Sign up for the larongeNOW newsletter

PBCN Chief commits full support to stop bootlegging

Nov 22, 2017 | 1:00 PM

The Chief of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) says he fully supports the idea of check stops to help curb illegal bootlegging.

Seven people were charged in the Creighton area last weekend. Several of those communities targeted fall under the jurisdiction of the PBCN.

Chief Peter Beatty said the communities work closely with the RCMP to help curb the problem.

“One of the biggest causes of all the problems we have in terms of social problems in our communities is alcohol… it’s one of the contributing factors to a lot of the tragic events that happen in our communities,” he said.

The names of the people charged last weekend were not released.

A spokesperson for the RCMP told paNOW they do not release the names of the people charged, as the charges are treated much like a driving ticket offence. Fines start at $300.

Beatty said he could not comment if stiffer fines were an answer, adding that would be best answered by the enforcement officials.

When asked if making communities “dry” was a plausible solution, Beatty said they had tried that in the past with Pelican Narrows.

“There was a plan by that community and a motion at one time to have that as a dry reserve but it led to a whole host of problems the community didn’t want to deal with at that time and it kinda faded away.”

Beatty said one of the issues was RCMP officers had a difficult time enforcing the bylaw.  Pelican Narrows is geographically divided with part of the community on reserve and the other part is in the municipality.

“Part of the community could be committed to being dry but a person would be able to walk across the street and go to a party,” Beatty said.

Another issue Beatty brought up how the influx of bylaw infractions were being dealt with in courts. 

“They had a huge backlog of cases they could not prosecute and it was tying up the court system so they said the only way this would work is if the band appointed its own prosecutor and prosecuted the offences themselves,” Beatty said.

Moving forward, Beatty said the communities would continue to work closely with the RCMP. 

Internally he said the communities have agencies in place to help educate people about the dangers of alcohol. Ultimately Beatty said the communities need to take ownership of the problem and tackle it.

“There’s a lot of times where these people want to do something about that problem and you do have a charge against the perpetrator but nobody wants to be a witness and so at the end of the day those people get away with it,” he said.

 

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell