Nunavut sexual predator must pay $1.22 million to his victims

Ike Haulli of Igloolik, owner of Savik Enterprises Ltd. in 2016, when he served as president of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of that year’s Northern Lights trade show in Ottawa. Justice Earl Johnson has ruled, in a civil court judgment, that Haulli must pay $1.22 million in general, special and punitive damages to four people he sexually assaulted between 1968 and 1986. (FILE PHOTO)

Warning: Some readers may be disturbed by certain details in this story.

Ike Haulli, a highly respected business owner from Igloolik who until recently served as chair of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, has been exposed as an egregious sexual predator.

To resolve civil lawsuits launched by four people he sexually assaulted between 1968 and 1986, Haulli must pay damage awards totalling $1.22 million, Justice Earl Johnson ruled in a judgment released yesterday.

Two of the plaintiffs had filed statements of claim against Haulli in 2007, another filed a suit in 2014, and another sued him in 2015. Information that could identify the plaintiffs may not be broadcast or published.

One plaintiff, known only as R.N., was four years old when Haulli, then aged 19, anally raped her at his Igloolik home in September 1971. R..N. blacked out from the pain and received treatment for bleeding and other injuries at the local nursing station.

Another, R.Q., was nine when Haulli, at age 16, raped her in 1968.

His abuse of R.Q continued, with “multiple similar incidents at her grandmother’s house” until she was 15 or 16, and included a rape at the government office where he worked.

“On some occasions the defendant inserted his penis in her vagina and other times in her anus,” Johnson said in his judgment.

R.Q. and the other plaintiffs coped with hostility from other family members for bringing their stories to court.

“R.Q. did not tell her birth mother that she was going to court because she knew that she and other members of the family were mad at them for starting this litigation,” Johnson said.

Another plaintiff, B.A., was a boy of 10 when Haulli, then aged 28 or 29, forced B.A. to perform fellatio on him inside the furnace room of the Igloolik community hall and again at Haulli’s office in 1980 or 1981.

Haulli sexually assaulted plaintiff L.Q. in 1982 at the office where he worked as an employee of the Government of the Northwest Territories, and sexually assaulted her on four more occasions between 1982 and 1986, Johnson said in his judgment.

One sexual assault on L.Q. occurred at a hotel room in Iqaluit when L.Q. was in town for a medical appointment, another at a tent outside Igloolik, and another at Haulli’s store.

One of those cases, the sexual assaults on R.Q., did lead to a criminal conviction. On Sept. 23, 2008 Haulli pleaded guilty to one count of having sex with a person under the age of 14.

On the same date, he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a person known as E.K., who was not a claimant in any of the lawsuits that Johnson ruled on.

“The defendant had a sexual appetite for both male and female persons over a long time-span,” Johnson said, quoting a transcript from the criminal process.

For those criminal convictions, Haulli received a suspended sentence and 12 months of probation.

He had also faced criminal charges arising from his sexual abuse of B.A., but those led to an acquittal. Another sex charge concerning R.N. led to a stay of proceedings.

But that doesn’t protect Haulli—under civil law—from being held liable for damages caused by his sexual assaults of those two people.

“The standard of proof in criminal proceedings is much higher than it is in civil proceedings,” Johnson said.

“The failure of the Crown to meet that standard in the prosecution of the defendant for the sexual assaults on B.A. does not foreclose the complainant from attempting to meet the lower civil standard.”

So because these were civil and not criminal allegations, Johnson was able to make findings of fact based on that lower standard of proof: a balance of probabilities.

“In summary, I am satisfied on a balance of probabilities that the defendant sexually assaulted the plaintiffs as alleged in the statements of claim and is liable to them under tort law for the damages they suffered,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s ruling, published April 17, follows a trial held between Oct. 30, 2017 and Nov. 2, 2017 in Iqaluit, conducted mostly to calculate the damage awards that Haulli must pay.

At that hearing, Johnson received reports from clinical psychologist Dr. Gilles Boulais and psychiatrist Dr. Philip Klassen that said all the claimants suffered extensive, lifelong emotional damage.

The damage amounts, which include general and special damages awards for all four victims and punitive damage awards for three of them, are as follows:

• R.N. — general damages of $250,000, special damages of $50,000 and punitive damages of $50,000, for a total damage award of $350,000.

• L.Q. — general damages of $250,000, special damages of $70,000, and punitive damages of $50,000, for a total damage award of $370,000.

• B.A. — general damages of $150,000, special damages of $25,000 and punitive damages of $50,000, for a total damage award of $225,000.

• R.Q. — general damages of $250,00 and special damages of $25,000, for a total of $275,000.

“General” damages are intended to compensate victims for their suffering. “Special” damages are compensation for estimated lost income.

And “punitive” damages are imposed to send a message to others.

R.Q. did not get a punitive damages award because Haulli had already been “punished” through the criminal system, Johnson said.

But for the other three plaintiffs, Haulli was in a position of trust and repeatedly abused that position for years.

“Although the defendant was not solely responsible for the damage they suffered, he and others must be deterred from this type of egregious conduct that unfortunately is all too common in this territory,” Johnson said.

In total, the four sets of damage awards add up to $1.22 million.

But it’s not clear if Haulli has the means to pay that amount of money.

In September 2017, the Canada Revenue Agency swooped in and garnished $400,000 from Haulli’s company and took $75,000 from his personal account.

“This left him virtually bankrupt. He owed over $100,000 and could not borrow any money from friends or family,” Johnson said.

In the civil actions that he faced, Haulli has not been represented by a lawyer since 2010, though he did spend $30,000 on a lawyer to represent him in criminal court and received legal aid for a criminal trial when that money ran out.

Haulli’s business, Savik Enterprises Ltd., which has been involved in activities like construction, vehicle rentals, and general contracting, is well-known in the Baffin region.

But its name has disappeared from the Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti registry of businesses maintained by the NNI Secretariat.

The correct total damage award figure is $1.22 million. We apologize for any confusion caused by incorrect figures in earlier versions of this story.

R.N. et alia v. Haulli, 2018 Nunavut Court of Justice by NunatsiaqNews on Scribd