Consensus Government and Collaboration: The COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada’s North and the Role Partnership Played in Protecting the Health and Well-being of Residents

Published date01 June 2021
DOI10.1177/0160323X211027865
Date01 June 2021
Subject MatterPerspective Essay
Perspectives Essay
Consensus Government and
Collaboration: The COVID-19
Pandemic in Canada’s North and
the Role Partnership Played in
Protecting the Health and
Well-being of Residents
Caroline Cochrane
1
Abstract
Despite the varying challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Northwest Territories, a northern
Canadian jurisdiction with unique and challenging circumstances from governance style to geography
to limited health care capacity, has been one of the leading jurisdictions in Canada to contain the
spread of COVID-19.
Keywords
Northwest Territories, NWT, COVID-19, Canada, consensus government, Indigenous
governments, pandemic response, GNWT, Government of the Northwest Territories
Perspectives Essay
The COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the
globe with varying degrees of intensity for the
past eighteen months has been both universally
and uniquely experienced across countries and
continents. We all face the same virus but there
is no one-size-fits-all response. Many jurisdic-
tions confront challenges that require custo-
mized strategies and solutions.
Here in Canada’s Northwest Territories
(NWT), public health officials and political
leaders contend with COVID-19 across a vast
Arctic and sub-Arctic terrain that is double the
size of Texas. In total, we have thirty-three
communities, with numerous intergenera-
tional households, many of which include vul-
nerable older or at-risk members. There is
often limited Internet connectivity, high levels
of unemployment, mental health and addic-
tions challenges, and food insecurity. Some
areas are accessible only by boat, air charter,
or winter ice roads.
Colonialism and historic trauma associated
with residential schools have contributed to
mistrust in government, includ ing health care,
for First Nations, M´etis, and Inuit residents.
Indigenous people make up 50 percent of the
territory’s population of 45,000. Shared history
1
Government of the Northwest Territories, Northwest
Territories, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Caroline Cochrane, Government of the Northwest
Territories, 4570-48th Street, Yellowknife, NorthWest
Territories, Canada X1A 2L9.
Email: premier@gov.nt.ca
State and Local GovernmentReview
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0160323X211027865
journals.sagepub.com/home/slg
2021, Vol. 53(2) 103–\ 105

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