Court staff makes Arvaluk wait

The Nunavut Court of Justice delivered former MLA James Arvaluk another humiliating blow on Tuesday, this time making him wait in the cramped hallway of the Iqaluit

courthouse for the start of his sentencing hearing, while the entire courthouse staff debated the placement of coffee machines and water fountains in a planning session for the construction of a new building.

And while a posh new courthouse would certainly make the wait more pleasant, no one informed Arvaluk, and several family members who came to support him, of a change in schedule.

Arvaluk was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm this past June for an incident in August 2000 in Coral Harbour. He resigned his seat in the legislative assembly a short while later.

Whether through indifference or bad planning, Arvaluk’s 9:30 a.m. time slot came and went, while courthouse staff chatted with an architect in Courtroom 1 until 10 a.m.

After a short smoke break, a courthouse employee eventually drifted into the hallway to inform Arvaluk that the judge was out of town and the hearing would have to be postponed.

A new date for Arvaluk’s sentencing hearing has not yet been set.