GN’s deputy minister of justice resigns

Nunavut’s deputy minister of justice, Janet Slaughter, has resigned, a Dec. 19 Government of Nunavut news release said.

Slaughter, a University of Ottawa-trained lawyer who also holds degrees in arts and education, has served as Nunavut deputy minister of justice since July 2010, after working for several years as a family lawyer with the Nunavut Legal Services Board.

“I greatly appreciate Janet’s hard work and for the insight and expertise she provided as a member of the senior public service,” said justice minister Daniel Shewchuk in the GN release.

Slaughter made news most recently in June 2011, when she filed four allegations about South Baffin MLA Fred Schell’s business dealings.

Then Nunavut’s Intergrity Commissioner, Norman Pickell, responded to them as part of his October report to the GN.

Pickell found Schell, who now serves as human resources minister, violated the Nunavut Integrity Act in June 2009, when he tried to influence a GN civil servant, in an email, to make a decision that would have benefitted Polar Supplies Ltd. — a Cape Dorset firm that Schell owns entirely.

MLAs later voted to reject Pickell’s report, citing parliamentary free speech, instead forcing their colleague to pay a $1,000 fine.

Jan. 6, 2012 marks Slaughter’s last day of work with the GN.

Assistant deputy minister Norman Tarnow will act as deputy minister until Slaughter’s successor is appointed.