November 11 2022

Nickel Belt News

Thompson’s new council and mayor sworn in

Book a way to preserve and pass on memories of growing up in Churchill

to write things that you have to figure out. It’s pretty clear

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

a book about her experiences growing up in Churchill, Addictions Foundation of Manitoba northern director Gisele deMeulles said writing wasn’t something she always thought she would do.

The mayor and coun cil elected by Thompson residents last week official ly stepped into their roles when they were sworn in at the Nov. 2 inaugural meet ing of council at City Hall.

Mayor Colleen Smook and seven of the eight elected councillors swore or affirmed their eligibility for and commitment to per form the duties of their of fice before provincial court Judge Curtis Briscoe and an audience of about 20 spec tators, mostly their family

“In my youth I never felt good at writing,” she said. “But when I moved to Thompson to get into the school of social work, at that point I had to write for university and realized, ‘Holy, I’m not bad at this, right?’ I certainly developed a lot of skill in university and came out of there with a very strong skill in my writing and confidence in my writing. I write very clear and that’s it. It’s there. Some people say it’s kind of blunt or direct. I don’t tend

DeMeulles said she wrote her book, titled Whispers in the Wind: Stories from the North - Life in Churchill for a couple of reasons.

and friends.

She also has a reputation as a storyteller herself.

was not a very safe thing to do but I jumped at it. I thought that was exciting until the plane landed and they started throwing the fuel off and I realized, ‘Holy cats, I was probably sitting on a bomb.’”

easier to live.

Coun. Kathy Valentino, now beginning her third term on council, was ap pointed by Smook as deputy mayor to act in her place when necessary for the next year.

Appointments were also made to the board of re vision, the taxi commission, the building standards com mittee and the grievance committee.

Rookie Coun, Joyce MvIvor and returning councillors Earl Colbourne and Brian Lundmark were named as the council repre

“I just sort of thought, you know what, this history, this stuff that’s in my head, it’s going to be gone if I don’t write it down,” she said. “My kids are not going to get it if I don’t do it and it’s something I’ve always wanted my mom to do. My mom’s an elder and she’s an artist, she’s got so many wonderful stories because she always tells her stories at Parks Canada in Churchill and I’ve always hounded her, ‘Please, just put it on tape, I will write it for you because your story is going to be lost,’ and she’s never done it and I thought,

sentatives on the board of revision, with Lundmark serving as chairperson.

“I had such a varied history and I would tell people stories and they would go, ‘That’s not true, is it?’ I’d go, ‘Yeah it’s true.’ They’d go, ‘You didn’t do all that, did you? You’ve got to be really old.’ I was like, ‘No, actually I did all that before I was 27,’ and they went ‘What?’”

be a sign of a more harmoni ous council, at least to start the term.

Another thing that spurred her on was the hard times facing Churchill since the Hudson Bay Railway suspended operations north of Gillam last spring.

Colbourne was not at the inaugural meeting due to ill ness and will be sworn in before an upcoming com mittee of the whole or coun cil meeting.

Looking back, some of those experiences are things she might not do again.

Coun. Louis Fitzpatrick was appointed to the taxi commission alongside Mc Ivor and Colbourne, and also to the building standards committee with Lundmark and Coun. Chiew Chong. Chong was also named to the grievance committee, as were Valentino and Coun. Sandra Oberdorfer.

“I did some pretty bizarre stuff like fuel hauls into the high Arctic at -35,” said deMeulles. “It didn’t dawn on me until after. That was a very dangerous thing to do. Being on a plane full of fuel

All the board, commis sion and committee ap pointments were agreed to by consensus, rather than requiring votes, which may

In her opening remarks, Smook said that serving on council is a privilege.

“It used to be a really thriving large community and it’s just dwindled down to such a small population now,” deMeulles says.

Though she’s not there any longer, her parents and her sister and other family members still are.

“My cousin owns the hardware store there,” she says.

“We are all very honoured and humbled to be in this position,” the mayor said, stressing the need for every one to work together as best as they can. “I am only one of nine elected people

Because of that, deMeulles finds it hard to

together. We’re all going to be awesome leaders who move things forward.”

“To say, ‘Those people choose to live there. They should just leave,’ is quite simplistic. It’s quite disrespectful. If we were in the same boat in another area I think we would scream about that so why don’t they have the option to do that?

Although there are sever al major holdover projects from the last term, includ ing water and sewer and road renewal as well as the drive to get a new pool built, Smook said all councillors can also influence the city’s direction.

For all the harsh weather and the dangers of polar bears, deMeulles said if it had been viable she would have moved back to Churchill in a heartbeat.

nephew (Chong and Coun. Duncan Wong) and an uncle and his niece (Fitzpatrick and Oberdorfer) serving on council.

“I’m sure council is go ing to add projects and their voices to be heard over the next year.”

The mayor also noted that is a first for council to have both an uncle and his

I think right now they’re feeling like they’re pawns in a political game and that’s really sad for them because I think the people of Churchill really want to thrive. They’ve built their worlds there. How would we feel if someone came to you and said, ‘I’m sorry, you have to leave your home community and we’re going to displace you somewhere else and all your loved ones and your history is gone?’”

“I miss the shoreline, I miss the rock, I miss the polar bears even though they’re very dangerous and I really miss the Hudson Bay,” she says. “When I go back home, standing on the Hudson Bay looking out on the bay, it just gives you an incredible sense. You feel so small and you feel great.”

Councillors also ap proved the mayor and dep uty mayor to have signing authority, alongside the city manager, acting city manager, chief financial officer and assistant chief financial officer. Any two of those people together can authorize routine spending on behalf of the city, though large amounts usually need to be tendered and approved by council as a whole.

Now that she’s got one book under her belt, deMeulles says she may try to produce another.

“I have another book in me,” she says. “It’s a darker story, more about personal growth and struggles. Maybe in the next five years it’s something I’ll focus on doing.”

Serving the Norman Region since 1961

I need to capture them for my grandchildren really because they will be lost if I don’t.”

Addictions Foundation of Manitoba northern director Gisele deMeulles has written a book about her experiences growing up, mostly in Churchill.

2022

Delivering News to the Nickel Belt since 1960

Provincial court Judge Curtis Briscoe swears in Colleen Smook, left, for her second term as mayor on Nov. 2.

Thompson Citizen photos by Ian Graham

Rookie Coun. Chiew Chong, right, is sworn in by provincial court Judge Curtis Briscoe Nov. 2 at Thompson City Hall.

Provincial court Judge Curtis Briscoe, left, swears in firstterm Coun. Lous Fitzpatrick, right during council’s inaugural meeting Nov. 2.

First-term Coun. Joyce McIvor, right, is sworn in by provincial court Judge Curtis Briscoe at Thompson City Hall Nov. 2.

Third-term Coun. Kathy Valentino, right, is sworn in Nov. 2 by provincial court Judge Curtis Briscoe.

Returning Coun. Brian Lundmark shakes hands with provin cial court Judge Curtis Briscoe after being sworn in Nov. 2.

Third-term Coun. Duncan Wong, right, reads the oath of office with provincial court Judge Curtis Briscoe on Nov. 2 at Thompson City Hall.

Rookie Coun, Sandra Oberdorfer signs her oath of office to complete her swearing in at Thompson City Hall Nov. 2.

Northern First Nations demand health-care centre, decry suicide crises

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Island Lake leaders say “a pandemic of suffering” is plaguing their fly-in com munities and the only way to stop suicide crises in the northern First Nations is to build a regional health cen tre so preventative and pri mary care is available close to home.

Chiefs from Red Suck er Lake, Garden Hill, Wasagamack and St. Theresa Point held a news conference Nov. 2 in Winnipeg to raise awareness about the dire state of mental health among their more than 15,000 residents.

Anishininew Okimawin Grand Chief Scott Harper, who oversees the First Na tions’ grand council, told reporters self-harm, addic tions and other severe mental health challenges are daily concerns in all four commun ities he represents.

In Harper’s home com munity of Red Sucker Lake, there have been two recent deaths by suicide and at least 17 attempts. On Oct. 20, the First Nation declared a state of emergency over the mental health crisis and serious need for support workers.

“An urgent strategy is needed to address coloniz ation’s intergenerational, traumatic effects, combined with decades of insufficient resources and funding, which has created a pandemic of suffering,” Harper said, during an event at Anishin inew Okimawin’s office on Broadway.

The council is calling on both provincial and feder al governments to provide money for a local hospital, addictions treatment centre, and land-based programs for mental health concerns. While the First Nations await permanent infrastructure, their leaders want immediate dollars for interim programs in the region.

For years, Island Lake members have been sound ing alarms about the need for increased mental health servi ces in the region, which can only be accessed via plane or winter road.

Northern families walked to Parliament Hill in 2018 to beg for a treatment cen tre. Federal officials prom ised support at the time and accepted the community’s feasibility study for a hub at Red Sucker Lake roughly two years later.

More recently, Indigenous Services Canada confirmed in August the methampheta mine rehab centre is not a priority for government funding.

Area residents currently rely on nursing stations and medical evacuations to re ceive health-care services.

Red Sucker Lake Chief Samuel Knott, Garden Hill Chief Charles Knott, Wasagamack Chief Walter Harper and St. Theresa Point Chief Elvin Flett all spoke about their shared concerns regarding the status quo Nov.

2. “I want my youth to suc ceed in life, not to fall and to be depressed,” Harper said. “Enough is enough. We need to be looked after.”

Food insecurity, crowded housing, inadequate access to clean tap water, unreliable airplane services, limited policing, and preventable deaths — some of which have occurred in transit or prior to boarding a flight due to both lengthy processes and wait times for service — were discussed.

Garden Hill’s chief noted the fact mould was found in the community’s high school, which has resulted in a weeks-long ongoing shutdown, is only making mental health matters worse for teenagers.

Anishininew Okimawin es timates a health-care facility would cost approximately $300 million, excluding the price tag of transporting ma terials to the region, located more than 450 kilometres

north of Winnipeg.

Asked how the com munities would staff such a facility amid widespread health-care worker burnout and shortages, Anishininew Okimawin indicated it would make postings for any quali fied local or outsider profes sionals, as it currently does for its nursing stations.

The grand council leaders said they are asking for no more than mental health ser vices that are equal to those offered in non-Indigenous communities. An investment into facilities would save governments money in the long-term, they argued.

“How could it be that sui cide is the leading cause of death for Indigenous youth in Canada? How can that be acceptable? This is not a new problem and it is accelerating at a pace that should be fright ening for everyone and every family,” said Cindy Wood house, Manitoba regional chief at the Assembly of First Nations.

“Our young people need to be shown (care) and sup port, our young people need education, running water and housing in order to have hope.”

Indigenous Services Can ada pledged to continue working with local leaders, but did not address specific construction requests Nov. 2.

“We recognize there is more work to do in order to close the gap in access to quality health care between Indigenous and non-In digenous peoples in Can ada,” spokesman Randy Legault-Rankin said in a prepared statement.

Legault-Rankin noted Ot tawa provides nurses, fund ing for community-based health programs, routine and air ambulance travel costs, and has long-supported the Island Lake’s Four Arrows Regional Health Authority with initiatives, including funding for a mental health crisis team.

The Hope for Wellness

help line provides immedi ate, toll-free telephone and online chat resources for all Indigenous people in Canada, he added. Counsellors can be accessed through the 24-7 service (1-855-242-3310 or hopeforwellness.ca) avail able in English and French, in addition to Cree, Ojibwa and Inuktitut, upon request.

On Nov. 2, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Mani toba Keewatinowi Okima kanak and the NDP critic for Indigenous affairs expressed solidarity with Anishininew Okimawin.

Mental Health Minister Sarah Guillemard said the province is happy to join the federal government is dis cussions about how officials can support residents in the region.

Meantime, the Mani toba Adolescent Treatment Centre’s outreach team has already been assisting Red Sucker Lake, and centre employees will soon be dis patched to provide hands-on

help, Guillemard said.

“My heart goes out to the community. It is tough anytime you lose someone – but certainly when there’s multiple losses and (it is) surrounding suicide,” the minister added.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon was unavailable to answer questions from reporters.

Alan Lagimodiere, who oversees the Indigenous reconciliation and northern relations portfolio, was at tending a meeting after ques tion period Nov. 2 and was also unavailable to answer questions.

In a statement, a spokes person for Manitoba Health said the province is commit ted to strengthening northern health care and is working towards creating a new socalled Intermediate Health Care Hub in the North to reduce the need to travel to southern regions for services.

— with files from Danielle Da Silva and Carol Sanders

Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Anishininew Okimawin

Anishininew Okimawin Grand Chief Scott Harper, Red Sucker Lake Chief Samuel Knott, Garden Hill Chief Charles Knott, Wasagamack Chief Walter Harper and St. Theresa Point Chief Elvin Flett spoke in Winnipeg Nov. 2 about the need for a regional health centre to be built in the Island Lake area to help stop suicide crises in their communities.

Election went smoothly but pathetic participation a concern

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

The election that brought them to council chambers and the poor turnout of voters were the first items discussed by Thompson’s new city council in City Hall Nov. 7.

Meeting as a committee of the whole for the first time, councillors listened to an elections report from senior election offi cial Norma Howitt, which said that election day Oct. 26 ran smoothly, though wrinkles will have to be ironed out when it comes to advance voting.

“Registration during advance polls will need a little more thought to revamp as it was slower than anticipated,” said her report, which noted that 158 new names were added to rolls during the election period, bringing the total number of eligible voters in Thompson to 7,731. Only 2,073 of those vot ers showed up to advance polls or on election day, 2,069 of whom cast bal lots, a turnout of about 27 per cent, 10 percentage points lower than in 2018 and a lower turnout than in any of the previous three elections dating back to 2010.

Coun. Earl Colbourne said he believed that hav ing all election day voting at the Thompson Regional Community Centre instead of at schools may have contributed to the anemic voter participation and asked why that decision was made.

Many cities similar in size to Thompson have

all voting at one location, said city manager Anthony McInnis, noting that the practice of having munici pal voting in schools was a holdover from when Thompson had a ward sys tem for council elections.

“The tradition of voting at the schools remained afterward,” he said.

Part of the reason for having the voting in one

location was that it made easier for Howitt to more quickly assist with any problems that occurred. McInnis also said that na tional and provincial mu nicipal government associ ations like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities predicted that turnout would be lower this elec

tion cycle, partly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and partly due to general voter dissatisfac tion with political systems in general

The idea of online voting was brought up by Coun, Duncan Wong, who said that Ontario is considering it. Manitoba is also looking at whether online voting can be used to modernize

municipal elections, said McInnis, though that will require legislative changes.

“If this council feels strongly that that should be something that should be pursued I would recom mends that we add it to our lobby effort,” he said.

Since there was no tie forcing a byelection like there was four years ago, Mayor Colleen Smook said

there is plenty of time for further discussions about how elections are run and how to get more people to vote.

Colbourne says he is keen for those discussions to take place.

“I want to keep dig ging,” he said “I want to keep asking questions. Something went wrong here.”

Thompson Citizen photo by Ian Graham

Coun. Earl Colbourne began his second term on council by asking Nov. 7 if changes to election procedures were part of the reason that voter turnout in Thompson was 10 percentage points lower in 2022 than it was four years earlier.

Thompson Citizen photos courtesy of R.D. Parker Collegiate Pathways Program

Northern Manitoba airports, including Thompson’s, get federal funding for equipment

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

A dozen Northern Mani toba airports are among 15 in the province that recent ly got federal government funding for equipment pur chases and infrastructure upgrades.

Airports in Flin Flon, Gods Lake Narrows, Nor way House, Oxford House, Pukatawagan, Red Sucker Lake, South Indian Lake, St. Theresa Point, Tadoule Lake, The Pas, Thompson and York Landing collect ively will receive about $3.7 million from Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program.

The biggest beneficiaries are Tadoule Lake, which is getting over $1 million for wildlife control fencing plus $50,000 for a tow-behind compactor, as well as York Landing, which is getting nearly $927,000 for wildlife fencing.

Thompson’s airport is receiving $358,960 for a snowplow. Several of the airports in fly-in commun ities are getting compactors, which create stable surfaces for takeoffs and landings on gravel runways and cost

$50,000 apiece.

The money, which is on top of more than $20 mil lion that went to airports in Flin Flon, Gods Lake Narrows, Lac Brochet, Red Sucker Lake, Shamattawa and Thompson in 2021, is intended to help ease supply chain pressures, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra told the Thompson Citizen.

“Our government is going to do everything we can to enhance and strengthen the resilience and the fluidity of our supply chain,” he said. “Certainly the the air ports that serve remote and northern regions have even an added point of import ance to maintain not only the supply chain, but also essential services that the communities depend on, such as medical services. These airports provide es sential service that that the community cannot afford to lose or jeopardize and that's why these types of investments will only en hance these airports’ ability to be safer and to be more efficient.”

Safety investments are especially important for communities without road

or rail access, the minister said.

“There are certain times of the year that this is the only way to get in and out.”

Alghabra said the latest investments are part of a “comprehensive economic plan” for Northern Mani toba that includes up to about $60 million for the Hudson Bay Railway and other investments such as opening a PrairiesCan ser vice centre in Thompson.

Supply chain issues and resulting effects like high inflation need to be ad dressed in multiple ways, Alghabra said.

“There have been a lot of pressures on availabil ity of goods, on prices of goods, uncertainty, and we just want to let Canadians know that we are tack ling these issues head on, whether by offering dir ect relief to families who need help, or by investing in some of the bottlenecks that are adding more stress on our supply chains,” the minister said. “We're tack ling this issue from two sides, by offering direct relief but also by address ing the root causes.”

RCMP seeking Easterville

Four men from Easterville are wanted by police in connection with an assault that left another man with serious injuries.

Chemawawin RCMP were alerted around 11 a.m. March 11 that a 24-year-old man was being taken to the Easterville nursing station for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Investigation determined that four men entered the victim’s home earlier that morning, assaulting him and causing extensive damage before leaving.

Police are asking for the public’s assistance in finding 29-year-old Mitchell Howard Ledoux, 27-year-old Steven Shane Klyne, 26-year-old Shawn Eric Umpherville and 20-year-old Nathan Walter Umpherville, all from Easterville, who are believed to have fled to Winnipeg. The four face numerous charges including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and breaking and entering.

Anyone with information on any of the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to call Chemawawin

RCMP at Crime ously at

Thompson Citizen file photo

Thompson’s airport is getting about $360,000 for a new snowplow through Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program.

Gazan praised for getting residential school genocide recognized in Parliament

BY DAVE BAXTER LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE RE PORTER, WINNIPEG SUN

Indigenous leaders say a huge step towards heal ing and reconciliation from the horrors of the residen tial school system is for all Canadians to refer to what happened in those schools as acts of genocide, and one university professor says af ter what happened in Ottawa last week, the fact that it was genocide can’t be denied by Canadians any longer.

On Oct. 27, NDP MP Leah Gazan, who represents Win nipeg Centre, saw her motion calling on the federal govern ment to recognize residential schools — which operated for more than a century in Canada — as a genocide pass unanimously in the House of Commons.

“Today I lift up surviv ors, families, and commun ities who have sacrificed so much in order for people across Canada to know the

truth that what happened in residential schools was a genocide,” Gazan said in Parliament. “I’m grateful to Parliamentarians who unani mously passed my motion recognizing the truth of Can ada’s history.

“I look forward to working with the government to en sure the will of Parliament is honoured by formally recog nizing residential schools as genocide. Survivors deserve no less.”

Gazan’s motion referenced the United Nations Genocide Convention, which defines genocide as “acts commit ted with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, including the killing of its members, causing ser ious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately imposing liv ing conditions that seek to bring about its physical de struction in whole or in part, preventing births, or forcibly

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MORTGAGE SALE

The land and building known as 73 Centennial Drive East, Thompson, MB, as described in Certificate of Title No. 1737718/3 will be sold at a public auction on the 30th day of November, 2022 at 9:30 A.M. The auction sale will be held by video or teleconference. There will be no in-person attendees at the auction, in order to participate you must pre-register at least 24 hours prior to the auction by contacting Jo-Anne Degagne at either 204-957-4808 or jdegagne@mltaikins.com.

To the best of the Vendor’s knowledge, there is situated on the mortgaged property a 1183 sq ft, single family bungalow built in 1968, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, with a full, partially finished basement, double detached garage, located on a 50 x 100 foot lot.

Property taxes (excluding any accruing water charges) are paid in full to December 31, 2019. The property is sold sub ject to taxes and penalties accruing after that date. The prior encumbrances which will remain on title after the auction are: Caveat No. 33795N/3, 33796N/3, 40522N/3, TSN 1224449/3.

TERMS: Deposit of $30,000.00 in cash, certified cheque or bank draft payable to MLT Aikins LLP and the balance ac cording to conditions to be announced at the sale.

Sale is subject to Reserve Bid which will be announced at the auction. If the highest bid does not meet the Reserve Bid then there is no sale. The auction sale will be conducted pursuant to an Order for Sale issued by the District Registrar. Certain parties may be prohibited from purchasing the property, including but not limited to, parties who by virtue of their employment or relationship to a person involved in the sale process would have special knowledge of the circumstanc es pertaining to the sale. For more information and a list of prohibited purchasers please visit: www.teranetmanitoba.ca

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transferring children out of the group to another group.”

The motion passed just months after Pope Francis visited Canada and said that he believes that what Indigenous people faced while being forced to attend residential schools, often at the hands of members of the Catholic Church, amounted to genocide.

The pontiff made the com ment to reporters during a flight from Iqaluit back to Rome following his six-day tour of Canada in July.

Assistant professor of his tory and Indigenous studies at the University of Mani toba Sean Carleton said both the Pope’s admission and Parliament’s unanimous vote are important steps be cause people who deny that residential schools were genocide have now lost all legitimacy.

“The residential school system was run by church and state, and now both the church and state have ac knowledged it was genocide, so that closes the book on any debate, and closes the book on denialism,” Carleton said. “This was genocide and that is a simple fact.

“And why it’s so import ant was because as long as the Catholic Church and the federal government con tinued to waffle on that, it gave space for denialists to have their talking points seem legitimate and now in the last six months that avenue has closed.

“Those who want to make

excuses and downplay facts, well now all of that has prov en to be not legitimate.”

He said now that the truth has been recognized by the federal government he hopes that it makes it easier for all Canadians to work towards reconciliation with Indigen ous people.

“The Truth and Reconcili ation Commission made it

very clear that without truth there can be no genuine prog ress towards reconciliation,” Carleton said. “So if people are spending their time debat ing the truth, then we’re not making any real progress on strengthening that relation ship and moving forward.”

More than 150,000 In digenous people in Canada were forced out of their

homes, separated from their families and forced to attend residential schools while the system was running.

The system attempted to assimilate Indigenous chil dren into western European culture by isolating them from their own culture, religion and families, and many of those children have reported being subject to physical, mental and sexual abuse while in residential schools.

The Assembly of Mani toba Chiefs newly elected Grand Chief Cathy Merrick praised Gazan for her work to bring the “truth” to light in Parliament.

“We recognize the achieve ment of acknowledgement of truth for those that attended Indian residential schools that they fought so long and hard to have heard across Turtle Island,” Merrick said in a media release.

“We look forward to wit nessing the next step in the process to have Canada for mally recognize residential schools as genocide.

“I am grateful for the work of NDP member of Parlia ment Leah Gazan, for her relentless efforts to bring this motion forward and her continuing effort to bring this to the Canadian government’s table to face the truth of its history.”

— Dave Baxter is a Lo cal Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Lo cal Journalism Initiative is funded by the government of Canada.

What Canada’s fall fiscal update means for Indigenous nations

BY MATTEO CIMELLARO LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, CANADA'S NATIONAL OBSERVER

In her fall economic statement, Finance Minis ter Chrystia Freeland an nounced key changes to the First Nations Land Manage ment Act, payouts for settle ment claims, more funding for the law that supports In digenous sovereignty over child welfare and family services, and details on how Canada’s critical min erals strategy might affect remote Indigenous nations. Here are some of the key takeaways from the Nov. 3 fiscal update:

First Nations Land Management Act gets a new framework

The updated law will provide a framework to streamline all self-govern ment agreements, effectively removing barriers for First Nations to opt out of the Indian Act. Previous First Nations’ land management agreements required royal assent. Now, First Nations can use the framework without having their land management agreements that would exist outside the Indian Act pass through the

House and Senate. Canada plans to go big on critical minerals strategy

Canada is entering a pivotal industrial transition period, according to a senior government official speaking on background about the fis cal update. The federal gov ernment hopes to position Canada as a global supplier of critical minerals for bat teries, electric vehicles and clean technology. It’s under pressure to promote the critical mineral industry fol lowing the U.S.’s passing of the Inflation Reduction Act, which the senior government official warned could be come a “gravitational black hole” drawing industrial in vestments to the U.S.

But how will the expan sion of critical mineral min ing affect remote Indigenous nations? Earlier this year, a new Indigenous policy framework put Indigenous knowledge on par with west ern science in the federal government’s environmental and impact assessments.

The fall economic state ment acknowledged the ongoing development of a benefits-sharing framework that seeks to ensure Indigen ous nations benefit from fu

ture resource development projects. Details about that framework, announced ear lier this year, are expected in 2023.

For example, in northern Ontario alone, there are more than 26,000 active mining claims in what is called the Ring of Fire, an area just under 5,000 square kilo metres, or nearly the size of Prince Edward Island. The development is setting up a battle between First Nations who want a larger say in development and Canada’s goal to ramp up its critical mineral strategy.

Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples

The government has spent nearly $6 billion in claims settlements with Indigenous nations this fiscal year, with an extra $1 million prom ised for next year. For ex ample, in mid-October, the government of Canada paid more than $63 million to Niisaachewan Anishinaabe Nation following a claim that began 20 years ago over allegedly unauthorized con struction and operation of two dams that flooded their community.

Bill C-92, or An Act re specting First Nations, Inuit

and Métis Children, Youth and Families, received a top-up of nearly $1.6 bil lion in funding until 2027.

This money will continue to give Indigenous nations more control over their chil dren’s welfare, particularly jurisdiction over child and family services.

The fall economic state ment also allocated $1.7 billion in additional funding for First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan’s Principle, which requires the federal government to make sure First Nations children have access to timely health care, education and social services.

The funds will strengthen existing services and sup port negotiations for the federal government’s final child-welfare settlement agreement with First Nations children and families. The federal government commit ted $40 billion to the settle ment through agreements in principle in January, how ever, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rejected part of that proposed agree ment last month. Another $4 billion was previously an nounced for Jordan’s Prin ciple in Budget 2022.

Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Government of Canada Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Leah Gazan recently got unani mous support from fellow MPs for her motion calling on the Canadian government to recognize the country’s residential school system as genocide.

Manitoba explores U.S.-style university funding

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Manitoba appears set to radically change the way universities and colleges are funded, by switching to a popular model in the U.S. that requires schools to report achievement data and meet specific goals in exchange for operating dollars.

Consultations about “per formance benchmarks” re main underway, but school leaders, faculty members and student groups are again raising concerns about the Tory government’s plan to update traditional lumpsum funding.

“Developing and im plementing a set of per formance benchmarks is intended to ensure great er financial oversight and accountability for public funding,” states an ex cerpt from a consultation guide recently put out by the advanced education department.

The guide, sent to stake holders in late September, details how the province is collecting feedback to cre ate its so-called post-sec ondary accountability framework. Data on student admission and progression,

graduate outcomes, and institutional efficiency and effectiveness are all under consideration as the prov ince searches for metrics to measure.

The Progressive Con servatives have long touted the importance of improv ing oversight of taxpayer dollars on post-secondary programs and tailoring courses to more closely meet workforce needs.

The contents of a 2017 KPMG review and 2020 report from the auditor general — both of which critique a lack of provincial post-secondary supervision — are repeatedly cited as reasons to modernize the system.

Consultations on how the province should achieve its goals began in the spring.

In response to a June 17 meeting, the University of Manitoba’s leader penned a letter outlining extensive reporting and accountabil ity measures already in place.

President Michael Ben arroch requested the prov ince refrain from tying funding to data because he said it is not necessary to motivate schools to make progress. “Tied funding generates unintended con

sequences; making progress on specific metrics for ex ample can come at a cost to other priorities, such as accessibility,” he wrote in the Aug. 2 letter.

Benarroch noted statis tics such as graduate em ployment and earnings are out of a school’s control. He indicated a successful framework will rely on the government communi cating a “clear vision and objectives” for the post-sec ondary system.

Former premier Brian Pallister expressed an in terest in adapting Tennes see’s approach; the state’s funding formula takes into account how many research dollars an institution brings in annually and the number of credits and degrees ob tained in any given year, among other line items.

The Manitoba Organiza tion of Faculty Associations — composed of about 1,600 academics from the U of M, University of Winnipeg, Brandon University and Université de Saint-Boni face — is a vocal opponent of the U.S. model.

“We don’t object to more oversight at all. In fact, we think more financial trans parency would be a good thing. Where the argument

falls down is (accountabil ity) doesn’t rest upon per formance-based funding. That’s a non-sequitur,” said union president Scott Forbes.

As far as Forbes is concerned, the province already has the ability to inspect finances because it can appoint the majority of a school’s board of govern ors, the body that oversees financial accounts.

Forbes said study af ter study on the out comes-based model suggest it does not improve gradu ation rates.

At the same time, it in centivizes grade inflation and encourages schools to spend the least amount of money possible to get a student through the system, in turn raising barriers to applicants in marginalized groups, he said.

“When the government of Manitoba proposes their plans for (perform ance-based funding) as an ‘accountability effort,’ this is their code for cutting funds,” said Marie Paule Ehoussou, chairwoman of the Canadian Federation of Students’ Manitoba chapter. “One only has to look at the government’s track record.”

The formula will inevit

ably set up differentiated tuition and result in higher fees for arts and humanities degrees, Ehoussou added in an email statement.

The U of M Students’ Union has voiced similar concerns and expressed frustration the province seems to have made up its mind despite ongoing consultations.

UMSU president Jaron Rykiss said institutions and learners alike would only benefit if the province cre ated a performance-based system that was tied to bonus funding rather than operational money.

“The consultation that they invited us to over the summer felt more like a presentation… It seems very, very obvious – at least to us, that the province is looking to go forward with this whether people like it or not,” Rykiss said.

Advanced Education Minister Jon Reyes was not available for an interview Nov. 3 due to a busy sched ule on the last day of the current legislative session, his press secretary said.

Last month, when asked repeatedly if he supports performance-based funding by the NDP’s post-second ary education critic, Reyes

said no funding decisions have been made.

“This is an accountabil ity framework exercise, and we’re looking to develop accountability framework metrics that will satisfy everyone involved and, most importantly, for the Manitoba taxpayer,” Reyes said on Oct. 6.

NDP MLA Jamie Moses responded by saying stu dents should be the main priority in building a new framework.

During a phone call Nov. 3, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s chief policy officer said what works for his state may not work for another jurisdiction.

The commission made that clear to Manitoba when it gave officials a presenta tion two-and-a-half years ago, said Steven Gentile.

Gentile, however, stands by the model in Tennessee as an effective one in his state and said criticism of it illustrates the need for continuous improvement.

“This helps everyone, from the state down to the administration at institu tions and faculty and staff to understand what the (post-secondary comple tion) goal is,” he said.

Province boosts funds for newcomer students

BY MAGGIE MACINTOSH LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

A sudden influx of new comer students — many of whom fled the war in Ukraine — registering in public schools across the province has prompted Manitoba to designate more dollars for interpreters and other K-12 settlement services.

Grade 9 student Michael Babych is among the hun dreds of pupils learning in Winnipeg classrooms locat ed a long way from the ones they were in before fleeing their war-torn homes.

The 14-year-old and his mother are from Zapo rizhzhia, in southeast Ukraine. They sought refuge first in Hungary, then Ireland and, finally, Canada, where

they have made a home since March; Michael’s father stayed behind to fight for their country.

“The hardest thing is a new life … and school, and the English language,” the high schooler said, with translation support from an administrator at Collège Miles Macdonell Collegiate Nov. 7.

Since early August, the River East Transcona School Division has enrolled 512 newcomer children and youth in the 2022-23 aca demic year. The division recorded that same num ber of new arrivals in all of 2021-22.

In response to what the education minister called a “sharp increase” in the popu lation of students who have

recently fled war-affected countries, Manitoba Educa tion is nearly doubling the overall grant money avail able via its intensive new comer-support program.

School administrators across the province will be able to apply for grants totalling upwards of $1.8 million — a $900,000 in crease from last year, to pay for employees and initia tives that support refugees and other newcomer students whose education has been disrupted.

Education Minister Wayne Ewasko hosted a news con ference at Miles Macdonell, alongside RETSD super intendent Sandra Herbst and Kathleen Vyrauen, co-chair woman of the Newcomer Education Coalition, to an

nounce the commitment.

“We want all students to succeed, no matter where they live, their cultural back ground or their own personal circumstance,” Ewasko said Nov. 7.

Applications are expected to open before the end of the month. There is no cap on individual grant requests.

Homework clubs, inter cultural support workers and translation and interpretation services are among the re sources that are funded by these grants, said Vyrauen, who fields questions from immigrant and refugee stu dents and parents in her role as a community advocate.

Vyrauen said she often hears concerns about lan guage comprehension and cultural representation in

schools.

In RETSD, newcomer stu dents are referred to a spe cialized reception facilitator when they arrive, connected with interpreter services to register, if need be and intro duced to settlement services.

Educators then meet with each pupil to determine an individual’s literacy and numeracy levels and wheth er they need any additional instructional supports.

In Michael’s case, because he is hard of hearing, the teenager’s transition plan has involved inclusion special ists and interpreters in both Ukrainian and American Sign Language.

The superintendent of RETSD said Michael’s mother became emotional during one particular meet

ing. “She was overwhelmed by the support available to her and to her son, including being fitted bilaterally with hearing aids and having ac cess to an FM transmitter that amplifies the sound of his teacher’s voices,” she said.

Herbst added Michael is thriving at Miles Macdonell because of the supports in place while his school is benefiting from his passion for the piano and athletics, as well as his unique perspec tive on democracy.

Approximately half of the newest immigrant and refugee student additions in RETSD are from Ukraine.

Other students have moved from Nigeria, India and the Philippines, among other countries.

Animated film presents Kivalliq research

BY STEWART BURNETT LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE RE PORTER, KIVALLIQ NEWS

Two Nunavut residents play starring roles in a new animated short film produced by the Kival liq Wildlife Board and ArctiConnexion.

The film, titled Under the Sea, condenses research on the Hudson Bay’s food chain into a digestible and entertaining conversation between hunter Poisey (Adam) Alogut and biolo gist Connor Faulkner.

“It was super cool to be able to have the conversa tions we were actually hav ing on the ice, in the field and bring that into an ani mated film to share what the project is looking at,” said Faulkner, who is working as an intern biologist for the Kivalliq Wildlife Board

while completing a master’s degree at the University of Manitoba.

“It was a realistic video of what actually went on throughout the project.”

It’s Faulkner’s first time acting as a voice actor, where he recorded lines with Alogut in Quebec City.

“There was definitely a learning curve to it for both Poisey and myself,” including lots of laughs and mistakes, he said.

But the two figured it out as recording went on.

“Towards the end, it was just like a conversation be tween the two of us,” he said. “How it was ultim ately meant to be framed was a conversation between a local knowledge holder, a local hunter and an individ ual who was engaged in sci entific research and bridging

the gap between those two knowledge bases.”

Initial feedback has been excellent, said Faulkner, with people wanting to in clude it in school curricula already.

“I think the video did a really good job at making that information and the research findings access ible to this broad wide spectrum of people across the North,” said Faulkner. “But also the people that it has already reached in the south is honestly kind of mind blowing. I never would have imagined it got this big, this quick.”

Faulkner, born and raised in Rankin Inlet, is currently pursuing his master’s pro ject on arctic char diet and flesh colour. He’s studying the fish in both Rankin In let and Naujaat to see what

similarities and differences the populations have. The inspiration for that project goes back to a 2018 discus sion between government officials and hunters and trappers about variations in flesh colour in arctic char.

Faulkner said preliminary research suggests the differ ences are mostly due to diet, which he readily adds is not new information for those who grew up on the land, but can confirm those find ings from a scientific lens.

As he continues work on his master’s project, Faulkner is thankful for the opportunities he’s had with the Kivalliq Wildlife Board and to be part of the new animated film.

“I’m a super fortunate individual to be from Ran kin Inlet, to be able to be involved in this research within my home commun ity, my home region,” he

said, calling it a dream come true.

Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Connor Faulkner/Local Journalism Initiative Connor Faulkner is engaged in research on the flesh colour of arctic char, plus working as a voice actor on a new video from the Kivalliq Wildlife Board and ArctiConnexion.

Trojan boys win every set on way to volleyball tournament title

BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

R.D. Parker Collegi ate’s junior boys volley ball team had a perfect run at their home tourna ment Nov. 4-5, winning all 12 sets they played en route to being crowned champions.

The Trojans beat the Mikisew High junior var sity squad 25-14, 25-15 in the final to claim the title after knocking off the Chemawawin Eagles 25-8, 26-24 in the semi

finals. RDPC won all eight sets they played in four round-robin matches, giv ing up 20 points in a set only once in that span.

For the Trojans girls, the tournament ended with a 21-25, 17-25 loss to the Oscar Lathlin Wolverines in the final. RDPC beat Mikisew 25-16, 27-25 in the semifinals to make it the championship game. The girls won two sets outright and split two others for the third-best round-robin record.

OBITUARY

Peacefully on July 12, 2022 at the Thompson General Hospital with his wife by his side, Samuel Umpherville went to his eternal home.

There he was united with his parents and brothers. Sam was born in Norway House on February 16, 1960 to Lucy and Silas Umpherville. He lived at Umpherville’s Island until he left for high school. Sam graduated from RDPC and left Thompson for college in Brandon. After completing his Mechanical Tech he came back to Thompson and worked for Manitoba Hydro. He also worked for Wayne Hall Delivery up until his illness caught up to him. He continued working for KTC as a dispatcher up until 2 days before his passing. Sam loved spending time at home watching his favourite shows Survivor and Big Brother. He enjoyed trips home to visit his Umpherville’s island.

Sam leaves to mourn his wife Max, sons Dallas (Britney), Mason and Harley (Tamara), daughters Ashley (Travis), Jordyn (Ken) and grandchildren Silas, Taryn, Jalen, Taylor, Delia, Kellan, Liam, Hailey, Jesse, Elijah, Roman and Kieran.

Funeral service was held at the Cross Lake United Church on July 16, 2022 with his sister Maryann Folster officiating the service.

EXPLORE CULTURE IN SOUTHWESTERN MANITOBA

In Brandon, check out the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba—a cultural hub which regularly features works of regional and national artists. Free and open to the public, it’s worth the visit to Manitoba’s second largest urban centre to view contemporary and local art. After, pop in at Chez Angela

VISIT TWO UNIQUE ATTRACTIONS IN ONE CITY Winnipeg Art Gallery’s new addition, Qaumajuq, houses more than 14,000

of contemporary Inuit art

is the first art centre of its kind in the world. Nearby is another world’s first; the Canadian Museum for Human Rights stands alone as the only museum in the world dedicated to the topic of global human rights issues. Cap off

day with a stop at The Forks for a local brew and lunch. SOAK ALL

AWAY

WORRIES

R&R? Relax and unwind at Thermëa, an outdoor oasis enjoyable any season of the year. The signature Thermal Experience is the ultimate way to relax and follows a hot-cold-rest cycle. Or try Ten Spa for their popular hamam ritual, purifying and cleansing the body and skin from toxins. Extend your relaxing retreat with an overnight stay at The Fort Garry Hotel, Spa and Conference Centre.

Looking for a

SAMUEL UMPHERVILLE

R.D. Parker Collegiate’s junior boys volleyball team beat the Chemawawin Eagles in their first game of a home tournament they would go on to win without dropping a set Nov. 4-5.

Thompson Citizen photos by Ian Graham

R.D. Parker Collegiate’s junior girls volleyball team plays Mikisew High in their first game of a Nov. 4-5 tournament at home, in which the Trojans lost in the final.

Poppy etiquette

Canadians wear poppies in No vember to honour veterans and sol diers who gave their lives fighting for freedoms abroad. The Royal Cana dian Legion has a Poppy Protocol Guide, with tips on how to wear a poppy appropriately and respectful ly. Here’s what it recommends.

HOW TO WEAR A POPPY

A poppy should be worn on the left side of your chest over your heart. The poppy is a sacred symbol and therefore shouldn’t be affixed with any type of pin that obstructs it.

WHEN TO WEAR A POPPY

Wear your poppy from the last Fri day in October until Remembrance Day on November 11. You can also wear a poppy at a veteran’s funeral or war memorial service such as one held at the anniversary for the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

HOW TO REMOVE A POPPY

It’s fine to continue to wear your poppy after November 11. However, many people choose to remove their poppies and place them on a ceno taph or wreath at a Remembrance Day ceremony’s conclusion. This has be come a poignant tradition at many war memorials.

Always ensure you store or dispose of your poppy respectfully. If you see a poppy on the ground, please pick it up, clean it off and dispose of it in a respectful way.

The Royal Canadian Legion supplies the poppies for free but encourages donations to its Poppy Fund, which helps Canadian veterans and their families.

HOW IT STARTED

Guitars for Vets

Guitars for Vets recognizes that mu sic can be healing for veterans living with PTSD as well as other mental and physical impairments sus tained while serving. This vo lunteer-led program is co-ordinated by Veterans Emergency Transition Services (VETS), an organization dedicated to helping homeless and other struggling veterans reinte grate into society. VETS has helped more than 4,500 veterans find hou sing, jobs and access to social ser vices.

HOW IT WORKS

The Guitars for Vets program matches

ONLINE LESSONS

Guitars for Vets has recently an nounced a Cross Country Tour, a se ries of virtual guitar lessons for vete rans across Canada. One hundred participants will receive a brand-new acoustic guitar plus 10 free lessons from an instructor.

GUITAR DONATIONS

If you have a guitar that still works well but isn’t played as much as it should be, drop it off at any Long & McQuade store in Canada. Your gui tar will go to a veteran in need, and you’ll be putting the healing power of music into the hands of a hero.

For more information about Guitars for Vets, visit vetscanada.org.

REMEMBRANCE DAY MESSAGE

Thompson Seniors Community Resource Council

Many of our ancestors and siblings died in the great wars. They sacrificed their lives so that we could enjoy a quality of life that would have been denied, had they given up. They did not give up on us. Let us not give up on them. Let us remember and be grateful for their courage and sacrifice.

“Putting the healing power of music into the hands of heroes” is what Gui tars for Vets is all about. This innova tive program gives gently used guitars to Canadian veterans and members of the Armed Forces with service-related disabilities. Here’s what you should know about this innovative program.

veterans with donated guitars. It also pairs veterans with knowledgeable instructors so they can learn to play their instrument, develop new skills and uncover a lifelong passion.

Manitoba’s healthcare system reaches state of crisis

BY BRENDA SAWATZKY LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE RE PORTER, NIVERVILLE CITIZEN

The worst of the pandemic may feel like history. But in its wake, Manitobans con tinue to take some big hits. Sky-high inflation and rising interest rates are affecting people of all income brackets.

And the ongoing crisis in the province’s healthcare sys tem can no longer be ignored either.

New reports emerge almost daily, exposing the reality of healthcare staff shortages which are resulting in long ER wait times, intensive care unit closures, and increasing ly delayed diagnostic proced ures and surgeries.

“Our nurses are burning out at a rate that I’ve never seen before,” said Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, in a press release on Oct. 24.

These reports should be raising alarm bells not just for overworked healthcare staff, but for every resident of the province. Whether people need medical attention now or may need it in the unfore seeable future, they should be concerned about the current state of affairs.

Winnipeg hospitals in crisis

On Oct. 11, the MNU reported the closure of the Grace Hospital ICU due to 13 nurse resignations since the start of summer. Before the closure, each nurse had been responsible for three acutely ill patients—three times the normal one-to-one ratio.

The MNU publicly shared an SOS they received from one of the nurses on staff there.

“We are told to ‘just try our best,’” the unidentified nurse wrote. “We’re drowning, and we’re not OK.”

Last week, the Grace Hospital also announced the cancellation of an additional 26 scheduled hip and knee surgeries.

An advocacy group for medical physicians across the province, Doctors Manitoba, managed an online dashboard that tracked surgery backlogs during the pandemic. On its last update, from June 28, the backlog of patients waiting for diagnostics and surgeries showed well over 100,000. More than 30,000 of those had already been delayed from previously scheduled appointments.

Doctors Manitoba cites the shortage of nurses and technologists as the main reason for the backlogs. It’s a problem, they say, that start ed long before the pandemic.

Winnipeg’s Health Sci ence Centre has been in the news for months now due to ER staff shortages. The de partment has been forced, at times, to close up to half of its beds and draw on part-time staff and nurses from other departments to fill the gap.

“I hear from nurses every day that are looking for some where else to work other than the public system,” Jackson has said.

The St. Boniface ER made the most recent news as a doctor and former president of Doctors Manitoba, Dr. Kristjan Thompson, admitted

to the press that, for the first time in his medical career, he’d considered quitting too.

Rural southeast hospitals no better off

For residents of the rural southeast, things are not look ing much more optimistic.

The media spokesperson for Southern Health-Santé Sud responded to the Niv erville Citizen on behalf of the head of human resources, René Ouellette.

“Southern Health-Santé Sud is experiencing the same healthcare staffing shortages that is affecting the rest of Manitoba,” they said. “The reasons… are multifactorial. A significant portion of our workforce has reached retire ment age. This, in combina tion with COVID, resulted in a loss of personnel within our workforce. As COVID continued and workloads in creased, staff burnout became increasingly evident.”

Compounding the prob lem, the SH-SS spokesperson adds, is the fact that ER visits have gone up from previous years, with higher numbers of patients experiencing se vere conditions that can’t be addressed in a physician’s office.

In the meantime, they say efforts are being made to fill the staffing gaps, and these include much of the same strategies as those being employed by the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority: encouraging remaining staff to work overtime and reas signing other departmental staff to the ER, including healthcare aides and clerks.

According to the media spokesperson for the MNU, asking nurses to fill the gaps by taking two or more shifts back-to-back has been stan dard practice but only serves to exacerbate the problem of burnout among nurses and further reduces the quality of patient care.

ER patients tell their stories

Paige Malthouse of Niv erville was a patient in the Steinbach Bethesda Regional Health Centre’s ER in Sep tember of this year. She arrived at 9:30 a.m. experi encing abdominal pain so severe that she was buckled over at the waist.

A triage nurse asked about her symptoms early on and then the wait began. Over the course of the next few hours, Malthouse received Tylenol for her pain, and blood and urine samples were taken.

What she didn’t receive was any indication as to how long the wait might be.

“There were maybe 20 different patients that cycled through while I was there,” says Malthouse. “I felt [the long wait] was purely about staffing levels. At about 10 p.m., I asked how long it would be as I needed to be picked up by my husband and he had to get our kids out of bed to come get me. She said I was next, but she wasn’t sure how long that would take.”

Fourteen hours after her arrival at the ER, Malthouse was finally seen by a doctor. An ultrasound was performed and within 30 minutes she had a diagnosis: gallstones.

Malthouse was given a prescription for pain medi cation, a referral for surgery, and sent home with instruc tions to return if the medi cation didn’t alleviate the pain within two hours. This could be an indication, they told her, that her gallbladder was about to rupture.

Emma Dequier is a Ste. Agathe resident whose med ical troubles began in 2020 at the age of 16. Like Mal thouse, Dequier also found herself at a hospital—in her case, Victoria Hospital—with excruciating abdominal pain.

She waited for hours be fore a triage nurse told her that, due to her age, she needed to go to the HSC Children’s ER for help. She was turned away.

At HSC, Dequier says that the process of waiting started all over again and it took many hours before she underwent testing. Test re sults showed an ovarian cyst which was removed days later in surgery.

Months afterward, though, Dequier’s abdominal pain still persisted and she even tually returned to the HSC Children’s ER. Again, she endured a long wait before the triage nurse told her she was in the wrong ER. Dequi er was now 17 years of age, rendering her an adult based on WRHA’s criteria.

She arrived at the HSC Adult ER at midnight and settled in for what would turn out to be an all-night wait. By 8 a.m. the next morning, a tired and frustrated Dequi er left the ER without being seen. Her pain had subsided.

“It wasn’t even that busy [in the ER],” Dequier says. “There were definitely lots of people [at some points], but not like a crazy amount. So I wasn’t expecting to wait that long.”

Eventually Dequier’s family physician sent her to see a gastroenterologist who also diagnosed her pain as coming from gallstones. She was put on morphine and a waiting list for surgery.

When the pain became too much to bear, Dequier found herself at the Victoria Hospi tal’s urgent care clinic. After hours of waiting, Dequier was put through a barrage of tests and told that her condi tion had become critical.

Still, it took five days of waiting in a hospital room before the surgery was performed.

“I’ve had [more abdom inal] pain events since that [surgery], but I’ve just decid ed not to go back to an emer gency department because I just can’t do that anymore,” Dequier says.

As the third round of ab dominal pain worsened, Dequier’s parents made her an appointment at a private Winnipeg clinic. This time, she was diagnosed with func tional dyspepsia, a non-ul cer-related stomach pain.

“I was fortunate enough to have parents who were able to afford this private clinic through their insurance,” Dequier says. “[If not for them] I would have had to wait two years to get prop er pain management. We’re in the 21st century and our

technology is better than ever and yet we can’t seem to get proper [medical] care.”

Nevada Long is a univer sity student and friend of Dequier’s. She tells a story that’s eerily similar.

In September 2021, Long’s car was rear-ended by a drunk driver. Long was taken to the St. Boniface ER with symp toms like nausea and a mi graine that led her to believe she may have whiplash and a concussion.

She arrived in the ER at 9 p.m. and didn’t leave until noon the next day. There were about 40 others in the waiting room when she arrived.

“It seemed, from my per spective, that it was firstcome, first-served because most of the injuries were the same level [of severity],” Long says.

An hour after her arrival, Long was questioned by a triage nurse regarding her symptoms. That was the last time she’d talk to any health care personnel for the next 13 hours.

Long was 17 years old at the time. With no way to charge her cell phone, Long was unable to reach out to family to let them know where she was and what had happened.

Eventually Long under went tests and was diagnosed with a minor concussion. She was provided with no pain re lief and few care instructions.

“The only thing they told me was to go and see a chiro practor,” Long says. “I kind of felt like I’d wasted my time [going there].”

In the months following the accident, Long began to experience fainting spells that left her disoriented and confused when she regained consciousness. She returned to the ER and, after an eighthour wait, was told that the tests had revealed nothing of concern.

“The thing that upset me the most that time was the doctor that saw me told me that fainting was normal for a woman,” says Long. “And she just sent me home.”

Long’s condition worsened and she found herself in the ER seven more times with long waits and no answers.

“There was one day when it was just worse than nor mal,” says Long. “I couldn’t make it to the bathroom with out fainting. [That time] my boyfriend took me to the Concordia Hospital… They kept me overnight until I was able to see an internal medi cine specialist.”

Within 15 minutes of being tested, Long says the special ist had a diagnosis. She had a heart condition which caused her heart rate to spike when she stood from a sitting pos ition. She’s since been put on medication and is sched uled to see a neurologist in November.

“It affects my daily life,” Long says. “Every day, there’s something that I can’t do because of it. It was real ly hard during the months before I was diagnosed, not having someone that could help me or guide me.”

Both Long and Dequier also have ER stories to go beyond desperate wait times

and missed diagnoses.

During the many hours spent in waiting rooms, Dequier says there were times when people’s patience grew so thin that they lashed out in anger at other patients in the room since there were no healthcare staff around.

For Long, she’ll never forget the trauma she and other patients experienced one particular night in the ER waiting room.

At 3 a.m., a man ran through the waiting room, chased by a hospital security guard. The stranger locked himself in a nearby bathroom. Unable to convince the man to come out, an additional five security guards were called in for assistance.

Long says it took a long time for them to gain access to the bathroom. When they did, the man bolted and it took all six security guards to pin him down to the waiting room floor. In the kerfuffle, an elderly patient was knocked out of his wheelchair. Long says that a glance into the empty bathroom revealed blood-covered walls.

“Even after that incident, there was no nurse who came out to [help us],” Long says. Nurses union: problems predate pandemic

According to the MNU, this healthcare crises should not come as a surprise to anyone. After all, they have been warning provincial au thorities about imminent staff shortages for more than three years.

The Canadian Nurses As sociation began predicting a critical nursing shortage at least 15 years ago, they add, long before COVID-19 came on the scene.

According to the MNU spokesperson, the pandemic was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back.

But if the pandemic wasn’t the sole agent of the current healthcare crisis, it begs the question: what was?

The MNU has long been calling on provincial govern ments to invest in strength ening frontline services. Instead, they say, the past decade has been all about austerity measures that have resulted in healthcare funding cuts.

An early example was the 2012 amalgamation of Manitoba’s 11 regional health authorities into just five. It was an initiative intended to streamline the system, former Health Minister Theresa Os wald said at the time.

Five years later, in 2017, the province instructed the WRHA to cut healthcare costs by $83 million. As a result, half of the city’s ERs were closed. Some were re placed by urgent care centres which could deal only with non-urgent emergencies such as bone fractures.

“We’re moving too far, too fast on a healthcare plan that puts cost-cutting ahead of patient care,” said Michelle Gawronsky in 2017. Gawron sky was the president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union.

Less than three years later, Manitoba was hit by a pan demic that would rival any and all healthcare crises that

had come before it.

What is being done?

In an attempt to recruit new staff, SH-SS is work ing on a variety of strategies, including the use of social media, attending job fairs, and making presentations to graduating nurses.

As well, student incentive grants have been created and the SH-SS is working hard to convince students to do their practicums in the region to help sell them on Manitoba.

Even so, they recognize the work they have cut out for them since the nursing short age is a nationwide problem which gives students broad opportunities for relocation.

To address the issues with more immediate solutions, SH-SS has developed a regional Emergency Depart ment Practice Council whose mandate is to come up with solutions to improve patient flow through emergency departments.

Like most other regional health authorities across the province, the organization is relying on agency nurses — nurses who work in the private sector — to help fill the gaping holes in the public healthcare system.

According to a recent article in the Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba’s five regional health authorities, on average, now spend 34 per cent more on private nurses per month compared to one year ago.

This, conceivably, presents a catch-22 for nurses work ing in the public sector, since agency nurses often work on a different pay scale, are able to avoid mandated overtime, and receive stipends for travel costs.

According to the nurses union, they are already see ing many outgoing nurses simply move from the public to private sector in order to exercise more control over their careers.

The provincial govern ment may have to act fast if the public health sector is to be saved.

“We believe that the Mani toba government needs to at tract new individuals into the profession, as well as retain the ones we have,” said the MNU president an interview with the Niverville Citizen “We need to put strategies in place to bolster recruitment from other countries and make the application process for internationally educated nurses more accessible.”

Jackson adds that the prov ince needs to offer financial incentives for those who are willing to work in remote communities.

On Oct. 26, Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced that the province is working on a plan to recruit, attract, and retain nurses. However, she but was unable to reveal any details of the plan just yet.

In the meantime, the only tangible promise Gordon could make was that of a $12.5 million healthcare simulation training centre has been scheduled for con struction at Red River Col lege Polytechnic. That centre is scheduled to be open in 2024.

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

FULL TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY

JORDANS PRINCIPLE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE CLERK

Reporting to the Director of Finance and Administration, the Jordans Principle Accounts Payable Clerk is responsible for performing data entry and related duties in posting Accounts Payable payments.

Duties: The Accounts Payable Clerk is responsible for completing payments and controls expenses by receiving, processing, verifying, and reconciling invoices, staff travel payments and other weekly financial activities as directed. Code/enter invoices/ cheque requisitions on a weekly basis, respond to vendor inquiries, maintain vendor filing system, prepare checks on a weekly basis; verify vendor accounts, reconcile processed work.

Qualifications: Diploma in Accounting, Finance or Business Administration and two years of finance experience, or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience. Must be bondable. Experience with SAGE 300 (ACCPAC) modules, Microsoft Office programs with emphasis in Excel spreadsheets. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Experience in a fully integrated office environment. Ability to work under sporadic stress and/or pressure. Ability to work independently and in a team environment.

A written application with detailed resume, including minimum two (2) references with written permission to contact the references and your most recent immediate supervisors should be submitted to:

Lisa Beardy, Office Manager

Keewatin Tribal Council

23 Nickel Road

Thompson, Manitoba R8N OY4

Email: lbeardy@ktc.ca Fax: 204 677-0256

Closing Date: 4:00 p.m. Monday, November 14, 2022 Late applications will not be accepted

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination or provide proof of exemption from the Covid-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba We would like to thank those that apply for the position but only those being considered for an interview will be contacted.

CREE NATION CHILD & FAMILY CARING AGENCY

Resource Worker –Perm Position Winnipeg Sub Office Winnipeg, Manitoba

Cree Nation Child & Family Caring Agency (CNCFCA) is responsible for administering and providing for the delivery of Child and Family Services. CNCFCA is dedicated to providing comprehensive CFS Services that are community-based and incorporate both protection and prevention services.

Our agency will strive to maintain family unity.

POSITION SUMMARY:

Under the supervision of the Family Services Supervisor, the Resource Worker is responsible for developing, maintaining, supporting, educating and licensing foster care resources for children in the care of the Agency. Adheres to the Child and Family Services Act and regulations and ensures that provincial standards are met.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

§ Resource Pool Development § Licensing § Support to Foster Care Providers § Training § Assist with placement

QUALIFICATIONS

§ Work experience in Child and Family Services with demonstrated knowledge of child development, family centered service, early intervention, family support and community-based services

§ Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) or related undergraduate degree in Human Services (preferred)

§ Ability to converse fluently in Cree (preferred)

§ Excellent assessment, intervention and writing skills

§ Knowledge of the Child and Family Services Act and provincial standards

§ Ability to use a variety of computer applications including CFSIS and FACTS,

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

§ Must pass a criminal records check, child abuse registry check and prior contact check.

§ Cannot be active on a protection case.

§ Must maintain absolute confidentiality in accordance with agency requirements.

Varied amounts of travel required within this position.

§

§ Must have a valid Manitoba driver’s license.

§ Must be able to provide own vehicle for work.

§ Other duties related to the position may be assigned.

Deadline: November 16, 2022 @ 4:00 pm

Submit cover letter & resume along with three (3) references marked

“personal & confidential” to:

Human Resource Manager

Cree Nation Child & Family Caring Agency Box 10130, Opaskwayak, MB. R0B 2J0

Fax: 204-623-3847 Email: hr@creenation.ca

We thank all who apply and advise that only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

“Please visit our website at https://creenation.ca”

Our office ensures that best practices in COVID-19 are observed. Under Cree Nation Child & Family Caring Agency’s COVID-19 vaccinations policy, all applicants are required to be fully vaccinated.

Teacher-misconduct registry

Continued from Page 10 related to misconduct in volving teachers.

In recent months, the union has come under scru tiny because critics argue there is no evidence it is complying with its obliga tion to publish information about malpractice. Asked if the province is doing any thing to compel the union to follow the law, Ewasko would only say MTS has its own bylaws. Asked if he considers it a conflict of interest for the union to investigate its own mem bers, Ewasko would only say conversations about “whether it is specifically a conflict or it’s not” continue.

The society has long been

opposed to the creation of a teachers college. It claims such an institution would set up a parallel system to the existing “rigorous re view process,” and create confusion, while the most egregious incidents end up public via the courts.

In an interview Nov. 3, MTS president James Bed ford said there is a need for the “development of teaching standards” but he maintained the province has suggested via its Manitoba education action plan that it is not actively pursuing a college of teachers.

While it remains un clear what a teacher regis try might look like, Bed ford said he has privacy

Heritage North Museum, Inc. is seeking applications for the position of Administrative Assistant – Part-time

The Museum is seeking applications for the part-time position of an Assistant. If you are capable of handling administrative duties and other tasks as needed, the Museum has a great opportunity for you. You will have the opportunity to put your talents to the test in a challenging and friendly environment.

How you will make an impact:

• Assist with preparation of projects;

• Scheduling management;

• Instruct and direct other support staff and customer relations;

• Facilitate the smooth operation of the gift shop;

• Assist with fund raising events; and

• Possess excellent organizational and computer skills.

Applications will be accepted up to Friday, November 25 at 4:30 p.m. by sending your resume to:

Crystal Brown, Executive Director

Heritage North Museum, Inc.

162 Princeton Drive, Thompson, Manitoba R8N 2A4 Or via email to: hnmuseum@mts.net

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

MATERNAL CHILD HEALTH/ FASD PEER SUPPORT WORKER FULL TIME

The Keewatin Tribal Council is seeking a highly motivated individual with program development skills who will actively work with the SF- MCH Tribal Coordinator and member Bands in the planning, development and implementation of the Strengthening Families Maternal Child Health (SF-MCH) & STAR Prevention Program. The SF-MCH and STAR Prevention Program are home visitation, mentoring and case management programs delivering culturally safe and appropriate interventions and support services.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Licensed Practical Nurse

• Current registration and in good standing with the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba (CLPNM).

• Two years recent community nursing experience with emphasis on health education, promotion, prevention and community development

• Ability to function effectively with a regional team of health providers is essential

• Strong communication skills

• Able to travel to Communities by air/road

• Criminal Record Check and Child Abuse Registry Check to be submitted

• Knowledge and respect for the culture, traditions and customs of the local First Nation communities.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office–Word, Excel, PowerPoint

• Must have a valid class 5 Manitoba Drivers’ License at all times and be willing to travel

• Ability to speak Cree or Dene would be considered an asset.

A written application including a cover letter, a detailed resume and two (2) letters of reference from previous supervisors should be submitted to:

Lisa Beardy, Office Manager 23 Nickel Road

Thompson, Manitoba R8N OY4

Email: lbeardy@ktc.ca Fax: 204 677-0256

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by providing a Government of Manitoba issued QR code and photo identification or providing proof of an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba

Applications will be accepted until 4:00 pm, November 16, 2022.

We would like to thank those that apply for the position but only those being considered for an interview will be contacted.

concerns.

“There are certain privacy issues that surround that registry because like all of society, we have members who, for very legitimate legal purposes, don’t want the world to know where they live and where they work. It’s unfortunate for individuals that this occurs but it is often a court-or dered mandate of privacy because of any number of reasons. Usually, it flows out of domestic relation ships, and so we need to ensure that there’s privacy involved in this,” he said.

The commission tasked with reviewing the K-12 education system in 2019 made several recommenda tions related to regulating the teaching profession.

Recommendation No. 2 of 75 in its final report called for the creation of “a Manitoba College of Educators” for individuals with teaching certificates. The commission suggested other school employees be granted an associate mem bership status.

A college would strength en public interest and con

fidence in teachers, oversee their training and certifica tion, provide transparency and accountability, maintain high standards for educa tors, provide accreditation of faculties of education, and promote quality, excel lence and professionalism, per the commission.

The authors of the report recommended the province also establish a college gov erning council run by both educators and members of the public “to enhance pub lic confidence in the work of the college.”

So far this year, there have been several high-pro file cases involving Mani toba teachers — including rural music teacher Jacques Normandeau, Winnipeg educator David Bueti and phys-ed teacher Kelsey McKay — who are alleged to have engaged in crimin al wrongdoing involving students.

McKay, a successful football coach at Churchill and Vincent Massey high schools, is facing 30 charges related to sexual assault and exploitation involving for mer teenage athletes.

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

EMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITY Thompson, MB

Full time Jordan’s Principle–Intake Assistant

Under the general direction of the Director of Health and Jordan’s Principle Coordinator, the Jordan’s Principle Support Worker will follow the Healing Model for Jordan’s Principle Circle of Care and assist in the implementation of a healing and wellness program in the communities to deliver and strengthen the ability of participants to lead a healthy, fulfilling and resilient life.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Review all referrals made to Keewatin Tribal Council Jordan’s Principle.

• Complete Intake Forms and inputting them into Mustimuhw client centric health record documentation.

• Provides navigation services with a cultural safety and humility lens, using a culturally competent approach. Understands the importance of working with First Nations protocols in order to make children and families comfortable with their interaction with the health care system.

• Builds strong relationships and partnerships with front line health care and child care workers, and works with a variety of health care and child care professionals, including but not limited to nurses, speech pathologists, dental, occupational therapists.

• Provides Wellness workshops, cultural presentations and team building activities focused on developing and enhancing skills and capacity of front-line workers.

• Willing to work after hours and/ or weekends as required/ deemed necessary

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience working with First Nation Communities;

• CPR and First Aid Certification;

• Knowledge of First Nation language, traditions, values and culture;

• Ability to understand and be fluent in a First Nation language would be an asset

• A highly-motivated individual who is innovative and has a proven ability to work with a very high degree of accuracy and attention to detail;

• Excellent time management and facilitation skills;

• Effective verbal and listening communications skills;

• Strong leadership, critical thinking, decision making and problem-solving skills.

• Valid Class 5 Driver’s License or Class 4 Driver’s licence is required or must be willing to get Class 4 Drivers licence.

• Clear criminal record check, child abuse registry check and vulnerable persons check.

• Experience working with youth with emotional and behavioural challenges.

Closing Date: Monday November 14, 2022 at 4:00PM

Late applications will not be accepted

Please Forward Resumes to the Attention of:

Lisa Beardy, Office Manager

23 Nickel Road Thompson, Manitoba R8N OY4

Email: LBeardy@ktc.ca Fax: 204 677-0256

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination or provide proof of exemption from the Covid-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba.

We thank all applicants, however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted

Indigenous clean energy initiative charges up for a second round, but with fewer participants and less funding

BY MATTEO CIMELLARO LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, CANADA'S NATIONAL OBSERVER

Ten Indigenous commun ities will soon be gearing up to develop new energy projects to help their com munities transition from an overdependence on diesel — a fuel source that is cost ly, carcinogenic and comes with high emissions.

The projects are part of the second cohort of the In digenous Off-Diesel Initia tive, a program that trains and funds participants to develop Indigenous-led clean energy alternatives to diesel reliance for remote communities.

The initiative is ad ministered by the feder al government alongside the non-profit Indigenous Clean Energy, which pro vides participants with

training and technical support.

Participants are eligible for up to $1,525,000 in funding over three years for a total of just over $15 million, according to a government press release.

Applications for the second cohort are open until the end of November and fund ing will begin to be admin istered in the summer.

Still, both funding and participant numbers were reduced for the second co hort. The first cohort, which is nearing completion, had 15 participants and $20 million in funding.

“But [the funding] is still substantive in terms of making projects happen,” Eryn Stewart, managing director at ICE, said in an interview.

The program is needed for many communities

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

FULL TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY

Jordan’s Principle – Youth Recreation Worker(s) (1 Male & 1 Female) Thompson, MB

Under the general direction of the Director of Health and Jordan’s Principle Coordinator, the Jordan’s Principle Support Worker will follow the Healing Model for Jordan’s Principle Circle of Care and assist in the implementation of a healing and wellness program in the communities to deliver and strengthen the ability of participants to lead a healthy, fulfilling and resilient life.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Youth Recreation Worker will work in collaboration with all Jordan’s Principle staff as needed and will develop an activity workplan with Land Base Facilitators (ages 0-18)

• Youth Recreation Worker will look for ways to plan and deliver a variety of group activities.

• Identify materials and supplies required for the sessions.

• Deliver activity sessions with a fun and interactive approach.

• Must be willing to assist the Respite Administrator in Outof-Home.

• Must be willing to accompany Case Managers to home visits, delivery or pick ups of products and other activities requested.

• Gain feedback from individuals or groups of people benefiting from attending the activities to make improvements.

• To develop and deliver safe, high-quality activities to our clients.

• Will document all pertinent information in the client’s chart as needed through Mustimahw.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience working with First Nation Communities;

• CPR and First Aid Certification;

• Knowledge of First Nation language, traditions, values and culture;

• Ability to understand and be fluent in a First Nation language would be an asset

• A highly-motivated who is innovative and has a proven ability to work with a very high degree of accuracy and attention to detail;

• Excellent time management and facilitation skills;

• Effective verbal and listening communications skills;

• Strong leadership, critical thinking, decision making and problem-solving skills.

• Valid Class 5 Driver’s License or Class 4 Driver’s licence is required or must be willing to get Class 4 Drivers licence.

• Clear criminal record check, child abuse registry check and vulnerable persons check.

• Preparing Monthly and Annual reports to include statistics on program participants, activities, issues and challenges, and recommendations for improvement.

• Must be able to work independently with minimal supervision.

Closing Date: Monday November 14, 2022 at 4:00PM. Late applications will not be accepted.

Please Forward Resumes to the Attention of:

Lisa Beardy, Office Manager

23 Nickel Road

Thompson, Manitoba R8N OY4

Email: LBeardy@ktc.ca Fax: 204 677-0256

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination or provide proof of exemption from the Covid-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba.

We thank all applicants, however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted

given high emissions, expenses and precarity around diesel and diesel delivery, Indigenous Ser vices Minister Patty Hajdu said in an interview.

Many remote Indigenous communities still rely on diesel; some Inuit com munities have no other source of energy, Stewart said.

“This is really about har nessing the ingenuity for cleaner energy projects and helping support that clean transition in Indigenous rural and remote commun ities,” Hajdu said.

It’s a common theme for communities seeking alternatives to diesel. In digenous communities often face the brunt of cli mate change and its impact on traditional and current ways of life, Hajdu said.

ICE welcomes the re boot of the program given its funding model. The program’s federal admin istration is a “one-window” approach, said Stewart.

Before, Indigenous communities would have to seek funding through a gauntlet of programs, all with different sets of rules. For example, a pro ject would have different applications for capacity building, project feasibility and development funding, said Stewart.

The Off-Diesel Initiative allows for the one-win dow guarantee of funding, which gave the project both autonomy and security, Stewart said.

“It’s not based on federal directives, but on the com munity's wants and needs,” she added.

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

2 FULL TERM POSITIONS

Jordans Principle Administrative Assistant Location: Winnipeg & Churchill

The KTC Health Department staff works collaboratively with First Nation Health service providers to provide integrated health services and planning assistance to member communities. Under the general direction of Keewatin Tribal Council (KTC) Director of Health, the Health Administrative Assistant will participate in and support the KTC Jordan’s Principle team by assisting in the service delivery of a multidisciplinary health/social sectors to the Keewatin Tribal Council (KTC) Member Communities.

The Jordan’s Principle Administrative Assistant will coordinate and organize the administration of service delivery by providing assistance to the team and other Health team members based on availability and as required., the Administrative Assistant will provide secretarial services by taking and transcribing minutes of meetings; typing a variety of materials; making and keeping up to date confidential files. She/he acts as receptionist to the Health Program staff, actions and screens information requests and greets walk in clients. The Health Administrative Assistant will also be required to provide initiate and provide input into the development and management of information systems, they will also be required to coordinate special events. This is a faced paced and busy role which is central to the coordination of Health Services at the Tribal Council.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Completion of secondary school

• Completion of a one- or two-year college or other program in office administration, special events coordination or a combination of experience and education will be considered.

• Previous experience is required.

• Possess initiative, judgement and respects confidentiality requirements.

• Good and accurate note taking, typing and electronic/ paper file management skills.

• Ability to work with others or independently with minimum supervision.

• Excellent organizational skills and knowledge of various filing systems is required.

• Knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) applications.

• Must have good communication and writing skills.

• Respect for the customs, traditions and practises of the local member First Nation communities.

• Ability to speak Cree or Dene would be an asset.

A written application with detailed resume, including at least two references, and written permission to contact the references and latest immediate supervisor should be submitted to: Keewatin Tribal Council Inc.

Attention: Lisa Beardy, Office Manager 23 Nickel Road Thompson, Manitoba R8N 0Y4 E-Mail: Lbeardy@ktc.ca Fax: 204 677-0256

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by providing a Government of Manitoba issued QR code and photo identification or providing proof of an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba

Deadline for Applications

EXPERIENCED PROPERTY MANAGER NEEDED

• $35.00/hour

• 40 hour work week

• Must have experience in residential tenancies

• Accounting/bookkeeping background

• Driver’s license is required Email resumes to: Pauline5555@icloud.com

WANTED!

Part-time Housekeeping

• The successful client will have a working understanding of Domestic and/or Family violence and related issues.

• Experience in cleaning, housekeeping, and working with commercial cleaning agents and appliances.

• Have current CPR and First Aid, WHMIS and Food handling or willing to obtain. Child Abuse Registry and Criminal Checks. Valid Driver’s License.

• Must be able to work cross-culturally and the ability to speak a second language is an asset. Have an understanding and respect of LGBTQ1 issues and the vulnerable sectors.

• Be willing to work flexible hours as required

• Be reliable, dependable, and punctual and have a good work ethic.

Please submit resume by November 18, 2022 to Program Manager Christine Fenner or Executive Director Helen Trudeau

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

INDIGENOUS HEALING & WELLNESS WORKER

Keewatin Tribal Council Health Department is currently seeking an Indigenous Healing & Wellness Worker to help provide direct support services to the (IRSS),(IDSS),60’s Scoop Survivors, MMIWG, Survivors, their Families and those impacted InterGenerationally.

Under the supervision of the KTC Director of Health and the IRS Team Lead, the Indigenous Healing & Wellness worker will work collaboratively with the IRS team providing support to the 11 KTC member bands as requested by the KTC Chiefs and communitybased staff. The IRS Indigenous Healing & Wellness Worker shall help in assisting in the development and implementation of a holistic First Nations approach to assessments, interventions and post-vention activities traditionally and culturally appropriate.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• To provide ongoing supports as requested by all KTC Health Program Services and the KTC IRS Team collectively

• Establishing and capacity building with multi-layered partnerships such as the NRHA, Health Canada, CMHA, UCN, Manitoba Treatment Centers, NADAP, Manitoba Justice, the Mystery Lake School Division, Frontier School Division

• Assisting in the planning and participating of communitybased wellness activities

• Facilitate and co-facilitate workshops/informational sessions on the history of residential schools in Canada in the 11 KTC communities as needed or requested

• Foster interest and knowledge of Cree/Dene History Language and Culture

• Facilitate and co facilitate cross cultural communication training as requested

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Must have a trauma Informed training and/or counseling certificate, this would be considered an asset or/ 3-5 years’ experience of in counseling individuals, groups and families

• Self-motivated with an ability to work independently in a team environment and with minimal supervision

• Be Proficient with Microsoft, Word, Outlook, Power-point, Excel

• Must have good organizational skills/ verbal and written communication skills, time management and strong interpersonal communication skills

• Knowledge of cultural/traditional and wholistic practices

• Ability to speak/understand Cree or Dene would be an asset

• Must have a Class 5 Manitoba driver’s license or willing to obtain

• Knowledge of the KTC geographical communities

• Must be willing to travel extensively

• Willingness and ability to work after hours and or/weekends when required

• Position will be subject to a Child Abuse Registry Check and a Criminal Record Check

Closing Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Late applications will not be accepted

Please forward resumes to the attention of:

Lisa Beardy

23 Nickel Road Thompson, Manitoba R8N0Y4

Email: lisabeardy@ktc.ca Fax: 204-677-0256

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2022

Late applications will not be considered. We would like to thank those that apply but only those persons selected for interviews will be contacted.

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by providing a Government of Manitoba issued QR code and photo identification or providing proof of an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba

We thank all applicants, however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

FULL TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY Thompson, MB Jordan’s Principle Child’s First Initiative-Respite/Administrator

Under the direction of the Health Director and Jordan’s Principle Coordinator the Respite Administrator will plan, implement, direct, supervise and evaluate activities related to Families with Children with complex needs. The Administrator will also coordinate and organize the administration of service delivery by providing assistance to the team and other health team members based on availability and as required.

The purpose is to provide respite support to parent(s)/caregivers in caring for their child by providing a temporary break, maintain a program space that is as functional as it is inviting; collaborates with administrative staff, and participate fully in the shared work of Jordan’s Principle. The Respite Administrator will participate in and support the KTC Jordans’ Principle team by assisting in the service delivery of a multidisciplinary health/social sectors to the Keewatin Tribal Council (KTC) Member Communities.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Out-of-Home Respite

• Provide a caring approach to the families needs, enabling personal choice and treating the family with dignity and respect.

• Follow the instructions given by the office, family and participants unless there is a safety issue.

• Being aware of the child’s health and safety at all times while providing respite care and providing assistance as needed (First Aid/CPR, alerting family).

• Accurately complete required program paperwork and documentation on time.

• Ability to develop, coordinate, and administer respite services independently

• Facilitate respite activities.

• Can work with children and youth with physical and intellectual challenges.

• Conduct any other duties, as requested

• Administrative Duties

• Prepare, organize, edit and proofread correspondence, invoices, presentations, reports, statements, forms and other documents presented using computerized systems.

• Make, arrange and keep records of travel reservations (air, car rental, hotel, etc.) for departmental staff / community staff according to approved travel authorizations and policies.

• Organize and prepare Meeting/Training packages.

• Maintain and prepare departmental records, files and statistics of the case files.

• Answer telephone and electronic enquiries, make referrals and document as required, relay telephone calls and messages. Main contact for Jordan’s Principle and as a liaison to the families for the program.

• Process incoming and outgoing mail.

• Greet departmental and direct visitors to appropriate persons.

• Perform bookkeeping tasks such as preparing invoices and submitting for payment to Specialized therapies, tracking personnel and log activity sheets for payroll for Respite services.

• Photocopy and collate documents for distribution, mailing and filing.

• Conduct any other relevant duties, as requested.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

• The Administrative Assistant should have the following qualifications:

• Completion of a one or two-year college or other program in office administration.

• Previous administrative experience is required.

• Requires experience in coordinating activities in a wide range of specialties.

• Possess initiative and judgement.

• Ability to travel overnight throughout northern Manitoba using various modes of transport.

• Excellent analytical, planning, organizing, interpersonal and communication skills.

• Respect for the customs, traditions and practices of the local member First Nation communities.

• The ability to speak Cree or Dene would be an asset.

• Must be a highly-motivated individual who is innovative and has a proven ability to work with a very high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.

• Clear criminal record check, child abuse registry check and vulnerable persons check

• CPR and First Aide Certification

Closing Date: Monday November 14, 2022 at 4:00PM. Late applications will not be accepted.

Please Forward Resumes to the Attention of:

Lisa Beardy, Office Manager

23 Nickel Road

Thompson, Manitoba R8N OY4

Email: LBeardy@ktc.ca Fax: 204 677-0256

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination or provide proof of exemption from the Covid-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba. We thank all applicants, however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted

RCMP looking for missing woman recently seen in Winnipeg

Thompson RCMP are looking for a 35-year-old woman who was seen in the city on Oct. 28 and then at the Winnipeg airport on Nov. 2.

Natasha Tiffany Wood was reported missing on Nov. 3. She was seen on Princeton Drive around noon Oct. 28 and at the airport in Winnipeg around 4:30 p.m. Nov. 2.

Wood is believed to still be in Winnipeg.

She is described as 5’5” tall and 250 pounds with black hair tied in a bun and brown eyes. Police believe Wood is wearing a dark blue hoodie and faded jeans and carrying a small black backpack.

Police say they are concerned for Wood’s well being.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts can call Thomp son RCMP at 204-677-6909 pr 2-4-677-6911. Tips can also be made by calling Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-2228477 or submitted online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

FULL TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY

Jordan’s Principle Case Management Supervisor

The Keewatin Tribal Council is seeking a highly motivated individual with strong case management skills who will successfully implement the Jordan’s Principle – Child First Initiative (JP-CFI) program. This is a new program focusing on all First Nations children living on-reserve, who have disabilities or complex needs. This program will ensure those children and their families have access to the health and social services they need, when they need them and to ensure that they do not experience denials, delays or disruptions of services due to jurisdictional disputes.

Under the supervision of the Jordan’s Principle Services Coordinator this position is responsible for planning, assigning, reviewing, supervising, and managing work of day to day activities of the Jordan’s Principle Case Managers.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provides day-to-day guidance and direction to the Jordan’s Principle Case Managers on case related issues, and best practices; ensures acceptable levels of quality and quantity in the delivery of services; plans caseloads, assigns cases and reviews case files and case assessments.

• The supports will include in-person, phone-based, and electronic communications contact with Case Managers in Winnipeg and Churchill offices requiring direction and guidance in areas such as assessment, service access, and the coordination of support services.

• Establishes priorities for the completion of work according to time sensitive orders. Attends and maintains a calendar for meetings, deadlines, events and hold group meetings with Case Managers.

• Organizes and directs the work and activities; Advises staff on difficult issues and makes decisions on how best to manage and implement appropriate services and assistance.

• Support service delivery: by monitoring work to ensure adherence to policy and procedures; implement and provide feedback on new policies and procedures. Keep up to date on trends and changes, provide program input on team building and develop communication networks to enhance service delivery

• Supervising, building and maintaining a positive work team; providing feedback on performance and identifying and fixing performance issues.

• Provides navigation services with a cultural safety and humility lens, using a trauma-informed and culturally competent approach. Understands the importance of working with First Nations protocols when working with children and families.

QUALIFICATION PRIORITIES:

• This position requires a Bachelor’s Degree in a human servicerelated discipline such as social work, psychology, sociology, nursing, or education and over 1 year of experience working with children and youth and have demonstrated successful leadership.

• Two years management experience preferred

• Supervision–Knowledge of leadership techniques, principles and procedures to assign work, schedule, supervise, train, and evaluate the work of assigned staff.

• Thorough knowledge of case management techniques, principles and practices to evaluate and coordinate the delivery of public assistance to First Nation Children and their families.

• Current registration in good standing with an appropriate licensing body.

• Knowledge of relevant legislation such as CFS Act, Vulnerable Persons Legislation.

• Current Criminal Records/Vulnerable, Child Abuse Registry Checks.

• Valid Manitoba Drivers License.

• Must be willing to travel as required/ and or requested.

Please forward your resume along with 3 references and a cover letter, in confidence, to: Keewatin Tribal Council

Lisa Beardy Fax 204-677-0255 or Email: lbeardy@ktc.ca

Deadline NOVEMBER 14, 2022 @4:00 pm

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by providing a Government of Manitoba issued QR code and photo identification or providing proof of an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba

We would like to thank those that apply for the position but only those being considered for an interview will be contacted.

KEEWATIN TRIBAL COUNCIL

2 FULL TIME JOB OPPORTUNITIES Winnipeg Sub-Office & Churchill, MB Jordans Principle Case Manager

POSITION SUMMARY:

Under the direction of the Health Director, the Case Manager will plan, organize, implement, direct, supervise, coordinate and evaluate activities related to the Families with Children with Complex Needs Project referred to the Jordan’s Principle CFI program.

The purpose is to provide program supports to families with children living with special needs and to help enhance the child’s life and facilitate health care interventions and developmental stimulation without denial, delay or disruption. Work with stakeholders to provide support, address gaps in service, avoid jurisdictional disputes and improve needed care.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• The Case Manager, will ensure the well-being of clients into the program and promotes their development. A key component of this job is to assist in their physical, social, emotional and daily life skills development based on the seven domains of development. This increases their independence and allows them to function appropriately in the community.

• Provides support to families with children with complex needs. Services provided include respite care, crisis intervention, behaviour management, and life skills training, whether on a one-to-one basis or in a group environment.

• Plans, develops, implements and evaluates recreational, social and/or educational activities for children and their families.

• Taking the lead in securing effective development, delivery and review of services.

• Ensuring workforce requirements, training and development needs, funding arrangements and outcome/performance measures.

• Developing a strategy that ensures all children are fulfilling their potential and that action must be taken to improve the lives of these children and their families who need help the most.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• RN or LPN from a recognized education institution;

• Bachelor of Social Work degree;

• Current Registration and in good standing with respective regulatory body in the Province of MB;

• Case management experience;

• Experience working with First Nation Communities;

• CPR and First Aide Certification;

• Knowledge of First Nation language and culture;

• A highly-motivated individual who is innovative and has a proven ability to work with a very high degree of accuracy and attention to detail;

• Excellent time management and facilitation skills;

• Effective verbal and listening communications skills;

• Strong leadership, critical thinking, decision making and problem-solving skills.

• Valid Driver’s License with driver’s abstract. Travel based on need.

• Clear criminal record check, child abuse registry check and vulnerable persons check.

Please forward your resume along with 3 references and a cover letter, in confidence, to: Keewatin Tribal Council

Lisa Beardy

Fax 204-677-0255 or Email: lbeardy@ktc.ca

Deadline NOVEMBER 14, 2022 @4:00 pm

Successful applicants will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by providing a Government of Manitoba issued QR code and photo identification or providing proof of an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination approved by the Government of Manitoba

We would like to thank those that apply for the position but only those being considered for an interview will be contacted.

RCMP photo Natasha Tiffany Wood, 35, was reported missing Nov 3. She was seen at the Winnipeg airport the previous day and in Thompson on Oct. 28.

CITY OF THOMPSON CAREERS

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

City of Thompson requires a Chief Financial Officer who, under the direction of the City Manager, will primarily be responsible for directing the administration, control and reporting on all financial and fiscal matters of the City. Ensures that policies are in compliance with provincial and federal legislation and regulations. The successful applicant should possess University Degree in Finance or Accounting, accreditation as CPA preferred, as well as a minimum of 5 years of experience in a senior-level finance or accounting position. Certification in Manitoba Municipal Administration is an asset. The candidate will have experience in strategic planning and execution, knowledge of contracting, negotiating, and change management, including knowledge of finance, accounting, budgeting, and cost control principles including Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Candidates should possess knowledge of automated financial and accounting reporting systems and of federal and provincial financial regulations. The successful candidate will possess the ability to analyze financial data and prepare financial reports, statements, and projections, to motivate teams to produce quality materials within tight timeframes and simultaneously manage several projects. Advanced proficiency with accounting software and spreadsheet programs and applications is required, as is a well-defined sense of diplomacy, including solid negotiation, conflict resolution, and people management skills. The ability to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing is a must. City of Thompson offers competitive salary and benefits packages, and career advancement opportunities. The salary range for this position is $87,568–$143,291 annually.

Please send detailed resumes outlining experience, education, qualifications and references by Monday, November 14, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. to the address below.

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

City of Thompson requires a Human Resources Manager who, under the direction of the City Manager, will primarily be responsible for planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and evaluating the human resources department. Responsible for the oversight and delivery of all HR functions for the City of Thompson, including Recruiting, Onboarding, Labour Management, Collective Bargaining, Policy Development, Benefits Administration, Business Continuity Planning, Health and Safety, and Return to Work coordination. The HR Manager ensures strategic objectives for HR and the organization are met, demonstrated ability to manage HR core processes such as talent management, succession planning, and employee relations.

The successful applicant should possess a Degree or diploma in business administration, human resources management, or a related field required. Certification in human resources management by CPHR would be considered an asset. The candidate will possess a minimum of 5 years of work experience in a human resources specialist or generalist position, have an ability to interpret and implement personnel related legislation, and a demonstrated basic knowledge of labour laws. The incumbent should be able to make sound business decisions and evidence based recommendations to senior management, use effective communication skills with individuals at all levels of the organization. Presentation skills, leadership, staff management, and teambuilding skills are necessary.

City of Thompson offers competitive salary and benefits packages, and career advancement opportunities. The salary for this position starts at $75,753.00

Please send detailed resumes outlining experience, education, qualifications and references by Monday, November 14, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. to:

Human Resources, City of Thompson 226 Mystery Lake Road Thompson, Manitoba R8N 1S6 FAX: (204) 677-7981 E-Mail: dkondakor@thompson.ca

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Those requiring assistance with the application process should call 204-677-7924.

The City of Thompson is pleased to announce the launch of their own community iPhone and Android apps.