WINNIPEG Two Manitoba First Nations are asking the provincial government to hold off on granting a final licence to Manitoba Hydro’s Churchill River Diversion until their concerns are addressed. The Churchill River Diversion, which has been functional since 1976, brings more water to Hydro’s generating station on the lower Nelson River, which is helpful for power generation. It has been operating on an interim licence, but the province is considering granting a full licence. However, O-Pipon-Na-Piwin and Tataskweyak Cree Nations want their concerns addressed before a full licence is issued. The First Nations said some of the issues brought about by the Churchill River Diversion include ruined shorelines, disruptions to local fish habitats, and declines in commercial fisheries.
Winnipeg Free Press
Test-positivity rate in region stubbornly high, MKO health official says By: Dylan Robertson | Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 13, 2021 Save to Read Later
A highly contagious COVID-19 variant has made its way to Manitoba’s north as the region races to vaccinate residents while battling a persistently high test-positivity rate.
Winnipeg Free Press
A highly contagious COVID-19 variant has made its way to Manitoba’s north as the region races to vaccinate residents while battling a persistently high test-positivity rate. We re really not anywhere near the point of effective herd immunity levels yet, said Dr. Michael Routledge, the province’s former chief public health officer, who now is part of the health team at Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.
By the end of the week, COVID-19 vaccine doses will have been delivered into 48 out of 63 First Nations communities and those with adjacent Northern Affairs…
“It’s been a very successful campaign in regards to distribution,” she said, as First Nations, with assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces and other organizations like the Red Cross, attempt to deliver 100,000 vaccine doses in 100 days. “Now we need those vaccines in arms.” Although there has been vaccine hesitancy in some First Nations, MacKinnon said in others uptake is as high as 75 tp nearly 80 per cent of adults. “More and more people are wanting to be immunized so that’s fantastic news,” MacKinnon said. Dr. Michael Routledge, medical advisor to MKO’s health organization Keewatinohk Inniniw Minoayawin Inc., said vaccine hesitancy is nothing new and urged anyone with questions to ask a trusted health care professional rather than relying on information from social media or other sources, which may not be scientifically valid.
First Nation leaders in Manitoba have shared that hundreds of Manitoba First Nation citizens have always been neglected in some aspect when it comes to health…