We'll handle it, insists Wrigley chief
GNWT shelves RCMP detachment plans but Tim Lennie says community's priority is getting a nurse
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, November 6, 2014
PEHDZEH KI/WRIGLEY
The chief of Wrigley says he's resigned to the reality that his community won't be getting an RCMP detachment any time soon as development and oil and gas activity in the region dries up.
A plan to build a new RCMP detachment in Wrigley was put on hold "indefinitely" last week by Justice Minister David Ramsay. He said it would cost between $11 million and $13 million each to build RCMP detachments in Gameti and Wrigley, which is too expensive.
Tim Lennie, chief of the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation, said the decision means the community of 133 northwest of Fort Simpson will have to keep looking after itself.
He said he'd rather see a permanent nurse back in the community first. Wrigley has been without a permanent nurse since the early 2000s when an alleged assault led the GNWT to remove the position over security concerns.
"It has been stressful at times," Lennie said Monday about the lack of permanent police and nursing presence in Wrigley. "There's not much you can do as a people and as a chief if things get out of hand."
As it stands right now, the community is serviced by Fort Simpson RCMP and respond as needed to Wrigley.
Officers from Fort Simpson drive approximately two and a half hours to Wrigley for regular patrols, sometimes staying overnight.
There were 104 calls for police assistance in Wrigley in 2012, 41 of which were for assaults.
Lennie said the incidents requiring police service have declined over the last few years and the community handles issues on its own.
"Things have been working out well," he said.
However, in the legislative assembly last week Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche, whose riding includes Wrigley, said the community is "plagued by crime" and said he was shocked to hear that the plans for the detachment had been indefinitely put on hold.
"Even residents in our small communities deserve the full attention of public safety," said Menicoche on Oct. 29.
The MLA pointed out that the RCMP issued a statement in 2007 promising they would build a detachment in Wrigley by 2011 but that promise was put on hold in 2010 for another three years.
"Now, they have decided to put the opening of this detachment off indefinitely. Why do the people in my constituency have to wait this long, only to have someone tell them that it isn't going to happen?" Menicoche asked.
RCMP Const. Elenore Sturko, spokeswoman for G Division, declined to comment on the political decision.
According to Ramsay, plans for a permanent police presence in the two communities were based on an agreement with the federal government, which stipulated that it would pay for 70 per cent of the capital costs of establishing a force there.
That agreement, however, expired in 2012. Under a new agreement signed by former justice Minister Glen Abernethy, the GNWT would now have to cover 70 per cent of the estimated $11 million to $13 million cost of setting up a detachment in either of those communities.
"A new detachment does come with a lofty price tag," said Ramsay in response. "That's why with the resources that we do have, we have to try to find a way of moving forward with improving the level of service."
Menicoche sought to have the detachment included in a 20-year capital spending plan.
There have been many requests over the years to build a detachment, said Lennie.
"If the government isn't able to fund these kinds of services, what can you do?" Lennie said.
Development in the community has been decreasing over the years and so has the need for policing, Lennie said.
Without additional development in the region and to the north in the Sahtu, Lennie believes the government won't see a need to establish a more permanent police presence.
But with oil and gas exploration and potential development in the Sahtu, Menicoche said the need will be there in the future.
There are 11 communities in the NWT without RCMP officers stationed in them and four of those - Wrigley, Jean Marie River, Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake - are in the Deh Cho.
Menicoche said he's pushing for the Wrigley detachment because it has a larger population, it's on the highway system and it once had a detachment.
- with files from Cody Punter
