Baker Lake MLA faces drunk driving charges

Baker Lake MLA Moses Aupaluktuq speaks in the Legislative Assembly during a special sitting on Nunavut’s tenth anniversary April 1, 2009. Aupaluktuq says he’ll contest two drunk driving charges filed against him after he was arrested in early November. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Baker Lake MLA Moses Aupaluktuq says he’ll fight a pair of drunk driving charges laid against him after he was allegedly found passed out behind the wheel last month.

Aupaluktuq faces charges of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.

The rookie MLA was charged after police found a man slumped behind the wheel of his car in Baker Lake Nov. 7.

“We woke [the man] up and he was intoxicated,” said Cpl. Kent McEachern of the Baker Lake RCMP. “He was co-operative the whole time” and agreed to a breathalyzer test.

McEachern said police got the call from a local bylaw officer who spotted a vehicle backed into a ditch.

Reading from a prepared statement Thursday, Aupaluktuq said he’s “extremely embarrassed” and apologized to his constituents and the people of Nunavut.

He said he feels he’s been targeted because he’s an Inuk politician, though he didn’t say who was targeting him.

“This is a classic case of using a sledgehammer to kill a fly,” he said.

He said his vehicle was stuck in the snow in front of his house. He got in the vehicle after leaving “a dispute” in haste without hat or mitts and heading to a relative’s house.

They weren’t home, and Aupaluktuq said he forgot his house key, locking himself out of his house, but not his car key. He said he got in his car to warm up and fell asleep.

He did not say whom the dispute was with or whether he had been drinking.

“I’d like the court process to go through in order to clear my name,” he said.

Aupaluktuq said he’s seeking legal representation for his first court appearance, which is scheduled for Feb. 9 in Baker Lake.