Yellowknife (Aug 27/01) - At least 13 communities in the Northwest Territories are fighting a war on alcohol abuse using the strong hand of the law.

In places like Fort Good Hope, where alcohol is restricted, the hamlet also went so far as to take Lysol, hairspray and other solvents containing alcohol off store shelves.

That has created a market where people will buy cans of Lysol for $25 in a pinch, or pay up to $200 for a bottle of rum.

"It has always been a problem," Cpl. Mark Crowther admitted.

But what has changed is the attitude of leaders in the community and the amount of alcohol-related crime there, he said.

"The newly elected chief and council are not afraid to stand up and say enough is enough."

People gathered on the point on Aug. 19 when the twin-engine RCMP boat loaded with police and K'asho Got'ine bylaw officers sped down the Mackenzie River in pursuit of a smaller craft.

They watched the chase, rooting for the law, and applauded when the smaller craft was boarded.

Case-after- case of booze was unloaded off the boat and three Fort Good Hope residents were charged with illegal possession under hamlet law.

That seizure added to another one the previous weekend resulted in more than 50 bottles of liquor, plus coolers, Lysol and other alcoholic substances.

Other restricted communities such as Fort Liard recently made alcohol busts and laid charges, too.

In Deline, where bottles sell for upwards of $350, the community is talking about another plebiscite to vote for complete prohibition.

The hamlet is still reeling from the impact of a triple murder-suicide spurred by alcohol. Police there say bootlegging has already resulted in spin-off ventures in which owners of boats will taxi bootleggers to the liquor store in Norman Wells for about $100 per person.

Although Crowther says 80 per cent of the of Fort Good Hope is on the law's side, calling in with tips and showing enormous support, the maximum fine for bootlegging is $500 under the local bylaw. That sum is overshadowed by the potential $10,000 sale that could have been made if the bootleggers got away.

Crowther said the effort exists because last October's tragedy, where three young residents died in a head-on snowmobile collision after a party, is still fresh on people's minds.

"Let's face it. Alcohol is 90 per cent of our crime, people are getting hurt and people are dying," he said, citing a crime decrease of about 40 per cent.

As for whether the community's initiative will cure the problem, "that's the million dollar question," said Crowther.

"This just seems to be a different Fort Good Hope than what it used to be."

In the water-locked community of Lutsel K'e RCMP were busy dealing with assault cases that arose from alcohol-fuelled drink-fests last week.

Lutsel K'e is a dry community where booze is prohibited.

"Where there is a will there is a way and people will bring liquor in, regardless," said Cpl. Marc Coulombe.

Nailing bootleggers

He said charges are slapped on those who are found drinking alcohol, but when it comes to nailing bootleggers, there is a lack of community support, even though it was they who voted for prohibition.

Bootleggers come from Yellowknife by boat and stash the liquor by hiding it on islands or along the shore, Coulombe said, only to return secretly and retrieve it later.

"I'm not saying (dry communities) are not the way to fix it," he added. "But more onus needs to be put on the community. We'll get anonymous calls but when it comes to going to court the support is not there."

A long-time aboriginal addictions counsellor who now works in Inuvik does not hesitate to say banning booze from a community is not the way to fix it.

Bob Kelly, a recovering alcoholic, knows that taking away the substance will not take away the perceived need brought on by what he says is a disease.

"It just doesn't seem to work," he said, speaking from his own experience. "You cannot regulate people with an iron fist."

Kelly admitted there is no simple solution. Instead he favoured slower, steadier methods like education and changing the attitudes of children surrounded by the reality of drunks and scenes of abuse.

"Education is important to get the kids at a young age," Kelly said. "You can't socially engineer a community. We have tried and it is like big brother is looking over your shoulder."

Try again

Paulatuuq is only a cluster of houses along the Arctic coastline when seen from the air.

And air is normally the only way into and out of the 300-person hamlet that held a plebiscite to restrict alcohol last winter.

The community voted against it 55 to 53.

The lone RCMP officer in the tiny community wished it would have been different.

"(Alcohol) has an impact on the amount of work I'm involved in," said Cpl. Bruce McGregor. "Here in Paulatuuq, (voting for a restriction) I'm sure it would have had some positive influence."

That is because McGregor would have been happy to take the occasional trip to the airport to check for liquor rather than deal with the many alcohol-related break-ins and assaults that he has to deal with now.

"It certainly is an attitude change that is needed in the long-term but that is something I have no control over," he said.

McGregor said in Northern communities he has worked in the past, the restricted or dry system was not that successful. He felt, however, that because of Paulatuuq's isolation, alcohol restriction might have made a difference as it would be easier to control.

Try harder

Still, the echoes heard in Fort Good Hope are from the war it has lodged against bootleggers.

"We are standing stronger than ever before," newly-elected chief Frank T'seleie said in a press release. "It is time to put bootleggers out of business."

Dropping crime rates and a support system made up of a passionate community is all police in Fort Good Hope need to stick to zeroing in on bootleggers, not the dynamics or philosophy of a restricted system.

"The majority of most of our crime now is youth-related," he said.

"We are finding them so drunk they can hardly walk and they are getting things like 151 proof Bacardi rum from bootleggers."