News May 25, 2018 – 11:00 am EDT

Nunavut women’s group wants Igloolik businessman stripped of medal

“Haulli’s violent, predatory and calculated behaviour was heinous”

By NUNATSIAQ NEWS

The Qulliit Status of Women Council wants the office of the governor general to revoke a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal given to Igloolik business owner Ike Haulli in 2012.

The Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council has asked the office of the governor general of Canada to revoke a medal issued to a prominent Nunavut leader recently outed as a sexual predator.

A recent civil court judgement exposed Ike Haulli, an Igloolik business owner and past chair of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, as having sexually abused children between 1968 and 1986.

Qulliit’s council members expressed outrage at Haulli’s decades of abusive behaviour in a May 24 release.

“Haulli’s violent, predatory and calculated behaviour was heinous,” the women’s organization said in the release. “By referring to his crimes as mistakes he attempted to minimize his acts of traumatizing violence.”

Haulli, the owner of Savik Enterprises Ltd., was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for contributions to his community.

The medals were awarded to to Haulli and dozens of other recipients by partner organizations who had been invited to nominate candidates from their community or organization, the governor general’s office told Nunatsiaq News in an email.

Qulliit has now asked that office to launch the process of having the medal revoked, and the organization is asking Nunavummiut to support its request.

The public can contact the governor general’s office at medal-admin@gg.ca to request the cancellation of Haulli’s medal.

“We call on all northerners to protect and support those vulnerable to the violent actions of some men and boys,” Quillit said.

“We applaud all the women and girls who have so courageously come forward, who have been victimized by these violent acts. We stand with you against these crimes and this injustice.”

Victims of violence can reach out for support through the following organizations:

• Community Justice Outreach Workers