Brokenhead Ojibway Nation to launch anonymous tip line to combat drug trafficking

WINNIPEG -- The Brokenhead Ojibway Nation is launching an anonymous tip line to tackle drug trafficking within the community.

Over the weekend, members of the community, which is located about 70 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, took part in a walk to bring attention to the issue of drugs in the community.

Chief Deborah Smith told CTV News on Tuesday the launch of the tip line comes as a result of many people in the community looking for ways to curb drug trafficking.

"The walk itself was to, first of all, bring together the voices of the community that have been saying we need to do something to combat the issue of drug use and abuse and trafficking in our community," she said.

Smith said the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation council has been working on a drug strategy with the help of the RCMP, which includes the tip line that allows people to send in information via email.

"Basically what we were going to do with that information that we received, is to pass it on to the RCMP but also the First Nation Safety Officers that are here in Brokenhead," Smith said.

She said the safety officers have recently been given more authority to impose fines and to banish people from the community if they are engaging in drug trafficking.

"We're starting to see the effects, especially amongst our children," Smith said. "That, I believe, is the reason why we're doing this, is to ensure that our children – our most vulnerable in our community – are being protected."

She said while the community has been struggling with drugs for nearly two decades, it has become much more visible in recent weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Now, our drug dealing was very visible and in the open. Because we've restricted movements in our community, we were witnessing drug transactions where the barricades were," Smith said.

“It was just so much more visible than before COVID-19, and as a result, we started to look towards these different ways of dealing with it, and the anonymous tip line is one of those suggestions."

-with files from CTV's Charles Lefebvre