After voting in alcohol &#39ed;ucation; committee, town 'optimistic; about curbing abuse

KUGLUKTUK-After Kugluktuk voters said "yes" on Oct. 22 to an alcohol education committee in their community, most say they're optimistic about a future with less drunkenness and fewer bootleggers.

Kugluktuk mayor Derek Power says he'd like this committee to clamp down on bootleggers.

If there's less bootlegging, Power thinks Kugluktuk's economy will take off because people spend their money on things other than alcohol. Others may be better motivated to hold down a job and take care of their children if they have less access to alcohol.

Bootleggers are also expected to try to siphon off money from the $1.5 million that former residential school students in Kugluktuk will soon receive under the recent settlement.

Under the current system, which allows unlimited amounts of alcohol to be ordered into Kugluktuk, bootleggers always ready to cater to partiers who measure consumption by the number of "cups" of vodka they down.

Vodka mixed with a little water is the community's favourite mixed drink. Bootleggers will charge $400 for a single bottle.

Power says these bootleggers will continue to flourish if the judicial system doesn't back up the alcohol education committee by handing out stricter sentences to bootleggers.

A convicted bootlegger was recently sent to jail for six months, but after six weeks in jail he was back in town to serve out the rest of his sentence in Ilavut, the territory's halfway house in Kugluktuk.

Power says he isn't against responsible drinking in Kugluktuk. He wouldn't mind seeing a social club, similar to the Elks Club in Cambridge Bay, which features regular social evenings at which members can order up to six beers.

"We need a place where people can go and come out of the dark ages," he says.

As for the police, they're in a wait-and-see mode before they judge the impact the alcohol education committee.

Members of the alcohol education committee will be selected on Dec. 10, also the territorial municipal election day.

Police hope the committee will curb the high levels of crime in the community, particularly youth crime, such as recent vandalism by a gang of kids under 12 at the local women's centre, and reduce the desperation that leads to suicide.

Announcements on local bulletin boards caution citizens to lock up their all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles and watch out for gasoline theft – straight from the gas tank. Another notice asks for information about some shingles stolen from the high school's shop.

Until Kugluktuk's alcohol education committee starts up, probably not until early next year, police may continue to pluck children as young as 10 from snow banks where they've passed out from drinking alcohol.

On one recent night, when a large number of alcohol shipments arrived, police scurried around all night to answer calls to homes where adults had either drunk themselves into an intoxicated stupor or were engaged in violent brawls.

"We're kind of in a holding pattern, but there's a little ray of hope in the future," says RCMP Sgt. Chris Brewsher.

Cst. Martin Saulnier teaches a fitness class three times a week to build better relations with youth. The eight students, aged 15 to 18, will receive credit for their participation in the eight-week fitness course.

More community control on the flow of alcohol may also increase attendance at the high school – at least that's principal Gary Kennedy's dream. Of the 157 enrolled in high school, more than 50 are habitual "non-attenders." Sometimes less than 50 students show up in the morning. Generally, about 20 arrive later and many sign out early.

The bright, keen Grade 11 and 12 students in Tim Rollwagen's environmental sciences class say the alcohol education committee will make a difference in their community and at school. "We got our voice out," they say. "We just have to keep our voice strong. Forget about whispering!"

These students are too young to recall that during the mid-1980s an alcohol education committee did control alcohol, resulting in less violence.

Grade 12 student Shawn Kuliktana, 17, who has a near-perfect attendance record at school, says he's seen a lot of "crazy stuff" in Kugluktuk, such as drunks stumbling down the streets day and night.

Kuliktana, a 2007 national aboriginal role model, who doesn't drink or smoke, says parents should provide more guidance to their children so they don't turn to alcohol and drugs.

Some Kugluktuk residents say they're embarrassed about the national media coverage before the Oct. 22 vote, which included a CBC news documentary showing Kugluktuk teenagers speaking openly about alcohol abuse in their families.

"I cried for the youth," said one woman. "If their parents are embarrassed, it's because they're still in denial."

Power also worries about how Canada now views his community.

"I think it's a great place to live," he said. "But now nobody will ever come here unless you're a shrink."