These First Nations in northern Ontario have hired security to deal with drug traffickers

Those are the words John O’Nabigon shared over the weekend after losing another young community member to a drug overdose.

The chief of Long Lake #58 First Nation, located about 300 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario, is taking action following the third drug-related death of a young person this year.

“T his loss is tragic and is another painful reminder of the ongoing drug crisis affecting our community,” he wrote in a statement to his community.

Frustrated by perceived inaction at various levels of government, O’Nabigon said he has now hired an Indigenous-run security company to run checkpoints in the community.

That comes after Long Lake #58 declared a state of emergency in January over “drug traffickers who are supplying to vulnerable members in our community.”

This spring, the community declared an additional joint state of emergency alongside neighbouring Ginoogaming First Nation over the same issue. The communities are closely connected, with their members sharing many familial ties.

“These types of losses that we've been having in our communities, especially our young people, we should not be losing them at such a rapid [rate],” Ginoogaming’s Chief Sheri Taylor told CBC News on Thursday.

Ginoogaming first declared a state of emergency in May 2024 “due to an increase in violence and drug and alcohol-related crime in the community, which has overwhelmed leadership and is causing community members to fear for their safety.”

Despite numerous emergency declarations being made, Taylor says provincial, federal and policing partners have failed to address the communities’ concerns.

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Pair of First Nations in northwestern Ontario declare joint state of emergency over drug trafficking

“I find government tends to think that a state of emergency or an emergency is temporary,” Taylor said. “Some funding that might be available to address maybe an immediate need is not what I call taking us away or out of a crisis.”

Just over 560 people live in Long Lake #58, which is served by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), while more than 200 people live in Ginoogaming, where the Anishinabek Police Service (APS) oversees policing.

Both communities are part of the Thunder Bay district, which continues to have the highest opioid-related death rate in Ontario — nearly five times the provincial average — according to numbers from the Office of the Chief Coroner released earlier this month.