Courts too soft in Nunavik

I have been living in Puvirnituq, Quebec for some years now and I am concerned about the ways that judges and prosecutors are doing things here.

For one, we had two persons who were charged with attempted murder, assault with a weapon, assault on a police officer, breach of probation, drinking and driving, and the prosecutors dropped all charges except one: drinking and driving.

We also have a lot of cases that are dropped. The police force works very hard to keep our little communnity safe, but the people living here, a lot of us, are scared to go out at night, even in the evening, because a lot of people are big drinkers and get into fights for no good reason.

Our police force takes them off the streets, but the next day, the prosecutor releases them on minor charges and most serious charges are dropped 80 per cent of the time. Most of the people who are arrested know the lessons of our court system, that people in this community have to suffer.

What makes me mad is that when they leave my village, the prosecutors think they did a good job.

(Name witheld by request)
Puvirnituq, Nunavik