AADAC (Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission) recently released its seventh Alberta profile, a report on social and health indicators of addiction. Mona Johnson is an AADAC counsellor for the Slave Lake office. She spoke with The Leader to discuss what the report means for this area.
At first blush, the report seems to paint Slave Lake in a very bad light. We top the list (read: have the most instances) for categories such as rate of impaired driving and refusal to provide breath samples, disturbing the peace and sexual, non-sexual assault, and we rank near the top for fatality collisions involving impaired drivers and litres of alcohol consumed.
Johnson is quick to say the report is purely a statistical analysis and should not be used as the only gauge for Slave Lake behaviour.
“One thing I want to point out is that this report is not based on Slave Lake alone,” Johnson says. “The information is compiled in two categories – the area the Slave Lake AADAC office would serve and the area the RHA (Regional Health Authority) serves. Looking at the RHA, that’s information from as far away as Jasper or Cold Lake. This office serves Slave Lake, Kinuso, Chip Lake, Trout Lake, Peerless Lake, Loon Lake, Red Earth, and Wabasca. It’s a big area and it’s good to remember that when we consider these statistics.”
There are 28 AADAC offices throughout the province. Edmonton’s office is much busier than Slave Lake’s but the numbers were crunched on a per capita basis. Per 1,000 people, this is the third busiest office in Alberta.
Johnson says that’s not surprising. Working in Alberta’s north can have a detrimental effect on an individual’s equilibrium.
“People work hard and play hard, sometimes too hard. That’s traditional around here in terms of people we see. You work for days, weeks, or months at a time and then, suddenly, you have time off. It could be a day or two, but there’s not a lot continuity that people seem to need. Shift work is also very hard on some people as well. How do you join a local slow-pitch team, or get involved when there’s no pattern in your life? They have to be more creative than simply turning to alcohol and drugs.”
That doesn’t mean that every oil patch worker is addicted to booze, drugs, or gambling. The high numbers this report attributes to Slave Lake can actually be misleading.
Without explaining those numbers, it’s impossible to know if this area simply has a higher percentage of people lodging complaints and seeking help.
“There’s no way of knowing if it’s because the number is (actually) higher or the number of reports are higher. It’s the same with the impaired driving charges and failing to provide breath samples. Slave Lake sits at number one there but is it more prevalent in Slave Lake or are those number coming from Wabasca, Trout Lake, or Red Earth?”
Rather than a hard indicator of the well being of Slave Lake, Johnson will use the report to help her attack areas of concern. Slave Lake the town may not really have the highest number of sexual assaults but this region does have a problem.
“It’s prepared to help communities target and focus on area of concern. Kind of like a red light on where to focus your efforts.”

Copyright © 2000 The Lakeside Leader. All Rights Reserved.
No part may be reproduced without written permission.

View our Privacy Statement.
Send website suggestions to the Webmaster