Neither the new Whitehorse Correctional Centre nor the hospital are the proper destinations for intoxicated people, a public forum heard Wednesday evening.

Rather, harm reduction is the key to treating acutely intoxicated persons, says a report released by Dr. Bruce Beaton and Chief James Allen of the Champagne-Aishihik First Nation.

"People are in these circumstances, almost invariably, when they become unable to take care of themselves,” Beaton told the forum.

"The way we deal with acutely intoxicated individuals here in the Yukon is no longer appropriate.”

The event, organized by the Yukon NDP, was held at the Centre de la Francophonie on Strickland Street.

Community members spoke out passionately in support of the report, which was released last January. Many expressed disbelief that Beaton's and Allen's recommendations haven't yet been put into effect by the government.

The two were originally asked to form a task force after the 2008 death of Raymond Silverfox, who died in police custody. The pair detailed 12 recommendations on how to deal with intoxicated individuals.

As part of their research, Beaton and Allen visited Vancouver, Winnipeg and Ottawa.

"The world we recommend for Whitehorse is the world we saw in Winnipeg,” said Beaton.

The Manitoba capital has a detoxification centre and a shelter funded by the city and the province, he said. Care workers intervene on the "street level” when alcoholics need assistance.

"Most of the people brought to the sobering centre are not brought there by cops,” said Beaton. "People are getting the support and the treatment they need. That's what we want to see in the Yukon.”

Allen and Beaton said the current emphasis on policing alcoholics is not working, and ignores the intrinsic human rights of the struggling individual. Allen said we need to learn how to be more compassionate as a society.

"I've been through it,” said Allen. "I've woken up in the streets. I drank riverbank wine. I have firsthand experience and I see the suffering every day.”

Allen said alcoholics need to be treated with dignity.

"The main thing is, we need to start treating people with alcohol and drug problems with human respect. They had a mother, a father. They grew up in a family. We need to treat them like human beings,” he said.

Allen repeatedly emphasized healing as an integral part of dealing with acutely intoxicated persons.

"If society is serious about looking at change, we need to let the government know we are serious about helping people heal,” he said.

Judy Lightening is a Whitehorse resident who works at the Salvation Army.

"We're like a big family,” she told the crowd, speaking about the marginalized residents she works with.

She said she personally knows at least 20 people who have died from alcohol abuse, and deals with acutely intoxicated individuals every day.

"If they can crawl in, they can come in,” she said. "If someone's in trouble, someone comes and tells me.”

However, her facility only has 10 beds, though they regularly provide more than 20 people with shelter.

"I feel like a frayed little piece of string,” she said. "It seems like there's no support, really.”

Beaton said 10 shelter beds for the entire territory are not nearly enough.

Agnes Mills, another concerned citizen, thanked the approximately 60 peoplewho attended the event.

She said she was heartened by the turnout because she feels the plight of acutely intoxicated Yukoners has been largely ignored by the government and by society as a whole.

"These are our children,” she said. "We need action. We need to put our heads together and do something.”

Mills noted that much of the alcohol abuse in the territory is due to the emotional and physical abuse many endured at residential schools.

Whitehorse resident Deb Edzerza agreed. She pointed out that the government has continued to marginalize and displace many residential school survivors who are now homeless.

Edzerza said lodgings have been moved away from the riverbank. The RCMP regularly confiscate tents and shelters of people trying to camp in the area around Shipyards Park, she added.

"Where do people go when their houses have been moved?” she asked.

Edzerza expressed hope that the government would invest money in shelter for these struggling individuals.

"Our government has displaced these people,” said Allen. "The dollars spent on beautifying projects for tourists should be the same money put into facilities that could start people on their healing path.”

Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell was in attendance, and voiced his support for Beaton's and Allen's report.

"As long as the government continues to look at this as a justice problem, we'll be warehousing people but not helping them,” he said.

Mitchell derided the detoxification centre being built at the new $70-million Whitehorse Correctional Centre as a "more modern drunk tank.”

"When my children come home from a bush party inebriated, the last place I would take them is the Whitehorse Correctional Centre,” he said.

Many in the audience echoed Mitchell's sentiment, repeatedly emphasizing that prison is the wrong place for intoxicated persons to be treated.

"We do not want people in prison,” said Mills.

NDP Leader Liz Hanson said the government's response to Beaton's and Allen's report has been minimal.

She hypothesized they're waiting until the election is closer to announce their plans.

"The decision to eliminate the RCMP drunk tank and replacing it with a secure assessment centre at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre actually runs counter to what Dr. Beaton and Chief Allen recommended,” she said.

However, Whitehorse General Hospital's emergency department is not the place to send them either, said Beaton and Allen. The first recommendation they put forward addresses the overcrowded hospital.

The report recommends that the government "alleviate the staffing and physical resource crisis in the emergency department of the Whitehorse General Hospital.”

"This is not a hospital problem,” said Beaton, who has worked in the department. "The emergency department is acutely overloaded. It's reached a crisis point over there.”

One resident suggested that members of the community start a protest outside the jail, and was met with applause.

Beaton also noted the current Yukon Liquor Act needs to be updated.

The language is outdated, he said. Under the current act, an intoxicated person can be released from custody once he or she is no longer a "nuisance.”

"That is completely inappropriate,” he said.

Beaton told the crowd all civilizations throughout the world will inevitably use intoxicants. So, rather than trying to fight the use of alcohol and drugs, he argued, society

needs to focus on helping those struggling with addiction.

"We need to learn about how to better deal with the issues brought on by the use and abuse of intoxicants,” he said.