Pahl reacts to deaths, analysis

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Milt Pahl, Alberta minister in charge of Native Affairs, extends his condolences to the families of those who died in the Peerless Lake tragedy, and says his government will look into how such deaths can be prevented in the future.

Pahl says as of yet it's a little too early to implement policies in response to the methyl hydrate incident, but he stresses that "you can only help people who are willing to help themselves, so the first step has to be the individual, or in the case of Peerless Lake, the community."

The community had taken steps to implement a substance abuse program, but as Pahl points out, "unfortunately it was too late for the people involved in this tragedy."

Pahl says the government's role is to assist those in the community, and the responsibility lies with the community to ask the government for assistance. He doesn't feel the deaths are the governments fault.

Pahl feels the incident doesn't reflect badly on the province because the governmental agencies involved responded quickly to the tragedy.

"I don't think anybody across the country realistically expected or would say this couldn't happen in our province or our city, or in our neighborhood," he adds.

Pahl stresses that alcohol and drug abuse just isn't a Native problem. However, he does admit that the Native community is hit harder by substance abuse. He says the Native people of Alberta and Canada aren't participating to the same extent in the benefits of our mainstream society. They have the highest incident of alcohol and drug abuse and unemployment, and low levels of education.

In response to substance abuse, Pahl says, the province has set up alcohol and drug abuse centres that focus on the culture and spirituality of the Native people such as the Nechi-Poundmaker Lodge, the Bonnyville Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Centre, and the halfway house on the Peigan Reserve.

"We are in co-operation with the Native people trying to design treatments, trying to respond to their needs in a way that is sensitive to their cultural requirements," Pahl says.

Pahl explains that, in comparison to the rest of Canada, Alberta is a leader. He cites the establishment of a Native affairs ministry in 1975, and adds that "there are governments across the country who are following our lead, but we were the leaders. We do more than any other government. The debate of whether we're doing enough or doing it right is always there, and I welcome those suggestions."

Pahl doesn't equate resource development and the cultural upheaval that follows as the cause of substance abuse. However, he admits lack of employment may be part of the problem.

"Yeah, if people have nothing to do...there probably is a correlation, but I don't think it's necessarily unique because we have the problems across all levels of society, so to simply blame it on one element just isn't realistic and I don't think it's accurate."

Pahl won't look into the cause of high unemployment in small communities because, as he puts it, "I don't think it's such a great mystery; in isolated areas there are limited job opportunities."

He says young people are faced with a choice. If they choose to stay in their own community, there's little for them to do. If they choose to move to a city, they may need educational upgrading or skills training and again they're at a disadvantage. "It's a complex cycle and there's no quick or easy answers to it," he concludes.

Pahl says he feels the cause of the Peerless Lake tragedy isn't a simple matter and depends on the individuals involved. He doesn't think there's a simple answer as to why it happened. However, he admits, when there's nothing else to do, people seek other diversions, "and this diversion happened to be a very, very, dangerous and deadly one," he adds.

In terms of solutions, Pahl says once the circumstances of the deaths are investigated, new solutions and directions might come out. In the meantime, he says if anyone has any new approahes or alternatives he'll be pleased to hear them. It's not a problem that has instant solutions, he says, but this tragedy will bring the situation to more people's attention.

Pahl says the deaths won't speed up government action in this area because Peerless Lake already had programs in place to deal with alcohol and drug abuse.

He admits the incident might speed up requests for help from other communities, thus speeding up government reaction to the requests.

Members of the Peerless Lake Community Association were in Edmonton recently and talked with him. He says they didn't have any questions for him at that time. Pahl says the secretariat is open to other communities who want to talk about drug and alcohol abuse. The delivery of services such as AADAC across the province and the country isn't evenly spread. This is one price of isolation, Pahl said.

Pahl has called for an investigation which will result in him being fully briefed. A judicial inquiry must be called by other governmental agencies such as the RCMP through the Solicitor General's Department.

(Jan Markley can be heard weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on "The Native Perspective" on CBC-TV.)