Moose
Cree First Nation is looking at banishing people who sell illegal drugs
and alcohol in order to protect the James Bay community from addiction.
(Rafferty Baker/CBC)
A northern Ontario First Nation is looking to banish drug dealers and alcohol bootleggers from its community.
Moose
Cree First Nation held a membership meeting this week to discuss how
criminal traffickers could be kicked out of the isolated community on
Moose Factory Island in Ontario's far north.
Chief Mervin Cheechoo says the details of exactly how dealers would be identified and removed still needs to be worked out.
"I
think it's well-known who they are, but sometimes it's tough to deal
with the situation from a police perspective," he says.
"But I
believe with the community support and all the community rallying to
deal with this issue, I believe it's going to go somewhere."
Moose
Cree Chief Mervin Cheechoo says the First Nation still has to figure
out exactly how it will go about banishing drug dealers. (Erik White/CBC )
Cheechoo,
who was elected chief three months ago, says drug and alcohol addiction
has long been a problem in the community, but he says it's gotten much
worse in recent years with the rise of opioids.
"Elders are
suffering. There's a lot of elder abuse, violence toward elders and
money being taken from them. Children are neglected and hungry and a lot
of them are missing school," he says.
"It's real bad here. People are struggling here."
Cheechoo says he knows that it won't be easy to banish drug dealers.
One
challenge is that while Moose Cree could kick criminal traffickers off
their territory, they don't have control over all of Moose Factory
Island, which they share with the Moocreebec First Nation, as well as
some private land owners. The dealers could also move across the river
to the sister community of Moosonee.
Exactly who is targeted for
banishment and whether or not they need to be convicted of criminal
charges before that happens is another question that needs to be
answered.
"I think the courts will play a big part in it. We're
not really fully there with every detail yet," says Cheechoo who does
remember a few Moose Cree members being banished in decades past.
First
Nation staff will now work to refine the band council resolution that
was passed earlier this year and discussed at the membership meeting
this week.
Cheechoo says another membership meeting would need
to be held to ratify the finished policy, which he thinks can happen
within a few months.
"It's a tough decision, but we want a healthy community here," he says.
We've been mandated by our elders, we've been mandated by our grandmothers to deal with this issue."
