Community Protection By-Law

Plain Language Summary of the Drug Dealing Bylaw

1. The bylaw gives Chief and Council the authority to issue “Community Protection Orders.”  A Community Protection Order is an order issued by Band Council Resolution to protect the Moose Cree First Nation (MCFN) community from the harms caused by drug dealing.

2. Community Protection Orders allow Chief and Council to do what they need to do to protect the MCFN community.  Among other things, they allow Chief and Council to stop a drug dealer from coming onto the Moose Factory Island reserve, remove a drug dealer from housing on reserve, or banish a drug dealer from the reserve entirely.

3. To make a Community Protection Order, Chief and Council must have at least as much evidence as police need to lay charges.  This standard is called “reasonable and probable grounds” and it requires real evidence rather than just suspicion.  A Community Protection Order is an act of Chief and Council that does not depend on whether police have actually chosen to lay charges or whether there has been a criminal conviction, although those are factors that Chief and Council may consider.

4. Chief and Council may consider any credible information before making a Community Protection Order.  In particular, they may consider any risk of harm to the MCFN community or community members and whether there are ways other than banishment that they could prevent that harm.  Chief and Council may also consider the effects of a Community Protection Order on the person who would be subject to the order, as well as neighbours, family members, and other residents or community members.

5. Chief and Council must give any person who could be subject to a Community Protection Order a chance to respond and tell his or her side of the story before making the order.

6. A Community Protection Order can last for up to one year.  After making the order, Chief and Council may later extend it for any length of time but only after giving the person who is subject to the order another chance to respond and explain anything that may have changed since the order was made.  Chief and Council must also consult with any residents and community members who may be affected by the order before extending a Community Protection Order.

7. A person who is subject to a Community Protection Order may write to Chief and Council to ask for reconsideration any time after the order is issued.  If Chief and Council extend the order for longer than one year, a person subject to a Community Protection Order may ask for reconsideration again up to one time per year.  Chief and Council have up to 60 days to consider any reconsideration request.  During that time, they must consult with any affected residents and community members.  Chief and Council must then decide either to withdraw the Community Protection Order, to leave it as it is, or to change it.

8. Any MCFN member or non-member who violates the terms of a Community Protection Order will be considered a trespasser on the Moose Factory Island reserve and may be removed from the reserve by police.  Violators may be fined up to $1,000, put in jail for up to 30 days, both fined and put in jail, or charged with other criminal or provincial offences.