Pelican Narrows safety issues linked to drugs, alcohol, gangs: Community safety minister

Safety concerns in Pelican Narrows are being brought into the spotlight after a shooting on Monday left a 28-year-old woman dead and a man seriously hurt.

Police are still searching for the suspect, after a person who was previously arrested was later released without charges. The RCMP shared a video of the shooting suspect, and asked the public to come forward with any information that could help the investigation. The victims have not been identified by police.

Read more:

• VIDEO: RCMP still searching for man behind Pelican Narrows shooting after suspect released
• One dead, one seriously hurt, shooting suspect in RCMP custody in Pelican Narrows
• Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation renews call for help after two recent homicides

Coincidentally, Michael Weger, Saskatchewan’s community safety minister, was in Pelican Narrows shortly before the shooting, touring the community in an effort to learn more about the issues residents are facing.

Weger joined The Evan Bray Show on Thursday to explain what he saw in Pelican Narrows, what he heard from leaders and locals in the community, and the steps he thinks need to be taken to address safety concerns over the short and long term.

Listen to the full interview with Weger, or read the transcript below:

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

EVAN BRAY: It was just a day or two before this killing happened that you were up there speaking with leaders about violence.

MICHAEL WEGER: You’re absolutely right. It was 24 hours, essentially, before this horrible murder happened, and I’ll take the moment right now just to give my sincere condolences to the family, friends and the community members in Pelican Narrows after this very tragic incident. On Thursday I was in Prince Albert, and I met with Chief Beatty, Chief Hardlot and some of their supporting staff, and through that conversation, as we were talking about issues in the north, the rising crime rate, at the end of the conversation it sort of happened spontaneously, but I mentioned that I would be in the area and was wondering if someone could take me on a tour, so Chief (Peter) Beatty and (Prince Albert Grand Council public safety implementation advisor) David Sanderson were kind enough to pick me up on Sunday, and they took me to Pelican Narrows. We had a meeting with community leadership there, and then Vice Chief Justice (Jorie) Halcro and Councilor Leon Dorian took me on almost probably an hour-long tour of the community. We drove down pretty much every street in the community, and then, very unfortunately, 24 hours after that meeting and that visit, the alert went out that there was a shooting happening in Pelican Narrows.

Can you tell us what you saw on that tour? What did they point out?

WEGER: The first thing we were met with was that they have very recently instituted a security gate with private security. We had a good chat with the security as we came into the community. They’re checking every vehicle that comes in and goes out, recording who’s traveling into that community, so that’s a positive thing in that community. Touring through the community, there’s obviously some concerns in the community as far as public safety, so the streets are quite quiet, but talking to the leadership, obviously they’ve been having struggles with community safety, and and this is relevant from what we were seeing, whether it’s a burnt-down car on the side of the street that they pointed out, or a house that had burnt down two days prior to my visit there, as well as pointing out significant properties in the community where there’s suspected drug sales happening. Definitely an eye-opening experience for me, as the minister of community safety, but the reason I wanted to go there is that I wanted to see firsthand what these individuals are dealing with. I don’t like being told by someone who heard from someone about what’s happening in Pelican Narrows, so I greatly appreciated the opportunity to visit that community, and I can sincerely say that the day after, when that shooting was happening, my perspective on that was a lot different from what it would have been if I hadn’t been there.

What’s fueling and what is behind these ongoing safety concerns? Did you get a sense from community leaders and community members that they understand what the problem is?

WEGER: I think the main thing that’s fueling it is alcohol and drugs, and there’s gang activity in the community as well, so when you put those factors together, you’re going to have some significant issues in your community.

Other than ‘Help us make it safer,’ did the leaders you met with in Pelican Narrows have specific asks of you?

WEGER: Their ask for more policing has been quite public, and I’ve been in constant communication with RCMP assistant commissioner Robin McNeil. I was able to have a lengthy phone call with him yesterday to discuss some of the opportunities the RCMP has to increase staffing in that location, and essentially they’re looking into implementing, very shortly, a rotational model or pilot out of Saskatoon that will include Pelican Narrows, Deschambault Lake, Sandy Bay, and Creighton, generally referred to as a fly-in or drive-in model, where you have members from Saskatoon and surrounding areas depart from Saskatoon, travel in a group up to one of those communities, and then work there for a number of days, and then rotate out for their days off. That’s something that, in our discussions, appears to be fairly well received from the leadership at Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, so we have to get that off the ground. In recent days as well, there’s been additional support to the community with additional members from the RCMP, including the Saskatchewan Marshals Service. They’ve responded out to that community on June 2 and June 3, and they’re still out there today, as well as, obviously, there’s a heightened level of concern in the community a few days after a serious shooting.

This feels like the perfect situation for the Saskatchewan marshals to go in and at least deal with a handful of people or drug houses that are deemed to be the centre or source of the problem.

WEGER: Yeah, absolutely. On June 2, they were mobilized, and they were out there providing scene containment for the RCMP, conducting high-visibility patrols in co-ordination with the RCMP. Five marshals were there on June 2, and then still there on June 3, conducting warrant apprehension up in Sandy Bay. So there’s some RCMP that came from Sandy Bay out to Pelican Narrows, so then the marshals go and support in Sandy Bay, and they actually apprehended one subject on Sunday. And, lo and behold, on their travels back in between Sandy Bay and Pelican Narrows, they came across a fire in the ditch, and they supported the fire department to put out a fire in the ditch, which is also quite concerning, considering our extreme level of concern for wildfires right now.

Do you get a sense, minister, that the violence being created in these communities is being created by people that the community knows? Or are these strangers or transient people coming into the community causing the problems?

WEGER: In talking to the locals, they have knowledge as to who the individuals are, and absolutely they also recognize there are individuals that do not belong in their community, but they’re coming into their community, and they suspect those individuals are involved in the drug trade and drug trafficking, and essentially, I think, in many ways, taking advantage of the people living in Pelican Narrows.

This feels like we need instant, hard enforcement to try and eradicate the current problem, and then some sort of longer-term sustained partnerships to deal with those issues that are going to be solved, in some cases, over generations. Is that fair for me to say?

WEGER: I think it is, and that’s really what my discussion was. Almost a brainstorming activity with the leadership when I was in Pelican Narrows to discuss what our government can do in the short term to assist, and I think the marshals are showing that they’re playing a part in that. I don’t direct the operation of the marshals, but in talking to Chief Rob Cameron prior to my visit out there, the marshals have already been talking to the RCMP and had proactive patrols planned for June 2 and June 3. Regardless of this horrible shooting happening, they had plans to go out there, so they’re a piece of the puzzle in the short term. Of course I had some brainstorming with the community members on what else our province can do in the short term. In the long term, I believe that the members of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation are also speaking to the federal government. I spoke to Chief Beatty yesterday on the phone. He mentioned that he had spoken to the federal minister about this, and I believe they’re traveling to Ottawa to speak with them for further support to assist in the long term to address the problems that the community is facing.

I know that you don’t direct the RCMP and you don’t get involved in operations, but when we have a community like this that has a dangerous person alert out, then we hear from the RCMP later in the day that they have made an arrest, and since then, we’ve heard the person has been released but the dangerous alert has not been put back on again. How do we know it’s safe?

WEGER: That’s a question that I posed to assistant commissioner Robin McNeil yesterday in my phone call, and essentially the answer is this. On the day of the shooting, there was an active shooter, an individual walking through the community with a firearm, so the alert goes out. After proactive patrols have gone through the community, and it’s clear that the individual is no longer posing an immediate threat to the community, then they’re able to pull back that alert. And knowing that they have that additional police presence in the community right now is the reason why there’s no active alert. There’s active information out there coming from the RCMP that they’re on the lookout for someone, they’re asking members in the community to review the video, and they’re very confident that someone will come forward with information to help identify and locate the individual who is the subject of interest in this.

Police shared a short video clip showing the alleged shooter running quickly down a tree-lined, dirt road. The RCMP asked any members of the public who can help identify the man, or who may have information about the shooting, to contact police or Crime Stoppers. (Saskatchewan RCMP/Submitted)

Do you have a sense that the RCMP knows the person they’re looking for?

WEGER: No, but I believe they know that members of the community know the person they’re looking for. They’re confident someone in the community will identify that person and then share that information with the RCMP.