Anti-gang program comes to Edmonton

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Troy Rupert knows life on the street is tough and usually leads to life behind bars.

He's been there. He got out of that world and now he makes his living by making it easier for others to get out of the trap of crime and punishment. His Winnipeg Native Alliance has been helping young Native people in that city since the early 1990s.

Rob Pappin, from the Enoch Cree First Nation near Edmonton, has spent his share of time in correctional facilities, too. A former gang member, he knows why young people get into gangs and he knows what they need to do to get out and lead productive lives. Pappin wants to bring the elements of Rupert's Winnipeg Native Alliance to Edmonton, where he believes young people are increasingly falling prey to the attractions of gang membership.

Rupert and Pappin visited the Windspeaker newsroom on March 28. Their plan was to publicize Pappin's efforts to export Rupert's successes in Winnipeg to the Alberta capital city.

Pappin said he has contacted Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith's office and the provincial Justice ministry as he looks for financial help and political support to start the Edmonton version of the Native Alliance, but so far his calls aren't being returned.

"Crack houses, coke busts, stabbings, swarming, teen prostitution - these activities are signs that gangs are present and those signs are there," said Rupert.

"All they want to do is sweep it under the rug," Pappin added.

Pappin thinks the politicians don't want to deal with the idea that gangs of young people are roaming the streets of a Canadian Prairie city. There are also risks to trusting an ex-con to do that job, risks that politicians and many police officers don't want to deal with. But, Rupert said, young people are more likely to listen to someone who's been there.

"Rob's a street level guy," Rupert said. "He's the kind of guy they can relate to."

But something clearly needs to be done. In the last year, Asian gangs have waged war on the streets of Edmonton, producing several fatalities. Alberta provincial court judge Tony Mandamin told the Indigenous Bar Association on April 18 that Native street gangs are becoming an increasingly serious problem in his province. He also suggested that many of the gang connections are made inside correctional facilities, where, in some parts of Western Canada, Aboriginal people make up as much as 70 per cent of the population. With stories of gang-related violence appearing more frequently in the press in Western Canada, Rupert and Pappin appear to be taking action at the right time.

The Winnipeg Native Alliance staff uses sports and recreation oriented programs and cultural programs to reach young people who have been caught up in the street gang life.

"We help guys coming out of the joint; we help guys on the street," said Rupert. "We talk to kids while they're locked up, just to let them know we're there. Our staff, a lot of them are on parole, use sports, recreation and culture to help kids and adults get out of gangs."

Several gangs have been identified as active in Edmonton: Red Alert, the Warriors, the Red Posse and the Native Syndicate are the highest profile groups.

About to graduate after completing a three-year course in criminal justice and ready to get to work helping young people avoid the mistakes he made, Pappin said he joined a gang because his family wasn't there for him while he was growing up.

"As a youth, I came from a dysfunctional home and, at the age of 12, I joined what was to be my new family for the next nine years," he said. "I participated in all sorts of crime and, as a result of these actions, ended up going to jail and getting a criminal record."

Young and naive in the beginning, Pappin said his gang membership gave him a sense of belonging and an identity. As he grew older he saw that young people are used and manipulated by older criminals who let them take the risks. Rupert said non-Native criminals are quite prepared to let Native kids dothe dirty work - be the patsy - so they can make the profits while the young people go to jail, a form of racism that wouldn't be tolerated by someone with a healthy sense of self-esteem.

"They're not seeing the big picture. They're being duped into believing that what they're doing is solid. But sooner or later they see that life on the streets leads nowhere," said Rupert.

Both former gang members said movies that portray gang life in places like Los Angeles and New York have helped create an aura of romance around gang membership that is a big part of the problem.

While Canadian cities generally don't resemble the desperately poor ghettos of big American cities, movies like Boyz in the 'Hood have created a mystique that teenagers find attractive.

"The Prairies are the farthest thing you can get from L.A. but kids can be influenced by this stuff because they're naive," Rupert said.

And since many Native people live in poverty, the same social factors that created street gangs in American inner cities apply in places like Winnipeg and, increasingly, Edmonton.

"When you've got the housing projects and the neighborhoods are run down and every fourth house is boarded up or burnt out, you'll see the kids joining gangs," Rupert added.

Rupert knows his past makes people watch him warily, waiting for a sign that he's turning back to his criminal past. He warned Pappin that he'll always be closely watched and suspect and one wrong move could destroy all his credibility. Pappin still wants to start down this road. He'll have the benefit of Rupert's experiences in Winnipeg to guide him.

"I didn't have no positive role models when I was growing up," Pappin said. "We as men have been negligent in being proper role models for our kids. They talk about the seven generations and all that, well, I don't know if we're living in that generation but I'd like to see my kids - no, not just my kids, our kids - have a good life. If I have to go through hell to make that happen, 'll go through hell."