'The public deserves to know': N.W.T. premier explains what went wrong with border messaging

The N.W.T. chief public health officer's border restrictions were never "wrong," says the premier, but perhaps the messaging was.

In an interview with CBC, Premier Caroline Cochrane admitted the way the government announced the initial border restrictions was flawed and that in the kerfuffle that followed, communication on her behalf could have been better handled.

"That's really important that we change our messaging and let people know ... our border is not closed but our travel within is now restricted," she said.

"We should have been more on it. The public ... deserves to know." 

Her comments come after criticism over her delayed communication about territory-wide health order changes, despite championing government transparency. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cochrane's government has on at least three occasions withheld information about major changes to the territory's laws. 

Those includes the border restrictions debacle and updates that arrived piecemeal to the public. For example, when the rules for who could travel into the territory changed, the public wasn't informed until nearly two weeks later.

"I do take ownership for that," Cochrane said.

She said during those two weeks, the government was in session and that the days were going "very, very long."

"Our communication with the chief public health officer wasn't as it should have been," she said.

Cochrane clarified in the interview that under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the borders cannot be closed — Canadians have a right to cross between the country's jurisdictions.

We should have been more on it. The public does deserves to know.- Premier Caroline Cochrane

The government said in a news release on June 10 that it had changed its policy on its borders since May 29 'to more closely align' with the Charter; Cochrane said she too, like the public, didn't find out about the change during those two weeks.

She told CBC that when she did hear about it, she told the public within one day.

The updated territorial health order says that restrictions take effect once people cross the border into N.W.T., Cochrane said. She added that the updated health order is also more specific about tourism and what is expected from people coming from out of territory.

"The big focus is that the new order that just came in does address, who can come in, who cannot come in," Cochrane said.

"Everyone can come in across the border — that needs to be clear. It's when they come into the territory, then our orders take effect."

Territory still needs 'strong measures,' says premier

As for the state of emergency, Cochrane said the territory is weighing how strong its orders are against the risk of COVID-19 transmission within the territory to decide if a state of emergency is still necessary.

"It's important for people to know that the pandemic is not finished. People in the North, we've had the luxury of all three territories [having] been able to contain our cases, to become a place where we have no active cases," she said.

However, she added, the territory still needs "strong measures" in place.

"I can see it in stores, I can see it in the public, I can see people taking it for granted," Cochrane said.

When it comes to rebuilding trust with the public, Cochrane admits there was "a lot of scrambling that took place" and that there was concern from MLAs and public alike. 

"What's important to say is that building relationships and building trust is something you have to work at constantly," she said.

"We will continue to work at building stronger relationships, being as transparent and as open and working in partnership as much as we can in this government. But we will have bumps."