Small Yukon First Nation bans sex offender using its COVID emergency law

WHITEHORSE –

A First Nation of fewer than 300 people in Yukon’s north has used a law it created during the COVID-19 pandemic to bar a convicted sex offender from being sent to its community.

The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow issued a declaration under its Community Emergency Act banning Christopher Schafer from the fly-in community nearly 800 kilometres north of Whitehorse for at least the next 90 days.

Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm says Yukon’s territorial court decision to allow Schafer to live in Old Crow was made without consulting the First Nation, which has limited supports available with only two RCMP officers and no clinical health staff.

For now, Schafer remains in a Whitehorse jail and will appear in front of a judge Wednesday to continue discussions regarding his future.

Tizya-Tramm says the situation is an example of a systemic issue where people are sent from jail to small communities without a proper reintegration plan and he wants an apology and a public inquiry into what happened.

The chief says the community has previously attempted to reintegrate Schafer into Old Crow and it would be willing to come up with a plan, but it needs more time and support.