RESIDENCY BYLAW A CRY FOR GREATER SAFETY ON RESERVE

The narrow approval of a residency bylaw at Samson Cree Nation sends
a mixed message from the troubled central Alberta reserve.

Only 29 per cent of eligible band members voted in Wednesday's
referendum and just 56 per cent of the 849 ballots cast were in
favour of the bylaw that would allow for the eviction of any person
deemed to be causing danger to the health or safety of the community.
Those numbers suggest there is clear opposition in that community of
7,500 to this controversial new approach for addressing the pervasive
problems of drug use and gun violence on the reserve.

And the bylaw surely has potential pitfalls. If it only exports the
Samson problems to one of the three other Hobbema reserves, no
benefit will have come to the larger community. At present, none of
the other three reserves has a similar bylaw in place. The same is
true if the evicted person continues his or her problematic
life-style in Edmonton or Calgary.

In addition, there are surely residents of Samson Cree Nation who
would choose to provide support and counsel to the troublemakers, and
if the bylaw silences those voices, it will have done a disservice.

But this new residency bylaw was crafted out of desperation - two
band members were killed in drive-by shootings three months apart
last year - and if this cry for help creates a much wider
conversation about the socio-economic problems that plague Samson
Cree and other First Nations communities, it will have been a worthy
initiative.

The bylaw targets gang members thought to be most responsible for the
twin scourges of drugs and guns, but its language could apply to
other troublemakers just as easily. In order to prompt the eviction
of a band member, at least 25 fellow members must make application to
the newly established residency tribunal, and the action must be
approved by a two-thirds vote of council. The eviction of a non-band
member can be ordered by the tribunal without council approval.

"This is the first step in cleaning up our community," said Coun.
Kirk Buffalo. "The key is that people take responsibility over their
actions and make amends. This bylaw is only a tool."

Band members who crafted it and supported it should be applauded for
taking a firm stand on an issue faced by many communities in Canada's
diverse population.

Certainly, the bylaw cannot be seen as a panacea, nor was it
presented as such. The band has also sought to improve street safety
by upgrading lighting and tearing down abandoned buildings.

Further, there have been attempts to strengthen the reserve council's
relationship with the 42-member detachment of the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police in Hobbema, as well as the founding or expansion of
substance-abuse prevention and other social programs.

In short, the community leaders of Samson Cree Nation know all too
well how deep their issues run, and they are trying to address them
on several fronts.