An NWT government department says it will take up Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo’s call for more security to stop drugs reaching small communities by plane.
Nerysoo represents Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson and Aklavik. He said he had been asked by community leaders if Yellowknife Airport “can do something about providing security going north.”
“It is evident that these people are bringing drugs north and they’re not, maybe, going through security. They are getting through,” Nerysoo told airport representatives at a Thursday committee meeting.
In general, internal NWT flights – where no portion of travel extends beyond the territory’s borders – don’t involve passenger screening.
At Yellowknife Airport, for example, you can board flights to destinations like Fort Simpson, Hay River or Fort Smith without having anyone screen you or your carry-on. That also means you can bring liquids and other items on board that security screeners might reject.
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To many passengers, that’s a small perk of travel within the territory: no security line and a slightly more relaxed approach.
But Nerysoo pointed out it also means less defence against contraband, at a time when illegal and dangerous drugs are having what many community leaders have characterized as a ruinous effect on residents’ lives.
Nerysoo asked Yellowknife Airport officials if more measures could be taken to provide security for flights headed to Inuvik and Norman Wells, the communities closest to the three he represents in terms of destinations that can be reached direct from Yellowknife.
Steve Loutitt, deputy minister for the NWT’s Department of Infrastructure, told Nerysoo the RCMP and Department of Justice take some responsibility for those matters, while Crown corporation Catsa controls security screening.
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Loutitt said he would bring forward the MLA’s concerns.
“At this point, those flights aren’t going screened and, even if those flights are going screened, there’s limited detection for drugs,” said Loutitt.
The deputy minister said Nerysoo had “a very valid point.”
“In a lot of these communities, the only way you can get into them in the summer months is by air,” Loutitt continued, “so if we’re able to curb the bringing drugs in, that would be good for healthy communities.”
He concluded: “It is something I’ll bring forward. It is under Catsa and the RCMP, under their mandates, but I’m happy to champion that.”
