Nunavut man charged with manslaughter in Gjoa Haven

Following the fatal stabbing of a man in Gjoa Haven last week, a man, who police are not identifying, has been charged with manslaughter.
(FILE PHOTO)

A Gjoa Haven man faces a charge of manslaughter, following the stabbing death of another man in the community last week.

Nunavut RCMP’s “V” Division reported on Nov. 23 that the accused, who police did not identify, will appear at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit for a show cause hearing regarding the charge on Nov. 28.

A show cause hearing is held to determine whether an accused person should be held in custody while the court deals with their case. It’s sometimes called a bail hearing.

On Nov. 16, Gjoa Haven police responded to reports that a man with a stab wound was leaning on the front step of a residence.

Police rushed the man to the community’s health centre for treatment, but he died shortly afterward from his injuries.

Police had placed a man in custody in relation to the stabbing death before issuing a news release the following day, Nov. 17.

The RCMP “V” Division Major Crimes Unit and Nunavut’s Chief Coroner’s Office are investigating the attack.

The Nunavut Court of Justice has issued a ban preventing the information disclosed at the man’s show cause hearing from being published or broadcast.

The stabbing death is just the latest incident in a bloody year for the Kitikmeot hamlet of roughly 1,300 people.

Other incidents include a 24-year-old man charged with aggravated assaulted after he stabbed a man in May, a woman accused of fatally stabbing her partner, and two men who face assault charges after seriously injuring a pair of men in a brawl.

Last December, Charles Qirngnirq, described by the RCMP as being suicidal and armed with a rifle, was shot and killed by police outside the Gjoa Haven airport.

Gjoa Haven mayor Joanni Sallerina later wrote a letter to Nunavut MLAs bemoaning the community’s “substantial increase in both suicides and homicides which we feel are directly related to the absence of professional mental health support.”

That letter was tabled by Gjoa Haven MLA Tony Akoak in September, along with other letters from health staff and government officials calling for a mental health centre to be built in the community.