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We are speechless. Over the past week, 185 of you stepped up to join us as monthly members. In tough times, 185 readers contributed to our most successful membership drive in The Narwhal’s history. We couldn’t be more grateful for your support. 

And because of our dear readers, The Narwhal keeps on growing. Our pod expanded by three this week as we welcome Senior Editor Raina Delisle and reporters Natalia Balcerzak and Julien Gignac. Natalia is based in Terrace, covering Northwestern B.C., while Julien is reporting on Yukon from Whitehorse. Stay tuned for more juicy details on our new team members, plus plenty more in-depth journalism.

In last week’s newsletter, we told you about how mining and pipeline work wasn’t being put on hold despite other strict government measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Now, you can add Site C dam construction to the list of B.C. projects facing calls to shut down operations.

Everyone from local officials to the former chief medical officer for Northern Health is sounding the alarm about Site C, Sarah Cox reports. Even with enhanced protections, work camps face the same impossible containment obstacles as cruise ships, ex-chief medical officer David Bowering told The Narwhal. 

“The last thing that seems to me [to be] reasonable is to have large work camps — that we know will be sources of infection both within themselves and in the local communities, and in the home communities of the workers when they go back.”

And just as existing operations continue, so are efforts to launch consultations on new resource projects. The Skeetchestn Indian Band received about 30 referrals from industry and the provincial government between March 9 and March 23, Stephanie Wood reports. That’s despite the fact the band office shut its doors and reduced services to focus on the community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While the B.C. government says it has put in place interim guidelines for consultation during the crisis, some say more needs to be done to fix an “out of hand” process that was already overwhelming First Nations across the province.

Thanks for reading. We hope you are staying healthy and safe.

Arik Ligeti
Audience Engagement Editor

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