The Innu Nation is expressing concern about what it calls the failure of the RCMP to slow the sale of illicit drugs in the communities in the region.

Leaders say that when construction began on Muskrat Falls, the Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay saw an influx of workers for the project, and since that time has become rife with the sale of illicit drugs.

There have been a number of drug-related suicides and sudden deaths in both Sheshatshiu and Natuashish. In Happy Valley-Goose Bay there have been mysterious deaths and disappearances which the Innu Nation suspects are drug-related.

“We see every day the terrible damage that the combination of drugs and the total lack of enforcement by the police is having on our communities,” said Grand Chief Simon Pokue.