Inuit Women are leaders in their families and communities, and should represent us in government.

Status of Women will be hosting leadership workshops for Inuit women in each of the Nunatsiavut communities.

Women are invited to learn how you can support women running for political office, and how you can be a local leader.

Maggie Burton, a St. John’s City Councillor, and Caitlin Urquhart, a lawyer, will be facilitating workshops in each Nunatsiavut community.

Workshops are being held in Rigolet Community Hall on May 23rd, Makkovik Arena meeting room on May 24th, Postville Community centre on May 25th, Hopedale Assembly building boardroom on May 27th, and in Nain at the NG Administration building boardroom on May 28th.

Rigolet and Makkovik sessions will be from 9 am to 12 pm, and the participants are encouraged to return after lunch from 1 to 3 pm for small group or one-on-one work.

Postville, Hopedale and Nain will be from 1:15 to 4:15 pm, and participants are encouraged to stay from 4:15 to 6:15 pm for small group or one-on-one work.

To find out more, or to sign up/register, please email Tracy Ann Evans-Rice at tracy.evans-rice@nunatsiavut.com, or call 1-855-923-2368.

According to Bell Aliant, the cost to use payphones in Atlantic Canada is jumping to 50 cents.

That of course depends on if you can find one.

Payphones once critical for communication when out and about will now be double the rate they’ve been for decades.

Bell Aliant, which operates about 50,000 payphones in seven provinces across the country, is increasing the rates to use them in the Maritimes and Newfoundland and Labrador from 25 cents to 50 cents.

This is the first increase in Atlantic Canada in over 20 years.

Bell Aliant said it aligns with payphone costs across the country, which jumped to 50 cents in 2009.

Electronic messaging and public display signs about the upcoming rate change will appear on public phones starting this weekend Saturday, May 19, 2018.

Bell Aliant acknowledged that use of payphones has declined significantly in recent years with the rise of mobile communications, but said that they still have value for customers, especially in busy areas like airports, shopping centres and hospitals.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nain will be having a basement sale this evening at 6 pm.

It will be in the blue RCMP duplex, the first door up the steps facing the Youth Centre.

To mark National Road Safety Week, which is being held this year from May 15 to 21, 2018, the Canada Safety Council wants to emphasize the importance of not being impaired behind the wheel.

According to Statistics Canada, 72,039 impaired driving incidents were reported by police in 2015.

The rate of these incidents (201 incidents per 100,000 population) is at its lowest since data on this subject began to be collected in 1986.

However, almost 3,000 of those incidents were drug-related, a figure which is double the amount from 2009, when drug-impaired data first started being collected.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two most commonly detected substances in drivers who die in traffic crashes in Canada are alcohol and cannabis, respectively.

It is also important to note that alcohol and cannabis can have an increasing effect, meaning that a driver who has consumed both alcohol and cannabis will be significantly more impaired than someone who has consumed one or the other.

Here are some tips to remember:

If you’re not sure if you’re impaired, don’t get behind the wheel.

There is never a good time or reason to drive while impaired.

There are many alternatives to driving impaired.

Plan ahead; ensure you have a designated driver, call a taxi if you can, or stay where you are and sleep off the impairment.

Members of the Nunatsiavut Assembly have re-elected Kate Mitchell, the Ordinary Member for Makkovik, to serve as First Minister of Nunatsiavut.

The election was held yesterday, May 16, 2018 during the first sitting of the fourth session of the Nunatsiavut Assembly in Hopedale.

The First Minister oversees the running of the Nunatsiavut Executive Council, and acts as the Minister of the Department of Nunatsiavut Affairs, responsible for:

(a) implementation of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement;
(b) the administration of justice and the legal services required by the Nunatsiavut Government; (c) eligibility and enrolment of Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement;
(d) the management of Nunatsiavut Government public property; and
(e) housing for Inuit.

Both the President and First Minister sit as members of the Nunatsiavut Executive Council (NEC).

The following Ordinary Members have been appointed to serve on the NEC:

Tyler Edmunds, Postville: Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology
Tony Andersen, Nain: Lands and Natural Resources,
Gerald Asivak, Upper Lake Melville: Health and Social Development,
Rachel Saunders, Hopedale: Education and Economic Development,
Jim Lyall, Nain: Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

Following the swearing-in of all newly-elected and re-elected Ordinary Members, the First Minister and the NEC, Assembly Members reaffirmed President Johannes Lampe’s nomination of Edward Blake Rudkowski, an Ordinary Member for Canada, as Speaker.

Carlene Palliser, the Ordinary Member for Rigolet, has been appointed to serve as Deputy Speaker.

Getting an X-ray done for TB in Nain has been going well since the x-ray machine was sent up and then installed in early April.

Antoinette Cabot is the Regional Director with Labrador-Grenfell Health.

She says they had their first X-ray clinic on Friday, April 6, and took pictures on Tuesday, April 10.

Cabot says she is very happy to report that they have completed 258 X-rays in Nain.

She says there are more clinics this week, and three more before the end of this month.

Stay tuned to AtjiKangitut tomorrow for more information from Cabot on how the X-rays for TB in Nain are going.

A Climate Change Workshop is being held in Nain this week.

Kristeen McTavish is the Food Security Coordinator for the Nunatsiavut Government.

Caroline Nochasak is the Community Climate Change Liaison for the Nunatsiavut Government.

Nochasak says they discussed priorities for the young people on how climate change is affecting them.

McTavish says there are people from the Nunatsiavut Government and Department of Health and Social Development attending the workshop.

To hear more from McTavish and Nochasak on the Climate Change Workshop in Nain, click HERE.

There was a big crowd of observers during the Jens Haven Memorial School (JHMS) Science Fair last Friday, May 11, 2018.

Parents, grandparents and family members witnessed what their child, grandchild, niece or nephew worked on for the fair.

There were 23 participants from grades 4, 5 and 6.

Gerard White is the Science Teacher.

He says the students had many great ideas with the work they provided.

And this year was the first time for the grade 4’s to take part.

White was amazed by the turnout from the community when OK Radio spoke with him.

To hear brief audio of the science fair event with White at the school gymnasium, click HERE.

Graduates along the North Coast are preparing themselves for their proms.

The Jens Haven Memorial School’s (JHMS) prom date is set for May 19, 2018.

There are 17 graduates this year.

In Hopedale, the Amos Comenius Memorial School (ACMS) has their prom date set for June 2.

Seven students will be graduating there.

There are no graduates for the B.L Morrison School (BLM) in Postville.

At JC Erhardt Makkovik (JCEM), there are six graduates; they will not be having a prom, but will hold a graduation ceremony on June 30.

And in Rigolet, the Northern Lights Academy (NLA) has three graduates, and they will have their prom on May 26, 2018.

It is good to hear stories from Elders about what they used to do in the spring time.

Adam Lidd is a resident of Nain.

He says they used to get ready to go seal hunting in spring time at Ikigasâtsuk, south of Nain.

Lidd adds they used to use dog teams in those days to go hunting.

To hear more from Lidd on his hunting trips, click HERE.