Mushuau Innu sign expanded bylaws to combat drug crisis

The Mushuau Innu Band Council has signed new an expanded trespassing bylaw and expanded enforcement bylaw, giving expanded powers to community safety officers to search personal effects at the airport, search band-owned homes, and for the band council in Natuashish to ban more people from the community with the goal of disrupting the flow of drugs into the remote First Nation community. 

The bylaw changes, signed April 7 by the chief and council, came less than two months after mothers and grandmothers in Natuashish held a meeting on the drug situation in the fly-in community in February. At the time, the women proposed a number of ideas, including the now-expanded community safety officer powers and home searches. 

Chief John Nui said he supports the work the mothers and grandmothers are doing to raise awareness of the drug issue and have been working with the band’s lawyers since February to see what abilities the council has in revising the bylaws.

“We’ll start out with people that are not from here,” Nui said. “Let them know that what you’re doing is not acceptable to our community, and it’s hurting our youth.”

Community safety officers now have expanded powers to search people’s personal effects such as coat pockets, and to pat down individuals instead of just searching bags at the local airport, the bylaw says. 

As well, community safety officers can now search any Mushuau Innu Band Council-owned homes, either routinely or if they suspect drugs may be present. 

A general meeting is also planned for this week at the Natuashish Easter Gathering to update community members on the changes, and to gather feedback and ideas for the future, Nui said. 

In Sheshatshiu, similar actions have been taken to combat the drug situation there, including removing people from Sheshatshiu-owned homes and boarding up houses. Nui said it’s a different situation in Natuashish because there aren’t other nearby communities like there are in Sheshatshiu.

“In our own community, it’s isolated. It’s not going to be just snap your fingers,” Nui said. “You have to give them time.”

The Natuashish bylaw states that any Innu removed or banned from the community will have 30 days to leave. Non-Innu will be given 48 hours to leave, the bylaw says. If someone does not comply, they could be fined $1,000 and convicted of a summary offence, leading to a jail sentence up to 30 days. 

The issue has been going on for some time, and Nui hopes the expanded bylaws can take aim at stopping drugs from entering the community in the first place. 

“Yes, there is a lot of drugs happening. There is drug dealing happening in our community,” Nui said. “We are doing what we can to minimize or stop altogether these people coming in, but at the same time, we need people to help us out.” 

Nui is asking community members to report when they hear people are planning to travel into the community with drugs in an effort to stop them from coming to Natuashish in the first place, he said. 

“It’s tiring, but we need help,” Nui said. “We can’t do it ourselves as chief and council; we need a community to help us fight these drug dealers.”

“I feel so happy,” said Aldea Piwas, one of the mothers and grandmothers pushing for change in the Innu community. “Happy for the grandmothers, the parents, the mothers who put their message to me that they really need help because they’re really afraid.”

Piwas said she has been praying for action, and the new bylaw will make a big difference. She said it’s important to see the community and chief and council working together. 

“Now our youth, [our] children, will be okay. There’s too much going on in our community,” Piwas said. “It was worth the wait.” 

Piwas was proud to see all the actions in Sheshatshiu, and that Natuashish is now moving as well. 

“There’s always hope,” she said. “One person has to see the step up, and good things will come.” 

Piwas said she agrees it will take the entire community to confront the issue, and hopes to see a detox centre in the future in the community with Innu traditional practices and medical professionals so people can detox through withdrawals, with medical and traditional support. 

The bylaw also expands the screening of mail to the community, with community safety officers visually inspecting mail and flagging and potential illicit packages to RCMP and Canada Post workers. RCMP and Canada Post workers may then open to inspect the packages, the bylaw says. 

Nui said it’s important as drugs are frequently travelling to the community by mail. He’s now looking into whether there is a way to have further screening at the Goose Bay Airport. People find different ways to hide their drugs, the chief said.