Port Alberni  Phone 250-723-3565  www.sd70.bc.ca

Page 18— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

Photo by Eric Plummer

Events like a large gathering the Huu-ay-aht held last year for National Indigenous People’s Day at Pachena Bay are not possible under the current measures to control the spread of COVID-19, leading some nations to either cancel events outright or offer online options.

National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated virtually in Huu-ay-aht

By Melissa Renwick Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Edward Johnson could still hear the steady rhythm of songs beating throughout his homelands in celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day. He recalled smells of barbeque salmon cooking over a fire, while members from his community of Huu-ay-aht First Nations paddled into Pachena Bay in dugout canoes.

With new social distancing measures in place due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, celebrations within Huu-ayaht will take place virtually this year.

“The pandemic has interrupted a lot of things we had planned,” said Johnson, the Huu-ay-aht First Nations councillor.

“It’s a way of connecting with our citizens even though we can’t connect with them physically.”

An online program will be distributed through the Huu-ay-aht First Nations’ social media channels and on their website, he said. Various videos will be packaged to take community members on a journey. Videos will demonstrate how to harvest cedar bark and devil’s club, methods for canning fish, and will include performances of seal hunting and paddle songs.

While it may look a little different from years past, being able to hear the songs and see the dances “is huge” for the community, said Johnson. “Our culture has a strength and it has a beauty.”

The Port Alberni Friendship Center partnered with the city and the regional district for a large celebration at the

Harbour Quay. Organizers anticipated that the event would draw one to two thousand people, said Executive Director Cyndi Stevens. With heavy hearts, they were forced to cancel in response to COVID-19.

“It’s really quite a shame,” said Stevens.

“We’ve been hosting [events for] National Indigenous Peoples Day since the beginning.”

June 21 will mark its 24th year being celebrated in Canada.

There were conversations about moving the event online, but it just “doesn’t feel the same,” said Stevens. “I just don’t know how we would do it.”

Communities like Tla-o-qui-aht are grieving the loss of its members – including Chantel Moore, who was fatally shot by police on June 4 in Edmundston, N.B. Focused on their efforts to keep members safe from COVID-19, National Indigenous Peoples Day is “just not on our radar,” said Tla-o-qui-aht tribal administrator Saya Masso.

“We have a messaging that we just want to get through this epidemic and that when we gather to celebrate in the fall, every one of our members is still there,” he said.

As Nuu-chah-nulth people, “we’re all really close,” said Johnson. “We all want to be there for one another and gather – not being able to do that has been difficult.”

But the community of Huu-ay-aht is adapting to the pandemic “knowing that it’s going to come to an end,” said Johnson. “When that day comes, it’s going to be a huge celebration.”

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A request for proposals can be found on the School District website at www.sd70.bc.ca/employment. RFP packages may also be requested from Barb Witte, Executive Assistant at bwitte@sd70.bc.ca Please note the deadline for submissions is July 6th at 3:00pm.

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June 18, 2020—Ha-Shilth-Sa—Page 19

Page 20— Ha-Shilth-Sa—June 18, 2020

Meet your NETP Northern, Central and Southern Region Case Managers Kerry Erickson – Case Manager Phone Number: 250-723-1331 or 1-833-276-5849 Email: Kerry.Erickson@nuuchahnulth.org Facebook: Kerry at NETP Located in Port Alberni NETP Office

Melanie Cranmer – Case Manager Phone Number: 250-723-1331 or 1-833-276-5849 Email: Melanie.Cranmer@nuuchahnulth.org Facebook: Melanie Fred

Patricia McDougall – Case Manager Phone Number: 1-800-283-2012 or 250-283-2012 Email: Patricia.McDougall@nuuchahnulth.org

Evan Hauser – Case Manager Phone Number: 250-266-1584 Email: Evan.Hauser@nuuchahnulth.org Facebook: NETP Evan Hauser Located in Ucluelet NETP Office

NETP is pleased to announce to our clients that we provide services to, that we will be re-opening for in-person client support effective Monday June 15, 2020.

As we prepare to re-open we need to advise you important changes within our program regarding appointments. The major change will be for clients are only able to come into the NETP office with appointments only which will be required to pre-book your appointment with your Case Manager or the receptionist.

NTC’s safety plan and in-office procedures are based upon the orders and guidelines published by the Provincial Health officer (PHO) and BC Center for Disease Control (BCCDC) and the safety protocols that WorkSafeBC has introduced to manage the risk and prevent exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you or anyone in your household is feeling sick with the flu, coughing, sneezing or any flu like symptoms please do not attend the office. We are doing our part to keep both staff and clients safe and healthy, and your cooperation is appreciated.

Please call in advance to book appointments with your Case Manager or Receptionist.

Thank you for understanding, your patience’s & cooperation, please contact us via telephone: 250-723-1331, 250-726-7347, 250-283-2012, Facebook or via email to schedule an appointment.

Hours of operation for NETP offices are from 8:00am – 4:30pm from Monday to Friday.

Nuu-chah-nulth Employment & Training Program is a dept. of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.

Funding provided in part by the Government of Canada