Poundmaker Cree Nation has declared they will enact their own drug enforcement through custom laws for banishment. (Web photo/Poundmaker Cree Nation)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Drug enforcement

Poundmaker Cree Nation announces custom banishment laws for drug enforcement

Mar 23, 2021 | 6:04 PM

Poundmaker Cree Nation (PCN) has declared a State of Emergency to take immediate action in establishing their own police force, according to the band’s leadership.

In a release Monday, PCN stated they will enforce custom laws for banishment, in an effort to address drug use and distribution within the nation. They are also calling on other nations to declare their own State of Emergency in the “war on drugs and join them on this fight to protect their children, Elders and members.”

Chief Duane Antoine said in the release that they will remove individuals from the community through a Band Council Resolution (BCR).

“We are taking a unified approach and zero tolerance policy to fight drug abuse and trafficking by kicking out band members and non-band members,” Antoine said.

The release further states that Poundmaker Council has tried to work with Cut Knife RCMP to enforce BCR’s but that the RCMP have stated they don’t have the moral authority to do so. Antoine said the nation is taking their own measures to enforce banishment.

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“The RCMP have a duty to protect our people and they are not doing their job, so we need to take matters into our own hands to fight the drug problem,” he said. “We have to hold the federal government accountable, since these BCR’s have no weight for enforcement, and if anyone is liable here, then it would be the federal government.”

“The government needs to listen and work with us and we will do whatever it takes to have our own police force,” Antoine said.

PCN will host chiefs from other nations to discuss drug related issues within their communities on March 30.

battlefordsNOW has reached out to both the Saskatchewan RCMP and the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety for comment.