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BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO - By a slim margin the residents of Behchoko voted to ban liquor outright in the community April 15.

There were 492 votes cast on the question, “should the consumption, possession, purchase, sale and transport of liquor be prohibited in all that portion of the Northwest Territories that lies within the boundaries of Behchoko."

Craig Yeo, senior administrative officer for Behchoko, said the next step is to implement the ban. - NNSL file photo

In all, 256 votes, or 51.5 per cent of the total cast voted in favour of banning alcohol, 237 votes cast said liquor shouldn’t be banned and four ballots were spoiled.

Joe Beaverho, an addictions counsellor in town, brought forward the motion to the hamlet council in March asking for a vote to take place. A resident of the Tlicho community, 95-km northwest of Yellowknife said he was pleased to see the first step toward improving life in the struggling community.

“People figured it was time for a change,” he said. “I figured it was going to be close, the way people were talking and some were hesitant to vote for it or against it.

“We hope this will work to guide our community to a more strong and peaceful place.

“People need to believe in themselves. We have to work together and not be against one another. This is going to give us a change to become healthier as a community.”

Craig Yeo, senior administrative officer for the hamlet of Behchoko, said the next step now that the vote is completed is to decide on a date to implement the ban.

“The Department of Finance administers this act so we’ve told them the results and they’ve asked us to recommend a date for this to come into place,” Yeo said, adding a letter to the Finance Department from Chief Leon Lafferty will recommend a date and they will get the ban in place as soon as they possible can. “We’re going to consult with other agencies to see what steps they will have to take to react to this, such as public education, counselling services, RCMP and then we’ll recommend the date.”

The vote wouldn’t have passed under the old NWT Liquor Act, which required a 60 per cent majority to pass a liquor ban vote, while the change to act now only requires a 50 per cent majority.

A former social worker in the community, who asked not to be named, said the repercussion from the vote is going to do more harm than good.

“It’s good our community recognizes there is a problem, but banning it is not going to work,” she said. “We don’t have the support systems in place to deal with a full on ban.”

She said there is not enough to keep people from drinking, such as activities and support systems such as Alcoholic's Anonymous and counselling.

“I don’t see it as being as effective as they think it will be,” she said. “Bootleggers will get rich and there will be more drug abuse than alcohol.”

While alcohol is more controllable than drugs, the Behchoko resident, who voted against the ban, said the problem of drug abuse will become more prevalent. She also said the drinking will just pick up and move 95 km down the road to Yellowknife.

“They’ll go to Yellowknife and party and drink,” she said, adding the possibility of drinking and driving will most likely increase because of this. “It’s going to cause more problems for the RCMP in Yellowknife. We’re just pushing the problem somewhere else.”

Beaverho said it’s not something he expects will change in a day and knows there is a long road ahead to bring healing to the community.

“The plan is to take this one day at a time and we have to remember this won’t just change over night.”