MLAs begin tour across N.W.T. to discuss new anti-drug law

By Devon Tredinnick 

SCAN Act would allow territorial officials to initiate investigations of suspected drug dealers’ homes

What started as a town hall for a specific piece of legislation devolved into broader concerns about one community’s ongoing drug crisis.

Members of the territory’s Legislative Assembly are travelling across the N.W.T. this week to host public meetings on the government’s proposed Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods act (SCAN).

The first meeting kicked off Monday in Fort Good Hope. The meetings offer residents a chance to ask questions about the act that, in theory, would help tackle an ongoing drug crisis.

Residents in the community generally voiced broad support for the act, sharing stories of how both drug dealers and addictions have impacted their lives. But they also expressed a desire for more detail on the act itself — even something as simple as clarifying the language around it.

More broadly, residents also shared other drug-related concerns — ones the SCAN Act doesn’t address and isn’t meant to.

The act, which the N.W.T. government has not yet passed, would allow territorial officials to launch investigations into homes suspected of being used for illegal activity, based on confidential complaints from the public.

It would also establish a team of officers to initiate and investigate those complaints. Those officers would be able to make applications to the rental officer that could lead to tenancy terminations and evictions.

But some residents emphasized their desire for more ways to help people either currently struggling with addiction or those vulnerable to it — like youth.

Tommy Kakfwi cited the community’s dormant arena. He said Fort Good Hope needs more activities for kids that can keep them active and preoccupied, and by doing so help deter them from things like drugs and alcohol.

“We need activities to return,” he said.

And while she supported SCAN legislation, Karen Caesar also said more work needs to be done to help people battling addictions now. She lost her son last year to the drug crisis, and broke down in tears talking about it on Monday night.

“Some days [and] some nights are so hard. I still have his pair of jeans that he used, I’m going to keep that forever,” she said of her son.

Caesar said she feels like drug dealers are taking over her community and people are scared to speak up about it. 

Other priorities some residents voiced include improving highway security, police staffing, and access to health care, and making it harder for people charged with a crime to get bail — all things the SCAN Act is not designed to address.

The next public meeting happens Tuesday in Fort McPherson.

Canada: Colville Lake calls for more policing, considers local safety program to counter drugs, CBC News