Cambridge Bay bans alcohol imports to encourage physical distancing

A ban on importing alcohol to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, takes effect Wednesday night and continues for 14 days.

The motion enacting the ban was approved by the town council on March 23 in an effort to encourage self-isolation and reduce the number of police calls to crowded homes, according to a letter from Mayor Pamela Gross posted on her Facebook page.

"Most residences in Cambridge Bay are occupied by numerous occupants," it reads. "With the current Nunavut Emergency Management measures in place ... the daily number of people in each residence at any given time has increased significantly."

The letter says "recently, 98 per cent of the calls for police assistance are to residences where the underlying factor is alcohol."

Gross says the usual remedy is to arrest and detain the intoxicated individuals "temporary measures which do not resolve the underlying factors."

Cambridge Bay has no liquor store but, unlike a number of other Nunavut communities, it also normally has no restrictions on importing alcohol. Residents can normally order alcoholic products from warehouses in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.

The ban on alcohol imports comes into effect March31 at 11:59 p.m. and continues for 14 days the maximum duration allowed under the territory's Liquor Act.