A northern chief is worried of the affects lifting COVID-19 restrictions will have on her people.
Chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band Tammy Cook-Searson said she doesn’t think it’s the right time yet.
“I think it’s too soon to be lifting the restrictions with no vaccine passports going into public buildings, schools and everything,” she said. “And taking off the mask (restrictions) at the end of the month—I think it’s too soon because it’s not based on data.”
Premier Scott Moe announced that proof of COVID-19 vaccination mandates will cease in the province on Monday and all other remaining restrictions will be scrapped Feb. 28.
Cook-Searson said she doesn’t know the effect this will have on the healthcare system in the north as cases here haven’t peaked yet. But, she said they will peak soon.
The LLRIB wasn’t consulted by the premier before he made the decision to lift restrictions, but Cook-Searson knows what she would have told him if he asked.
“We would want him to base his decisions on health information based on the hospitalization rates and base his decision on the public health evidence that’s there.”
Cook-Searson said her band will begin discussions on whether they will be following the province or if they’ll be keeping restrictions in place.
(PHOTO: Tammy Cook-Searson. File photo.)