DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
Is a wet dance - an event where alcohol is available - bad for Fort Resolution?
Chief Louis Balsillie of Deninu Ku'e First Nation thinks so.
Balsillie is objecting to the Hamlet of Fort Resolution holding a wet dance during its spring carnival last month.
It was the first wet dance held by the hamlet in many years.
"Our community is just not ready for it. That's my feeling," Balsillie said, adding it is not helpful to hold wet dances when some people are trying to quit drinking alcohol.
"With a wet dance, it encourages the people that have been off the booze for a while to go out, and they figure, 'I can just have one drink'," he said. "But if you have problems with alcohol, it's just that one drink that can start you off for days on end."
The chief also believes a wet dance is counterproductive to the efforts the band is making to combat alcohol abuse through its Community Wellness Program and workshops.
"And all of a sudden they have a wet dance," Balsillie said, referring to the hamlet dance on March 23. "It affects the people."
The chief also pointed to a report last year that mentioned alcohol as one of the factors in the community's high rate of cancer.
Mayor Garry Bailey said the dance at Antoine Beaulieu Memorial Hall was a success, and helped pay for the Fort Resolution Spring Carnival, which costs the hamlet about $40,000 to stage.
"At council, everybody seems to be talking about a deficit in the recreation department. It hasn't been able to bail itself out," Bailey said. "A lot of people have asked to have a booze dance. It wasn't just thought up one minute. You know, we figure our people are civilized. They can go out and go dancing with their family and their wives and husbands. They've done so."
The event turned out well, he said.
"There was no trouble at the dance, and I was there," he said.
There were security staff at the door and only beer was served, he said. "We didn't serve any hard liquor. It was safe."
Fort Resolution is not a dry community, but there is no bar nor liquor store. Other wet dances are occasionally held for other events such as weddings and sports tournaments.
Balsillie said the people who would get into those other wet dances would be more controlled and limited than such an event by the hamlet.
Bailey said the March 23 event was the first wet dance held by the hamlet council in 10 or 15 years, maybe even 20 years.
Balsillie said his understanding is the RCMP was very busy as a result of the wet dance.
"Without the wet dances, you'd have the odd callout, but with a wet dance it just encourages people more to just go out and drink, and once they start it's like they continue," he said, noting the calls included instances of people drunk in public. "It was quite a weekend for them."
According to the RCMP, they had 19 complaints from March 23 to 25. In the same Saturday to Monday time period a week earlier, the police had eight complaints.
"Can we attribute it to the wet dance?" said Cpl. Barry Ledoux, media relations officer with the RCMP's G Division in Yellowknife, referring to the different number of complaints. "We don't know."
Ledoux didn't have a breakdown of the type of calls, but said there were no serious complaints involving injuries.
Bailey said some people drink in the community whether or not there is a wet dance.
The dance was well organized and everybody had a great time, he said, noting there was an adult talent show, fiddling and jigging, singing and a live band.
"There were no fights or anything like that," he said, suggesting maybe only one person was asked to leave after having too much to drink.
Bailey said he had been asked by many people in the community why there couldn't be a wet dance.
"It was a test run to see how it turned out and we made those announcements at the dance as well that this is not a normal thing," he said. "We're willing to try it this one time and, if there were troubles, we wouldn't do it again."
