Kugluktuk wants Nunavut RCMP to pledge action at public meeting tonight
“Our protection and the protection of others doesn’t have to stop just because the (alcohol) restrictions were lifted”
A public meeting in Kugluktuk is set for Friday, Aug. 2, during which residents will have a chance to talk to elected officials and members of the RCMP about their concerns about policing. (File photo)
Kugluktuk is set to hold a public meeting tonight over concerns that police aren’t doing enough to protect people from booze-fuelled mayhem, following the community’s decision last fall to lift alcohol restrictions.
For more than 10 years, if you wanted to get a permit to bring in alcohol to Kugluktuk, you had to get your request approved by an alcohol education committee.
That changed last October when voters in the western Nunavut community decided to lift alcohol restrictions in a plebiscite.
But now, after months of increasing violence, which residents say is linked to alcohol abuse, many in this western Nunavut community of about 1,500 want to see the police step up to deal with the increase in alcohol-related violence.
These concerned residents plan to voice their concerns tonight with hamlet leaders, government officials, their MLA and RCMP brass, including Nunavut RCMP’s chief superintendent, Amanda Jones.
The Friday meeting, set for 7 p.m. in the recreation complex, follows a July 25 demonstration in Kugluktuk, during which protesters urged RCMP officers to “do your jobs.”
Among others in Kugluktuk, Barb Adjun says police aren’t doing enough to protect the community since restrictions on alcohol were lifted last October.
“We the public can’t do it alone. We have been alone since the liquor restrictions lifted,” Adjun told Nunatsiaq News.
“Our protection and the protection of others doesn’t have to stop just because the restrictions were lifted. The local RCMP should have prepared for this. There is no excuse when it involves children or youth. There is no excuse.… ‘You guys voted for it’ is no excuse.”
Eventually, Kugluktuk was going to be a wet community in any event, she said.
“With restrictions lifted, we expected Kugluktuk to be unsettled, but didn’t realize it would be this bad,” said a letter sent both to the RCMP and hamlet on July 24, signed by Adjun and “concerned citizens of Kugluktuk.”
The letter, delivered by Adjun to the hamlet and the RCMP, goes on to say that “the RCMP are not doing their jobs that they are hired to do. Phones are not being answered or they are being ignored, and our hamlet of Kugluktuk is brushing it off as the RCMP’s job.”
“No one should feel unsafe in this community,” the letter said.
In the letter Adjun said the protest was for “the mother whose baby was attacked, whose call went unanswered, for the wife-girlfriend who was violently attacked, whose call went unanswered … for the people who called at the most vulnerable and helpless times.”
“The calls are unanswered.”
Video footage of the July 25 demonstration showed a dozen or so community members standing outside the RCMP detachment holding signs and speaking to an RCMP officer.
“My grandchildren are getting beaten up by drunks,” a protester shouted at the officer. “And RCMP are doing nothing!”
A community member told Nunatsiaq News that two deaths related to alcohol took place this week in Kugluktuk.
Prior to 2007, when a liquor plebiscite in Kugluktuk supported the creation of an alcohol education committee, there were no limits on the amount of alcohol that could be purchased in town.
And it wasn’t unusual to see drunken individuals stumbling down the streets and public yelling matches between intoxicated residents.
At the same time, the police were overwhelmed trying to keep the peace.
During the summer of 2007, three two-week bans on alcohol led to reductions in the rate of violent crime and gave momentum to the vote that fall that led to the alcohol education committee’s creation.
Now, with no restrictions in place, people say they are fed up again with seeing fights and people passed out drunk in the street: “Alcohol in our community is so destroying everything and most of all tearing families apart,” said one woman on the community’s Facebook news page.
I like the whole possibility of Karma in this life. I’m not too sure if there’s really a such! What goes around, comes around , but I do like that possibility. Can you imagine, the troubles with this alcohol, and the need to call the police are shouldering on the ones that voted yes for alcohol. I think we all like that idea. We could say they get what they deserve. But we all know that there are innocent people being victims of this savage behaviour with alcohol neglect, and that’s the bottom line. Those innocent victims got to be helped, but again between you and I, wouldn’t it be so nice if the yes voters, more so the abusers, are also the victims. He he.
Although the residents have some valid arguments and concerns you have to remind yourself that the community voted to lift the alcohol restriction knowing that alcohol related issues will most certainly rise. With limited resources (police, nurse, social workers, etc) it’s only a matter of time that these folks start to filter out calls for service to be able to keep up to the pace and demand. This is not an excuse as every single Canadian citizen deserves the best service however it’s the ugly reality of the North that it is extremely under staffed and the expectations are much higher compared to the rest of southern Canada. These first responders simply cannot work 24/7. They put in massive amount of overtime to keep up with the demand. It has to be hard to find a perfect balance of work and unfettered time off with family. I think this is an important topic and issue and should be discussed at the Territorial and Federal level to increase first responders. Please don’t blame the police. I’m sure they are doing their best
Alcohol is not the problem, it’s the symptom. Unresolved pain is at the core of this deadly epidemic.
Alcohol may not be the problem, but it sure don’t help the problem. Being in pain, don’t give anyone the right to get drunk and cause other people misery in life. There should be one big campaign, encouraging those that are not coping well with life to see a psychiatrist. Get therapy or medical treatment. Alcohol if it’s not the problem, it’s surely the choice, yes , a choice.
Do you know how long it takes just to make an appointment? weeks, if not months. And when you finally see one nothing is resolved. It’s a cat and mouse game with the psychiatrist, after seeing one you have limited time with the psychiatrist which is not very long and sometimes you leave the office more frustrated then when you came in. your already in a bad situation but they make it worst sometimes! I think talking to an elder is better but then again there are not that many left that have the traditional knowledge or the wisdom. were left on the limbo here pretty bad.
I really hope the meeting on Aug 2nd turned up good results. The RCMP & sensible/non-drinking people of Kugluktuk deserve only the best solution possible.
Maybe if you had listened to the kids, who did not want drinking restrictions lifted,
you would have a more peaceful town
Any fool can get liquored up and create chaos.
Why did so many people vote for it?
3 lives gone due to not answering calls. Why? Cops not doing there jobs? The biggest gang turns out the laziest here in Kugluktuk
Me: Proof ????? Pootoogook – dead on. There are a lot of fools in Kugluktuk who want to blame everyone else for their stupidity.
But I will add the GN to the list of fools. The communities need mental health support to the extreme and they need more RCMP officers to enforce the law and protect those citizens who are working their asses off to have a decent standard of life in their community.
People point your fingers at the people responsible.
The RCMP needs to hear publicly from the people who recognize and appreciate their importance. The detachment in Kugluktuk and the other communities are so understaffed. But some fools want to blame them for that and not the responsible parties. Their job is to get the criminals off the street. They are not tasked to be mental health workers.
People need to start taking responsibility for their actions.
Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay are party towns and have been for decades. No number of accidents, spousal assaults, assaults, murders, children with FASD, etc over those decades has taught anyone anything about being responsible with alcohol. The RCMP have to deal with the messes after the fact when a crime has been committed but the communities need to step it up and stop blaming everyone else for all their booze problems. Just blame it on residential schools, cultural genicide, cultural appropriation, etc…. if that makes you feel better but as usual people æ always looking for a scapegoat instead of looking at themselves.
I don’t agree with much u say CC but agree with u 100% on this one. Kug & CB are self-destructive party towns. Truly sad.
Ms. Adjun makes it sound like the RCMP has control over how many officers they can post to Kugluktuk. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The contract for community policing in Nunavut is between the RCMP and the GN. It is the terms of that contract that decides how many officers each community is allocated on annual basis. If the RCMP in Kugluktuk are being overwhelmed by the spate of alcohol-related offences it is best for the Mayor and Council to enter into discussions with the GN department of Justice and not the RCMP.