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Prohibition that lacks consensus

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 7:00am
Globe and Mail

Dozens of aboriginal reserves have alcohol bans with good results. It's disheartening to learn, then, that one Labrador community – which drew international attention with its footage of gas-sniffing children – may lift its prohibition.

Natuashish chief Simeon Tshakapesh – who as a former police officer videotaped those haunting images of Innu children – says the alcohol ban is not working. His proof: Bootleg alcohol continues to get into the remote community of 725 people. A 40-ouncer of cheap rye goes for $350 on the black market.

A community on drugs: life after the crisis

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 7:00am
Jennifer Pritchett, Telegraph-Journal
 
OROMOCTO FIRST NATION - Cindy Sacobie has lost a lot of what has meant the most to her in life.
She watched her husband, Brian, die of alcoholism last year when he was 44, leaving her to raise their three sons alone. She has struggled with her own addiction to the painkiller Dilaudid and once lost her job for a year because of it.
 
Until she got clean three years ago, she'd lost her self-respect.
 
"All our money went into the drugs," says the 41-year-old.
 
Six years ago, Sacobie was among the majority - as high as 85 per cent - of residents in this small aboriginal community east of Fredericton who were addicted to drugs.
 

What does “Tough on Crime” Mean?

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/03/2010 - 5:08am
Harper’s tough-on-crime policy may just hurt Aboriginal women
 
 
Prime Minister Stephen Harper ushered in five new senators at the end of January to help solidify his tough-on-crime policy, but tough on crime might just mean being tougher on some of Canada’s most marginalized people.
 
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