January 2021 VOL. 29, NO. 9, JANUARY 2021 POWERED BY KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK | A PROUD PART OF ABERDEEN PUBLISHING
Exploring the connection between Race and the Food System Page 3
Intake now open of Indigenous Artist Grant Page 5
Seniors and their Vintage Cars Page 11
Moon Weavings Page 15
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LOOKING FORWARD by Moneca Jantzen
ary a soul on the planet will be unhappy to see the year 2020 in our collective rear view mirror. Putting this one behind us will be easy in some ways, much more difficult in others. Just because the calendar has flipped to a new year doesn’t mean much—so far. Psychologically it feels like progress, but in practical terms we need to remain patient. Assuming the vaccines are as effective as suggested will mean we should see progress in combatting COVID-19, but vaccinating the world’s population will prove a Herculean effort and it will take time. While we wait for our turn to be immunized, we must remain vigilant and keep following the protocols to stay safe and not spread or contract the virus. It has been a long haul but a necessary one no matter what the conspiracy theorists and anti-maskers have to say. Continuing to do our part will minimize the siege on our hospitals and healthcare workers and keep more vulnerable people safer than if we were to throw caution to the wind just because we’re tired or feel our “rights” are being overlooked. Undoing the impact of the pandemic will also take time, but hopefully by the next time we turn the page on a calendar year, things will be proceeding in more familiar ways. Some of the things we’ve been missing the most will resume such as getting the economy back on track, travel and socializing, as examples. Hopefully, the silver lining in all of this is that some serious problems will be addressed intelligently as we rebuild. How we take care of seniors is one of the most glaring issues that has been exacerbated in the worst way by this pandemic.
www.connectornews.ca
This New Year Page18
StatsCan found that 52 per cent of excess deaths between May and June 2020 were individuals age 85 and older, 36 per cent were aged 65-84 and 12 per cent were younger than 65, most deaths in care home settings and a trend that hasn’t abated. Understaffing, shared staff between facilities, shared resident rooms, private vs public facilities and aging buildings are some of the contributing factors that are problematic under normal circumstances but have proved disastrous for our elders during this pandemic. Other longstanding problems that have been aggravated by the pandemic are those surrounding mental health, loneliness, racial and economic inequities, the relentless opioid crisis, climate change, an increasingly polarized body politic and a crisis in the proliferation of misinformation and fake news, to name a few. On a more personal level, those of us that still have the luxury of re-evaluating the things that matter to us and haven’t been thrown into utter crisis during all of this, can count our blessings and do what we can to help pick up the pieces and support others that are currently struggling. Maybe we’ve discovered that we like working from home, or indeed, the opposite. Maybe we were forced to slow down and have found some benefits to that. Perhaps we have learned new skills and are better at coping with being on our own. Maybe you have finally had time to start that new hobby or finish that certain project or had to stop gambling and saved a pile of money. Without question, 2021 will be another challenging year, but one filled with more hope and ideally a lot more wisdom. Stay safe and be kind. Happy new year everyone!
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