Alternatives North position
Alternatives North (AN) supports the intent of the SCAN Act and its impending passage into law in the NWT, and welcomes the improvements the committee made. Our support is qualified. Oversight, equity data, regional capacity, and service guarantees are still missing or left to regulations and recommendations. We hope the government will treat the Act as a work in progress, listen to what communities say as it is put into practice, and adjust its regulations and its practices based on that feedback.
Gerry Cheezie
Housing consultant and former Tthebatthie Denesųłiné Nation Chief, who assisted AN’s review of the proposed legislation
“The Dene, Metis and Inuvialuit MLAs delivered their communities a tool to take on drug dealers. Let’s make this the beginning of community-based policing in the North, with training and local job opportunities in a culturally rooted police force. Now is the time.”
What the committee improved
AN recognizes that the Standing Committee on Social Development improved the bill. The new provision for agreements with Indigenous governments, the regional breakdown in the annual report, the duty to consult Housing NWT, and the restored access to the courts are meaningful changes.
What is still missing
The Act still lacks the independent oversight, data on who is investigated and displaced, regional capacity, and service guarantees we believe fairness and effectiveness require. Several of the committee’s strongest recommendations are not binding. The success of this law will depend on regulations, staffing and funding that have not yet been set.
“The GNWT should treat the Act as a work in progress, not a finished product. We ask it to listen to what communities say once the law is in use, and to adjust the Act, its regulations and its practices as needed.”
Gerry Cheezie
What AN asks of the government
In particular, AN asks the government to:
- accept and act on the committee’s recommendations, and report publicly on what it has accepted;
- collect and publish data on who is affected, including by Indigenous identity, gender and housing status, so that communities and MLAs can judge the law by its results;
- work with Indigenous governments and community leaders, including on agreements under section 9.1, and respond to the concerns they raise;
- be ready to amend the Act, or pause enforcement, if it displaces people who have nowhere to go.
If SCAN makes neighbourhoods safer without making vulnerable people more vulnerable, it will have earned this support. Communities will tell the government whether it has. We hope the government is prepared to hear them.
ALTERNATIVES NORTH
Source material
The documents behind this statement.
- Bill 49 (SCAN Act) Policy Brief for Committee (PDF)
Alternatives North and Gerry Cheezie. Our submission to the Standing Committee on Social Development, proposing five amendments to the bill. - Plain Language Summary for Bill 49: Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act (PDF)
GNWT Department of Justice, tabled June 2, 2026. The government’s explanation of what the bill does. - NWT’s Scan, civil forfeiture laws pass third and final reading (PDF)
Cabin Radio, November 4, 2026. Coverage of the third-reading votes and MLA comments on Bill 49 and the civil forfeiture bill. - MLAs reviewing civil forfeiture law focus on its ability to reach back (PDF)
Cabin Radio, April 30, 2026. Coverage of the committee’s public briefing on Bill 45, the companion civil forfeiture bill. - “Safer in Our Homes”: A Review of the SCAN Act proposed by the GNWT (Word document)
VISION Consulting, January 2007. A submission to the GNWT’s earlier SCAN consultation.
From the Legislative Assembly
- Report on Bill 49 (PDF)
Standing Committee on Social Development, October 29, 2026. The committee’s motions and 34 recommendations. - Bill 49, reprint (PDF)
NWT Legislative Assembly, October 2026. The bill text after the committee’s amendments.