Regulators have responded to calls for a crackdown on bootlegging that continues to flood Ahousaht with hard liquor by implementing purchase limits this week at Tofino’s government-owned liquor store.
As of Tuesday, customers at the BC Liquor store in Tofino could only buy up to four bottles of hard liquor at a time if the alcohol is sold in plastic containers, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General said.
“It has come to our attention that there has been an increase in alcohol misuse and illegal resale leading to associated crime and public harm with spirits packaged in plastic bottles that are available for sale at the BC Liquor store in Tofino,” the ministry said.
It noted that the limit is only for products purchased off BC Liquor store shelves and does not extend to hospitality orders for Liquor Distribution Branch wholesale products or Special Event Permit orders.
In addition to “actively promoting” responsible consumption, the ministry said it’s taking steps in the Tofino BC Liquor store to educate customers about the harms associated with the illegal resale of alcohol.
The limit is the latest effort to slow the flood of vodka into Ahousaht. Often sold at a large mark-up, the hard liquor has long been the product of choice for bootleggers operating in the Ahousaht village of Maaqtusiis on Flores Island, north of Tofino.
Ahousaht hereditary chief Hasheukumiss (Richard George) announced the new limits this week at a meeting of the Council of Ha’wiih Forum on Fisheries.
He noted that the limits resulted from meetings the hereditary chief and some elders held with Attorney General Mike Farnworth in April, followed by recent discussion with Deputy Solicitor General Doug Scott.
The chief called the new limits a “major win for us.”
“It’s not going to solve our situation at home, but it’s going to definitely slow it down to be more manageable,” he said. “They know the detrimental effects that this alcohol is causing remote communities, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
“We have bootlegging going on in my nation and there’s cases by cases every Friday coming in, sometimes three or four from certain individuals.”
It remains to be seen how much the limit will affect what many in the community see as an epidemic of alcoholism and binge-drinking, an issue that is often focused among a small handful of houses in the village of approximately 1,000 residents.
“We’ve lost young people,” said Cliff Atleo, an Ahousaht member who serves as chair of the Council of Ha’wiih. “We have a cemetery in Ahousaht that’s almost full, mostly young people.”
The Labour Day weekend was particularly traumatic for the community, when two sudden losses occurred within hours. Among the tragedies was the fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Lennox Williams. The incident resulted in a second-degree murder charge, although a publication ban remains in place for the identity of the accused.
Ahousaht declared a state of emergency after that weekend, imposing a 9 p.m. curfew, with counselling and cultural supports coming into Maaqtusiis in the days that followed.
In April, Tom Paul’s niece was severely beaten and “left for dead” on the streets of Maaqtusiis. He believes that the incident should have been a warning that prevented the death of Williams on Aug. 31.
“We’re concerned about the well being of our community, the safety of our community, the addictions, the beatings, the violence, the rapes,” said Paul in an interview with Ha-Shilth-Sa in September. “It’s going to lead up to death and now it’s happened.”
More than 20 years ago, a bylaw was passed prohibiting alcohol from being brought into the reserve community, but enforcement proved to be a challenge, and binge drinking persisted.
Most recently, a prohibition was enacted during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and security staff at Ahousaht’s main dock confiscated liquor. However, smuggling continued, with vessels bringing alcohol to other locations near Maaqtusiis.
Nora O’Malley is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Ha-Shilth-Sa. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
