The next give away for the TaKuaKautik Food Bank will be on Friday, July 26, 2019 at the Nigivik Centre. The community is reminded to call into the toll free number 709-700-4739 to place an order.

And intake forms can be picked up at the clinic, Nunatsiavut Government building, Family Connections Staff, and the Nigivik Centre.

The intake forms can be filled ahead of time and dropped off when you are picking up your bag or filled at the Nigivik centre by today, July 23rd with the help of a volunteer.

They would also like to remind the community that the TaKuaKautik will be handing out food on the one day a month that is designated and advertised. If people miss this date, you will have to wait until the next month to pick up food.

The Food Bank volunteers are asking to please make sure to put extra effort into making an order and picking up a bag on that one day of the giveaway.

The TaKuaKautik Food Bank is run completely by volunteers and due to the amount of work put into the food bank, this is what they are able to provide for the community until further notice.

Also please note that the Nigivik Staff is NOT food bank staff and the Nigivik Centre is not a part of the TaKuaKautik Food Bank. It is just space the TaKuaKautik volunteers use once a month for the giveaways.

If you have any questions please reach out to the food bank committee.

Yesterday we had a press release stating that;

The Nunatsiavut Government is calling on Premier Dwight Ball to immediately direct Nalcor Energy to suspend plans to flood the Muskrat Falls reservoir until mitigation measures are taken to reduce the potential impacts of methylmercury on the Lake Melville ecosystem.

Today OKâlaKatiget Society has information on the Muskrat Falls flooding.

We spoke to President Johannes Lampe about this regarding to the flooding of Muskrat Falls.

Click here to hear more from President Lampe later on today.

RCMP police officers, including the Underwater Recovery Team, have been at Mistastin Lake since Friday searching for the remaining four occupants of the plane that crashed in Mistastin Lake last week. As of this morning, neither the plane’s fuselage nor any of the missing men have been located.

While the plane was visible from the air early last week, it is believed that high winds and heavy rains contributed to the plane sinking prior to the RCMP expert divers and investigators getting in to the scene with the required equipment for comprehensive searching.

Objects of interest in the lake have been identified through the use of side scanning sonar and will be investigated by divers today. The RCMP cannot speculate on what these objects are. A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) is also on site and will be used as needed during the search efforts.

Mistastin Lake is located in a very remote area of Labrador, situated approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Nain, and is accessible only by air. The lake measures approximately 16 kilometres in length; locals familiar with the lake have indicated that depths could exceed a few hundred metres.

Further updates will be provided as warranted when new information becomes available.

The Dept. of Culture, Recreation and Tourism will be holding a Language Summit in November of 2019.

The logo is strongly about Language/Culture as the theme is:
Speak it, Teach it, Live it! – Inuttitut UKâlalluta, Ilinniatitsiluta, InosiKalluta!

The committee posted ADS for Nunatsiavut Beneficiaries from July 5 to the 19th that they are in need of help in designing a logo.

Silpa Suarak is the Language Program Coordinator with Nunatsiavut Government in Nain.

On Friday July 19, 2019 was the deadline for submissions. They had a total of 20 entries from Nunatsiavut.

They have gathered up all the logos now and they just need to get together to pick the winners.

The logo contest winners should be ready sometime this week, so this week they will have the contest winners.

The prize is an iPhone 7, along with a runner up prize of a promotional item from the department.

If you are the lucky winner for the Logo Contest you will be contacted by phone or email.

The next give away for the TaKuaKautik food bank will be Friday, July 26, 2019 at the Nigivik Centre. The community is reminded to call into the toll free number 709-700-4739 to place an order.

And intake forms can be picked up at the clinic, Nunatsiavut government building porch, family connections staff, and the Nigivik centre.

The intake forms can be filled ahead of time and dropped off when you are picking up your bag or filled at the Nigivik centre by Tuesday, July 23, 2019 with the help of a volunteer.

A reminder to the community:
**The TaKuaKautik will be handing out food once a month only**
It will be on the one day a month that is designated and advertised. If people miss this date, you will have to wait until the next month to pick up food.

The Food Bank volunteers are asking to please make sure to put extra effort into making an order and picking up a bag on that one day of the giveaway.

TaKuaKautik food bank is run completely by volunteers and due to the amount of work put into the food bank, this is what they are able to provide for the community until further notice.

Also please note: The Nigivik is not a part of the TaKuaKautik food bank. It is just space the TaKuaKautik volunteers use once a month for the give always. Nigivik staff is NOT food bank staff.

If you have any questions please reach out to the food bank committee.

Last week the OK society contacted the north coast community freezers to see what they have to offer in their community freezesr.
Pamela Frieda who is the Food Security Coordinator.
She says their freezer has char to offer.
In their Pantry, they have tea, sugar, butter, cereal, kraft dinner, milk, salt and baking powder.
Frieda adds they have a pilot project as of now and they have gas and ammunitions for hunters to go hunting.

The Nunatsiavut Government is calling on Premier Dwight Ball to immediately direct Nalcor Energy to suspend plans to flood the Muskrat Falls reservoir until mitigation measures are taken to reduce the potential impacts of methylmercury on the Lake Melville ecosystem.

“Our concerns over methylmercury contamination are real and must be addressed before the reservoir is flooded” says the President. “The Premier and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador have done very little to ease our concerns over the potential impacts of Muskrat Falls on our health, culture and way of life.”

On October 26, 2016, following an 11-hour marathon meeting with Labrador’s three Indigenous leaders, the Premier committed to resolving several key issues surrounding the pending flooding of the Muskrat Falls reservoir. All leaders also agreed to establish an Independent Expert Advisory Committee (IEAC) in order to seek an evidence-based approach – utilizing best available science along with Indigenous traditional knowledge – to determine and recommend options for mitigating human health concerns related to methylmercury.

The IEAC, one month after being formally established, issued its first set of recommendations in September 2017. It issued its second set of recommendations on April 10, 2018 – none of which has been responded to publicly by the Premier.

“We have asked the Premier repeatedly to respond to the recommendations,” notes President Lampe. “He has refused to do so, which leads one to believe that there was never any intention to follow through with the commitments that were agreed upon in October 2016.”

Nalcor Energy had budgeted funds to cap wetlands in the Muskrat Falls reservoir in 2018 to reduce methylmercury, but did not get necessary environmental approval from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
“We were informed that the application was not processed, yet we have not received any reason as to why,” notes President Lampe. “Now we are being told, by both the Premier and Nalcor CEO Stan Marshall, that it is too late to carry out any mitigation measures; that flooding is eminent.”

The Nunatsiavut Government has explored all options, including legal, to try to ensure mitigation measures are carried out before full impoundment of the reservoir, which is scheduled to begin the first week of August.

“We are extremely disappointed with how the Premier has handled the whole Muskrat Falls fiasco,” says President Lampe. “He has repeatedly betrayed our trust by refusing to address our concerns, opting instead to place the health, culture and way of life of Labrador Inuit at risk. In the spirit of reconciliation, we call on the Premier to do the right thing and direct Nalcor not to flood the reservoir until the concerns of Labrador Inuit are meaningfully addressed.”

Sarah Leo was appointment as Honorary Colonel of 444 Squadron at 5 Wing Goose Bay on Friday June 21, 2019.

Leo was born in Makkovik; Ms. Leo grew up in Nain and joined the Canadian Armed Forces where she worked as a Mobile Support Equipment Operator.

After 21 years of service, she returned to Nain and was appointed as Town Manager in 2005.

The following year she was elected as AngajukKâk.

She also served as the Executive Director of the OK Society before being elected as President of Nunatsiavut in 2012 a position she held for four years.

Following her tenure as President she was employed as the Aboriginal Affairs Superintendent for Vale’s Voiseys Bay mine.

She currently serves as the Vice-President of Corporate Development for the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies.

Click here to find out about her Honorary Colonel award..

The community of Rigolet was without any fuel or gas for a short period of time until the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies took over operations.

Sarah Leo is the Vice President of NGC Development.

She says the Nunatsiavut Government reached out to the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies to see if they would operate the gas station on interim bases so they decided to take on the role.

The Rigolet gas station was closed down since Friday May 31.

Now the Rigolet gas station is now in operation; the hours of operation is 12 hours a week.

Hours are from Monday to Wednesday from 1 to 4:30pm and Fridays from 8:30am to 10am and from 1 to 4:30pm.

Click here to find out more about the Rigolet Gas Station.

RCMP police officers with the Underwater Recovery Team, Labrador General Investigation Section, and Air Services, along with Ground Search and Rescue from Nain, will set up today at the site of the plane crash in Mistastin Lake, which occurred on Monday, July 15.

The team of expert police divers, investigators and search and rescue personnel were prepared to be at the scene yesterday but high winds and heavy rains prevented air travel. Mistastin Lake is located in a very remote area of Labrador, situated approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Nain, and is accessible only by air.

The investigation was handed over to RCMP Newfoundland and Labrador late Tuesday, July 16, from the Maritime Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, which identified the site of the crash and recovered three bodies in the area of the wreckage. Extensive planning of logistics by RCMP has occurred and is particularly crucial given the remoteness of the location; weather unpredictability; and the need to transport personnel, specialized equipment, such as side scan sonar, and boats to the site by air.

The goal of the operation is to locate the remaining four occupants of the plane. General information about the seven occupants is noted below:

1. Pilot – 66-year-old man from Quebec (missing)
2. Guide – 50-year-old man from NL (missing)
3. Guide – 47-year-old man from NL (located, deceased)
4. Passenger – 67-year-old man from New Jersey (located, deceased)
5. Passenger – 66-year-old man from Illinois (located, deceased)
6. Passenger – 40-year-old man from Indiana (missing)
7. Passenger – 38-year-old man from Illinois (missing)

Further updates will be provided as new information becomes available.