Derek Neary
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 10/99) - Sandy Chalifoux has seen some harrowing times in his 62 years.

From overcoming his own troubles with alcohol to helping others tame their own personal demons, he has earned a great deal of respect. Now working in Fort Liard, where a friend asked him to help establish an addictions program several months ago, he wants to convey the message that addictions can ruin or end lives. He knows, he has seen it.

While working in Davis Inlet, a Labrador community notorious for its substance abuse, Chalifoux confronted a hostage-taking situation. One man had shot another in the stomach and held seven children at gun-point in a home. Chalifoux was called in by the police to calm the man and he eventually earned the children's release during the 10-hour stand off. The man went on to shoot himself, but survived.

"Sure I was scared, but I was concerned about those seven little kids," he said of the precarious incident.

In another predicament, a depressed woman stood on the ledge of a cliff, ready to plunge onto the ice below. Chalifoux went out and stood alongside her, convincing her not to take her life.

His selfless intervention comes with a necessary sense of intuition.

"I have this belief. I know when I'm going to die and that day isn't today," he said.

His eldest son, a Crown prosecutor in Edmonton, doesn't seem so easily persuaded.

"He said, 'Dad, you're not John Wayne anymore,'" a smiling Chalifoux remarked.

At age 62, his appearance belies his years. The secret to his youthfulness, despite having lived through some very tumultuous days, is taking vitamins regularly, exercise (he can be seen cycling around the community frequently) and "thinking young." With an 11-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter, he says he can't afford to get old yet.

Matters in his life weren't always in accord, however. Chalifoux was once a very successful contractor with a penchant for parties.

He had a hard time believing he had an alcohol problem because he was wealthy and always had plenty of material possessions, he recalled.

It took a tragic incident -- that occurred while he had been drinking -- to affect him so profoundly he sought help.

"It shocked me into reality," he said, asking that the details remain private. "I eventually said, 'This is enough,' and I went in for treatment. I've been sober ever since."

In the area of Alberta where he was raised, all his uncles had died of alcoholism.

"I had accepted that one day I too would die from drinking," he remembered. "And where I came from, that was all right. Then AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) came along and taught me not to drink anymore."

Twenty-four years have come and gone since then. From running Poundmaker's Lodge, one of the largest treatment centres in Canada, to establishing an addictions program in Inuvik and northern Quebec, he has spent most of his time helping others beat their addictions.

By nature, the job entails dealing with misery and despair. When it all begins to feel overwhelming, Chalifoux turns to his ceremonial pipe, smudging ceremonies, using sweet grass and rocky mountain sage. He showers often and changes his clothes to feel refreshed. As well, he still goes to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in Fort Nelson, B.C., where he receives support.

Then there are the success stories.

Chalifoux held a five-day treatment camp for nine people at Fisherman Lake during the first week of August. As of the end of the month, all of them were still sober and seven of them said they want to pursue treatment at the Hay River treatment centre. Some of them had been drinking for more than 20 years. One of the clients hadn't worked in a long time, but got a job the day after returning from the camp.

"Nobody's hopeless -- I deem people hopeless when you're lowering them into the ground in a pine box," said Chalifoux. "Ninety per cent (of addicts) want to quit, but they don't know how. They just have to hear that certain something on how to get sober."

Chalifoux has another retreat scheduled for Fisherman Lake, Sept. 13-17.