Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement are advised that steps are underway to relocate the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) office from St. John’s to Makkovik.

The St. John’s office, located at 95 LeMarchant Road, is slated to close permanently on October 27th, 2021. The move is part of the Nunatsiavut Government’s long-term plan to transition the delivery of programs and services, as well as staff, to the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area.

Student programs, services and funding will not be affected during the transition. All students will be kept informed of any staff/contact changes as they arise.

The PSSSP office has assisted nearly 2,000 Labrador Inuit students in over 3,100 programs since being established in 1987. During that time, more than 900 students have graduated from some 1,180 programs – ranging from college to Ph. D level.

Nunatsiavut Government appreciates the hard work and commitment of all PSSSP staff, past and present, and will strive to ensure the transition runs as smoothly as possible.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the Makkovik Moravian Church Ladies Sewing Circle are unable to have their annual Christmas sale this year.

Instead they will be donating their handcrafts to Carol Gear’s November/December on-line church auction.

This will be held from November 18th to November 25th, 2020.

All funds raised from the auction will go to support the Makkovik Moravian Church.

The shipping season has now come to an end on the North Coast.

But the Jens Haven Memorial School Community Recycling will be holding their very last community recycling this week.

Kristine Nolan is a teacher at the JHM School and a volunteer.

She says the last community recycling will be held this Thursday, November 19, 2020.

Recycling will be held from 3:30 pm until 5 pm down at the Nain dock.

She would like to remind residents to please remove all lids and please put glass recyclables in a separate box, this includes the donated recycling as well.

If you would like more information, please contact the K-12 JHM School at 922-2813.

The town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay is pleased to announce the 2020 Santa Parade will proceed with a few changes from previous years.

To comply with Public Health Guidelines related to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020 Santa Parade will be a “Static Display” located in a designated area along Kelland Drive.

Residents will be able to safely, at reduced speed, drive-by, and view this year’s floats safely from their vehicle while floats will be stationary and not moving.

The Town strongly urges the public not to walk along or stand in the designated area. Public Health Guidelines recommend no pedestrian traffic during this event.

The theme for 2020 is “Christmas In Quarantine,”.

The Happy Valley-Goose Bay Santa “Static” Parade will take place on Saturday, December 5th, 2020, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

The deadline for registration of floats is noon, Friday, November 27th, 2020.

Winners will be announced immediately following the 2020 Santa Claus Static Parade via Social Media.

The 2020 Registered Floats will be judged in the following categories:
-Best Adherence to Theme – “Christmas In Quarantine”
-Best Illuminated Float
-Best Commercial Float
-Best Decorated Float

The Aboriginal Friendship Centre, First Light in St. John’s are going well with their programs even though its limitation of people exits due to COVID-19.

Andrew Harvey is the Director of Social Support Care at First Light.

He says at first they were closed down but not too long when the first case of the pandemic occurred.

Harvey says there a lot of programs that they have on the go, for parents and their children, youths, Inuit parents, men and more.

Stay tuned to AtjiKangitut today to hear Harvey give you more details of their programs.

Today, Monday, November 16, Newfoundland and Labrador has no new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The province has 10 active cases. One person is in hospital due to the virus.

Two hundred and eighty-nine people have recovered.

To date, 56,869 people have been tested.

In Alert Level 2, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians should continue to practice good infection prevention and control practices. People are encouraged to continue following proven Public Health measures to protect themselves, their families, and their communities from COVID-19.

Public Health has prepared guidance on holiday activities. Holiday events or gatherings should be planned in accordance with Public Health guidelines.

People are reminded that COVID Alert is available for download free through the Apple or Google Play app stores. Public Health is encouraging people to download the app to help reduce the spread of the virus.

For the most up-to-date information related to COVID-19, please visit: www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19.

The Nain Department of Health and Social Development would like to inform the residents that the Dental Hygienist and the Dental visit will be coming to Nain.

For those who need to book an appointment with the Dental Hygienist they will be coming to town on November 22-28th, 2020.

And the Dental visit will be coming to Nain on December 4-11, 2020.

To book an appointment for either the Hygienist or for a Dental appointment please call 922-2126 or 922-2114 extension 221 to have your name listed.

Please not there are no guarantees of being seen, all depends on the emergency list.

The OKâlaKatiget Society has a job opening for a Radio Assistant.

This funded position will last for approximately 26 weeks which will end in March.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Researching story ideas
• interviewing, story writing
• Transferring old formatted music and archives to new program formats
• Assisting radio producers with all aspects of radio production

The position is open until it is filled, and preferences will be given to Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement.

Applicants with knowledge of Inuktitut will be a strong asset.

Qualifications are:

• You have to be between the ages of 18 – 30
• A strong interest in media communications and current affairs
• Ability to work independently

You can send in your resumes to our Executive Director Arlene Ikkusek by email, arlene.ikkusek@oksociety.com.

For more information, you can contact the OKâlaKatiget Society office at 922-2955.

The Driver Examiner will be coming back to offer written and road tests plus Photo ID’s to the residents of Nain.

They will be arriving on Wednesday, November 18th, at 10:15am and will be leaving the same day at 2:25pm.

The examiners cannot process payments so ensure that you have pre-paid for the services that is required via the internet before arriving to their appointments.

There are no charge to write the written test, you must have 2 pieces of ID, either the Government ID, MCP, SIN number or your Nunatsiavut Card, but once the written test have been passed, you have to send $40 and your paperwork to Goose Bay, NL.

To do a road test, you must have your beginners permit for at least a year or your vehicle has to be insured and have to pay $78 for your road test for the Class 5 Car.

In order to do this, you must have an account set up prior to the day of the road test at www.gov.nl.ca, then you click on “Online Services” then click on “Register”.

Be sure to remember your password, the road test fee must be pain online and print the receipt for you to give the driver examiner on the day of the road test.

You must have a credit card to pay for the road test or interact online.

The Driver Examiner will also be available to do photo ID’S, you will have to send an application form and fee of $25 to Goose Bay.

You can call the Nain Inuit Community Government office at 922-2842 with your name and phone number, where you can be reached and say you want done.

Health officials have changed the way they match up the dates of COVID tests with the people tested, to avoid future errors like the one that occurred earlier this week.

Health Minister John Haggie says it happened when one day’s test results were accidentally matched with the next day’s list of patients.

He says Sunday’s list of patients was paired with Saturday’s list of results which is what caused the initial concern and confusion.

For now, dates will be double-checked manually while officials work with the manufacturer of the lab equipment toward a change with its software.

Previous tests are also being reviewed to ensure their accuracy.