Nunavut promises better security at Iqaluit courtrooms

The Nunavut Court of Justice courtroom will be supplied with better security April 2 when the preliminary hearing in the manslaughter charges against Colin Makpah of Rankin Inlet is set to continue.

The preliminary hearing was adjourned on March 26 and again on March 28 because the presiding judges said there was a lack of security.

In a statement issued late March 28 Norman Tarnow, Nunavut’s acting deputy minister of justice, Norman Tarnow, said “we anticipate that we will have an adequate opportunity to arrange for the requested security.”

That includes searches of all people entering the courtroom as well as the presence of two armed guards.

Tarrow said the Department of Justice “always takes the security of our courtrooms into consideration when any trial is occurring and works to provide a balance between access and security.”

“In most trials involving serious crimes, the defendant is in police custody and is escorted and guarded by at least one police officer,” he said.

But Makpah, who is free on bail, does not have a police escort.

Despite that, the justice department increased its security with additional sheriffs in and outside the courtroom for the hearing on March 27.

“However, this was not deemed to be adequate,” Tarnow said, referring to Justice Andrew Mahar’s call for two armed and trained guards in the courtroom.

Tarrow said the Government of Nunavut recently began the process of amending legislation that will give authority to search individuals entering the courthouse.

“Completion of this is expected within the coming months,” he said.

As sheriffs currently have the role of providing courthouse security — and not the RCMP, he said, agreeing with an RCMP statement issued earlier on March 28 — the Department of Justice is responsible for providing administrative support to the court.

It’s taking steps to help the sheriffs get the up-to-date training and re-certification required to provide them with the necessary security equipment, he said.

“We expect that this training, along with the amended legislation giving authority to conduct searches of those entering the courthouse, will address some of the concerns that have been raised,” Tarrow said, noting that the GN “wishes to have all sensitive criminal matters dealt with in a prompt and safe manner which respects the privacy and dignity of all concerned.”