'Years of history': Who is the former drug dealer banished from Haida Gwaii?

Scared neighbours. An atmosphere of "fear, mistrust and continual disruption." People "upset and anxious and worried in their own homes."

As she listed Frank Young's impacts on her small Haida Gwaii community, a Skidegate band councillor told a B.C. provincial court judge in 2020 that the First Nation wouldn't rule out banishment if the system couldn't protect residents from the harms caused by his drug dealing.

Michelle McDonald gave a community statement on behalf of the Skidegate Band Council at Young's sentencing in November 2020 for a drug-related offence.

"Elders, youth and families are fearful of the accused and the type of people that are at the home. They fear retaliation when they speak out. They do not want contact with offender," McDonald told provincial court judge David Patterson.

"They fear for young people who visit, that they will be exploited or preyed upon in the context of drug use or trading favours for drugs. The community doesn't see that there is a consequence for the behaviour ... that continually happen[s], and mistrust that the justice system will protect them."

Young was sentenced to a year in jail and two years of probation in 2021 after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Roberta Young — his wife at the time — was also convicted of the same charge, drawing six months in jail and two years' probation.

The couple — along with other family members — are now among eight people banished from Haida Gwaii, sparking reactions across northern B.C. from communities trying to rid themselves from the corrosive impact of toxic drugs.

The banishment was initiated after Frank Young's 32-year-old son Tyson was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Luke Pearson, who was killed last week in what RCMP have described as a targeted hit and run.

The case has ignited a conversation about the thin line between righteous indignation from frustrated citizens and vigilantism.

As social media tracked the Young family's outcast journey from town to town Thursday, Haida leadership urged people to get off their devices and stay calm, while RCMP warned against behaviour that bordered on criminal harassment. 

According to provincial court documents, Frank and Roberta Young had possession of two neighbouring houses in Skidegate in 2021. They lived in one with their daughter, while one of their sons lived in the other. 

Patterson said Tyson Young was on the couch in his dad's home when Frank Young was arrested in February 2019, after police got a search warrant based on surveillance that showed a steady stream of "comings and goings that were consistent with drug buying customers."

"At some point during or after the arrest of Mr. Young, he pointed at his son and said 'this is nothing to do with him,'" the judge said.

The raid turned up cocaine, pills, cannabis, a scale and "hundreds of empty small plastic baggies, what are commonly referred to in the drug vernacular as 'dime baggies,'" Patterson said.