Nunavut Wildlife Management Board chairman pleads guilty to RCMP assault

The leadership of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board remains uncertain after its chairman, Mikidjuk L. Akavak, pleaded guilty this week to two counts of assaulting RCMP members in Iqaluit.

According to court documents obtained by Nunatsiaq News, Akavak, 46, assaulted two RCMP members in Iqaluit last July 21.

Two other charges, in which Akavak was accused of “making fists and swinging” at police officers and uttering threats, were dropped.

Akavak also pleaded guilty to a breach of a condition “to abstain from consumption of any intoxicating substances including alcohol,” which occurred in Iqaluit this past Nov. 16.

Justice Andy Mahar of the Nunavut court sentenced Akavak to an 18-month conditional sentence and three days of imprisonment, which he already served before this week’s court appearance on March 20.

Since 2000, Akavak has served on the board of directors of Atuqtuarvik Corp., an investment company created by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and Nunavut Trust to help ensure direct Inuit participation in major economic opportunities.

Akavak, a former mayor of Kimmirut, was appointed as NWMB chair in 2010.

Jim Noble, the executive director of the NWMB, said Akavak is “currently on leave without pay while the board is actively considering the situation.”