EDMONTON, Alberta, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A tribe of Cree Indians in Canada's Alberta province has voted to allow eviction of reservation residents who are involved in gangs, drugs and violence.
Some 840 members of the Samson Cree Nation, a band in Hobbema, voted Wednesday night in favor of evicting repeat criminals from their reservation south of Edmonton, the Globe and Mail reported.
That was a low turnout for the 2,500 residents eligible to vote, but the tally came to 479 people in favor of evictions and 370 opposed.
Leaders called for the vote as a result of escalating gang violence in recent months. A 5-year-old boy asleep in his bed was killed by a stray bullet from a known gang house and there have been numerous other shootings, the report said.
The measure would require at least 25 reservation members to petition for someone's eviction, enforceable by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It would also allow for the eviction of anyone who hides or harbors an unwanted member, the report said.
The measure has to be approved by the federal Department of Indian Affairs.
The first and only other eviction measure from reservations was passed by the Mistawasis Indians in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in 2006.
