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Sahtu liquor hearings underway Leaders say Sahtu region has right to vote on Norman Wells liquor restrictions
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 9, 2013
SAHTU
Public hearings began this week on whether to include all Sahtu communities in decisions about liquor restrictions at the Norman Wells liquor store.
Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya introduced the private members bill, known as Bill 24, which would give all Sahtu region communities the right to vote in future plebiscites about alcohol sales in Norman Wells.
"The purpose of the vote is to find out whether voters support restrictions on the amount of alcohol, beer wine and spirits, that may be sold to a person at the liquor store in Norman Wells," Yakeleya said.
Yakeleya said leaders in the Sahtu region came to him wanting to have a say in how, or if, restrictions are implemented.
"Norman Wells is about 30 per cent of the population in our region, but 100 per cent of that population has to live with the results of the decision to remove the liquor restrictions," he said.
Restrictions were lifted in Norman Wells in early 2012 and alcohol sales increased by nine per cent by the following year, according to the NWT Liquor Commission.
In April of this year, RCMP busted two 19-year-old males hauling a sled full of vodka from Norman Wells to Tulita. The sled contained nearly 100 375 ml bottles.
Tulita's liquor regulations allow an individual to possess no more than three bottles.
Later that month, RCMP caught two men in their 20s transporting more than 80 bottles of vodka into Tulita.
Yakeleya said residents are worried about the impact on their communities.
"The Norman Wells liquor store not only serves the local population in that town, it also serves the four other Sahtu communities," he said. "Most of the alcohol in these communities comes from Norman Wells."
Deline Chief Leonard Kenny said the rise in alcohol consumption throughout the region is well-known.
"The increase in drinking is pretty well documented ever since the lifting," he said.
While Deline doesn't have the same access to the Mackenzie River as a winter transportation route like other communities in the region, such as Tulita,
Kenny said people who travel to Norman Wells often bring back alcohol.
"People don't really have easy access, but they still bring in quite a bit from Norman Wells whenever they get a chance," he said.
He said because other communities in the region are affected by decisions made about liquor restrictions in Norman Wells, all residents deserve to play a part in those decisions.
"We want to be involved," he said.
Chris Buist, president of the Norman Wells and District Chamber of Commerce, said he will attend the meeting on behalf of the chamber and as a resident of the community.
Buist said members of the chamber are alarmed by the proposed bill and are worried the territorial government is attempting to interfere with a privately-owned business. The government does not own the Norman Wells liquor store.
"What we see as the concern is definitely the government intervention in private business," he said. "That's setting a precedent on government control over private industry and businesses."
Buist said any amended legislation should include the entire territory, not just the Sahtu region.
People in Sahtu communities can also obtain alcohol from stores in Inuvik or Yellowknife, he added.
"If there is territorial legislation required for this type of thing then it should be a territory-wide and not regionally-based legislation," he said. "But we don't feel that legislation is required."
He said the store is intended to provide alcohol to Norman Wells, not outlying communities.
Buist said Norman Wells is a tax-based community and the municipality should govern businesses operating within the town.
"We would expect to be treated equally as businesses in the Sahtu as any other business in the Northwest Territories," he said.
Members of the Standing Committee on Government Operations are visiting communities from Sept. 8 to Sept. 10 to hear from residents, according to the GNWT.
The first public hearing was scheduled to take place in Norman Wells on Sept. 8 at Melnyk Hall at 7 p.m.
Hearings are scheduled for Sept. 9 at the Deline Cultural Centre at 12 p.m. and at the Tulita council chambers at 7:30 p.m.
Fort Good Hope's meeting will take place at the community hall on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
Yakeleya said residents of Colville Lake are asked to attend the hearing in Fort Good Hope.
According to the GNWT, some travel allowance is available for approved applicants by contacting the committee clerk,
Feedback can also be sent by mail or e-mail for those who cannot attend the public hearings.
A report will be presented to MLAs after hearings are complete and a vote on the amendment will be held in the fall session of the legislative assembly, Yakeleya said.
At that time, members could vote to support, amend or reject the bill.
He said it has taken more than a year to bring the bill forward and he encouraged all Sahtu residents to participate in the hearings and make their voices heard.
"This is their opportunity to participate with the making of new laws," Yakeleya said. "It's a good bill. It's a bill of action."
Kenny said he knows residents of his community will take part.
"We'll raise concerns there again," he said. "We'll be there."
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