RESIDENTS DESERVE TO FEEL SECURE

Dear editor,

Were you ever bullied in school?

If so, do you remember how you felt? Were you frustrated? Did you feel
helpless, were you a victim, unsure of how to fight back without
lowering yourself to the level of those who tormented you?

Did you avoid direct confrontation because you were perhaps a little
unsure of yourself, because you had parents who told you it was wrong
to fight?

Did you finally get tired of trusting for someone else to look out for
you? Did you finally snap and stand up to them? Were you surprised
when the bullies backed down and left you alone?

Or perhaps you were tormented to the point that you moved to another
locker. Perhaps in a less toxic area, to get away from the bullies who
made your life miserable every single day.

Did it seem to you that the people who were supposed to be protecting
you were unable, or unwilling, to do so?

If you see the parallels here, and if you answered yes to just one of
these questions, you are in an avoidable situation. I suspect a lot of
us are in Port Hardy and I see that the problem exists everywhere in
the North Island.

Anyone who denies that drug dealers and their clientele are more
blatant, aggressive and numerous than they were a year ago had better
step outside and look next door. That steady stream of "friends" who
stop by several times a day, and well into the night aren't just
borrowing a cup of sugar or stopping by to talk hockey.

I see dealers as a cancer in our town, and I'm not alone. This town is
a wonderful place to live and raise a family, but it has an underworld.

Dealers are turning our town into something that it shouldn't be. If
you don't have the misfortune to live next door to one, you probably
have a friend who does, and this is wrong. The parents and children of
this town deserve better than that.

We deserve to feel safe walking our kids to the bus, taking them to
the pool, and in our homes as well. How can we protect and educate our
kids and tell them that drugs are wrong if the dealers continue to do
business with impunity. We shouldn't have to put up with these bullies
(and that is exactly what they are) running roughshod over our rights
as law-abiding residents of this town.

If you are tired of watching as the dealers continue to operate
apparently unchecked, I have a suggestion do something about it!

Don't wait for someone to solve the problem for you.

How many times has your family's quality of life been disrupted,
because the dealers and their clinetele continue to flourish? You know
the answer.

Ask yourself if you see an improvement in the situation over the last
year. If not, I suggest that you keep your eyes and ears on the local
and provincial newspapers, radio, local public broadcast channel, and
other media as well. If you want to be a part of the solution, we can
collectively make positive changes.

I see a public forum in Port Hardy in the not too distant future. This
forum will be attended by concerned citizens like you and I, and
anyone else who is affected by the flourishing drug trade in this
town. I would also expect that our elected representatives, municipal
leaders, judges, RCMP, and anyone else who genuinely cares about this
community would attend. We will find ways to work together to stamp
out this disease, and we will accomplish our goals.

It's time to stand up.

Tom Cook

Port Hardy