KINNGAIT/CAPE DORSET - Gun locks, cabinets, safety courses, a local help line service as well as more youth and young adult services are some of the recommendations coming out of recent meetings generating ideas to stem the tide of violence in Cape Dorset.

Mayor Cary Merritt said the community held a nine-hour meeting on how to solve the recent rash of crime that saw a shootout, a standoff and two homicide investigations in the span of a little more than three weeks.

The resulting action plan touches on gun safety, activity programming, bylaws, substance abuse, radio programming as well as family, youth and adult counselling, according to information provided by Merritt. Under the plan, the community wants to immediately purchase and supply gun locks to gun owners that don't have them and organize gun safety courses and issue firearm acquisition certificates. There are also plans to eventually hire bylaw support for evening and graveyard shifts to police vandalism and curfews and hire a qualified director of social services.

"With parts of the plan coming into place, it seems to be going very well at this time," said Merritt.

The plan also calls for Nunavut to provide short-term staffing support.

The territory's Department of Health and Social Services sent a six-person trauma team to Cape Dorset from Oct. 16 to 21 to meet with individuals, families and the schools as well as to participate in the community consultations. That team and people from the community brought a certain skill-set that complemented each other very well, said Jakob Gearheard, executive director of the Ilisaqsivik Society in Clyde River.

"We combine Inuit-style counselling techniques with southern-style counselling techniques so we can do more culturally-grounded counselling," he said.

Both schools in the community are also doing their part.

Peter Pitseolak School runs a table tennis program and soccer, for instance, and is about to start adult activities, such as badminton and basketball, in the evenings, said principal Cecil Meade.

"We are encouraging not just our students but also the young adults and the older adults to be out and participating and availing of the extra-curricular programs that are in place here," he said. "We are trying to work as a member of the community and I think all of the different agencies, different departments and the community are trying to work together for the betterment of our community."

At Sam Pudlat School, an after-school soccer league just started and a games club, where kids can play games such as cribbage, is about to start, said principal David Webber. He added he is also meeting with Meade and others to discuss preventive measures that can be taken, such as lock-down procedures and monitors.

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