On December 19, 2022 the Minister of Finance, at the request of the Council for the Community Government of Behchokö, ordered that within the boundaries of the community of Behchokǫ̀ is declared to be a prohibited area for the period commencing at 12:01 am on December 23, 2022 and ending at 11:59 pm on January 1, 2023. This Order prohibited any person from consuming, purchasing, selling, or transporting liquor within the community of Behchokö.

The Council for the Community Government of Behchokö requested this Order due to “significant increase in alcohol abuse and related unlawful activity.” Note a similar ban occurred in July-August 2021 and in 2019. Those bans follow a 2016 community plebiscite that lifted a seven-year ban.

The Northwest Territories Liquor & Cannabis Commission (NTLCC) is a division of the Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Finance. THe NTLCC is responsible for the purchase, sale, classification and distribution of liquor and cannabis in the Northwest Territories. 

Behchokǫ̀, is a community in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Behchokǫ̀ is located on the Yellowknife Highway, on the northwest tip of Great Slave Lake, approximately 110 km northwest of Yellowknife with an estimated population of approximately 1,874 (in 2016). 

*Source: Community of Behchokǫ̀, NWT R-091-2022 December 19, 2022.