Open and honest dialogue with Indigenous communities guide COVID-19 response
First Nations, Inuit, and Métis face unprecedented and unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant socio-economic and health gaps put them at greater risk during these hard times. Regular, open, and honest dialogue with Indigenous leaders has guided and strengthened Canada’s approach to this pandemic, starting with the National Health Emergency Management Network, which was […]
Black communities need more than ‘Band-Aid’ funding, say advocates
For too long Black Canadians have felt like a “broken record,” replaying the same recommendations to combat obvious inequality with only “Band-Aid money” applied to redress systemic wrongs, say Black leaders in the wake of protests across the country demanding action on anti-Black racism. Like many in her community, Federation of Black Canadians chair Dahabo […]
Arctic research in Canada is adapting under COVID-19 restrictions
Travel restrictions and new research protocols have halted southern-based and international scientists from heading to Canada’s Arctic this summer to conduct their annual field seasons, but it has not halted all research and monitoring activities. COVID-19 restrictions will create notable holes in fundamental multi-year datasets, impact national and international project deliverables, delay research priorities, impose […]
Canada’s wide-ranging northern response to COVID-19
Canada’s Arctic and northern regions cover almost 40 per cent of Canada’s overall land mass. The health and safety of those who live and work in the North and isolated communities are our top priority. From Day 1, my colleagues and I have been in regular contact with territorial and provincial governments and First Nation, […]
While some MPs urge adoption, Conservatives still skeptical about remote voting
As the House Affairs Committee studies whether and how to introduce remote voting to the Lower Chamber, some MPs are urging it to recommend such voting be temporarily introduced as physical-distancing restrictions prompted by COVID-19 have kept Canada’s top legislature from dealing with almost all regular business since mid-March. “I don’t think people thought that […]
COVID-19 exposes risks of social and economic inequity
The threat of COVID-19 and its potentially devastating impacts on Inuit Nunangat communities has put the daily vulnerabilities of Inuit families into focus for governments in a new way. Although sadly, it has taken a global pandemic to generate new attention and focus on long-overlooked challenges such as tuberculosis, crowded housing, violence, and limited access […]
Does a global pandemic signal the need for adjusted approaches to Arctic research?
I must admit, it’s not the sort of thing I ever really considered. I’ve been an environmental scientist working in Arctic Canada for 20 years. Much of my lab’s research takes place in Nunavut, at some of the most remote, picturesque, and harsh locations imaginable. We work collaboratively with federal departments and northern communities to […]
Pandemic underlines need for better northern housing: Vandal
Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal has been busy during the pandemic. Phone calls start around 8 a.m. and stop whenever they stop. Mr. Vandal (Saint Boniface-Saint Vital, Man.) is the first person to hold the standalone title of Minister of Northern Affairs. Previously, the responsibilities for northern economic development and relations with Indigenous and territorial […]
Government must do more to help northerners and their businesses bounce back
As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to decline across the country, it feels as though we are at a point in the crisis where all of us are trying to catch our collective breath, take stock of where we are, examine what is working and what isn’t, and ready ourselves for whatever […]
Advocate lauds feds for soliciting expert views in guiding COVID-19 relief measures for vulnerable Canadians
The federal government set up a taskforce in March that is co-chaired by the anti-racism secretariat to “inform” talks at the assistant deputy and deputy minister levels, a measure one expert says expands the dialogue beyond bureaucrats to guide the development of relief measures for vulnerable groups. Amy Go, interim president of the Chinese Canadian […]
