Dr. Kandola won't link Covid signal to Liard Chief public health officer says 'impossible' to make conclusive connection to outbreak
Hub Volume 48 Issue 49
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021
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You said it! Readers react to second track cancellation in two years
Covid-19 Hundreds of vaccine doses given in region
News Town won't drop dump fire ask
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Omar Hajam had all the necessary equipment for a game of shinny on the new outdoor rink in Old Town on a sunny Jan. 30 – skates, hockey stick, hockey gloves and sunglasses.
"There are still a lot of unknowns out there, and a super spreader event that size could affect the entire territory." – Tim Borchuk is co-chairman of the organizing committee for the axed-again NWT Track and Field Championships, page 7.
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fact file nwt covid-19 situation as of Feb. 1 Active cases: 2 Confirmed cases: 49 Recovered cases: 43 Completed tests: 11,948 Negative tests: 11,903 Pending tests: 28
Scan for the latest GNWT Covid-19 statistics
Days since first confirmed case: 318 Days since last confirmed case: 13 Common symptoms: Runny nose or congestion (58 per cent), cough (55 per cent), muscle aches (39 per cent), fever, (35 per cent), headache (32 per cent), malaise (29 per cent), fatigue (29 per cent) Source: Office of the Chief Public Health Officer
Three appointed to recreation committee Town council has appointed three new members to the recreation committee: Amy Burt, Ray Levesque and Christy Schwartz. They will serve on the committee for the remainder of its current term ending on Dec. 31. The town issued a call for candidates in December, and the names of the three appointees were submitted. Council created the special committee in April 2019 to assist the town in an advisory capacity by considering and making recommendations on community recreation, strategies, policies and opportunities. The recreation committee consists of six to nine members appointed by council, including the director of recreation or an administration delegate, one member of town council and four to seven representatives of the public. In May 2019, council appointed seven members to the committee with a term ending on Dec. 31, 2020. Three committee members resigned in 2019 and 2020 due to relocation or personal reasons. Current committee members are Paula Gour, Nikki Ashton, Steve Campbell, Terry Rowe and Coun. Keith Dohey, who is designated as town council's liaison to the committee.
10-year water licence approved for town A new water licence has been approved for the Town of Hay River. "It's a 10-year licence," Mike Auge, the community's director of public works, told the Jan. 25 online meeting of town council. The water licence, which became effective on Jan. 31, was received after a months-long process with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board. It was then approved and signed off by the minister of municipal and community affairs. Glenn Smith, the senior administrative officer with the town, recognized the director of public works and his team for doing the work that resulted in the new water licence. Auge said he will provide information at a later meeting of council to detail the differences between the new licence and the previous one. The licence covers all the ways that the Town of Hay River uses water, including taking it out of Great Slave Lake.
Legislative assembly to reconvene session The second session of the 19th Legislative Assembly of the NWT in Yellowknife will reconvene on Feb. 3, beginning at 1:30 p.m. According to a Jan. 29 news release from the legislative assembly, the proceedings will be broadcast live on the assembly's Television Network, and webcast via the legislative assembly website and its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts. The legislative assembly building itself remains closed to the public due to health concerns arising from Covid-19. Members of the media can still observe proceedings from the public gallery.
NNSL file photo
Lorie Steinwand, the public health supervisor with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, draws flu vaccine into a needle in October.
No flu in NWT Kandola credits health precautions for Covid-19 with preventing seasonal appearance of influenza
Paul Bickford
editor@ssimicro.com
There has been a somewhat surprising and positive side effect of the precautions taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. As of last week, there has not been a confirmed case of the flu this season in the NWT. In fact, influenza has been largely nonexistent across Canada. "In the Northwest Territories, we haven't had a single case of flu, and this is something that we've seen across Canada, with the exception of Ontario," said Dr. Kami Kandola, the chief public health officer for the NWT, on Jan. 27. The cases in Ontario had occurred in the eastern part of the province. Kandola pointed to the health measures that have been encouraged to fight Covid19 as the reason influenza has not made its
usual appearance. "One of the things that we've learned from Covid is that washing your hands, staying home when you're sick, wearing a mask, these are all really good public health measures that you should continue even when the pandemic eases," she said. "It's a good way to protect your workers, people at school, your family members. So once the pandemic is over, continue these measures." By this point of the flu season, there are normally many cases in the NWT. "Typically, we have hundreds of cases of flu a year," said Kandola. Flu activity begins to appear in October and November, she said. "The last couple of years it's been peaking around December." The chief public health officer also said that typically there are also a lot of cases in January when students come home from university and people travel. "I think this is the first in my 17 years up
here I haven't seen a single case of flu," said Kandola. "But now we're jinxing it, so we'll continue to monitor the situation until we're out of regular flu season." As usual, flu shots were offered in Hay River in the fall. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the vaccinations were offered by appointment only at a special flu shot clinic held over two weeks in late October and early November. Normally, the flu shots are offered as part of an Adult Health Fair in November, but that did not take place because of Covid-19. Back when the flu shot clinic was being planned, Lorie Steinwand, the public health supervisor with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, said that washing your hands, coughing and sneezing into your arm, cleaning high-touch areas, wearing masks, and following social distancing practices were good preventative measures against both the flu and Covid-19.
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By now, everybody has probably heard the strange story of the wealthy couple from British Columbia who flew into Yukon, skipped selfisolation and chartered a plane to a small community to pose as local workers, all to get the Covid-19 vaccination. It made international news, so this editorial will just assume you know about it and skip further details. While people were amazed by the irresponsibility and sheer gall of the rich couple to go to such extremes to get vaccinated, there was another strange aspect to the story. It may be one of the few times in history – perhaps the very first time – that anyone from the South has travelled to the North for medical treatment. For generations, it has been a simple fact that medical treatment is a one-way street that heads south. Have you ever heard of a medevac flying anyone from Alberta to Hay River or Yellowknife? Of course, that is not going to change, but Northern Canada is ahead of the rest of the nation in at least one thing medical. That is access to Covid-19 vaccinations. The NWT, Yukon and Nunavut have been given priority to receive the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 because of the limited medical resources in the North and the isolation of many smaller communities
photo courtesy of the GNWT
The first shipment of the Moderna vaccine from the federal government arrived in Yellowknife on Dec. 28.
mainly made up of Indigenous and for the North to be ahead people. of the South in anything fedIt is easy to criticize the eral is certainly notable. federal government on a And the federal governwide variety of things when ment is not alone in stepit comes to its dealings with ping up to the challenge. The the North. For example, you GNWT has done yeoman's might wonder why the North work in battling Covid-19, has limited medical resourand it has taken the Moderna ces to begin with deliveries from compared to the the feds and editorial got the vaccines South. But at least the into the arms of federal governpeople. ment – with the support of Last week, Dr. Kami Kanprovincial premiers, it should dola, the chief public health be noted – had enough sense officer with the GNWT, said to place priority on the North that first vaccines have been when it comes to receiving delivered to all 33 communities in the territory. the Moderna vaccine. And a team from the Hay That has placed the NWT River Health and Social Servifar ahead of the provinces in the drive towards getting most ces Authority has so far vaccinated hundreds of people in of its population vaccinated,
a number of communities. People should not just go to get vaccinated without considering and appreciating the national, territorial and local effort that has gone into seeing needles being stuck into their arms. Northerners should always demand the best possible from government, and criticize when criticism is warranted. However, there is also a time for appreciation and thanks when things work well. It is encouraging to know that in a time of crisis, the federal and territorial governments, and community agencies like the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, can all work together to meet the challenge.
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You Said It! Matthew Lakusta "I would say that it's unfortunate that they aren't replacing it with something else."
Tamarah Pellissey "I think it's disappointing, but what can we do?"
Alvin Pitre "It's unfortunate that we're losing the track and field, but understanding Covid, it's necessary."
Kerry Buhler "It's extremely disappointing for the kids, but with the way everything is going now I can see why they're doing it."
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Town still wants bailout on dump fire Wants disaster assistance from GNWT Paul Bickford
editor@ssimicro.com
The Town of Hay River is continuing to make its case for disaster assistance from the GNWT to help pay for the landfill fire in 2019. On Jan. 11, council approved submitting a resolution to the annual general meeting of the NWT Association of Communities at the end of February calling for changes to the GNWT's Disaster Assistance Policy. The resolution calls on the association to urge the GNWT to recognize extraordinary, emergency fires at solid waste management facilities as a potential disaster that can lead to significant municipal property destruction and environmental damage, and put people's health, safety and welfare at risk. The resolution also calls for the GNWT's Disaster Assistance Policy to be updated to include the specific indication that such fires can be considered a disaster; that the maximum assistance payable be increased to $1 million from $100,000 to more appropriately cover the costs; and that the fiscal status of a community should have no bearing on the eligibility or amount of coverage under the policy. The landfill fire in Hay River burned from March 3 to March 28, 2019. The Town of Hay River applied for assistance under the policy in August 2019, but the GNWT announced its decision to deny the request last November. Mayor Kandis Jameson said the resolution will be submitted to the NWT Association of Communities because the issue is not specific to Hay River.
"We wanted to ensure that going forward the government was going to look at what the solution would be when you have almost half of the cost associated with the dump fire to do with environmental testing requirements that are out of our control, yet we get a letter from the minister saying that public safety was not an issue," said Jameson. "There are questions that need to be answered and we want them answered and we want a solution coming out of this. And we feel it would be remiss of us if we didn't bring it to the attention of the rest of the communities." The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs previously stated that the Hay River dump fire was not a disaster as defined by the policy, specifically that there was no widespread damage that affected a significant number of people's properties and the health, safety and welfare of residents were not at risk. The town incurred in excess of $1 million in firefighting and associated environmental monitoring/protection expenses to extinguish the fire and mitigate disaster during a declared state of emergency. Only $100,000 of the firefighting costs was covered through the town's insurance policy. Jameson said that, if the GNWT is not going to support communities when they have a dump fire, they need to be aware of that and they better be banking some money because it's a significant cost that has to come out of somewhere. "It doesn't matter how you look at it, it's going to take away from something else and usually it will be capital," the mayor NNSL file photo said, referring to such things as economic The Town of Hay River is still seeking GNWT support to pay for a fire that burned at development. the landfill for most of March 2019.
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Vaccine rolls out across South Slave Hundreds of shots given in January Paul Bickford
editor@ssimicro.com
Health-care workers from Hay River have been busy recently getting the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 into the arms of people in the region from Fort Providence to Fort Resolution. During the Jan. 25 online meeting of Hay River town council, Coun. Brian Willows, also the public administrator of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, praised the efforts of the nurses and support workers at the vaccination clinics. Willows said that, as of Jan. 22, the health authority had administered 56 vaccines in Kakisa, 113 in Fort Providence, 241 in Fort Resolution, 56 in Enterprise, 107 in K'atlodeeche First Nation and 656 in Hay River, where there was a week-long vaccination clinic from Jan. 18 to 22. "So as you can see, our staff has been very busy, and I know from the feedback that I'm getting certainly the clients that are going in are more than happy to be there to get their vaccine and so thankful for it," he said. In addition, vaccinations were also offered to residents and staff at Woodland Manor long-term care facility and at Supportive Living Services earlier in January. Erin Griffiths, the CEO of the health authority, is pleased with the number of people getting vaccinated. "I am truly impressed by the number of NWT residents who have chosen to participate in the vaccine rollout," Griffiths said in written comments to The Hub on Jan. 25. "Receiving the vaccine is a crucial step towards ending the pandemic and may not only save your life, but the life of a loved one. As we move towards our goal of 75 per cent of all NWT residents vaccinated, we still need
photo courtesy of the GNWT
The rollout of the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 has delivered more than 1,200 doses in Hay River and the surrounding area from Fort Providence to Fort Resolution. to be vigilant. I encourage everyone to continue to wash their hands, mask up, physical distance and keep your social circle as small as possible." Dr. Kami Kandola, the chief public health officer for the NWT, said that vaccines have been delivered to all 33 communities in the territory as of Jan. 25. "That's 9,471 first doses in less than a month," said Kandola during a media availability on Jan. 27. "With the logistic and geographic challenges inherent in delivering vac-
cines across 1.3 million square kilometres, this is an incredible achievement. We continue to see impressive acceptance of the vaccine in all of our communities as our rollout continues." So far, the NWT has received two shipments of 7,200 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the federal government – one on Dec. 28 and the other in mid-January. Kandola said the next two shipments of vaccines are anticipated in February and will be used for second doses of the vaccine given to people in priority populations.
The priority groups include those 60 years of age and over, health-care professionals, anyone who travels out of the territory for medical reasons and those who have certain health issues. The second doses are to be administered between 28 days and 42 days after residents received their first doses. Kandola said the NWT is expecting to receive an allocation in mid-March to begin vaccinations for the general population 18 years of age and over.
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Wednesday, February 3, 2021 ▼ 7
Let the games not begin
Sports Hub
In 2019, young athletes from around the NWT – including Dawson King, left, Kaiah Carter and Sophie Hawkins from Harry Camsell School – participated in the opening ceremonies of the NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River. NNSL file photo
NWT Track and Field Championships cancelled by Covid-19 for second year Paul Bickford and james mccarthy editor@ssimicro.com
For the second year in a row, the NWT Track and Field Championships will not be held because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The meet's organizing committee announced in a Jan. 27 Facebook post that this year's edition – which would have been its 30th anniversary – has been cancelled owing to the questions surrounding the safety of hosting such a large event in this time of Covid-19. Tim Borchuk, who is co-chairman of the organizing committee, said there were too many what-ifs to make a decision to hold the event when he and co-chairman J.J. Hirst sat down on the afternoon of Jan. 27 and talked about it. "There are still a lot of unknowns out there, and a super spreader event that size could affect the entire territory," said Borchuk. The championships in June host more than 1,100 participants, including close to 900 out-of-town athletes, and is the largest annual sporting event in the NWT. Many of the competitors sleep in classrooms or in other buildings and all in close quarters, which presented the possibility of spreading Covid-19. Borchuk said that was a chance the organizers weren't willing to take. "We generally get about 20 to 25 kids in one room and they're all close to each other," he said. "That's so dangerous, especially now. I'm just not sure it would be good to host that many people considering everything that's still happening. I know so many people and I wouldn't want to be responsible for something happening to someone or to a community." The cancellation means an economic hit to Hay River, which always sees an increase in spending during the championships due to such things as hotel reservations and shopping. Borchuk said he knows it will affect the bottom line. "Track and field is synonymous with Hay River, one
and the same," he said. "I don't like making the decision to cancel, but it's only prudent that we did. It's sad but good at the same time because we'll still be here next year." As for the 2022 event, Borchuk said there's no idea what that will look like, but he's confident there will be a meet of some sort. "It could be on a smaller scale or we could throw open the doors and have a huge event," he said. "I don't know, but we're planning for 2022." Harry Cassie, the president and head coach of Athletics NWT, was not surprised by the decision, noting such school events have been cancelled all over Canada. "So with that, I expected that the games would be cancelled," he said. Cassie, who lives in Norman Wells, added he agrees that the safety of young people is of paramount importance. The Athletics NWT president also said that organizing the event takes a lot of co-ordination and effort. "I think it's the right call and the right time, basically because you don't want to wait last minute and then cancel," he said. Hay River Mayor Kandis Jameson was disappointed, but supports the decision to cancel this year's event. "Of course, my initial reaction was that it's so sad because it is such an exciting event," she said. "Everybody looks forward to it," she added. "I know I certainly do. But it's prudent in the times we're living in, definitely." Jameson said that, considering the time and the cost that goes into planning for the event, it makes sense to announce the cancellation decision now instead of waiting to see what happens. "So I think it was a wise decision, and it's prudent when you bring everything into the equation that it would make sense," she said. "Every day this Covid thing changes and unfortunately it's the way it is." Jameson recognizes that the cancellation will have an economic impact on Hay River, but said public health is a bigger concern.
In 2018, Tim Borchuk, one of the two co-ordinators of the NWT Track and Field Championships, helps prepare the field for the event at Diamond Jenness Secondary School.
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Kandola won't link Covid signal to Liard 'It's going to be impossible to link a specific (wastewater) signal to a specific person' Paul Bickford
editor@ssimicro.com
NNSL file photo
On Jan. 18, Doris Caudron, left, receives the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 from Lorie Steinwand, the supervisor of Public Health with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority and a registered nurse. It is very likely but it is not possible to say with 100 per cent certainty that a now-disappeared wastewater signal of an undetected case of Covid-19 in Hay River was related to cases in Fort Liard.
It is not possible to determine with 100 per cent certainty that a now-disappeared wastewater signal of an undetected case of Covid-19 in Hay River was related to an appearance of the disease in Fort Liard. While that is considered likely, Dr. Kami Kandola, the chief public health officer with the GNWT, said wastewater testing for Covid-19 can't definitely connect the Hay River and Fort Liard cases. "When you look at the wastewater surveillance, it's going to be impossible to link a specific signal to a specific person because basically we take the entire wastewater of that community and we look for any degree of Covid virus and amplify that many, many times to get a signal," she said during a media availability on Jan. 27. Kandola said that a Covid-19 signal can no longer be detected in Hay River's wastewater and the situation will continue to be monitored. She said it is believed that the signal in the Hay River wastewater was related to Covid-19 cases that later appeared in Fort Liard. A person had self-isolated
in Hay River early in January before travelling on to Fort Liard and being diagnosed with Covid-19 there. On Jan. 22, Kandola said that the Covid-19 signal in Hay River wastewater had disappeared. "This means that there is no further evidence of undetected Covid-19 infections in Hay River," she said at that time, adding that the investigation was closed and Hay River could return to routine public health measures against Covid-19. In the first half of January, anyone who had self-isolated in Hay River was asked to get tested for Covid-19. On Jan. 27, Kandola said the Covid-19 outbreak in Fort Liard appeared to have stabilized. "There are no new diagnoses in the past week, and that's thanks to the aggressive contact tracing and testing by the rapid response team since the cluster was first discovered," she said. "We are cautiously optimistic that the swift early local health response will succeed in keeping the Covid-19 risk at bay in Fort Liard." As of Jan. 22, six confirmed Covid-19 infections had been reported in Fort Liard. All diagnoses were in the same cluster, originally connected to out-of-territory travel.
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Subdivision plods forward This map of the proposed Fraser Place residential land development was in a planning report presented at the Jan. 25 online meeting of town council. image courtesy of the Town of Hay River
Town council launches rezoning process for Fraser Place residential land development Paul Bickford
editor@ssimicro.com
Another step has been taken towards the proposed development of new residential land in Hay River. On Jan. 25, town council approved first reading of rezoning the land targeted for Fraser Place. It would change the zoning to single-family residential from institutional. Plus, there would be two small areas going to parks and open spaces from institutional, and two other small areas going to singlefamily residential from parks and open spaces. The first reading was accompanied by a planning report on Fraser Place which offered more detail on the proposed development in part of a wooded area sometimes unofficially called the Hay River Nature Park. Most notably, the planning report envisions 29 single-family residen-
tial lots. The Fraser Place development would be located between the Morin Place/Stewart Drive/McBryan Drive area and the Hay River. At the closest point, the new lots would be approximately 70 metres from the river. The next step associated with the proposed rezoning and development will be a finance and sales plan presentation to council in the first quarter of this year. That would be followed in the second quarter by a public hearing on rezoning and preliminary design, detailed design and then tendering. Sales and construction could begin as early as the third quarter of 2021. "Before we go too much further with the readings and going into the public hearing, we'd like to come back with a bit of a finance and sales presentation to council just to give a more complete understanding of
AROUND THE SOUTH SLAVE Paul Bickford is the reporter for The Hub. Send your ideas to: editor@ssimicro.com.
School board seeking nominees for awards Thebacha/Fort Smith The South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC) is seeking nominees for its 2021 Excellence in Education Awards. The awards are presented in three categories. One category is program staff, which includes full-time and part-time teachers, administrators, consultants and education assistants. Another award goes to partners in education, which includes support staff, parents, students, volunteers and other community members or groups that support learning. Finally, there is the Jill Taylor Above and Beyond Award, which can go to a staff member, parent, student or partner who has gone above and beyond in volunteering to make positive contributions.
what the costs are looking like, how we're financing," Glenn Smith, the town's senior administrative officer, told the Jan. 25 online meeting of council. Smith said, once council is happy with that information, town administration would hold a public hearing on rezoning and preliminary design. "Once we have our design documents together, we would go through the process of tendering, testing the market to get a firm indication of what the development costs will be," he said. "If that's in alignment with budget and what's been approved by council, we would hope to get into a position of sales." Coun. Steve Anderson said there has been "some discontent" among community residents about the Fraser Place proposed development. Mayor Kandis Jameson pointed out the proposal has identified a couple of park areas and tries to maintain the trail system in the
wooded area. "If we can't afford to develop this or something goes sideways, council's direction was still to make this area residential, to do infilling because it is substantially less cost with all the existing infrastructure in place," she said, referring to the nearby residential areas. "But before we do develop, we will be presenting to our residents what that will look like, what the plan looks like." Jameson said that, when a group of residents appeared before council with their concerns, she made a personal commitment that there would be a full consultation process. "And I still stand behind that and we will be going out to the residents of this community to ensure that everybody is aware what this is going to look like and what the impact is on the area," she said. In comments to The Hub, Jameson stressed that the Fraser Place development will strive to preserve
The SSDEC will accept nominations before May 31.
Metis Nation, GNWT hold intergovernmental meeting South Slave The leadership of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation and the territorial cabinet gathered online Jan. 12 for their annual intergovernmental meeting. The Metis Nation was represented by president Garry Bailey and Metis community council presidents Lloyd Cardinal of Fort Resolution, Trevor Beck of Hay River and Allan Heron of Fort Smith. Representing the GNWT were Premier Caroline Cochrane and ministers Diane Archie, R.J. Simpson, Shane Thompson, Caroline Wawzonek, Paulie Chinna and Julie Green. The meeting focused on continuing to share information and perspectives between the two governments, including on the following issues: • the transformation of Aurora College to a polytechnic university; • infrastructure projects in the South Slave; • the Covid-19 pandemic; • establishing an NWT Council of Leaders Multilateral Forum;
the integrity of the area. "I think green space is what we're looking for to ensure that there is some nice separation between Stewart Drive and the Fraser Place development, and that we retain the trail systems as much as possible through the front of that," she said. Fraser Place is not going to change the look of the area, she added. "We're going to keep trees, we're going to keep parks and green zones, we're going to try to have as little impact on the area as possible." The mayor said council will not make a final decision on going ahead with the development until it has solid numbers to consider. "But it will be developed eventually, that area," she said. "That is the next area to be developed and that's why we're going forward with the rezoning." The area has been identified for residential development by the Town of Hay River since at least 2005.
• implementing the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; • land claim negotiations; • and housing opportunities. An Intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding commits both governments to meet at least once per year. The agreement was initially signed in 2012 and was renewed in 2017 for another four-year term.
Lottery ticket win in Fort Resolution Deninu K'ue/Fort Resolution Blain Sanderson of Fort Resolution is $10,000 richer thanks to The Bigger Spin, a scratch 'n' win ticket from the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC). "I saw that I matched a number on my ticket, so I had the cashier check it for me," said Sanderson in a Jan. 28 news release from WCLC. "When I saw that I won $10,000, I was so happy." The winner said he hasn't made any concrete plans for the money, but he is thinking about sharing some of the windfall with his family. Sanderson purchased his $10 ticket at the Northern Store in Fort Resolution.
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