Wiikwemkoong’s new drug strategy sparks debate on safety, healing and community

By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor WIIKWEMKOONG—The sound that echoed through Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory last week was more than gunfire. It was the sound of a community reaching a breaking point. Following a recent shooting and amid what leadership described as escalating drug-related violence, Ogimaa Tim Ominika announced a sweeping new approach aimed at people involved in serious drug trafficking, weapons offences, intimidation and violence within the community—one that includes the conditional removal of offenders from Wiikwemkoong …