Skip to content

Cochrane's meeting with premiers, PM postponed

0305CabinetHotseat_#_
Deputy premier Diane Thom, Premier Caroline Cochrane and Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek address members of the Northwest Territories Association of Communities on Feb. 29 at the Midnight Sun Complex.

Premier Caroline Cochrane's planned Thursday and Friday meetings with her provincial and territorial counterparts and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have been postponed in the wake of wider COVID-19 concerns.

A Thursday statement from the prime minister's office sharing the news indicated Trudeau was self-monitoring after his wife displayed symptoms of the virus following a recent trip to the United Kingdom.

But while the first minister's meeting has been postponed, there will be a phone conversation between the PM and premiers to discuss COVID-19, stated the PM's office.

The news follows NWT chief public health officer Kami Kandola's Wednesday confirmation that infrastructure minister Katrina Nokleby was self-monitoring for COVID-19.

The minister took the action after she and GNWT staff attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto on March 1 and 2.

An attendee at the conference has tested positive for the virus, but the person wasn't from the NWT delegation.

Both Nokleby and health minister Diane Thom were absent from legislative assembly proceedings Wednesday. Education, Culture and Employment Minister RJ Simpson attributed this to "personal matters."