(Noe Cockney)
As of midnight, April 10, anyone found with alcohol in Tuktoyaktuk could be facing fines and jail time as a 10-day prohibition came into effect in the community.
It covers a radius 25 kilometres from the hamlet office and penalties can go up to as much as a $2,000 fine or up to 30 days in jail.
On top of a check stop collecting information on people entering and leaving the community, the measure is an effort to stymie bootleggers who could be potentially spreading COVID-19 as they go door-to-door.
"We've put up a check-stop. It's just for information and we've got notifications posted everywhere on social media," said Mayor Erwin Elias. "If we people going back and forth three or four times a week, that's something we can identify at least. Keeping track of the traffic and asking residents outside of the community of Tuk respect our wishes.
"We don't have the authority to stop anybody from coming or going, but education and communication are going to be key to making people understand and cooperate."
Following calls from several communities in the territory, on April 9 Justice Minister Caroline Wawzonek said the territory would work with communities wanting to impose local liquor restrictions but would not impose a territory-wide prohibition.
Noting the hamlet's check stops were being operated within the limits of the law and only asking questions and not preventing anyone from actually passing, Elias said he was getting tired of the back and forth.
He questioned why calls for limitations on alcohol sales were being framed as targeting addicts when he said the hamlet has been very clear it was asking for limitations on large-volume buyers who then re-sell the liquor in smaller communities.
"It blows my mind," he said. "I think every person agrees there are people with addictions who are having trouble to get off the sauce. What we're asking is put on a limitation. The person that's living with an addiction doesn't need to buy six cases of mickeys.
"So now they're going to say 'Okay, communities go ahead and do a prohibition,' so we'll do a prohibition and it will be amazing for the bootlegger if they can get it in. Because they can still get ten cases of something if they want with no questions. If there was a limitation on what a person could buy, I find it really hard to believe a bootlegger would send 10 people in to get 20 bottles. It would be really terrible for their business.""
He repeated his call for a ban on travel into the Northwest Territories and requiring anyone who wants to enter to complete 14-days of self-isolation before boarding a plane.
"The government is telling us to self-isolate and do all this social distancing, yet they're allowing people into the North to isolate who have the potential of having the COVID-19 virus," he said. "They're saying 'You'd better hide in your house because we're going to bring people in.'
"We're putting the prohibition in place because the government is not giving the RCMP any teeth. We've done it in the past with our jamborees. If you're seen intoxicated or drinking anywhere, out in the streets staggering, you will be taken into jail. If you're drinking in public, you will be taken care of."
Elias welcomed the idea of an Enforcement Task force, but said he had not heard anything from the territorial government as to how the force would operate or what input the hamlet would have into how they work.
In fact, Elias said he hasn't heard anything from the territorial government at all.
"Nothing's changed yet. We hear the announcements but there's no communication at the community level," he said. "There's been not one phone call to us saying we should what we're doing or whatever.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing. In the small communities, there are people who are not listening to the protocol of COVID-19. There's a lot of unessential traffic going on.
"So if they're wondering why we're trying to do a check stop, maybe they should just phone us and ask us. The way they're hearing it right now is when you (Inuvik Drum) post it."
He said most of the hamlet was being patient and learning as they went, but he felt the hamlet was being prevented from cracking down on trouble makers and bootleggers.
"There's a group of people that are not abiding by the rules and it's in every community," he said. "They say they're going to do more enforcement, but we don't know who to phone here. I know it's day one, but there's very little communication."
In the interim, the hamlet is taking inspiration from the Peel River Jamboree organizers and hosting an online talent contest of its own which began April 10 and runs until April 16.
There's one caveat, however — you can only enter if you are properly following social distancing.
"We're trying to accommodate the people who are really staying home," he said. "We're giving out vouchers as prizes. One of the rules is you can't go to another person's house and do a jam over there. You have to do it at home; otherwise your entry won't count."
Anyone from Tuktoyaktuk interested in participating can do so via the Tuktoyaktuk Online Events group.