The Torngat Fish Producers Co-operative Society Limited will be holding their community meetings and Annual General Meeting in May.

The community meetings will be held in Rigolet, Hopedale, Nain and Makkovik, and the Annual General Meeting will be held in Postville on May 24 at 10am at the Community Centre.

The community meetings will be held in Rigolet on May 3, 2023, at 7pm at the Town Hall.

They will be in Hopedale on May 4 at 7pm at the New DHSD building, Nain on May 16 at 7pm at the Town Hall, and then in Makkovik on May 17 at 7pm at the Town Hall.

Here is the schedule for the AGM:

They will Call to Order, Roll Call, review and adoption of agenda, Minutes for 2022 previous meeting, review audited financial statements, report 2022 operations, proposed 2023 operations, new business, and then elections, and the by-law amendments to Torngat Fish Producers Co-operative.

If there are any questions, please contact the Head Office at 709-896-3992.

Over 20,000 people sign the petition, as wait for CRA hotlines stretch into hours.

With the deadline for Canadians to file their taxes just days away, some accountants are worried that the public servants’ strike could cause low-income taxpayers to miss out on filing and securing access to the benefits they rely on.

The strike of more than 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency employees has made it much more difficult to reach out to government experts, with some services suspended and others seeing prolonged delays.

“People don’t have three or four hours in their day to sit there and wait on the CRA to answer their phone calls,” said Eric Saumure, a chartered accountant with Zenbooks.

“The CRA does have a mandate to help Canadians file their taxes appropriately, and the CRA agents just aren’t there to help.”

Saumure channeled that frustration into a petition that urges the government to extend its deadline to June 15, when those who are self-employed are required to file their returns.

By late Monday, it was nearing 25,000 signatures.

The government agency has encouraged people to file online, so their returns can be processed automatically. But Saumure and d’Orgeville said that’s not easy for everyone.

He adds, “if you file in May, you’re probably OK to get your benefit on time in July. If you file in June, you’re probably too late. So we’re going to try to submit as many taxes as possible for people who need our help.”

The House of Assembly reconvenes for the spring sitting today after having nearly three weeks off for the Easter break.

The House last sat on April 5.

One of the big-ticket items left to cover in the provincial legislature will be the passing of the 2023 budget.

That document was introduced in late March, however politicians had only about three days to debate it between constituency weeks and Easter holidays.

The cost of living, health care, and the ongoing issues related to the crab fishery will likely topics for debate.

Stories about back then is always good to hear, especially of on the land.

Today we have Buddy Merkuratsuk of Nain, telling a story of how spring season was for him and his family.

Merkuratsuk says that these days, we have skidoos and gasoline; when he was growing up, they had dog teams and food to fuel them.

He tells his story about how it used to take them up to 2 weeks to get to Hebron, traveling by their dog team, and how today, we could leave from our home towns and get there in a day or so.

Click here to listen to Merkuratsuk’s story of how spring season was back then.

Torngat Fish Producers Co-operative Society, Limited will be holding their Community Meetings and Annual General Meeting on the following dates:

Rigolet: May 3, 2023 at 7pm at the Town Hall
Hopedale: May 4 at 7pm at the New DHSD Building
Nain: May 16 at 7pm at the Town Hall
Makkovik: May 17 at 7pm at the Town Hall

Please note that two delegates will be elected from each community to attend the AGM.

The Annual General Meeting will be held in Postville at 10am at the Community Centre.

If you have any questions, please contact the Head Office at 709-896-3992.

Work will begin this construction season on further improvements to Northwest River Highway (Route 520) near Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador.

A contract valued at approximately $7.6 million has been awarded to JCL Investments Inc. to rehabilitate and pave sections of more than eight kilometers of the road between Dump Road Access and Gosling Lake.

The contract also includes culvert replacements, brush clearing, clearing of ditches, installation of guiderails, work to raise the subgrade for two kilometers, and paving sections leading to the Munik Pone Memorial Bridge (Pinus River) on Route 500.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure anticipates this work being completed during this construction season.

These improvements are in addition to work completed in 2022 on approximately three kilometers of paving and shoulder repairs on Northwest River Highway between its intersection with Edmonton Street and Northwest River.

This year’s contract is part of a $225 million investment in highway construction in 2023-24 and close to $1.4 billion over the next five construction seasons, as announced in Budget 2023.

A new program is being established to provide dialysis to remote communities in northern Labrador.

A partnership between Labrador-Grenfell Health and Rotary International will provide home and community-based dialysis services in Natuashish, and will also extend additional support to a similar service in Sheshatshiu and training facility in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Labrador has some of the fastest growing rates of chronic kidney disease in young people. Currently there is no dialysis service in coastal Labrador communities, even though the majority of those in need are Indigenous people living on the north coast.

In order to access dialysis, residents are forced to spend up to $1,000 round trip to Happy Valley-Goose Bay to receive treatment up to three times a week.

Due to costs and a number of health risks associated with the travel, many patients are forced to move from their community.

The new project will attempt to reduce those barriers and provide easier health care access to remote communities.

An official launch will take place at the Labrador Health Centre on Friday, April 28 at 10am.

Story courtesy of VOCM news.

Women in Resource Development Corporation (WRDC) will be traveling to Nain to hold workshops within their department.

Judy Voisey is the Career Development Coordinator for the Labrador Region.

They will be holding workshops at the Nain Atsanik Hotel from April 25-27 of this year.

Judy Voisey and Tana Pittman of WRDC will be holding a workshop about the OTT program, help with resumes and discuss about workshops.

Come out to the Nain Atsanik Hotel tomorrow Tuesday, April 25 from 1-4pm and 6-8pm, and again on April 26 from 9am to 12 noon, then from 1-4pm and 6-8pm, and again on Thursday, April 27 at 9am to 12 noon.

If you would like more information, you can contact Judy Voisey by email at jvoisey@wrdc.ca or tpittman@wrdc.ca, or you call 709-899-1317.

Transportation will be available, and snacks will be provided.

After 2 years, the Labrador Aboriginal Training Partnership will finally be up and running to offer training again soon.

We spoke with Keith Jacque who is the Executive Director with LATP; he says he will be traveling to Nain to reopen their office to introduce their new worker, Leah Blake.

There will be an open house on Wednesday, April 26, and they will start taking names for anyone who would be interested in doing any training.

Click here to hear the update from Jacque on LATP.

The Nain DHSD will be holding a Healthier Me challenge in May; the goal of this challenge is walking and becoming healthier.

This program will start May 1st and end May 31st, 2023

Wilma Hay-Jenkins will be taking up to 30 participants, you will be given a Pedometer upon registration.

There will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes given for most steps taken in a run of the month of May.

Registration is open to anyone who resides in Nain, ages 16 years and up.

The group will meet once a week to keep track of the steps taken by the pedometer.

For more information, you can contact Wilma Hay-Jenkins at 709-922-2126 ext. 223.