I'm not the kind of person who demands a lot of restrictions on my fellow being. In spite of three decades and counting of being shown time and time again how chaotic things can get when people are given the benefit of the doubt, I still stand by the belief that every living creature has the right to live as they wish.
My sole exception in this regard is when an individual's right to self-actualization imposes on another individual's right to the same or worse. History is rife with examples of what happens when the opposite is allowed to happen; before long you have the ego of one man taking national priority over the health and well being of thousands of others.
So when people begin to talk about imposing limits on the flow of things like alcohol, I think my natural reaction is in line with where the GNWT's has been so far — they don't want to impose on people's civil liberties.
These are stressful times and the vast majority of us probably are coping with an evening glass of wine or a beer at the end of a taxing day to help us clear our nerves.
Medically, the logic of keeping liquor stores open is sound — people with a strong alcohol dependency who quit cold turkey can literally die from the change in body chemistry. Alternatively, if unable to get alcohol from legal sources, those who really need it will find it elsewhere. Unless you've actually had to deal with the trap that is alcoholism, either in yourself or with a loved one, it's really hard to envision what people in the pit are going through.
All that being said, I think I got a pretty good idea of what Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Erwin Elias was talking about the other day at the liquor store. In the time it took for me to get myself something for the evening, I watched one man walk out of there with two full 24-beer flats and another man purchasing six 1.5 L bottles of vodka.
Now, I'm not accusing anyone of anything here — I ended up seeing the fellow who bought the beer go into a neighbouring apartment building about 20 minutes later with his haul, but I can see how the uncertainty of what someone is going to do with such high volumes of liquor could make officials nervous. Chances are they're not throwing a huge party at this time, or if they did they didn't invite me.
The GNWT's approach to COVID-19 related problems has followed a very repetitive pattern. First, they ask residents to follow good judgment. When that doesn't work, they tell people to follow a set of guidelines. Legally binding orders and enforcement are then put in place because those guidelines aren't being followed.
Right now, Justice Minister Caroline Wawzonek says she doesn't want to tell people when and how much they can drink.
But all it's going to take is one bootlegger spreading a bug to customers and the GNWT's opinion on liquor sales is going to change very quickly. Bootleggers should smarten up before they ruin it for the rest of us.