Dene Nation leadership debates creating task force to tackle drug crisis gripping communites

As dozens of First Nations leaders were searching for ways to stop drug traffickers from importing violence and misery from the south, news came of an RCMP arrest in Norman Wells of two Alberta men and the seizure of crack cocaine, meth, and a loaded handgun.

Since the pandemic, shootings, arsons, drug seizures and death in communities across the NWT have steadily increased, with the Northwest Territories suffering from the second highest crime rate in Canada.

The opening day of the Dene Leadership Meeting on Community Crime Prevention in Yellowknife ended with representatives from all regions of the NWT were looking to establish a task force to press for short-term solutions and fight for policy changes at the territorial and federal levels.

Dehcho First Nation Grand Herb Norwegian set the tone for the day when he called the drug crisis, “a new genocide.”

He said: “The more and more that I think about it, (the illegal drug trade) is a form of a new genocide … that’s something that was done to us before. This is a new type of genocide. It’s a genocide that we’ve inflicted upon ourselves. We’ve destroyed our spirit. We destroyed our own humanity. We destroy the way that we relate to one another, all for this drug that’s out there.

“So, the task force is going to have a humongous job (and) if you’re going to do any justice at all with it, it’s got to be fully supported. And the leaders that are around a table here, we have to be fully involved in that we have to give it full support.”

While RCMP have ramped up enforcement and continue to make significant arrests and seizures — and the courts keep handing out some of the stiffest sentences in Canada for trafficking — resources are still strained as dealers repeatedly are sent to the North by southern organized crime groups.

The leaders repeatedly told the conference at the Chateau Nova Hotel about how they are frustrated by existing colonial laws when it comes to dealing with outside intruders and their local contacts in the communities.

Banishments have been one tool used over time, but they are after the damage has been done and are difficult to enforce. Residents in smaller communities are also often scared to come forward to provide information to police, as they are often threatened with violence by the criminals.

They want to be able to set up roadblocks on roads into communities and search passengers and cargo disembarking the many smaller aircraft that work commercial routes.

One roadblock is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically Section 8: Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

Sahtu Dene Council Grand Chief Wilbert Kochon told CKLB some laws need to be adjusted to reflect the reality of life in Northern communities.

“(It’s good) to keep talking, but the only way you’re gonna take it somewhere is if you can talk to government, change the Charter a little bit, tweak it a little bit for the smaller communities, then we can protect a lot better,” he said during a break on Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s the only way you’ll probably get somewhere. But right now, the way the Charter is, it doesn’t really protect us. It’s protecting the criminals.”

One of the homicides this year was in March, when an 18-year-old Quebec man was charged with murder in connection with the death of a a 29-year-old man Fort Good Hope man.

RCMP alleged during the search for the suspect he is part of the illegal drug trade.

Kochon said parents need to take more responsibility in raising their children; to pay more attention to them, rather than just give them an iPad to play on.

“(It’s the) parents’ responsibility to (address youth issues), but they’re giving it to leadership, and we’re saying, ‘Well, you can’t do it all the time. They have to take responsibility. Stop playing the blame game and be honest (with their children) and tell them what they’re doing is not right.”

The conference continues today.