$5K fines given to Manitoba First Nations mothers who defied COVID-19 lockdown to buy groceries – CBC

Mothers from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation want the fines to be thrown out

Feb 07, 2022

A group of mothers from a First Nation in northern Manitoba are calling for leniency after they were fined $5,000 each for leaving their community for essentials during a community-imposed lockdown.

“When I seen that the ticket was $5,000, I thought the ticket was outrageous and crazy,” said Kattey Hart, a mother of four.

Hart lives in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN), about 670 kilometres north of Winnipeg. She was among a group of mothers who travelled to Thompson, Man., for a shopping trip Jan. 20 during a COVID-19 lockdown.

She was issued the ticket for breaking the community’s stay-at-home order and is arguing that the fine is unaffordable, especially as a stay-at-home mother.

Hart said she travelled to Thompson for food and diapers because the band’s grocery stores were closed, and the paid grocery delivery system that was in place for the roughly 2,300 citizens was severely behind schedule.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/5k-fines-ncn-mothers-groceries-lockdown-1.6342985