Inuit gov. in Atlantic Canada gives gas allowances to harvesters under COVID-19 program
The Inuit government in the Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador will be giving gas allowances to marine harvesters under the new Nunatsiavut COVID-19 Marine Harvesters Support Program.
Nunatisavut, the Inuit self-governing region of Labrador, announced the allowance on Tuesday, saying it would be available to anyone that was a beneficiary of the Labrador Inuit Land Claim Agreement.
Under the new program, boat owners that are harvesting country food for themselves, or for their, or other families, will be entitled to the allowance.
Those eligible will receive a voucher from the government for 50 litres of gas a week.
Snowmobile gas subsidies discontinued
In the news release announcing the new program, the government also said that gasoline subsidies for snowmobiling would be suspended in Nunatsiavut on or before June 1.
In the community of Rigolet, the suspension has already come into effect as of May 26.
The Nunatsiavut government has put in place a number of programs to help the region’s communities weather the economic impact of COVID-19, including a food supplement program, as well as other measures targeted to individuals over 60, or those whose hours were cut or laid off from their jobs because of the pandemic.
The total population of Nunatsiavut is 2,560 people living between five communities along the Atlantic coast: Nain, Hopedale, Makkovik, Postville and Rigolet.
Write to Eilis Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories around the North:
Canada: More than 100 people refused entry to Canada’s North under COVID-19 travel bans, CBC News
Greenland/Denmark: COVID-19 could delay Kingdom of Denmark’s Arctic strategy, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Half of Finnish Lapland’s tourism businesses fear failure by winter, Yle News
Iceland: Iceland talks COVID-19 with Canada, Greenland foreign ministers, Eye on the Arctic
Norway: Growing concern among Nordic officials over increased Arctic border traffic, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Migrants arrested in Barents Sea as they try to reach Norway, Russian security services video, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Swedish Public Health Agency says border closures ‘won’t work’ against coronavirus spread, Radio Sweden
United States: COVID-19 pandemic raises hard questions about health disparities, says Int’l Inuit org, Eye on the Arctic
