Early planning work begins on Nunavik public security committee
New body being created in response to death of Salluit’s Joshua Papigatuk and injury of his brother at hands of police
Nunavik Police Service deputy Chief Shaun Longstreet, left, Chief Jean-Pierre Larose and deputy Chief Jean-François Morin present their Nunavik Police Services activity report and answer questions Monday at the regional council meeting. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Kativik Regional Government senior adviser Guy Yango updates council members on the creation of the Public Security Committee, announced in November. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
The Kativik Regional Government is building a mandate for its new public security committee, which is being created in response to the death of Joshua Papigatuk last year at the hands of police.
“Ever since the incident that happened in Salluit, we had a lot of conversations on how to respond and what actions to take,” said Guy Yango, senior adviser for Kativik Regional Government, during a KRG council meeting Monday.
Nunavik Police Service officers shot and killed Joshua Papigatuk and injured his twin brother, Garnet Papigatuk, on Nov. 4 during an altercation. Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des Enquêtes Indépendantes, is investigating.
The incident led to protests in Salluit and beyond.
Yango updated council on the work to create the public safety committee, saying representatives from KRG and Makivvik Corp. met earlier in February to “talk about structure, composition, and accountability measures.”
The committee will include two representatives each from KRG, Makkivik and the Nunavik Police Service, and two permanent observers, which could be former police officers or members from the public.
Planning is still in “initial stages,” Yango said, adding the next meeting has not yet been scheduled.
“There is still an awful lot of stress and bad feelings in the community,” said Stephen Grasser, Salluit’s KRG council representative.
“It is hard for us to respond and really meet the needs of that family until we get the report from the [police watchdog].”
Salluit representative Stephen Grasser says the village is still under stress after police shot and killed resident Joshua Papigatuk last November. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
Grasser said he wants the report to be released in Salluit in Inuktitut, French and English.
“That is the only way I think the family and the friends of the two brothers will get some level of satisfaction that justice is being served,” he said.
Grasser, alongside the rest of council, said he intends to vote this week on a resolution that would request the watchdog to release the report in Inuktitut.
Nunavik police Chief Jean-Pierre Larose expressed support for the committee.
“We need your suggestions, we need your input, we want to be better,” Larose told council members.
“The incident in Salluit disturbed us, as you, as everybody. Let us work together and try to increase our trust, increase our relations.”
Ideas were floated at the council meeting to improve relationships. One would see officers play hockey in the community. Another was to have community members and police officers go hunting on the land together, without the police uniform.
There were also calls to create an independent body to oversee policing in Nunavik. Deputy Chief Jean-François Morin said that there has been an open position for a civilian adviser at the Nunavik Police Service for years.
“We have tried to approach people,” he said.
“Our goal was to have a civilian person from Nunavik to help with the relations between the police and the different organizations, and it is something that we still have interest in finding a candidate for.”
Larose said it would be good to have that ombudsman attached to KRG, which could help Nunavik police navigate communication with communities when major events happen like what occurred in Salluit.
It is both fascinating and unfortunate to observe how those entrusted with maintaining order in Nunavik seem to exhibit a particular unease in the presence of individuals of greater stature. One might expect that strength (both physical and moral) would be a prerequisite for law enforcement, yet it appears that, in some cases, the mere sight of a taller or broader figure is enough to send shivers through the ranks, I’ve seen that exact demonstration. Perhaps the uniform itself carries more weight than those who wear it, leaving them to compensate for their own apprehensions in ways that seldom serve justice. It is, of course, a delicate matter and one that deserves thoughtful reflection from those who find themselves so easily unsettled.
We miss you Joshua.
How do I become a member of this committee?
And transparency flood gates will open!!
Haha, that’s funny! You really expect transparency? Why would you even think that? That’s exactly like trying to get transparency from makivik or air Inuit. Hahahahaha!
The police service is so disconnected from inuit in Nunavik. Interact only to intervene and arrest when big trouble is on the route. Those young men and women coming in from south are isolated fron inuit in the small communities and even the bigger ones as well. It’s unhealthy to be living and working as a professional amongst such small population and not even be aware of the community. That’s what we are living with. To most of those southern police, nurses social workers counselors whatever, they come and go as thou going in a war zone, as their perception and go vack home on vacation as woujd a soldier who went to the middle east. They are some how trained and brain washed into that you and me the professional . The inuit population is perceived as a war zone. If you look in kuujjuaq for example, you rarely see a police going around the community doing every day policing, drunk drivers everywhere, not a police in sight. Inuit community would do hetter if the poluce are trained to do everyday patrols rather than get their guns and go jobs, which will be less happening if they do every day police work including prevention and healthy interactions, and not just a bike railey. Ever day policing is missing.
After the salluit shooting, Inuit all over Nunavik and beyond protested to the degree that something might happen positively, but wait, it disappeared as quickly as it started. Within the population there again dies out the desire to make any real change. It died out with the weather or whatever. Meetings at kRG, does allow the public to go and speak out, but not one person attending to do that , other than the go flow same useless fools that have only their personal pockets attending. They get there in meetings, not a warrior among them, and let that police service , out of touch, go back to where you belonged fool the flock into believing things will change, with not one ideal as to how when and where. Inuit themselves are allowing this injustice to continue in vain among the very good Inuit population that hey need to serve. Maybe our society will be better served and become healthier again , if we get rid of the police and have only security guards, just think about what police you know today , and the good not that they do. I say many shoukd go back to their little holes in their own culture.