She was halted from talking to reporters about drug use in Sitansisk. She’s speaking out anyway | CBC News
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A Sitansisk woman who was stopped from speaking to a Radio-Canada journalist by First Nation security says her community is fed up with drug activity.
“We need change in our community. Drugs and alcohol are not the way for our people. This is not the way to live,” said Albany Paul, a member of Sitansisk or St. Mary’s First Nation.
“And our leadership is not seeing that,” Paul said in an interview with CBC News Wednesday, despite being told not to speak to media the day before.
Sitansisk’s leadership declared a state of emergency Monday in response to “escalating risks due to illegal drug activity which endangers the safety and wellbeing of our citizens, particularly our youth,” the declaration said, and to access provincial and federal funds.
The concern in the community around drug issues had escalated Sunday.
CBC News has been told by multiple sources that a community meeting took place Sunday afternoon to discuss drug and addiction issues. Many said the meeting was peaceful.
Later in the evening, a large group of community members gathered outside a home where they claimed drug activity was happening. RCMP and Fredericton Police eventually responded to the scene to de-escalate the situation.
Fredericton Police said one person was arrested Sunday for assault with a weapon, and another was arrested Monday for breach of the peace. Both cases have yet to be tried in court.
“Sunday, the community finally got fed up with what has been happening,” Paul said, adding that the meeting was arranged by community members, not leadership.
‘How are we protecting our children?’
Paul lives in the same neighbourhood, and said drug issues have been a big concern for her, especially as a young mother.
She and her child moved out of Sitansisk for three months because she said drug users were coming to her home thinking it was what she refers to as “the drug house” up the street.
“How are we protecting our children? How does every child matter when you don’t care and you want this chaos to continue to happen?” Paul said.
After band and council called a state of emergency over drug activity, Albany Paul says things need to change.
She said Sitansisk leadership has not done enough to stop the drug activity.
“Our people need help. They need this help. These children shouldn’t be seeing this, seeing drug deals happen right on the street,” Paul said.
Sitansisk’s state of emergency resulted in more security and gates into the community to be closed overnight.
Paul called the gates “a joke,” and said they had been previously installed in 2021 and she felt they were unsuccessful in combating drugs.
Throughout the week, CBC News encountered several community members employed by the First Nation who declined to speak on record in fear of losing their jobs or because they had been directed not to speak to media.
“None of this is being answered. And community members just like me have these same concerns. And nothing is being done,” Paul said.
On Tuesday when Radio-Canada journalists were in the community to report on the state of emergency, Paul approached them to share her concerns, but was stopped by a uniformed St. Mary’s Security officer and another man who was not wearing a uniform.
Chief Polchies said he was unavailable for an interview Thursday to address Paul’s concerns, but said in an emailed statement that Sitansisk members are free to form their own opinions and speak to the press, and that leaders and partners are doing “everything we can” to address the issue of drugs.
In a press conference the day before, he had denied giving security the directive to silence members from speaking but said as a leader he needed to make sure the right message gets out to avoid what he referred to as “fake news.”
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