KANESATAKE -- In what local leaders call a “gesture of inter-nation solidarity,” Kanesatake will vaccinate members of the Micmac Nation of Gespeg, a First Nations community more than 800 kilometres away.
About half of Gespeg community members live outside of the territory, which is located off the gulf of Saint-Lawrence.
Over the weekend, about 250 of them will be able to access their home community’s vaccine supply in Kanesatake, through a new dosage exchange program.
Doses given to Gespeg members in Kanesatake will be accounted for in vaccine shipments back home.
“It's very important, as a nation of First Nations people, that we stick together,” said Micmac Nation of Gespeg Chief Terry Shaw. “That's our strength, because we are on common ground.”
“I decided, okay, all their members living within our region, we would open up our infrastructure to vaccinate their people,” said Mohawk Council of Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon, from the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community northwest of Montreal.
By the end of the week, 75 per cent of Kanesatake residents will have received a first dose of the vaccine, according to Simon. In the past year, 31 people caught the virus in Kanesatake, and two people died.
Both leaders told CTV News they have high hopes of expanding the program to incorporate other Indigenous communities in Quebec and beyond.
“This is a great example of how we will overcome this pandemic - by working together,” wrote Indigenous Services Minster Marc Miller in a Saturday press release.
