Holiday booze ban starts Monday in Baker Lake
3-week prohibition prioritizes family time and Christmas joy, SAO says
Alcohol will be temporarily banned in Baker Lake over the course of the Christmas holidays. (File photo)
Starting Monday, alcohol will be temporarily prohibited in Baker Lake.
Council voted for a three-week prohibition around the Christmas holidays and the start of the new year, according to a public service announcement from the hamlet.
Under Nunavut’s Liquor Act, municipalities have power over local liquor restrictions.
Because the liquor act only allows for individual bans for a maximum of two weeks, the hamlet has instituted two back-to-back bans. A two-week ban is in place from Dec. 18 to 31, followed by a one-week ban from Jan. 1 to 7.
Baker Lake has been an unrestricted community since 2018, when residents voted to abolish the community’s alcohol education committee. A 2021 vote to restore that committee failed.
“After Baker Lake became an unrestricted community, the amount of alcohol being consumed over certain periods, particularly holidays, became a little bit concerning to other community members,” said Sheldon Dorey, Baker Lake’s senior administrative officer.
“Council felt it was important to have at least the Christmas season and the early New Year as an area where there’s less alcohol coming into the community.”
During those three weeks, consumption, possession, purchasing, selling and transporting alcohol is illegal.
Violations are punishable with a fine of $500 to $5,000, or a jail period of up to 30 days.
Baker Lake has implemented similar bans over the past few years around the holidays since becoming unrestricted, Dorey said.
Other communities have implemented similar Christmastime bans, such as Kugluktuk last year.
Dorey said he hopes residents look to Christmas as a time to focus on family.
The hamlet’s recreation staff plan to host Christmas Games and other activities for the community over the coming weeks.
“They have about a week of games and different activities and dances and the community feast and other events,” Dorey said.
“Christmases and holidays should be a joyous time and not a hard time for people.”
I m sure , the boot leggers will be more then happy to fill the void .
For people who continue to advocate for zero tolerance of violence due to alcohol, this is wonderful news. Kids and family otherwise having a miserable time around family, and other community members when drunk, will now be able to enjoy peace at Christmas. The health centers , airline medical services and police and other first line responders, merry Christmas to you all, and to all people who will dance the night away , and show love sans the booze.
Or no presents due to bottles going up to $1000 because of the ban…
sometimes its presence over presents
“Primitive and Simple.”…
> Violations are punishable with a fine of $500 to $5,000, or a jail period of up to 30 days.
I’m sure they are, but how often are these fines enforced? Let’s have some real hard facts.
I get the reasons to ban during the holidays, but this increases bootleggers and increased cost of bootlegged alcohol.
It’s like say during cancer awareness month, stores ban the sale.of cigarettes. Seems ridiculous.
Also limiting alcohol will encourage people to drink substances not meant for human consumption. Ie scope, listening, hair spray, ect….
Man , if you’re trying to make a point, it’s Hugh. No alcohol, leads to using these other substances you point out. Man , the people that behave that way, are probably hopeless in the best of times. Alcohol restrictions making people do that is just an excuse to justify, as by your interpretation. Theres more going on here than you can explain in that way, it’s a major illness thats going to shorten life , alcohol or no alcohol. Only the desperate and very marginal people experiencing and exist in what you are describing. It would be in the best interest of society, communities and the person themselves,not have them put away in a institution.
3 weeks without alcohol is a long time for someone who is an alcoholic. Withdrawal is real and these people can end up in the ER with serious complications.
i know a guy , that got a recipe off the internet during the pandemic and starting brewing his own booze, cause we were limited to 12 pack of beer a week . took a swiff of it, tasted bad , but he needed his fix.
“During those three weeks, consumption, possession, purchasing, selling and transporting alcohol is illegal.”
Better dump out all my fine wines and scotches down the drain before December 18
That’s the result of not handling the drink. If you or someone you know can’t handle drinking! There you have the decision made for not holding your liquor. You see, theres two,problems here: one problem is can’t handle liquor without causing trouble, the second problem ( the one that affects the sensible drinker is banned alcohol during Christmas). The decision was in favour of having the second problem. Great, that’s the better outcome problem. Life is always about problems, which,problem will you have ?
Why not turn the entire community into a rehab centre? Treat alcohol as the addiction it is for many (most?) drinkers. Anything else is ignoring the real problem and pretending it will go away. It won’t. It will go underground and surface elsewhere.
“Bootleg. Bootleg.. Bootleg ….”
Aaadh… sweet sound as a bootleg smacks that cash.🤪😜
Consumption of alcohol is illegal during this 3 week period? That’s a bit much, what if you have a collection and want to enjoy a tipple on Christmas eve? That’s illegal?
Crazy…
Should alcohol be band in northern communities? Yes. Talking about your on hand alcohol supply, as it will become illegal if you have it on the restricted period. That’s the cost again of alcohol in the north, among so many “can’t hold your liquor trouble makers”. The north is just one big issue with alcohol that won’t go away. It’s not going to get better it’s on its prowess to lame and kill, idiots and unfortunately innocent people. You will not find another society on the planet that can’t hold your liquor like the north can’t. It’s a drowning society spiraling downward.
Nunavut version of the purge. Better drink all your booze before midnight Dec 18 or we will find you (and fine you)
There is a community ordinance that suggests you not drink. There is an intentional disruption to ordering alcohol through the appropriate and designated channels. It is not illegal by the Canadian Criminal Code to consume alcohol during the holidays. There may be a bylaw in place in your respective Hamlet that is well-intentioned of limiting the chances of some person who overindulges and spoils the Xmas of his children/family.
BAH HUMBUG TO YOU !!!!!!!!
Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is how you spell it. You must have Tiny Tim’s brain…
Yes indeed, it’s so unfair at least for the life of the social drinker who enjoys a drink and can hold liquor without police ambulances and first responders, but we pay for the illegal behaviours of the idiots who can’t hold the liquor, and it’s the only resource we have to use. I thin about the innocent people who will have some peace also with this ban for the holidays.
Liquor bans accomplish absolutely nothing. Ridiculous.
From my experience, liquor bans actually make things worse. I lived in Cambridge Bay during the pandemic, and I’ve never seen the drunks worse than they were during the two week liquor ban that the hamlet implemented early on.
I disagree that the bans accomplish nothing, but I’m agreeing that people do drink more with less legally available, demand and supply. But the accomplishments are in allowing us all to see the savage thirst that shows up under pressure when the inconvenient restrictions are put in. We can then evaluate the society much clearer when that challenge to cooperate is asking or even demanding abstinence for that short period.
Dry communities like Pang and Sani… any alcohol there? Remember medical escorts are not supposed to drink either
Isn’t it in contradiction of the Liquor Act to impose a 3 week ban? If the maximum dry period is two weeks, this seems like an illegal way of getting around it
Contradiction? My head still aches when I hear that word. The whole idea of sensible drinking is what’s contradictory to the civilized world in the north. I think the liquor act , to allow access to alcohol to get in the mount of a lunatic takes away any and all your arguments in the first place. It’s not that the liquor act is responsible for the behaviour, but since you mention the liquor act, you’re missing a lot of the argument.
It was nice to have a nice Bailey’s Christmas morning, followed by a glass of wine at dinner, and a few beers with good friends. Good to be able to do that without idiots inferring with life. Baker lake can’t do that, why, lol.
What a weird place. No freedom to have a Christmas drink. Never in my life have I ever heard of such a thing. Is that place in Canada or some other half existing place, where people are controlled? And why are they even thought of to be controlled like that?
And remember….No cuggies allowed in Black Knight….
Unless you pay first.
I know. I saw.
He said “Good idea.”