Staying Home Is Not The Centre Point Of All COVID-19 Responses

Ice still remains in the water in front of a row of northern houses
Deline, NT photo by mattcatpurple is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
May in Deline, on the shores of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada

Governments in Canada’s far north have taken a different approach to the COVID-19 epidemic. They are encouraging residents to resume traditional practices of living on the land, rather than staying home, which is an anchor to responses in the south.

Why?

Staying at home presumes an adequate supply of housing, which simply doesn’t exist in Canada’s northern communities.

And what about safe hygiene practices like handwashing? How does one accomplish this when water rationing is the norm?

As for health care, many communities operate without any professional medical care.

In the article linked below, the Canada Research Chair in Northern Governance and Public Policy, Julia Christensen, demonstrates why the COVID-19 response in the south can’t be expected to work and would likely make the situation worse in the far north. She cites studies that document extreme overcrowding, compared with the rest of the country, widespread water rationing and the absence of even the most basic health care.

Leadership in these circumstances indicated other measures. Christensen commends the territorial governments for acting swiftly to control access and encouraging residents to resume traditional land based practices.

As for the future, Christensen is hopeful that COVID-19 will spur the construction of more housing, much more than currently planned. For more on the situation, read in the Conversation: Housing Is Health: Coronavirus Highlights The Dangers Of The Housing Crisis In Canada’s North

A further thought: returning to the land may prove safer for people who experience domestic violence. In communities with stay-at-home responses, incidents of domestic violence are spiking significantly.1 Domestic violence is more prevalent in the far north compared with the rest of the country in ‘normal’ times.2

Footnotes

  1. Try: COVID-19: Staying At Home To Stay Safe From The Virus May Be The Least Of Your Worries
  2. For more on this, see at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: Housing Needs of Indigenous Women Leaving Intimate Partner Violence in Northern Communities

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