A letter hosted by the Haida Nation website is calling on the Provincial and Federal governments to enforce non-essential travel restrictions to the entire region as part of the ongoing work towards the prevention of the Spread of COVID-19.The preamble to the letter puts much of the focus towards their efforts to engage the province in their concerns, with much of the direction of the commentary towards protection of the few remaining fluent Haida speakers and traditional knowledge holders.
Together with a unified voice and urgent purpose, leaders from across Haida Gwaii and the North and Central Coast have attempted to work with the Province and Canada to join us in restricting non-essential travel to our communities.
To date, the Province and Canada have failed to uphold their moral and social responsibility to enforce non-essential travel restrictions that would help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect our few remaining fluent Haida language speakers and traditional knowledge holders.
The Haida Nation, working with our neighbours, will continue to explore every possible approach to limit non-essential travellers to Haida Gwaii at this time.” — President of the Haida Nation, Gaagwiis Jason Alsop
The correspondence makes note as to how the risks are different in the area compared to the urban areas, outlining concerns over health care facilities and levels of supplies.
As well, the signatories highlight the moral and social responsibility of the Province, Canada and RCMP to support and enforce non-essential travel restrictions and authorize municipal and regional districts to do the same.
The letter also outlines how the communities of the region are concerned over a potential surge of travellers arriving in the region "in order to escape urban lockdown or seek freedom of the country."
The theme of the document also notes how there are concerns that the prospect of non-essential travel will only get worse as the spring and summer seasons move forward.
They further note that that requests for people to voluntarily stay away will fall on the deaf ears of those who do not respect Indigenous title, and those who feel the need to flee for their lives to areas of the Province that currently have no confirmed cases of COVID-19.
It should be noted, that to this point there have been no details presented, or any actual statistical overview provided towards the key themes of the letter.
Those are missing elements which would indicate if the issues that have been raised are making for a significant situation to be addressed at this moment.
The full text of the letter as released today can be reviewed below:
Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain, Port Edward Mayor Knut Bjorndal and North Coast Regional Director Barry Pages were among those who signed the document, along with First Nations leaders on the North Coast, Central Coast and Haida Gwaii.
The Prince Rupert mayor shared the letter through his Facebook page on Tuesday evening.
You can review the document in full from the Haida Nation website.
This letter is dated April 6th. I have watched council meetings where there was long discussions on sending out letters with the authority and the backing of council and the City of Prince Rupert. There was a council meeting canceled the day this document was signed.
ReplyDeleteShould not this of been discussed by council. If it had to be signed on the 6th a special meeting could of been called. The emergency declaration gave the mayor additional powers. Is it still in effect? I don’t understand how this came to be.
Perhaps a councillor could explain how this worked or was there an unreported meeting giving the mayor carte blanche to do whatever he deems necessary.
Some very valid quesitons, though I wish you well in anticipating any entry to the discussion from the City Council members. Since the March 23rd meeting declaring the Local State of Emergency (one where they made statements but asked no questions and an Declaration overturned by the Province three days later) the City's six council members for the most part have defaulted to the mayor's Facebook posts as the guiding element of civic affairs.
ReplyDeleteNCR
A mayor has one vote like any other council member, the only exception being that a mayor can require that a council decision be reconsidered, after which the council's decision is final. The mayor is also CEO, ensuring that the council's decisions are implemented. A mayor does not have any other powers.
ReplyDeleteThe Prince Rupert council is mostly made up of nice guys, but as a council they are weak. They are ineffective while the mayor presents himself as the decision-maker, communicating views and positions through social media. Whether the council agrees with him is sometimes unknown, as appears to be the case with this letter. The demand to the Province that the homeless shelter be immediately closed without alternate arrangements being in place appears to another example. At what public meeting was that decided? I would not assume that the council members even agree with such a reckless position.
The Province can tell the difference between political posturing by a mayor and formally approved decisions made by a city council. That's also part of the role of the MLA, who unlike the mayor is demonstrating that she can work effectively with senior levels of government.
The letter from the Haida is well reasoned and will be taken seriously. The signature of mayor Lee Brain will be taken for what it is. Without a record of council support it will be taken as an expression of opinion by a small city mayor.