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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Some communities dealing with the negative impact of boozing are taking ownership and electing for change by voting to adopt alcohol restrictions. The reward is a decrease in crime rates.

Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk) is among the communities in the NWT that decided to take a proactive approach to the problem and voted in 2008 to become a 'restricted community.'

"We're two-and-a-half years into our liquor restriction. Before that it was open, you could bring anything into town," said Merven Gruben, mayor of Tuktoyaktuk. "We as a council and the community got kind of tired with that and we noticed a lot of the underage people drinking and the only way the underage people were drinking is (by getting it) from adults."

It is a common problem perpetuated by bootleggers. In a report released in 2005 as a review of the Liquor Act, an increase to the maximum fines for bootlegging by individuals was recommended to $25,000 and/or 12 months jail time for a first offence and $50,000 and/or two years jail time for subsequent offences. In addition, the report recommended a $50,000 fine for first offences and $100,000 fine for subsequent offences for corporations.

It is a problem RCMP see all too often in communities that have taken a positive step toward curbing their alcohol problems by becoming a 'restricted' community.

"Unfortunately we see things like bootlegging," said Cpl. Wes Heron with Northwest Territories G Division. "People that want to drink are going to drink. People who live in restricted areas, and we see this, they find ways, they get creative.

"Before they could bring it in, and now it's not there ... I would dare say the big focus should be on how the community wants to affect change for themselves in their own communities, in their own homes, in their own families."

That same shift in thinking is what brought the majority of the community in Tuk together to agree on a restricted society.

"We figured if we brought in some restrictions that would curb it, and it definitely did," Gruben said. "It worked really well, our crime rate went down 30 to 40 per cent within the first few months."

In its move toward sobriety, the hamlet imposed restrictions that prohibits an individual from bringing into the community at anytime - or from possessing at anytime - a quantity of liquor that exceeds one of the following combinations: 1,140ml of spirits and two litres of wine; 24 containers (355ml) of beer and three litres of wine; 2,280ml of spirits; six litres of wine; or 48 containers (355 ml) of beer.

Tuk, a community with 950 people, is primarily a transportation hub at the northern tip of the territory, but still holds strong to its traditional hunting roots.

"It's so different from when we grew up. I can't grasp what's going on and everyone I talk to is the same way," Gruben said. "We're not going to give up. I think we had more positive than negative when we were doing restrictions. We were getting a few people complaining and doing the regular stuff but for the most part the community was happy that we did that."

For the most part the community remains a restricted society. However, once a year the hamlet shuts its doors to the intoxicants and comes together to celebrate.

"We do that for every Beluga Jamboree, we close the town for a week," Gruben said. "It's amazing. You get so many people out, everybody is out to the dances and out on the ice, there's so much interaction from the community."

While there are no concrete solutions to the complicated issue, Northern communities dealing with a evolution of their culture in combination with influences from the south have seen an influx of alcohol-abuse issues, leaving councils to take an introspective look at the community and its future.

"That's really why people vote to go dry," Heron said. "They recognize that there is an issue, that there is a problem, and they are taking steps to change it. It's a step, it's the first legal and legislative step after they have already taken many steps before that."

The debate surrounding prohibition and alcohol-related issues within a community has taken place through the decades. And while some new issues arise out of a ruling to become a 'restricted' community, the overall outcome has been positive.

"I've always said a busy community is a healthy and happy community, and I continue on that platform," Gruben said. "The MLA and I are going into the schools and talking with the high school students and get some ideas from them, brainstorm with them. Asking them, 'What can we do? What do you want us to do? What can you suggest that we can do to help you?' "

Together with the RCMP the community works as a joint force to help keep bootleggers at bay and reminds residents about the benefits of responsible consumption of alcohol.

"With these alcohol restrictions I know we at council we're determined to keep it going and we work very well with the RCMP on this," Gruben said. "We're going to keep on going and it's all for the betterment of the community at the end of the day, for the kids really."

The council of Tuk recently asked the RCMP to help step up its enforcement of the restrictions, with a greater RCMP presence at the airport and their help to educate the youth of the community.

"I firmly believe that everybody can change," Heron said. "But it comes down to the support of the community."

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