‘Extensive damage’: More than 25,000 customers without power in N.B. days after storm

The provincial government says it doesn’t know how long it’s taking for public health officials to connect with people infected with COVID-19 or their close contacts.

With infection rates and the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital growing at an alarming rate, the province’s inability (or refusal) to share contact tracing data with the public raises serious questions about how many people may be spreading the novel coronavirus unwittingly.

The Free Press has asked the provincial government repeatedly over the past week for pandemic contact tracing information, including how long it’s taking public health officials to follow up with people who test positive and to track down their close contacts.

“We do not have these statistics readily compiled, and do not have the capacity to pull them at this time,” a government spokeswoman said in an email Wednesday.

A model canoe took its maiden voyage Wednesday — into the arms of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s executive director.

Stephanie Scott and her team received the miniature wooden canoe during a ceremony at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg.

They also left with a freshly signed corporate declaration of action, where national companies pledged their commitment to reconciliation.

“Your commitment, your courage is so important,” Scott told a room of roughly 15 people in the Pavilion. “It is a very long journey that we’re all on.”