FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — A state of emergency was declared by Chief Michele Solomon at Fort William First Nation on Friday because of the ongoing drug crisis that is negatively affecting the community.
Council passed a motion on July 8 to make the declaration. The declaration will remain in force until the crisis is stabilized to a level that is satisfactory to the chief and council, a release said.
Chief Solomon spoke with the media after a Facebook live video on the declaration.
"This comes as a result of escalating situations in our community, escalating violence, escalating people coming into our community who really shouldn't be here. And certainly the escalation of opiate-related deaths of our people, our members."
Solomon indicated the declaration was sent to Indigenous Services Canada.
"We anticipate that we'll be meeting with them as early as Monday to start to look at what we can put in place for short-term and hopefully look to some longer-term solutions.
"We know that there's many barriers to addressing this issue. It will require some thoughtful planning and certainly the injection of resources from our treaty partners."
She noted that one of the biggest barriers her community faces is access to treatment programs, like detox centres.
"One of the things we're looking at is having a place that we have for our own people so that when they are ready to get help, they have a place to go.
"Currently, if you were to call the local detox centre, the likelihood of getting a bed would be slim to none. So that's one of the biggest barriers we see."
Solomon also said a community checkpoint could be established during certain hours and that they are examining what resources would be available for such a project.
Being so closely connected to Thunder Bay, Chief Solomon noted that issues occurring in the city often impact them, too.
"Anything that impacts Thunder Bay impacts us, and it's very important that the people of Thunder Bay, the leadership of Thunder Bay are fully aware of that."
Katie Nicholls is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with Newswatch
