A jump in daily case counts, holding firm on the number of passings on the day and a slight increase in the number of active cases made for the background to today's COVID 19 update from Public Health Officer Doctor Bonnie Henry
“Today, we are announcing 125 new cases, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 9,138 cases in British Columbia.
You can review the COVID-19 report for Wednesday here. 
The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.
You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:
Federal Government site
British Columbia Government site
The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.
More from Northern Health can be reviewed here
You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.
Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, those past advisories can be reviewed here.
For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee
Ottawa Observations
Following the lead of the Terrace Detachment and its ongoing work on providing public information when it comes to Policing, the Kitimat RCMP have now introduced their own Calls for Service Report to the detachments website.
The updates provide residents with a glimpse into some of the challenges that the local members see during their time on watch, something that is useful for residents to understand where attention may be needed and to help smother some of the unfounded rumours that can percolate.
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| A useful bit of information for Kitimat residents comes by way of an RCMP Service Call Update (click to enlarge) |
The Terrace Detachment has had their Service Report listings in place for a few years now, regularly updated to keep the residents of that city informed.
You can review both below
Terrace RCMP website
Kitimat RCMP website
The online background is in addition to the frequent updates that RCMP members provide for the city councils for both communities, with senior RCMP officials regularly providing a review of policing issues and concerns for the elected officials in Terrace and Kitimat as part of their public regular council sessions.
City Councillors in Prince Rupert don't seem to share that interest in seeking such information, or at least if they do receive it, in making it public.
The appearance of RCMP officials at Council is mostly a once a year invitation if that, with the Council members for the most part content to receive the RCMP's notes, with few follow ups.
The last public session which featured a member of the Prince Rupert detachment came in December of 2019, an appearance which at that time brought to an end a two year gap between appearances.
Council's take away following Policing report: Prince Rupert remains a Safe Community
Results from RCMP updates only as successful as the Questions asked
Since that December session, City Council has received delegations from the public and heard concerns from residents over a number of themes from wildlife incidents, to downtown social issues that perhaps could make for some informative discussion topics should they wish to invite the local members of the detachment back for a visit.
Council would seem to have the time to fit more frequent updates into the schedule, what with some recent council sessions lasting less than half an hour, 14 minutes in the case of the only meeting in September.
In January of this year Council did review a new project called the Situation Table program, which is designed to take the pressure off front line responders when it comes to social issues; though Council has not provided for an update on that program and whether they have gone ahead with it or if it is still in the planning stages.
The Prince Rupert detachment has not as of yet adopted the online opportunities that have been taken up further inland with the Detachment Service Reports; with the local RCMP website used much less frequently for information sharing on the North Coast than it is inland.
To follow what updates we do receive and to follow other themes of the work of Emergency Responders across the Northwest see our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
Residents of the Nisga'a Nation will head to the polls on November 4th, with a range of choices to make when it comes to leadership and regional office holders for the Nisga'a Lisims Government.
Yesterday, the full list of those looking to seek office was released, with five candidates seeking the Presidency of the Nation, a vote which will see current President Eva Clayton facing a challenge from four other nominees.
There are a number of other office holders to be elected as well during the November election, with positions including Secretary-Treasurer and Chairperson for Council or Elders part of the vote.
The villages of the Nisga'a Nation also will host campaigns for office this year, as well as those who represent Local representation in Nisga'a Urban areas.
For the North Coast, the local representative race for Prince Rupert/Port Edward will see three candidates on the ballot, with incumbents Clifford Morgan and Juanita Parnell facing a challenge from Farley Stewart, the North Coast sends two representatives to the NLG.
The other Urban areas include Terrace and Vancouver which also have two seats each available with large list of candidates seeking office.
You can review the full list of candidates for all positions here.
Last week we took note of some controversy over the upcoming vote, with a number of Nisga'a residents signing a petition to suspend the election until next year, though with 547 names signed to date, to this point it does not appear that the petition organizers have had much success in having that suspension put in place.
For more notes related to events in the Nass Valley and for the urban Nisga'a in the Prince Rupert area see our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
This year marking the seventh commemoration of awareness sharing of the harm of the Residential School program of the past.
First observed by Indigenous leaders in the Williams Lake region, the day commemorates the history of Phyllis Webstad, a residential school survivor of St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake.
Her story of the day that School officials took away her Orange shirt, leaving her to feel as though she no longer mattered has built the foundation for the awareness raising that has progressed since 2013.
The day serves as a way to look back at our history and how the Residential School program created pain and harm for Indigenous people, offering a path forward towards our work on further reconciliation.
Towards further understanding. Ms. Webstad and Joan Sorley have developed a 156 page book that will help to educate students on the history of residential schools, its designed for students at Grade Five and above, but makes for an excellent resource work for parents and the general public as well.
At SD52 Wap Sigatgyet has posted some resources to seek out for Orange Shirt Day 2020, the focus is on reading material, as well as video and spoken word projects which add to the story so far.
More on the province wide observance of Orange Shirt Day can be explored from the organizations website and Facebook page.
In Prince Rupert you can follow the progress of Orange shirt Day through the SD52 Social media feeds of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Coast Mountain College themes on the day can be explored through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well.
For a look at Aboriginal Education in Prince Rupert visit the Wap Sigatgyet page part of the SD52 website
Further notes on education in the Northwest can be found from our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
The lack of progress when it comes to connecting many rural areas of Canada to the online world made for the theme of a contribution to Tuesday's House of Commons work, with Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach raising the issue during Question Period.
Speaking towards the end of the daily opportunity to raise issues of concern, Mr. Bachrach made note of past government promises towards connectivity and how the timeline towards connecting communities is not moving very fast.
Of note for the Northwest, Mr. Bachrach called particular attention to the ongoing delays for Haida Gwaii and other areas of the region and the issues that it is creating for those who rely on the internet more and more these days.
"Many rural residents in the Northwest can’t work remotely because they don’t have good enough internet. They can’t go to school online. And they can’t access government services. It’s unacceptable during normal times but even more during a crisis. "Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
The BC Centre for Disease control has some valuable Coronavirus notes related to COVID-19 you can explore that information here.
You can learn more about the outbreak from both the Province and the Federal government from the links below:
Federal Government site
British Columbia Government site
The World Health Organization website also offers up the latest advisories on the global situation.
More from Northern Health can be reviewed here
You can review our archive of past statements and local information here.
Local governments and organizations have also provided for increased awareness of COVID-19 issues, those past advisories can be reviewed here.
For notes from across Canada and British Columbia we have been archiving the latest items through our political portal Darcy McGee
Ottawa Observations
