By paNOW

Community action required in Montreal Lake to solve gang issues: Saskatoon group

Nov 21, 2018 | 6:00 PM

A Saskatoon based group, who have made it their personal mission to help individuals exit the gang lifestyle, is offering advice to community leaders at Montreal Lake Cree Nation (MLCN) , following a fatal shooting Saturday involving a young woman.

While police have yet to link the shooting incident — that also involved the injury to a 16 year old youth — MLCN Chief Frank Roberts told paNOW Sunday it was believed to be gang-related.

Str8 Up Co-Founder Stan Tu’Inukuafe said the death of Trina Bird last Saturday is very sad, and he thinks leadership may find some answers within the pages of a provincial gang strategy released earlier this year. The report, which was based on feedback from a number of communities, made several recommendations including having police involved but not to lead the initiative.

“When you put people in jails, you are not addressing the root causes. These individuals are coming back out and what are they coming back out to? The focus needs to be on prevention and intervention,” Tu’Inukuafe said.

Tu’Inukuafe said the strategy of his group is based on four pillars, which includes providing personal and professional support to people who have just been released from jail by helping them repair relationships with their families and even find employment.

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Details and possible motive for the fatality have yet to be confirmed by police members who are continuing their investigation and who also not confirmed if Bird was murdered. In the days following the incident, several community members have expressed frustration through social media over a perceived lack of help to address gangs and drugs. Tu’Inukuafe said the answers needs to start in the community

“The question I ask communities is if you believe that every gang member struggles with addiction, what are you doing in your community to address addiction? If you say that gang members need jobs, what are you doing in your communities to allow them to work?” he said.

Tu’Inukuafe said the province has a real problem with crystal meth, and he thinks a lot of the crime we are hearing about has to do with addictions problems. He added a common misunderstanding too is that gang members can be easily turned onto a better path.

“You can’t just have someone come out of jail and say here take a nine to five job, when they are struggling with a lot of other layers,” he said.

The Str8 Up group has been running in Saskatoon for about 17 years. Tu’Inukuafe said he feels they have made a difference, but cautioned many of the people who join their group should not be expected to change overnight.

“What we see over time is the level of violence starts to decrease and they start to re-engage with their family and with their kids. That’s a process by itself,” he said.

The provincial crime reduction team has been tasked with targetting gang activity and chronic offenders. paNOW has reached out to RCMP for comment on whether the team has been asked to help assist Montreal Lake with gang activity. A spokesperson for the RCMP replied it was not their policy to comment on gangs, as they explained any comment may give the gangs credibility. 

Informal talks were held Tuesday by the executive at Prince Albert Grand Council to discuss the incident at Montreal Lake, but there was no concrete plan suggested.

As of Wednesday, Montreal Lake Chief Frank Roberts did not respond to requests for further comment.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell