Page 2— Ha-Shilth-Sa—October 7, 2021
Ahousaht closed to visitors as COVID cases rise Active cases in the First Nation village rise to 18, prompting leadership to close the community to non-residents By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Maaqtusiis, BC – An ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 has pushed the start day of Ahousaht’s elementary and high schools back to the second week of October. On Friday, Sept. 24, Ahousaht administration issued an update stating that there were 18 confirmed cases in the village of Maaqtusiis, with an additional four cases away from home. One of those cases was reported to be hospitalized. On Monday, Sept. 27, the First Nation reported 19 active cases in the village with another 8 members testing positive for COVID-19 away from home. For this reason, Chief Councillor Greg Louie announced that Ahousaht is closed to non-residents until further notice. Both elected and hereditary leadership extended condolences to the family of Mark Jack, who passed away on the weekend. They noted that the decision to close the village came after the passing of the elder and former councillor. Louie said they would make exceptions for family members that are already enroute to the village that are not experiencing flu-like symptoms. The secondary school principal issued an announcement stating that the Ahousaht Education Authority is taking the advice of B.C.’s medical health officer and extending the school closures until Oct. 8. Free food distribution started shortly after the pandemic began, to help people access food without risk of exposure to the virus. But that ended several months ago. The nation continues to offer food
Photo by Courtenay Louie
A rising number of COVID-19 cases in Ahousaht has delayed the start of the community’s schools and prompted leadership to bring back a no-visitor policy. Ahousaht residents were among the first in B.C. to receive immunization for COVID-19 in early January, aligning with the province’s prioritization of First Nations due to how the coronavirus has disproportionally affected these remote communities. purchase service where people can make getting two or three trailers for people a grocery order, pay for it, and have it that need to isolate. For now, if a person delivered to the village. has tested positive the entire household The grocery is being restricted to winmust isolate together for the duration of dow service to help prevent unnecessary the quarantine period, said Louie. person-to-person contact. The First Nation is concerned about resThe Ahousaht General Store is offering idents that are partying. Louie says they to deliver ordered groceries to Mattie’s receive reports from members concerned Dock to further help people avoid unnec- that partyers are mingling and going from essary trips out of Ahousaht. house to house. Ahousaht administration is working on “People need to stay home and we need
the cooperation from family members,” said Louie. He asked them to monitor their family members and bring them home. “If you need support, call Cha chum hiyup at 250-670-9558 for support if you need it,” Louie implored. “We have children under the age of 11 who are not vaccinated and we have people whose immune systems are severely compromised.” Ahousaht administration is delivering food care packages to those that are isolating in the community, but they don’t have the names of people that tested positive. Swan noted that people can email eoc@ahousaht.ca if they are in need of food and cleaning supplies. That includes members living away from home. Those needing support must provide proof of positive test result. Of its population of approximately 1,000, Ahousaht has vaccinated 508 adults in the village, 428 of whom are fully vaccinated. A further 57 youth ages 12-17 are at least partially vaccinated. On Friday, Sept. 24, there were 5,979 active COVID cases in BC, with 660 active cases reported by Island Health. From Sept. 9 – 22, 73 per cent of active COVID patients that required hospitalization were not vaccinated. Eight per cent of hospital cases were partially vaccinated and 18.1 percent were fully vaccinated. The BC Centre for Disease Control advises people that the two doses of PfizerBioNtech or AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD provide very good protection against the Delta variant, especially against severe outcomes.
Court rules against extending Fairy Creek injunction By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor Port Renfrew, BC - In the aftermath of a court injunction that generated over 1,100 arrests in Pacheedaht territory this year, the First Nation is reiterating an earlier request, asking protestors to leave the Fairy Creek area. A six-month court injunction prohibiting people from blocking logging or road building in the forest near Port Renfrew expired Sept. 28, and the B.C. Supreme Court denied an application from Teal Cedar Products to extend the court order for another year. The forestry company, which holds tenure over Crown land in southwestern Vancouver Island, had applied for an extension to continue police enforcement against the blockades. But in late September Justice Douglas Thompson denied this request, citing the infringement of civil liberties over the half year of police enforcement around Fairy Creek, an area considered to be one of the few watersheds on Vancouver Island untouched by industrial logging. Teal Cedar’s application to extend the injunction was disputed by the Rainforest Flying Squad, a collective of old growth activists who have held blockades in the Fairy Creek area since August 2020. “Methods of enforcement of the court’s order have led to serious and substantial infringement of civil liberties, including impairment of the freedom of the press to a marked degree,” wrote Thompson in his judgement. “And, enforcement has been carried out by police officers rendered anonymous to the protesters, many of those police officers wearing ‘thin blue line’ badges. All of this has been done in
Photo by Melissa Renwick
Police enforcement of a court injunction north of Port Renfrew generated over 1,100 arrests, including 110 individuals who were arrested more than once. Pictured are police at a blockade in May, shortly after enforcement began. the name of enforcing this court’s order, adding to the already substantial risk to the court’s reputation whenever an injunction pulls the court into this type of dispute between citizens and the government.” In the middle of the conflict, which has become one of Canada’s largest acts of civil disobedience, lies the Pacheedaht, a small Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation with vested forestry interests in their territory. With the Fairy Creek clash at its peak, the Pacheedaht and neighbouring Ditidaht and Huu-ay-aht First Nations issued the Hišuk ma c̕awak Declaration in June, a document signed by hereditary and elected leaders asserting authority over their lands.
“Together we declared that from now on, our First Nations will decide what is best for our lands, our waters and our resources from the sustainment and wellbeing of present and future generations of Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht and Pacheedaht people,” stated Pacheedaht Chief Councillor Jeff Jones after the court injunction expired. “The PFN reiterates our previous request that all protestors vacate Pacheedaht First Nation territory and allow our community to continue with the governance and stewardship responsibilities in our ḥahahuułi (traditional territory).” Along with the Hišuk ma c̕awak Declaration, the three First Nations demanded a two-year deferral of all old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek and Central
Walbran areas, time required for the communities to undertake forest stewardship management plans with their members. The provincial government quickly responded by agreeing to this two-year deferral, but protests continued through the summer out of concern that old-growth logging was occurring in other parts the region north of Port Renfrew. “While we continue to conduct this important work, and while the old growth logging deferrals remain in effect, we respectfully reiterate our request that all protestors vacate PFN territory to allow us to conduct this work in peace,” stated Chief Jones. “We also request that the protestors take this opportunity to rethink their protesting strategy with a view to ceasing all disrespectful, damaging and illegal activities.” Teal Cedar Products plan to appeal, but in the meantime police enforcement will be driven by complaints, said Sgt. Chris Manseau of RCMP media relations. On Oct. 1 this resulted in another three arrests after a report of people blocking workers from forestry roads into the Fairy Creek watershed. “When police arrived, efforts were made to negotiate with the group to allow industry vehicles to pass through,” stated an RCMP press release. “Several individuals refused and three were subsequently arrested for mischief and obstruction.” “Our numbers in the area have dropped down significantly,” said Manseau, noting that officers had been brought in from across B.C. to enforce the injunction. “Members that are now in the area are going to follow up on any complaints in the vicinity looking at their powers under the Criminal Code.”
