With dozens of First Nations communities under lockdown because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, increasingly bored federal bureaucrats are signing memoranda-of-understanding with household items and even family pets.
“I signed an MOU with my coffee maker on Tuesday,” said Emily Hormiga, who works in the Manitoba Regional Office of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada—when she’s not in her home practicing physical-distancing.
“Not much else I can do right now.”
During a weekly Zoom conference of Regional Director Generals and other senior bureaucrats in the department, there were reports of at least 47 MOUs being signed with everything from a bag of oranges, a package of toilet paper and several cats and dogs.
While non-binding and largely symbolic, a spokesperson from the department told Walking Eagle News that the agreements have still cost the federal government approximately $5-million dollars.