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Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Serving the Hub of the North since 1960
Volume 60 • Issue 17
thompsoncitizen.net/covid-19
UP-TO-THE-MINUTE CORONAVIRUS UPDATES AT
Judy Kolada, who served on Thompson city council since 1995, died April 18 at the age of 75 BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Judy Kolada, who died April 18 at the age of 75 after a lengthy battle with cancer, is being remembered by some of her current council colleagues as a fountain of knowledge about the city and a formidable opponent when her opinions and theirs differed. Kolada, who would have turned 76 April 21, came to Thompson in 1963 after graduating from Bridgewater Business College in Nova Scotia and spent the last 25 years as a city councillor, working with four different mayors – Colleen Smook, Dennis Fenske, Tim Johnston and Bill Comaskey – over that quarter century. She is only the fourth Thompson city councillor to die while in office, along with Brian Wilson, who died in 2010, Mayor Don MacLean, who died in 1991 and Dr. Blain Johnston, who died in 1974. “She was always very passionate” about her work as a councillor, says Mayor Colleen Smook, who served on council with Kolada for one
and-a-half terms, including Smook’s term as a councillor from 2014 to 2018, which was Kolada’s sixth term. “Judy was always a good sounding board.” Smook has known Kolada for 40 years, first as a friend of her mother’s and then as a friend of her own, a friendship that was strained during the 2014-2018 term of council when the two sometimes ended up on opposite sides of municipal issues. “We got back on terms,” Smook says. Kolada was an advocate for everyone in the city and did what elected officials are supposed to do – listened to the public’s concerns, which made getting re-elected so many times easier. “She never had to do a lot of advertising or campaigning to get elected,” says Smook, and was still in the loop up until the beginning of last week despite being in the hospital. “She was definitely a force to be reckoned with.” “Over the past couple years, Coun. Kolada has provided me with an ear to vent, good advice when needed,
a friendly face where it was most needed and most appreciated of all, her friendship,” said current fellow councillor Jeff Fountain in a Facebook post. “Judy was always a classy lady, dressing the part for leadership. She had a wonderful sense of optimism and great patience and was equally comfortable talking shop with the boys as she was in classier settings. Her efforts in advocacy for the Thompson Public Library, health authority, mining and lobbying efforts with the province earned her well deserved respect.” “Judy will be remembered for her hard work and commitment to the City of Thompson,” said Thompson MLA Danielle Adams on Facebook. “She will also be remembered for the countless hours she gave to various community organizations like Relay for Life and Operation Red Nose.” Kolada was employed by the provincial government for 30 years, in departments such as northern affairs and the Department of Labour as an employment standards officer. After retiring her gov-
Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of City of Thompson Judy Kolada, who died April 18, was in her seventh term as a Thompson city councillor. ernment job, she served for three years as the executive director of the Thompson YWCA. “She’ll be missed by the City of Thompson,” said Smook, characterizing Kolada as a consummate public servant when it came to her role as a councillor. “It was always for the greater good
of the people around her.” Under the terms of Manitoba’s Municipal Act, a byelection to fill the vacancy left on Thompson city council by Kolada’s death must be held as soon as reasonably possible, though the act does not spell out precisely what constitutes a reasonable timeframe.
Facebook helps teacher and puppeteer provide educate and entertain audiences online during pandemic BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
With COVID-19 pandemic precautions shutting down schools and depriving many people of their regular social activities, technology plays an important role in keeping people connected while observing social distancing guidelines. Among the many people in Thompson using communications tools to keep in touch while staying home as much as possible are a school librarian and a wellknown Northern Manitoba puppeteer. Kathy Pitre, the librarian at École communautaire la Voie du Nord, began reading broadcasting videos of herself reading French books and stories on the school’s Facebook page when school was suspended throughout Manitoba in late March, shortly after the first positive test for the novel coronavirus in the province. “I wanted to make sure kids get to listen to a story in French every day,” she said of her 10:30 a.m. weekday ritual. “I’m super happy to
get the chance to go to work every day. It’s something easy I can do.” For Ken Bighetty, who works with the Jordan’s Principle team at Keewatin Tribal Council in Thompson, posting humorous puppet videos on YouTube or Facebook has been a regular pastime of his, along with his three brothers, since long before the pandemic, though he thinks the humour is especially needed now. “The kids feed off the humour,” says Bighetty. “If the parents are laughing then the kids feed off that.” He’s also heard from elders that laughing helped them survive previous hard times. “It was humour that got them through,” he said, which is why he offers offbeat social distancing advice like eating half a can of beans before going grocery shopping so you can just fart to help keep people six feet away from you. One of his most popular recent videos was of his puppet Chief coming out of the bush and stumbling
An April 2 Facebook video by Ken Bighetty in which his puppet Chief stumbles across a COVID-19 checkstop in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation has been shared more than 1,000 times.
École communautaire la Voie du Nord librarian Kathy Pitre helps students maintain their French language skills by reading a story every weekday on the French school’s Facebook page.
upon a COVID-19 checkstop in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. “My puppet had his snowshoes and his trappers hat,” says Bighetty. “It was all adlibbed. It’s just been going crazy.” The video has been shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook. In addition to laughs, Bighetty also provides social distancing advice.
book page and some have been viewed more than 500 times. “Kids can listen to the story more than one time,” she says, and that can help them keep up their French language skills. Though their videos are different, Pitre and Bighetty both get their children to help out with their online escapades. “My son doesn’t listen to
“I always say stay home and do your part,” he says. For Pitre, reading stories to a camera isn’t difficult but the introduction can be. “It’s kind of hard just to speak,” she says, while waiting for students to log on. While there aren’t always a lot of people watching live–“sometimes I have like 15 kids listening”–Pitre’s videos stay up on the Face-
my stories” during the live broadcast, Pitre says, but he does serve as a rehearsal audience. “I read the story to him the night before.” “My daughter also got involved,” says Bighetty, though he also provides her with more hands-on entertainment by carrying her around on his back. “At least twice a day, I’m a horse,” he says.