Fort William First Nation reopens retail stores
By Rick Garrick
FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — Fort William’s retail stores were reopened May 4 for Fort William citizens and May 5 for the general public after closing in early April due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The community took everything into consideration, took a lot of what was happening in the district of Thunder Bay and around the region, weighed all those options and had considerable meetings with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU), our emergency response team [and] our health group,” says Fort William Chief Peter Collins. “It was 24 days [since] we shut the gas bars down and we thought it was time to start opening up slowly.”
Chief Collins says the retail stores are open from 8 am. to 4 p.m. and now have to follow regulations from the band.
“What we did is followed the TBDHU mandate and we governed the gas bars in light of all the policies that have been created and make sure they follow those mandates,” Chief Collins says. “If you go around the gas bars today, they are all adhering to the regulations that have been put forth to them.”
The retail stores have to follow social distancing practices, limit the number of customers inside of the stores at one time and follow additional cleaning procedures. They must also follow and remain up-to-date with all of the safety requirements issued by the Canada Labour Code and TBDHU.
Chief Collins says the community is still in semi-lockdown with no access allowed into other parts of the community. The gas bars are all located on City Rd. and Chippewa Rd.
“We’re trying to be mindful and be vigilant about this [COVID-19] virus that has not gone away,” Chief Collins says. “So we’re doing everything to continue to protect our community.”
Chief Collins says the majority of the COVID-19 cases in the TBDHU have been resolved. The TBDHU, which covers about 230,000 square kilometres with about 146,000 residents in the Northern Superior Region and central part of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, had 78 confirmed cases as of May 10, with 70 resolved, seven active and one deceased.
“Our council was skeptical about opening but they realized we have to try to get back to a somewhat normal way of life sooner rather than later,” Chief Collins says. “I know [the businesses] were struggling. They had a lot of employees who were off and not working, and that’s their livelihood. For the most part, the vendors supported what we did and agreed with the work we had to do to protect our community.”
Chief Collins notes that Chapman’s Gas Bar closed down several days before the other retail stores because staff were worried about COVID-19, but they are now open for business.
“You have to take your employees into consideration when you are doing this type of business,” Chief Collins says. “A lot of them are family-oriented businesses. If one picked up the virus then there is a possibility of the whole family picking up the virus.”
Chief Collins says the community had to be mindful and pay attention to what was going on around them in the TBDHU as they do their COVID-19 testing.
“The testing [has] been coming back negative, which is a good sign,” Chief Collins says. “But none-the-less, you can get tested negative today and go back tomorrow and test positive, so we’ve got to be mindful of all of that.”
The band reminds citizens to only leave their homes for essential items, and if they do leave, the community they are asked to self-isolate when they return.