Premier, Dehcho leaders discuss land claim and community safety

Premier RJ Simpson met with Dehcho leaders in Yellowknife on Wednesday to discuss progress on negotiations and growing concerns about the territory’s drug crisis.

The three-day Dehcho First Nations meeting at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre was triggered by drug-related shootings in Fort Providence last month.

Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian said this week’s discussion was organized to find solutions for drugs and violence affecting residents.

“The trauma, the mental health stuff that’s going on in the communities, it seems to re-escalate,” Norwegian said.

Noting that public safety remains a key priority for the territory, Simpson said there is a need for partnerships with Indigenous governments.

The premier said the GNWT has taken steps to support law enforcement over the past year by funding a crime reduction unit within the RCMP. He believes that change will address “networks of organized crime” associated with drug trade in the region.

“Right now, general duty officers out responding to calls and doing their day-to-day work don’t have the time for deep investigations, stakeouts or analyzing information,” he explained.

Simpson also pointed to the establishment of new emergency response teams and legislative efforts to tackle drug trafficking.

One such tool is the development of so-called Scan legislation, which advocates say would allow investigators to approach courts for an order to close privately-owned premises used for selling drugs or causing disturbances.

The territorial government is also looking into a trespass act to provide businesses, Elders facilities’ and parking complexes with a legal means to remove trespassers from premises.

Simpson gave the example of situations where if RCMP find people in possession of drugs and cash while driving on the highway, he said, officers can confiscate the drugs but are required to ultimately hand the money back.

Civil forfeiture legislation would allow police officers to make an application to the court to keep those funds.

Norwegian said the idea of enforcing “complete banishment” of drug dealers from communities was brought up on a few occasions. He hopes that can be explored further by Dene Nation leadership so leaders are able to “collectively grab that issue and stand on it.”

“They need to know that their leadership, the chiefs, are serious about dealing with these issues,” he said.

“It used to be, at one point, where the problem was coming in from down south with drug dealers bullying our people … but now it’s coming to the point where our people are starting to do it to each other, and that seems to be very concerning to the leaders in the community and our people.”

Norwegian said the drug crisis and trauma in the communities have escalated in recent times. He feels RCMP are “scared” to deal with the issue in absence of the necessary tools.

Speaking of a recent incarceration in Fort Simpson, he said three people found with money and drugs and taken into custody were “walking the streets again” a day later.

“The law doesn’t seem to be equipped to take on this terrible thing that’s going on in our community,” he said.

Negotiations need to ‘speed up’

Earlier this month, Norwegian said he wanted Ottawa to speed up the Dehcho Process – negotiations over land, resources and governance between the First Nation and the territorial and federal governments.

At this week’s meeting, Norwegian said negotiators only get roughly 21 days in a year to sit down with each other. Sometimes, he said, half of the day goes into creating meeting minutes and going over previous meetings.

Darlene Sibbeston of Fort Simpson said she was disappointed after virtually attending a negotiation meeting in Fort Providence two years ago, where much of the time went into understanding logistics instead of the actual negotiation.

“I sat through two full days and felt like nothing happened,” she said. “We spent hours reviewing old agenda items and minutes from previous meetings – logistical stuff that shouldn’t be eating up negotiating time.”

Simpson said the GNWT will continue to press the federal government for additional financial support to Indigenous governments to increase the frequency of those meetings by hiring more negotiators.

“‘I’m all in on trying to speed things up,” said Simpson.

“If we want to build an economy in the territory, we want to see us thriving, [we need to] actually take advantage of the financial resources that we have up here for the benefit of people out of the North and for Canada.

“We need to focus on settling these land claims. There’s no two ways around it.”