Iqalungmiut weigh in on proposed Nunavut proceeds-of-crime law

GN justice department lawyer Stephen Shaddock, left, talks to Iqaluit residents during Dec. 2 public consultations on a proposed territorial civil forfeiture act which would allow the government to seize assets gained from criminal activity. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)

What to do with assets confiscated by a new Government of Nunavut Forfeiture Office — that’s what the GN hopes to learn through community consultations undertaken by the Department of Justice.

Under the proposed framework, the forfeiture office would appropriate funds and property earned through the multi-million-dollar illegal bootlegging and drug trafficking industry in Nunavut.

“One of the things that we’re looking at is how people are saying they want the funds to be used,” said justice department lawyer Stephen Shaddock during Dec. 2 consultations at the Anglican Parish Hall in Iqaluit.

“We’ve made the proposal that it [profits] go to the Victims Assistance Fund. We’ve heard a lot of other ideas about donating to hunting and trapping organizations, or elders… we’ve actually got a lot of great ideas on that.”

Currently dubbed the Illegal Property Forfeiture Act, the proposed law wants to lower the burden of proof required in criminal cases to allow for easier confiscation of illegally-gained assets.

Civil forfeiture would allow the GN to seize these assets through a more easily-obtained civil court order.

“The goal of civil forfeit is to make it so crime does not pay,” Shaddock said on the deterrent aspect of the proposed law.

The forfeiture office, a separate entity within the GN, would have its own operations budget.

But any earnings seized — over and above the office’s budgeted expenses —  would, as currently proposed, be donated to Nunavut’s Victims Assistance Fund.

At the Dec. 2 Iqaluit consultations, which drew about 20 people, a participant asked how the new law would affect minors who are used, for example, as intermediaries for organized crime.

“We have, during our consultations, heard stories, anecdotally, of children being used to carry out some of these crimes, such as dealing the drugs or taking the money, for instance,” said Shaddock.

“A law like civil forfeiture would make it easier to target the money going to the adults… In that way it could address some of the issues we’ve having of people using children as a front potentially for committing crimes.”

Some in Iqaluit also raised concerns about retaliation, especially in smaller communities, where residents could call in tips to the forfeiture office on a proposed anonymous tip line.

“We have heard that in other communities as well,” Shaddock said. “In civil forfeiture you don’t need as much evidence, but still, we need to look into how we can support witnesses to come forward when its necessary to make these cases.”

According to recent statistics from the Nunavut Liquor Commission Task Force, illegal bootlegging is a $10-million industry in the territory.

Eight of Canada’s 10 provinces already have civil forfeiture legislation to deal with the assets gained from criminal activity.

But the Department of Justice wants a made-in-Nunavut law.

For example, most southern provinces have “administrative forfeiture” laws that allow property to be confiscated without a court order.

However, Nunavut’s proposed framework would not include those laws, and all Nunavummiut would have a right to be heard in court before their property would be forfeited.

The communities consulted for the proposed forfeiture law included Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay, Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet, Pangnirtung and Pond Inlet.

Pond Inlet remains the only community to be visited during this round of consultations.

The information from the consultation presentation will be uploaded on to the Department of Justice’s webpage for additional online feedback, which, along with the consultations, will be used to draft the forfeiture law.

“The minister [Paul Okalik] has committed to introducing a bill in the spring session [of Nunavut’s Legislative Assembly],” said Shaddock.

The spring sitting is scheduled to begin June 1.