Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 20, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Division was in the air at the legislative assembly last week, as the committee set to deal with the new Safer Communities and Neighborhoods Act refused to endorse it.

RCMP officers raid the Right Spot bar in October 2005, where crack cocaine was being sold. If passed, the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act will give courts the power to evict tenants and shut down drug dens, brothels and properties where perpetual criminal activity occurs. - NNSL file photo

The bill, which will give courts the power to shut down crack houses and bootleggers and evict their residents, was opposed because it is not clear how it will be enforced in the communities, several MLAs said.

"We have a good idea, but it needs work," said Great Slave MLA Bill Braden during a meeting of the standing committee on social programs.

"I'm very uncomfortable with the Yellowknife model," said Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya, though he said his constituents liked the spirit of the bill.

"How can you put this to work in communities like Colville Lake, where there is no RCMP?"

In its present form, SCAN investigations are to be headquartered in Yellowknife. Twin Lakes MLA Robert McLeod and Nunakput MLA Calvin Pokiak echoed similar concerns.

Several committee members recommended putting the bill off until after the fall election, when a 16th legislative assembly will be formed, and the legislation could be reworked.

"The problems cannot be worked out by amendments," said Range Lake MLA and committee chair Sandy Lee.

Minister of Justice Brendan Bell, who was in the committee to answer questions on the bill, said these problems could be worked out after the bill was passed.

"That will be for the next government," he said.

He said his department supported the legislation because it takes a measured approach to deal with drug dealers - encouraging them to stop before action is taken.

"All throughout, people have a chance to stop these activities," he said.

While not members of the committee, Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay and Hay River South MLA Groenewegen spoke in favour of the bill.

"This is a perfect opportunity, in my mind, for us to show some leadership," Ramsay said.

"I can't see how we can lose by passing this piece of legislation."

The lone dissenting voice from the six-member committee itself was Monfwi MLA Jackson Lafferty, who said he would support the bill in any form, in this assembly or the next.

Afterwards, Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who initially introduced the bill, said the opposition was more the work of "politics" and "special interest groups," rather than the concerns of average Northerners.

"The everyday person still seems to think that this is great idea," he said.

He said the idea was inspired by similar legislation in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

"It's quite obvious to me (committee members) are trying to knock it off its underpinnings," Hawkins said. However, he believed the bill still had enough support to pass.

"This pushes back on the people creating a cancer in our communities," he said of the bill, which was prompted by concerns in Yellowknife specifically.

"(Police) can target an individual and say, 'You're out of this house,'" or shut problem people out of the home entirely."

However, he said the process has a number of checks and balances to ensure the rights of the accused would be respected.

"No one would be unfairly railroaded," he said.

The bill was introduced to the legislative assembly last March where it passed first and second reading.

It is expected to face third reading in the 19-member legislative assembly this week. If passed and signed by NWT Commissioner Tony Whitford, it will become law.