Throne speech avoids drugs, booze

Nanulik MLA Patterk Netser was “very disappointed” to see no reference to drug and alcohol abuse in last Tuesday’s Throne Speech.

“We are know what drugs and alcohol are doing to our families and our communities,” Netser told the legislative assembly. “This week it was revealed that 90 per cent of calls received by the RCMP involved alcohol. Ninety per cent. Ninety out of a hundred calls are related to alcohol abuse.”

In the same statement, Netser asked the government to “formally take a stand against any liberalization of drug laws in Canada, the laws that will affect us in Nunavut.”

He also called for more enforcement of bootlegging laws, and stiff punishments for offenders. He then said that Nunavut needs counselling and treatment services.

“Social services needs an action plan,” Netser said.