Rankin council still stalled on curfew
Special meeting called for July 21, councillor suggests more supports needs to be provided to parents
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
RANKIN INLET
The hamlet of Rankin Inlet has planned a special committee meeting to discuss how to deal with youth staying out late at night.
The meeting was scheduled to take place on July 21 after a discussions about a curfew failed to yield any results at the previous
meeting.
During the June 12 meeting councillors agreed that something needs to be done to keep youth off the streets late at night but there are differing opinions on how to achieve that goal.
After speaking with community members and fellow councillors in recent weeks Coun. Harry Towtongie said he failed to arrive at a consensus among them.
"Some of them say it's up to the bylaw to make them go home. Some say it's not going to work," he said.
Towtongie, who was the first councillor to bring the issue forward at the June 27 meeting, was left wondering whether a curfew is the right thing to do.
"I don't know," he said. "The curfew is maybe not the way."
Senior administrative officer Justin Merritt is also cautious, saying that creating a curfew bylaw might end up creating more problems by alienating innocent young people from authority figures.
"If there are kids playing on a playground and we send them away from there they're just going to go and find something to make trouble," he said, adding that most communities only enact a curfew when there's state of emergency. "I don't think it will work unless the RCMP are on board."
The community does have a curfew bylaw dating back to 1982, which it no longer enforces. However, it is extremely sparse and would have to be completely rewritten, said Merritt.
"I think you're going to have to start from scratch and you're going to have talk to a lawyer," he said.
Coun. Selma Eccles also questioned the point of having the bylaw, saying it ignores the reason children are staying out late in the first place is because there is no support for young parents who needed help.
"It's not just the kids, it's the young parents who do not know how to be parents," she said. "Some people have nobody telling them how to be a parent, but they are (parents)."
"We're talking apples and oranges almost (compared to) the way we were raised."
Instead of implementing a curfew, she said the hamlet should look into ways to help out families in need.
"We know what families need the most help but they can't get help," she said.
She also raised the issue of bringing children back to homes where they might potentially face abuse. Echoing her sentiments, Mayor Robert Janes pointed out that some young people had been seen sleeping in vehicles last year.
The SAO pointed out that he did come across a community down south that had a curfew but that instead of taking children home when they were picked up, they were brought to a youth centre.
"Of course we don't have anything like that," said the mayor.
