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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Northern town votes to stay dry Labrador community infamous for gas-sniffing video

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 03/28/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

NATUASHISH, N.L. -- Residents of a troubled Innu community in northern Labrador have voted to keep what has been a divisive ban on alcohol.

Chief Simeon Tshakapesh said 188 people supported the proposal to keep Natuashish a dry community indefinitely. He said 125 voted against maintaining the ban and there were three spoiled ballots.

Much of the 800-person community is under the age of 18, leaving 486 citizens eligible for Friday's vote -- the 313 ballots cast represent 64 per cent of the community.

"This is the law now," Tshakapesh said Friday from his home. "I think it should be respected because the people have spoken loud and clear."

The small Innu community in east Labrador shot to global notoriety in 1993 when Tshakapesh, then a young police officer, videotaped the gas-sniffing Innu children of Davis Inlet, N.L., images that shocked the nation.

In 2002, its people relocated to Natuashish, 15 kilometres onto the mainland, in a move regarded by many as a fresh start.

The relocation meant new housing and a modern school, along with better access to traditional hunting grounds. But supporters of the no-alcohol policy say life really started to change when liquor was outlawed.

They point to marked decreases in domestic violence, violent crime and public disturbances.

Still, residents were badly split when the dry bylaw passed by only two votes in January 2008.

Critics say any bylaw that turns a drinker into a criminal serves to enrich bootleggers. They also question the way the initial vote was conducted -- by people being asked to stand on opposite sides of a gym, depending on which side of the ban they supported.

Tshakapesh said Friday's vote was held by secret ballot and everyone should respect it.

Prote Poker, a former chief who oversaw the bylaw's introduction two years ago, said he was happy with the outcome and believes it will end the controversy over the initial referendum.

"I think people were onside as we went along, even though we had a slim majority at the beginning," he said. "I think people were getting used to it and this vote shows that people were in favour of it."

-- Canwest News Service

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 28, 2010 A14

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