theglobeandmail.com
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Labrador community votes to uphold alcohol ban
Friday, Mar. 26, 2010 7:53PM EDT
Oliver Moore
Globe and Mail
A Labrador reserve that became a symbol of substance abuse has voted to keep an alcohol ban that had divided the community.
The Innu residents of Natuashish, who gained international notoriety for gas-sniffing and despair while living at nearby Davis Inlet, defeated Friday the new chief’s push to allow alcohol possession.
“I feel ease at night knowing that there won’t be more people drinking,” Prote Poker, the former chief who helped spearhead the ban that passed narrowly two years ago, said last night in a telephone interview. “When parents start to drink we see a lot of gas-sniffing and vandalism. The kids act up because they’re hurting. They want attention.”
Mr. Poker was recently replaced by Simeon Tshakapesh, who came to office on a platform that included revisiting the ban. The new chief argued initially that was what residents wanted, and he said the ban was unilaterally suspended. Police insisted he had to follow the proper procedure and he called a community vote for Friday.
In the lead-up to the vote, Mr. Tshakapesh confused some residents by appearing to contradict his earlier position. In an interview Thursday night, he said the plebiscite was an effort to find out what residents wanted, but that he hoped the ban would remain. “They chose me as their leader and they asked me to review the bylaw, and that’s what I did,” he said.
By an 188 to 125 margin, voters told him yesterday that they preferred prohibition. But critics of Mr. Tshakapesh doubt his change of heart.
“Chief and council will just ignore it, I believe, because they had said all along that they want to lift the ban,” said Katie Rich, another former chief and backer of the prohibition bylaw. “I think that they should all resign. It’s a non-confidence vote.”
But Mr. Tshakapesh said he would remain in office and work for stricter enforcement of the ban and more assistance to addicts. “I'm going to be working very hard with the police and Health Canada,” he said. “People have spoken very loudly, much more loudly than last time.”
The community was never fully dry. According to both residents and police, liquor was still available. In spite of hundreds of charges laid, drinkers could buy alcohol if they were willing to pay up. A 40-ounce jug of cheap rye cost $350 on the black market.
But there were positive effects even if the ban was not absolute, advocates said. They argue that school attendance went up and crime dropped. |
