TULITA/FORT NORMAN
Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya says he is worried about what residents are calling a rampant alcohol problem in the region and he is organizing a meeting in Tulita next month to discuss possible solutions.
"They've been saying it's getting out of control," he said of what he has heard from constituents. "Something has got to get done, and it's got to get done quick."
Since liquor restrictions were lifted in Norman Wells in December 2011, Yakeleya says booze has been flowing freely to nearby communities. Between Feb. 21, 2012, and Jan. 31, 2013, 8,976 litres of hard liquor were sold at the Norman Wells liquor store, up 41 per cent from the same time period the previous year, according to Kyle Reid, director of operations at the NWT Liquor Commission.
Bootlegging, coupled with the money flowing in from oil exploration in the region, is causing social problems as well as health problems, he added. Not only are constituents contacting him with concerns, he also received a letter from the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority highlighting concerns of nurses and staff.
"Unrestricted sales (in Norman Wells) have caused a lot of undue stress to the health centres, to the workers," he said. "It's caused a lot more health-related issues."
Yakeleya said the problem is taking a toll on lives, the healthcare system and the justice system.
"It's costing our health care system way too much," he said.
"The RCMP are getting tired, the nurses are getting tired."
On April 3 and again on April 19, RCMP busted Tulita residents returning to the community with sleds full of alcohol in volumes far exceeding the community's liquor restrictions.
Cpl. Barry Ledoux said all of the alcohol came from Norman Wells.
On April 3, two 19-year-old males were caught driving sleds carrying 97 375-ml bottles of vodka from Norman Wells.
On April 19, two men, aged 25 and 45, were caught with 83 bottles in a similar incident. RCMP intercepted the shipment as they were driving on the Mackenzie River, just north of Tulita, at about 1:15 a.m.
Ledoux said tips from community members led to both busts.
He also said all four will be formally charged with violating the community's liquor bylaw in May or June and their names could be released at that time.
Yakeleya said the incidents are evidence that liquor restrictions alone cannot prevent booze from entering a community.
"The bootlegging business is a very profitable business," he said. "Clearly our regulations within the government are not working."
There are only two unrestricted communities in the Sahtu region: Colville Lake and Norman Wells. Deline, Fort Good Hope and Tulita, are restricted.
Also this month, a 19-year-old man was charged after two people were stabbed at a residence in the community on April 21. Yakeleya's niece was one of the victims.
According to RCMP, a man broke into a home and stabbed a female resident twice before entering a bedroom and stabbing a man several times.
Both victims made their way to the Tulita Medical Centre before being medevaced to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife, where they remained in stable condition as of April 25.
The morning of April 22, RCMP found the suspect, Tulita resident Kevin Kenny, in a cabin across the Mackenzie River from the community. He now faces two charges of aggravated assault and two charges of endangering life.
He is scheduled to appear in court next in Yellowknife on May 7. It is not yet known whether alcohol was a factor. Regardless, Yakeleya said it is time to address problems in the region.
"I think what can be done is to go back to the community and say 'enough is enough.' Do you want to live like this? We don't want to live like this. This is not who we are, so what are we going to do?" he said.
Yakeleya said he has arranged a meeting in Tulita on May 1 with politicians, health care workers, RCMP and community members.
Health and Social Services Minister Tom Beaulieu and Justice Minister Glen Abernethy will both attend the meeting.
Yakeleya said alcohol addiction is at the top of the list of issues that need to be confronted immediately.
"We have to look at the cycle of addiction square in the face," he said. "We need to tackle this as a community."
This means investing more money into treatment and other programs for individuals and their families throughout the region.
"As much as they invest into bridges and roads," Yakeleya said. "That's the kind of commitment we need from the government."
He believes more land-based programs involving families and elders is key to developing a regional wellness strategy.
"Alcohol is always going to be with us, so how are we going to deal with it? The best way I've been told so far is to help people go on the land with their families. Right now we're not doing that," he said. "We're not making any effort to take people out to spots on the land where they can work together and we're not understanding the alcoholism for what it is: it's a disease."
The lure of alcohol can be overwhelming, especially when there aren't enough programs in place to combat it, he said.
"Alcohol, it will remove the bad emotions, it will solve your problems, it will actually make you happy - for a little while," he said. "It will make you goofy, it will make you smarter but there's a catch and are you willing to pay the price for all this good stuff? Because the other stuff is going to come."
Yakeleya is not stranger to the problems alcohol-abuse can bring. He quit drinking about 25 years ago "because I decided that if I didn't stop drinking, then I was going to die. Plain and simple."
In order to win the battle against alcoholism, the entire region needs to work together, he said.
"In our communities in the Sahtu, we're like a family, all the five communities," he said.
"We have a special bond that holds us together. We need to look at it from a regional perspective."
Alcoholism is a disease and needs to be treated like one, Yakeleya added.
"If we look at alcohol as a disease - and it's an aggressive disease - then we have a fighting chance," he said.
