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At about 2 p.m. Friday, November 17th, a house was demolished as part of Dakota Tipi First Nation's war against drugs. Justice Coordinator Braden Pashe says the chief and council have every right to enter the home with its First Nation Security Officers, seeing as such homes are band-owned.
"The occupant was given ample notices to leave the home," says Pashe. "Six notices. We invited every homeowner that's going to be evicted, because of the housing policies, to come tell their side of the story, because we believe this is a known drug house. You could see it; it's condemned. So, we invited him in and he came. And he said, 'I'll leave November 17th.' So we're here now to demand the eviction."
Pashe explains 90 per cent of the community will say that it's about time.
"The majority of the people from Portage will say it's about time, and that somebody is finally doing something about the war on drugs," continues Pashe. "We've got to make sure the house is completely vacated before we tear it down. We don't want to have anybody sleeping in there. He still has his stuff inside there. The chief has told him numerous times that he will give him accommodations if he needs it."
He adds they're not kicking him out of the community. Pashe says chief will also help him with a U-Haul in effort to do this in the best way possible.
"You can see why our chief and Council mean business," adds Pashe. "They want to get rid of the drugs on the reserve because we have a lot of people overdosing and a lot of people with addictions."
