A group of elders in Aklavik, N.W.T., are speaking out against bootleggers, asking the hamlet council to restrict the import and possession of alcohol in the Arctic community.

The six elders, represented by Annie B. Gordon, say a new bylaw could stop bootleggers who are allegedly selling alcohol to people, even underaged youth.

The hamlet council has formed a committee to examine the idea of holding a plebiscite on alcohol restrictions.

Gordon told CBC News she's dismayed that another local elder, 67-year-old Peter Arey, was charged with bootlegging this month, after RCMP seized 23 bottles of hard liquor he was allegedly transporting by boat from Inuvik to Aklavik.

"The bootleggers are getting away with too much. They're not thinking of how they're hurting people," Gordon said in an interview.

"They're also selling to underaged [people] and anyone they can get money off. They're not thinking about how much money they're taking away from families that need it."

According to Aklavik's crime prevention committee, about 90 per cent of all RCMP calls for service, and one in five medical emergencies in the community, are related to alcohol.

"Our young people are our future leaders, and then you see these young people taking part [in] these activities here where it's affecting them," said committee member Sheila Greenland, a teacher at Moose Kerr School.

"With the restriction, it would obviously stop the sales of bootleggers profiting," she added.

Aklavik RCMP Cpl. Ben Parry told CBC News that the weekend after RCMP seized a load of liquor coming in by boat, neither the local RCMP detachment nor the health centre received any alcohol-related calls.

But soon after more alcohol was brought into the community, calls resumed for offences ranging from public drunkenness to domestic violence.

Gordon said she would like bootleggers to get harsher punishments for their crimes.

"Put them out on the land somewhere, all by themselves," she said. "Let them think of what they're doing to other people's lives."