After weekend shooting, drug arrests, Wiikwemkoong to ban offenders for 2 years

Recent weapon and drug cases in Wiikwemkoong prompted an emergency council meeting, Chief Tim Ominika said May 4, that led to the decision to ban offenders from the community for at least two years. (Photo from video)

Recent weapon and drug cases in Wiikwemkoong prompted an emergency council meeting, Chief Tim Ominika said May 4, that led to the decision to ban offenders from the community for at least two years.

The decision follows a spike in drug and violent crime in recent years in the Manitoulin Island community, Ominika said in a decision broadcast on Facebook.

A serious shooting and major drug bust on the weekend were the last straws.

“Yesterday, chief and council met in response to the recent shooting and the ongoing drug-related harm affecting Wiikwemkoong,” he said.

“I want to speak plainly to our community and everybody who is watching today. As you all are aware, there was a shooting in our community. We cannot treat that as normal. We cannot separate it from drugs, the weapons, the dealers, the intimidation and the fear that many of our families have been carrying.”

Councillors voted to ban anyone in the community involved with violent crime or drugs, Ominika said.

“People -- community members, anyone involved in serious drug trafficking, weapons of violence, intimidation, exploitation or harbouring dealers -- will be removed from Wiikwemkoong and prevented from returning to our community, unless they meet strict conditions,” he said.

“This can apply to repeat offenders and, where the conduct is serious enough, that can apply to also first-time offenders. Because one shooting can change a family forever. One dealer can poison many lives. One house used for drugs can terrorize a whole neighborhood. The community should not have to wait for someone to offend before Wiikwemkoong acts.”

In February, Police Chief Ron Gignac reported that the number of people charged with offences in the community had risen by 40 per cent from 2024 to 2025.

Charges for drug offences increased by 309 per cent once a community drug strategy was put in place, with many offenders coming from southern Ontario.

Monitoring offenders

On Monday, Gignac said police fully support the decision by the tribal council to ban offenders. He said police are already working to monitor people in the area who have been released from jail through the offender management apprehension program.

“We have our officers out on patrol, we have our detectives and we’ll go pay visits to make sure that those individuals who are released by our judicial system, by our courts, after we have charged them with offences, are abiding by those judicial conditions,” he said.

“Anybody that has been convicted -- or charged, in some cases -- with firearms offences and have been released from custody, we are now on that onboard system. So we receive all of the provincial notifications, serious offenders -- offenders involved in firearms offences.”

Ominika said anyone banned from the community will have to meet strict conditions to be allowed to return.

“For serious drug, weapons, violence, intimidation or exploitation-related conduct, the path will require a minimum two-year period of removal from our community before returning,” he said.

“Two years to get treatment, two years to prove change, two years to be drug-free, two years to rebuild trust, two years to show accountability, training, employment, community service, and a real plan to live differently.”

The goal isn’t to punish people struggling with addiction, he added. There are programs available for people who want help.

“Addiction is real and families are carrying pain that many people never see,” Ominika said.

“But compassion cannot mean permission. We cannot allow drugs, weapons, intimidation and fear to keep harming our children, our elders, our families, and our future. Wiikwemkoong is unceded. Our land and homes are not here to support drug trafficking.”

“We’re not punishing you because you’re sick … we’re trying to get you the help that you need,” Gignac added.

“But like many things, dishes in the sink don’t get done by themselves. Sometimes they need help to get done. It takes people intervening and interdicting.”