Alarmed over an increase in drug-related crime, a group of Elders in Hay River and the K’atl’odeeche First Nation are joining forces to fight the ill effects of addiction in their communities.
“There is a lot of dysfunction and we need to address it,” said Beatrice Lepine, a founding member of the group. “It’s not a minor problem that’s going to go away. We need to be able to help people now.”
After attending a town hall meeting on addictions in December, hosted by Hay River MLAs R.J. Simpson and Rocky Simpson, “a group of Elders got together and decided one of the things that is not often heard related to addictions and drug use are the Elders’ viewpoints,” said Lepine.
The group they formed in the wake of the meeting – where NWT Health Minister Julie Green addressed questions about public safety and substance use – consists of retired mental health professionals and other citizens who “see a real lack in programming in the community,” said Lepine.
“Elders are concerned with the future, with the next generation, and the generation beyond that,” she said. “That’s our job and that’s why we’re reaching out.”
Lepine knows a thing or two about addiction and its impacts on the community, having formerly served as a justice of the peace. She’s also a lifelong Hay River resident who laments the pain and misery brought by drug abuse and its related harms.
“There’s a crisis going on here. People are suffering and families are suffering,” she said. “In the past it used to be more alcohol addiction but today it seems like drugs have now added another element to the problem.”
Hay River faced a surge of crime in 2022, with RCMP statistics presented to council on Nov. 7 showing increases in several categories of offences compared to 2021.
By the end of October, there had been 164 assaults in the community, almost doubling the previous year’s total of 78.
There were also 54 break and enters, including 15 in October, a five-fold increase from the same month in 2021.
In addition, the territory’s chief public health officer issued a public health advisory in November after the drug carfentanil was identified in Hay River.
Amid the increase in criminal activity, Lepine said her group is in support of creating a permanent addictions treatment centre in the NWT.
She said this solution has worked in the past, noting the success of the Nats’ejee K’eh drug and alcohol treatment centre, a 16-bed facility that operated in the Kátł’odeeche First Nation before closing in 2013.
Lepine identified the loss of the treatment centre as “being at the centre of the problems we’re having with addictions today.”
“The lack of a treatment centre was pointed out at the meeting, and the government’s role in failing to provide adequate services here in regards to addictions treatment,” she said. “The government is saying that it’s more efficient to send people down south for treatment, but of course when they return, there are no services available for things like aftercare and transition into a sober life. There’s nothing there.”
So far the group has eight members but “anyone who may have perspective, who may be seeking help or who may want to be involved in an effort like this,” is welcome to join, according to Lepine.
There are plans to host a meeting sometime in the near future at the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre, which has “graciously allowed us to use their space for discussion,” she said.
“It will be an opportunity to get together to talk about what we can do as Elders,” she said. “We want to open the door to Elders.”