LOCAL NEWS - APRIL 19, 2020: LOWER NORTH SHORE – CANADIAN RANGERS PATROLLING THE LNS
Residents of the Lower North Shore have seen their local Canadian Rangers Patrol Groups active in their communities throughout the weekend, from patrolling the streets of the communities to delivering groceries to the seniors or issuing reminders about social distancing. Depending on the needs of the communities, each local Canadian Rangers Patrol Group has a different mandate.
CFBS was speaking with Sergeant Warren Letto, of the Blanc-Sablon Canadian Rangers Patrol Group, about what duties the local Rangers had over the weekend. Sergeant Letto said that there are 12 Rangers active currently in the Municipality of Blanc-Sablon, they are working in 3 groups of 4 Rangers at a time. Their patrol hours will be from 8:30am to 9:30pm, seven days a week, and they will be working in 3 shifts during those hours.
Sergeant Warren Letto said that the Blanc-Sablon Canadian Rangers Patrol Group currently have the following mandate:
To monitor the civilian activity within the 3 villages (Blanc-Sablon, Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon and Bradore)
Ensure that individuals are following the directives for self-isolation
The Rangers will be reporting any individuals who are not following the regulations to the local office of the Sûreté du Québec
Assist with any other community needs that may arise
Sergeant Letto also explained that at the current time, the Blanc-Sablon Rangers are not working at the border, ferry or airport check points. However, this may change in the future depending on the situation and if there is a need for this directive.
CFBS was also speaking with Sergeant Wayne Spingle, of the Bonne-Espérance Canadian Rangers Patrol Group, about the directives of their Rangers. Sergeant Spingle said that in their Municipality, there are currently 16 Rangers who are active. There are 4 Rangers working on a shift and that there is two shifts per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon from 8:00am to 4:00pm.
Sergeant Wayne Spingle said that the Bonne-Espérance Canadian Rangers Patrol Group currently have the following mandate:
To raise awareness about social distancing and to remind the population that there is to be no social gatherings in the communities
To aid with grocery delivery to the seniors in all 3 communities (Old Fort, St. Paul’s River and Middle Bay)
To reassure the population and answer any questions that they can assist with
Any other tasks deemed as necessary for the community at the Rangers discretion
Sergeant Spingle also mentioned that the Bonne-Espérance Rangers will be taking note of anyone who is not following the health directives to report the incident to the Sûreté du Québec office in Blanc-Sablon.
The MRC du Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent had been requesting that the Rangers be deployed since the beginning of March to aid the Lower North Shore communities since prevention of the novel coronavirus became a major concern on the Basse-Côte-Nord Territory.
On April 15th, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Military assistance from the Canadian Rangers on the Lower North Shore to help communities deal with the novel coronavirus pandemic after receiving a request from the Government of Quebec. This came after the federal Government accepted the first demand from the Government of Quebec for help from the Canadian Armed Forces for the community of Nunavik.
As of 1:30 pm today, it was announced on the CISSS de la Côte-Nord website that there is still no cases confirmed on the Lower North Shore of COVID-19, only 1 other MRC of the North Shore, the MRC of Caniapiscau, also remains at 0 confirmed cases.
Abbygail Wellman
CFBS Journalist
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