The Innu Nation is concerned about what it calls the failure of RCMP to curtail the sale of illicit drugs flowing through communities in Labrador.

Innu leadership is asking both federal and provincial justice ministers to “act now,” and ensure that RCMP are accountable.

The Innu Nation says an influx of workers during construction of the Muskrat Falls project resulted in a spike in illicit drug activity, leading to an increase in the number of people addicted to cocaine and other drugs, and with Happy Valley-Goose Bay becoming the corridor through which drugs are flowing into Labrador.

Grand Chief Simon Pokue says “terrible damage” is occurring every day, and he accuses the RCMP of a “total lack of enforcement.”

The Innu Nation points to an increase in drug-related suicides and sudden deaths in Sheshatshiu and Natuashish.

Last weekend, senior Innu land claims negotiator and former Labrador MP Peter Penashue was arrested after allegedly beating out the windows of a vehicle amid concerns he has about drug activity in the community.

He told the Tim Powers Show on VOCM that the situation in Sheshatshiu is worsening.

“In the last two years we’ve had 22 people die from alcohol, and drug-related, and some of those are suicides,” he said. “We have a huge problem, and of course that spills over to everybody’s life, and in this community we have a lot of parents who are concerned — they’re concerned that nothing’s happening.”