Yesterday, Sunday, June 14, Newfoundland and Labrador has no new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The total number of confirmed cases in the province remains at 261.

The regional breakdown of the 261 cases is as follows:

– Eastern Health – 243
– Central Health – 8
– Labrador-Grenfell Health – 6
– Western Health – 4

Fifty-two per cent of cases are female and forty-eight per cent are male.

By age, there are 22 people 19 years old and under, 38 between 20-39, 39 between 40-49, 58 between 50-59, 57 between 60-69, and 47 people who are 70 years old and above.

One person is in hospital due to the virus.

Two hundred and fifty-six people have recovered.

There have been three deaths from COVID-19.

To date, 14,592 people have been tested.

There is a support program for beneficiaries of the Inuit Lands Claims this that started this past April.

It is offered by the Nunatsiavut Government to help beneficiaries with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We spoke with Gerald Asivak who is the Minister of Health and Social Development and Ordinary Member for Upper Lake Melville.

He says the COVID-19 support programs being offered by the Nunatsiavut Government will only be made available to those who meet specified eligibility criteria.

The support programs aims to assist seniors (60 years and older) on fixed incomes, persons with disabilities, single parents, low income families, and individuals and families who have had their employment hours cut or have been laid off because of the pandemic.

Click here to find out more.

The Provincial Parks Campsite Reservation Service will begin accepting reservations for the 2020 camping season for all Provincial Park campgrounds today Thursday, June 11 at 1:30 p.m.

Campsites can be reserved by visiting www.nlcamping.ca or calling toll-free 1-877-214-CAMP (2267).

Campers are encouraged to visit www.nlcamping.ca to create or update their user profile which is required when making a campsite reservation.

A two-phase re-opening process for the Provincial Parks of Newfoundland and Labrador will occur during Alert Level 3:

On Friday, June 12, day-use activity at 13 Provincial Park campgrounds and seven day-use Provincial Parks will be permitted.

On Friday, June 19, overnight camping at 13 Provincial Park campgrounds will be permitted, with restrictions.

Overnight camping is expected to resume in full (including tent camping), beginning in Alert Level 2.

There are 32 provincial parks throughout the Newfoundland and Labrador; including 13 camping parks, 10 park reserves, and seven day-use parks, as well as T’Railway Provincial Park and Main River Waterway Provincial Park.

For the most up-to-date information related to COVID-19, please visit www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19. For general inquiries related to available government services, please email covid19info@gov.nl.ca.

LATP is now accepting funding applications for clients planning to start their training in the fall of 2020.

This funding support applies to Trades and other eligible training programs as per previous years, as well as underground mining training.

Please reach out to an LATP counsellor listed below for further details.

If your training program was affected by COVID-19 restrictions, please reach out to your counsellor, if you haven’t already, for further details on completion of your program.

All LATP offices remain closed to the public, but you can fax your application to 709-896-3506 or scan or email a career counsellor listed below:

Nunatsiavut
Nain – Janelle Barbour at jbarbour@latp.ca
Makkovik – Tammy Barry at tbarry@latp.ca

Fraudulent CERB applications could land Canadians with a $5,000 fine and jail time.

Trudeau said on Tuesday that his government will be looking to crack down on those who take advantage of a program intended to help Canadians.

Canadians who make fraudulent claims for the Coronavirus emergency benefit could face a fine of up to $5,000; a penalty double what they received in improper benefits and jail time.

Those who refuse to go back to work could also face financial penalties.

That’s according to a draft version of legislation expected to be tabled by the federal government on Wednesday that aims to fill in some of the gaps in the existing rules.

While the government has said from the start of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program that those making fraudulent claims will face penalties, they have not said what those penalties could be.

The draft legislation, however, lays that out for the first time.

Making a false or misleading claim, failing to declare all income, knowingly receiving an income benefit that a person isn’t eligible for, non-disclosure of facts or facilitating omission of any facts are all listed as offences under that legislation.

Committing any of them will land a person a fine of up to $5,000 “plus an amount of not more than double the amount of the income support payment that was or would have been paid as a result of committing the offence.”

Lavinia Jararuse is the Constituency Assistant with the Ottawa Constituency office.

She says individuals in the Nain area who would like to return the CERB monies back to the Government can still do so.

Jararuse says individuals who would like to return any CERB benefits can set up an appointment by calling her after work hours from 4-7 pm by email at laviniajararusemoses@hotmail.com or call her from 4pm-7pm at 709-897-5520.

Yesterday, Thursday, June 11, Newfoundland and Labrador announced that there were no new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The total number of confirmed cases in the province remains at 261.

The regional breakdown of the 261 cases is as follows:

• Eastern Health – 243
• Central Health – 8
• Labrador-Grenfell Health – 6
• Western Health – 4

Fifty-two per cent of cases are female and forty-eight per cent are male.

By age, there are 22 people 19 years old and under, 38 between 20-39, 39 between 40-49, 58 between 50-59, 57 between 60-69, and 47 people who are 70 years old and above.

One person is in hospital due to the virus.

Two hundred and fifty-six people have recovered.

There have been three deaths from COVID-19.

To date, 14,117 people have been tested.

An unexpected oil spill happened near the community of Postville this week.

We spoke with Larry Crann who is the Deputy Superintendent of Environmental Response in the Atlantic Region for the Canadian Coast Guard.

He says right now they are continuing to work, ensure and coordinate the response.

A Coast Guard helicopter and 4 Environmental Response officers are on site with a kit of spill response material have been tasked to the scene.

Click here to find out more information about the Oil Spill near Postville.

A mystery spill near Postville, on the north coast of Labrador is dissipating according to aerial surveillance from the scene.

The spill, which was estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 litres on Monday, was down to about 950 litres yesterday.

The Coast Guard’s Deputy Superintendent of Environmental Response, Larry Crann, says the source of the pollutant has not yet been identified.

He says the fact that the numbers are going down suggest it was a “batch release.”

Residents say the spill appeared to coincide with a recent oil delivery to the community. Crann can’t say for sure if that’s the source of the spill.

He says the investigation into identifying the source of a spill can be complex, and involves identifying the source so it can be stopped, and a clean-up carried out.

Samples of the pollutant, which is a lighter-type product according to Crann, have been collected for identification.

Meanwhile, the MHA for Torngat Mountains, Lela Evans, says she is concerned about the environmental impact the spill will have on the area.

The minister responsible for Service NL, Tom Osborne, says the provincial government is also deeply concerned and will work with the federal government to ensure it is cleaned up properly.

Evans says she knows that spills in the water are a federal responsibility, but she asks the Minister what the provincial government is doing to clean up the spill that is impacting Inuit owned lands.

Osborne says any time there is a spill that impacts the land it concerns everyone. However, Service NL officials have been working with Environment Canada and the Coast Guard to clean it up.

Stay tuned to our AtjiKangitut Show tomorrow to hear Larry Crann on the oil spill in Postville.

The Government of Canada Newfoundland and Labrador would like to announce an extension for tax returns.

To provide continued support to businesses dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, a further two-month extension of tax return filing deadlines is being provided to August 20, 2020.

All tax returns, with the exception of tax returns required from inter-jurisdictional carriers, falling under the purview of the Revenue Administration Act and Regulations, which would otherwise be due March 20, 2020 to July 31, 2020, are now due August 20, 2020.

The tax returns applicable to this extension include:

• Gasoline Tax
• Carbon Tax
• Health and Post-Secondary Education Tax
• Insurance Companies Tax
• Mining and Mineral Rights Tax
• Tax on Insurance Premiums
• Tobacco Tax

For monthly filers, this means you will have the option to extend the filing and remittance of tax amounts for the February to June 2020 reporting periods to August 20, 2020.

To continue to file during the extension period, you should submit tax returns via email to taxreturn@gov.nl.ca or fax to 709-729-2856.

Please email taxadmin@gov.nl.ca or call 709-729-6297 (toll free 1-877-729-6376) to set up electronic funds transfer, wire payment, or e-file payment options.

If online options are not possible, please submit your returns via mail or by utilizing the drop-off box. The drop-off box is located in the East Block, Confederation Building in St. John’s, and can be accessed via the Employee Entrance at the back of the building nearest to the daycare.

Anyone who avails of the extension and files each of the required returns on or before August 20, 2020, is advised that they must file each of the monthly returns as a separate filing at that time.

Fuel prices along the coast of Labrador have dropped sharply, as tankers return to the area.

Prices on the north and south coast are frozen annually after the last delivery of the season, and don’t change again until the ice thins and ships are once again able to reach communities there.

On Thursday, that led the province’s Public Utilities Board to drop the maximum price of gas by 20.7 cents per litre. Diesel is down by 34.5 cents per litre, stove oil is down 28.33 cents per litre.

Propane, though, is up by 5.1 cents per litre.

The move comes just a few weeks after a major price drop in central and southern Labrador.

As fuel consumption plunged under the pandemic, fuel prices in Newfoundland and Labrador tumbled as well.

But in April, two fuel providers — Woodward’s and Normore’s — asked the Public Utilities Board to hike prices, because they buy in bulk and couldn’t restock until September.

The steep price drop would have caused significant losses to the providers, or forced them to turn off the pumps.

That price hike ended in May, causing prices to drop significantly.

Meanwhile most fuel prices in the rest of Labrador — and the rest of the province — rose Thursday, with gas up by three cents, diesel by 4.1 cents and 2.8 cents in Newfoundland and western Newfoundland respectively, furnace oil by 3.53 cents and stove oil by 3.53 cents. Propane is down by 0.7 cents.