Hundreds of people came together Thursday in Sandy Bay First Nation sharing concerns over the growing meth crisis.
Gisele Demach is a mother of a three who attended the meeting, and worries about what her children will grow up seeing.
“When I grew up here, it wasn’t this bad. We didn’t have to be scared,” said Demach. “We didn’t have to lock our doors at night. We could leave our things out.”
Chief Lance Roulette said the Drug Strategy Meeting was a way for leaders to hear from the public and come up with ways to tackle the problem. Roulette said a number of incidents over the last few weeks have left the community concerned.
“People are very, very on edge,” said Roulette. “There’s a lot of frustration.”
Manitoba First Nations Police said they’ve been dealing with an increase in meth-related crime, much like the rest of the province. Police Chief Rick Head said the unpredictability of meth makes it more challenging for both the community and officers.
“It impacts small communities for sure in a big way because everybody here knows everybody, and it’s difficult to see their people suffering,” said Head.
A number of agencies attended the meeting, including Child and Family Services, local health and education officials, and all of the band staff. Roulette said the agencies came together to contribute and see how to formulate a strategic plan to help people.
Head said community members also shared their stories of how the meth crisis has affected them, from concerns over friends and family using the drug, to how it will affect the safety of their children.
“It was very, very moving. Very positive. No anger expressed towards police or the Chief at all,” said Head. “It’s just like let’s just work together to figure out a way, so that’s what we’re doing.”
Head is hoping a community mobilization program can be launched, where police collaborate with local agencies to identify anyone at risk. It’s just one of the many ideas leaders have in hopes of fixing the problem.
“Look at methods of healing for our membership, rather than looking at removal or banishment, and that’s the last thing we ever want to do,” said Roulette. “But we definitely need to start somewhere.”
Meanwhile, Demach is feeling optimistic after the meeting and hopes real change will come.
“I don’t want to live in fear, and if we can fight this problem now, like I’m okay with living in fear for the next year or so, but I don’t want to live in fear for the rest of my life, and I don’t want my kids to live in fear,” said Demach.
Head said a plan will be rolled out shortly with Sandy Bay First Nation to deal with the meth crisis in the short and long term.
