Abusers could be banned from ordering liquor

After years of booze-fueled family violence and vandalism, the people of Kugluktuk will vote Monday, Oct 22 on whether to create an alcohol education committee that would impose limits on the amount of liquor that residents may order.

Kugluktuk residents will be asked to vote yes or no to the following question: "Are you in favour of establishing a Kugluktuk alcohol education committee under paragraph 48 of the Liquor Act?"

Any Canadian citizen over the age of 19 who has lived in Kugluktuk for at least one year may vote.

If at least 60 per cent of voters says yes, Kugluktuk will set up an alcohol education committee. Members of the committee would be elected Dec. 10, municipal election day.

Kugluktuk, whose population is about 1,400, has no restrictions on alcohol sales right now.

In a vote held in November of 2003, voters there rejected the idea of an alcohol education committee.

But this summer, three two-week bans on alcohol led to reductions in the rate of violent crime.

That rate has increased rapidly in recent years. In 2006, Kugluktuk generated 678 criminal charges. Only Iqaluit, with about 1,800 charges, generated more criminal charges than Kugluktuk.

"A ‘no' vote for liquor controls will tell me a few things about the community in which I live," said one resident of Kugluktuk. "It will tell me that the majority of the adults here value their personal freedom to drink more than they value their community."

Kugluktuk's senior administrative officer Linda Allen said some residents are still confused about what the the ballot question means.

"There's that fear among some people that ‘we'll never be able to drink again,' but you will with an alcohol education committee," Allen said.

"But if you regularly beat your spouse or have liquor issues, you won't."

Some people in Kugluktuk cast votes in an advance poll held Oct. 15.

At the same time, Kugluktuk's high school will hold its own school-wide vote on the question.

If the question to establish an alcohol committee passes on Oct. 22, Kugluktuk voters will elect members of the committee at the same time as the municipal elections on Dec. 10.