In a novel attempt to combat ongoing gang violence in Alberta’s notorious Hobbema First Nations Reserve, band leaders are proposing a bylaw that would allow them to evict career criminals and remove their band entitlements.
“If they can’t respect themselves, respect the community, we, in turn, will show no respect,” Samson Cree Councillor Kirk Buffalo said at a news conference in the community.
The proposal stemmed from a meeting between Samson Cree band councillors and the RCMP after the Sept. 5 shooting death of 23-year-old Chelsea Yellowbird in Hobbema.
Yellowbird’s 5-year-old nephew and neighbour, Ethan Yellowbird, the Samson Cree chief’s grandson, was also killed in a drive-by shooting in July, sparking desperate calls from the community to stop the violence.
More streetlights are to be installed in Hobbema, and abandoned buildings and shrubbery, where gang members are known to frequent and hide weapons, are being removed.
“We will get rid of the undesirables, the people who are responsible for a lot of this activity,” said Buffalo.
Those convicted of gang-related crimes like drug or weapons trafficking, violence, and other serious offences will be targeted in the bylaw.
Entitlements such as social assistance will be revoked and the accused will have to show proof of reform before being allowed back into the community.
Community members will be voting on the bylaw in a few weeks, and if passed it will be sent to Ottawa and put into effect soon after.
Oil Royalty Cheques to Youth
Located 90 kilometres south of Edmonton, Hobbema is home to four First Nations: Samson Cree, Ermineskin, Montana, and Louis Bull Tribe. The reserve has the highest concentration of gang involvement and murders per capita in Canada.
Hobbema came into wealth when oil was found in the region and royalty checks were given to residents when they turned 18. The flow of money to the youth attracted gangs and drugs, and Hobbema has been struggling ever since.
At least 13 gangs are known to battle each other for power over the drug trade in the community.
In 2008, the reserve made headlines when toddler Asia Saddleback was hit in the chest in a drive-by shooting as she was eating dinner in her home. She survived, but will forever have a bullet lodged in her spine.
The shooter, 20-year-old Christopher Crane who was sentenced to five years in prison, admitted he shot at the house because he thought rival gang members were inside.
Crane also admitted to being drunk and high on drugs almost every day for a month before the shooting, after he had received a $40,000 royalty cheque from the Samson Cree First Nation when he turned 18.
Michael Chettleburgh, a noted Canadian authority on street gangs, blames the violence in Hobbema on forced colonization, fallout from residential schools, unemployment, and the government policies of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, which passed the decision to give out oil royalty cheques to youth.
