Nickel Belt News Volume 62 • Issue 11
Friday, March 18, 2022
Thompson, Manitoba
Serving the Norman Region since 1961
Churchill blazes health-care trail with ‘culturally relevant’ programs
BY DAVE BAXTER
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG SUN
Officials working to improve health care in northern and Indigenous communities say those improvements must come not only from services that can heal people’s bodies but also from ones that can heal people’s minds. And they are now looking at one northern town as an example of how mental health and healing services can play a role in improving the overall health of communities. On March 9, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, an organization that represents dozens of northern Manitoba communities and thousands of First Nations citizens in Northern Manitoba, held a webinar to give information about the state of health care in the north, and specifically in the community of Leaf Rapids. In Leaf Rapids, a town of about 580 residents that sits 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg, the Leaf Rapids Health Centre has been forced to close its doors three times in the last two years because of what the Northern Regional Health Authority said were “ongoing and per-
Jason Klainchar, chief operating officer of the Churchill Health Centre, said during a March 9 webinar that programs and services offered through the Churchill Wellness Centre are providing mental health and social inclusion supports for residents. with communities like Leaf sistent” staffing shortages. The health centre was Rapids, they are also taking most recently closed for an steps to learn what those in entire month before opening the community feel they back up on Jan. 27. need, and to learn what serDuring the March 9 we- vices they can start providing binar, Dr. Barry Lavallee, that go beyond doctor’s ofthe CEO of Keewatinohk fices and emergency rooms. Inniniw Minoayawin, a not“If we bring you a clinic for-profit that works closely with the same structures as with MKO to improve health Winnipeg, I am not sure that care for First Nations citizens is going to suit your needs in Manitoba, spoke about the completely,” Lavallee said. work he and others have been He said that recently doing as they look to bring health officials have been improvements in health care looking to learn what “harm to Leaf Rapids and other reduction” strategies and northern communities. services including mental Lavallee said that as he health and addictions serand others continue to work vices would be beneficial
to communities and they are also looking to find new ways to “empower” people in the north so that they take better care of their physical and mental health. “This is not to say you don’t need efficient emergency medicine and things like screening, but people and specifically Indigenous people are coming to the end of the pandemic, there has been a lot of harm done, so we have to work together in new ways, and not rely completely on medical systems.” Jason Klainchar, the chief operating officer of the Churchill Health Centre, said March 9 that programs and services now being offered in the town of Churchill through the Churchill Wellness Centre are providing mental health and social inclusion supports for residents that he said are now leading to better overall health outcomes in the community. “In 2018 we did consultations with the community so they could tell us what they wanted in their health care, it wasn’t just about looking at data and making decisions, it was about asking people what they feel they need,” Klainchar said.
He said what they were told by many residents was that the health of the community could improve if there was better access to mental health and addictions services, but also programs that allowed for social interaction and conversations among community members, and specifically among Indigenous men, a group that he said in many cases deal with poor health outcomes. They now run programs that allow residents to take part in activities ranging from cooking lessons to wild game hunting. Klainchar said one of the most successful programs they now run is one that sees men connect virtually and learn to cook recipes, while also getting a chance to socialize, and he said as people became more comfortable, the classes also became an opportunity for them to have conversations about mental health and other related issues. He said the program is one of many “land-based services” they now offer that can give people “opportunities to feel good about themselves.” “All of these programs
are developed within the system, but with the needs of the community in mind,” Klainchar said. Lavallee said as MKO and others work to improve health care in Leaf Rapids they will look at the Churchill Wellness Centre as an example of how “land-based and culturally relevant” programming can help communities, and they will continue to look for funding opportunities to bring those kinds of services to Leaf Rapids and other northern communities. He added he plans to stay focused on bringing improvements to Leaf Rapids, because he believes the citizens there deserve the best health care that is available. “I have a lot of hope for the citizens of Leaf Rapids, and I am going to walk with you and support you,” Lavallee said. “Please know that we are with you, and you are not alone.” — Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the government of Canada.
School boards to have final say on mask use BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Manitoba school boards will have the final say about whether masks are required or recommended in their local K-12 classrooms come March 15. Ini the first week of March, the education department informed division leaders COVID-19 mandates in schools will soon disappear, in line with the rest of society, “to start to return to normal.” Education Minister Wayne Ewasko was not made available for an interview on the subject March 7. “(The province) strongly recommends school and child care facility officials follow the guidance of the chief provincial public health officer, including removing mask mandates in indoor settings as the public health focus shifts to individual risk assessment,” Ewasko said in a prepared statement. At the same time, he ac-
knowledged school boards are made up of elected officials. “Trustees are charged with decision making that addresses their local needs, including if they choose to continue requiring the use of masks.” Seven Oaks School Division administration has informed families it is following public health guidance and in turn, face coverings will be recommended in its north Winnipeg schools, as of next week. “Individual staff, students and families will now make their own choices on masks. We need to respect one another’s choices,” superintendent Brian O’Leary wrote in a community update March 7. O’Leary noted the division will ask staff and students with flulike symptoms to remain home, maintain cohorts in elementary schools, and distribute masks and rapid antigen tests to commun-
ity members, among other limited pandemic measures, for the foreseeable future. River East Transcona, Louis Riel, and St. James-Assiniboia leaders indicated they were all awaiting a meeting scheduled with provincial officials last week before confirming plans. Spokespeople for Winnipeg and Pembina Trails said board deliberations must take place before either releases details. The Manitoba Teachers’ Society has made clear its stance: it is premature to lift mask requirements in schools. “Let’s think about this logically, from the perspective of the school environment and working with children. It’s easy to loosen restrictions — and I sympathize greatly with those who struggle greatly with wearing a face mask — but it’s way more difficult to (reinstate rules),” said MTS president James Bedford.
Bedford said the union’s preference is masks remain universal requirements. Winnipeg mother Lindsay McDonald, who indicated her kindergartener is not bothered by masking in the slightest, echoed those sentiments March 7. McDonald said she feels abandoned by the province, given it is prioritizing “so-called freedom” over the lives of immunocompromised Manitobans like herself. She is hopeful LRSD will continue going above and beyond provincial measures, as it has done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. (LRSD ensured two metres of distancing was in place between all students throughout 2020-21. The division was also a leader in establishing vaccine requirements and promoting outdoor education with tents throughout the pandemic.) “(Masking) is something easy we can do as a precaution to lower risk,”
said McDonald. “It’s sad that my five-year-old recognizes the importance of wearing a mask but our government doesn’t.” While the loosening of restrictions is raising some community members’ anxiety levels, others are celebrating them. “We are completely against them to start with… I don’t think we will be wearing them anywhere (after March 15),” said Christina Kitson, a mother of three young boys — the eldest of whom attends Grade 1 in Sunrise School Division. Kitson said her first grader has been complaining about headaches, owing to the mask he wears to school. Since her youngest child was born during the pandemic, the mother from Lac du Bonnet added she worries his facial recognition and speech skills may be delayed because of widespread masking. Meantime, the overwhelming majority of students who streamed out of
Sisler High School in Winnipeg on the afternoon of March 7, all donned masks as they walked to cars, bus stops and doorsteps. “It’s like second nature to me now,” said Grade 12 student Kayla Johnston, who plans to continue masking indefinitely. Francheska Reyes, 17, said she is hesitant the mandate is being lifted too quickly and in turn, cases will spike and disrupt Class of 2022 graduation ceremonies. For Grade 11 student Devon Bolton, however, an end to mandatory masking in class cannot come soon enough. “It’s really uncomfortable to wear for six hours a day in class, everywhere in the halls,” said the 16-year-old. Devon said he will continue wearing a face covering in public places outside school to protect the elderly and young children who remain ineligible for vaccination, but he noted his classmates are primarily healthy teenagers.