Rick Garrick

The Aboriginal Business Professional Association (ABPA) held a webinar on Our Fair Share: Helping Indigenous Business Access COVID-19 Relief Funds featuring guest speaker Brian Davey.

“It went fantastic — great questions, people were very interested,” says Davey, executive director of NADF and board member with ABPA. “In a very short period of time we got out a lot of information. I hope it’s enough information that sticks (so) people take away what they need to know to move forward.”

A Flood Watch was issued for the Albany River on May 2 with Kashechewan and Fort Albany residents warned to keep a close watch on river conditions as ice break up may be occurring upriver. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry – Cochrane District and the Mushkegowuk Council Emergency Management Services advised area residents in a May 7 update that the Flood Watch remains in effect until May 14. The update indicated that the level of flood risk remained at moderate to high for the two James Bay communities.

Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler stressed the importance of keeping focused on flattening the curve of the COVID-19 global pandemic during his May 5 update on the Wawatay Radio Network.

NDP MPPs Sol Mamakwa and Guy Bourgouin recently called for the provincial government to help Kashechewan move to the Site 5 relocation spot to avoid a possible evacuation during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu highlighted the risk for Indigenous people from the COVID-19 global pandemic due to underlying health conditions during a phone interview.