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NUNAVUT
Matthew was in trouble.

"I was feeling depressed, homicidal and suicidal all at the same time, and didn't know which way I was going to end up. I was scared of being sober and scared of the consequences of being drunk. I had given up on myself."

One Nunavut man saw an advertisement for Alcoholics Anonymous in the newspaper and started attending meetings to kick the habit. Later, he went south to a substance-abuse treatment centre. - NNSL photo illustration

Matthew (name changed to protect his anonymity) was 21 and an alcoholic.

"I was scared to live and scared to die," the Iqaluit resident said. "I saw an ad in the paper: 'Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? If you want to drink, that's your business. If you want to quit, that's ours.'"

That ad was for Alcoholics Anonymous, which Matthew now attends regularly at the Anglican Parish Hall. It's a chance for recovering alcoholics to share a common experience about their disease.

'An unpleasant place'

"I'm always an alcoholic whether I'm sober 50 years or two weeks," said David, another member. "I can't take that first drink without going back to the place I was before. You're lonely, emotionally sick, full of fears and paranoia. It's an unpleasant place to be."

Both men praise AA for helping them gain normalcy in their lives. They also praise the role of substance-abuse treatment facilities.

"I went to a treatment centre when I was going through a crisis in my life and it was a good thing I did," said David (name changed to protect his anonymity). "It helped me resolve some personal issues."

Both he and Matthew attended treatment centres in the south several years after each sought sobriety through AA.

"I found it very useful to attend a treatment centre even after a period of sobriety," in combination with AA meetings at the facility, Matthew said.

Despite the good work that is done at these facilities, there are none in Nunavut.

"There are a lot of support programs available in Ottawa," Iqaluit Mayor Madeleine Redfern said. "But it is a lengthy process to get approval for treatment outside the territory, and very costly for the government.

"Ideally, we would have a wellness centre in the North and in our communities so people wouldn't have to leave their communities to get treatment. The number of people needing treatment is sufficient to warrant at least one treatment facility per region."

For Redfern, her emphasis on a wellness centre stems from concern about issues that need similar attention, such as "anger management and historical and sexual trauma," she said.

"Corrections Services Canada informed us that over 80 per cent of incarcerated persons have addictions issues," she noted. "Persons who get into trouble with the law are dealing with many root causes. One is addictions, two is mental illness, three is things like FASD, and four is living in poverty," Redfern said. "It is no surprise that we do have some of the highest crime rates across the country because we have those issues and don't have the support system to assist people to deal with them."

RCMP Staff Sgt. Roger Tournier confirms the correlation between substance abuse and crime in Iqaluit.

"Almost 100 per cent of the calls we deal with are alcohol- and drug-related," Tournier said. "We don't even have to keep stats. If alcohol or drugs can be involved, they probably are."

And changing that situation will require investment. On Oct. 26, Nattilik MLA Jeannie Ugyuk told legislators that the government's Standing Committee on Social Wellness was concerned about the absence of such a facility in the government's 2013-17 capital plan, despite its presence in the G.N.'s Tamapta Action Plan. In response, Health Minister Tagak Curley said his department is working on a plan to be presented in February 2012. Interview requests went unanswered by the department.

Beyond funding such a facility, the challenge may be finding appropriate human resources, Redfern said.

"Only 50 per cent of our mental-health worker positions are filled," she said, "and some specialized positions don't exist, such as mental-health workers for children who have suffered trauma, such as sexual assault or serious abuse, or youth who are suicidal. But we have a lot of people who are at risk. A lot of people can be helped or learn to cope with their addictions."

They can be helped, David says. But action is needed now.

"The situation in Nunavut is critical," David said. "We're at a crisis point in terms of alcohol and substance abuse. According to all the surveys and feedback from medical and health professions, it's a time-bomb ready to explode. There certainly is a need for a treatment centre in Nunavut."

But such a facility would not be a place for officials to send addicts in the expectation they will get better. Recovery requires the addict to make a conscious decision to change.

"Unless an individual wants to stop for himself or herself, they're not going to stop," David said.

A treatment centre allows that will to grow, and without such a facility and other support structures, it can be a longer road to recovery.

"People go to treatment centres as a great refuge, a timeout from society," Matthew said. "When they come out, unless there's a support structure, such as AA, in place, there is a great chance they'll return to drinking."

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