Epileptic dies while in care of social services

The mystery of what happened to a 31-year-old man last seen three weeks ago at the Aqpik Jam music festival ended last Friday with the grisly discovery of his remains not far from the Kuujjuaq Inn.

As of Nunatsiaq News‘ press-time this week, a coroner had not determined exactly how and when Johnny Aloupa died.

But he was last seen vomiting near the Ikkaqivik Bar, where he had been drinking. It is known that Aloupa, from Quaqtaq, suffered from severe and incapacitating epileptic attacks.

At the time of his disappearance on Aug. 20, Aloupa was under the care of regional social services authorities, and en route to the reintegration centre in Inukjuak, which provides services to Nunavik residents suffering from mental illness. According to police, Aloupa checked into his flight to Inukjuak, but never showed up at departure time.

But no one reported Aloupa missing until last Wednesday, nearly three weeks later.

When appeals to the community for information about the missing man’s whereabouts produced no leads, police and Canadian Rangers began a thorough search, finally locating his body on Friday evening, not far from the Kuujjuaq Inn.

The man’s remains were in an unseemly state, ravaged by dogs and partially eaten – a fact that has been extremely disturbing and upsetting for the man’s family members.

“We want an inquiry into social services as to why they didn’t follow up on him,” said the mayor of Quaqtaq, Johnny Oovaut, who is also the older brother of the dead man. “If he was their client, why didn’t they take care of him? He was supposed to leave on Aug. 20. What are the heads of social services going to do about this?”

Michael Gordon, the mayor of Kuujjuaq, also wants answers about why no one noticed that a client was missing.

“I want to know in their eyes what actually happened. There are a lot of stories going on around here,” Gordon said.

Gordon also ordered that all dogs loose in the community over the past two weeks be shot. About 30 dogs were shot.

“I’ve been trying to tell people to tie their dogs up, but they don’t listen,” Gordon said.

Gordon and Oovaut both sit on the Kativik Regional Council, which will meet next week in Kuujjuaq. Oovaut plans to raise the issue at the gathering.

“I am going to mention that people don’t respect bylaws, because if all the dogs were tied up this wouldn’t happen,” Oovaut said. “The bylaw is there for a reason: it’s not there for no reason. Who’s next?”

But some residents of Kuujjuaq say killing dogs isn’t enough. They’re also calling for a community meeting to talk about the growing number of alcohol-related problems in the community and the need to curb over-drinking.

Candace Ikey is outraged no one seemed to be alarmed that Aloupa had been missing for so long. She’s also angry the local bar wasn’t closed on Friday evening, following the discovery of his body.

“Because he was not a drunk nobody looked for him,” Ikey said. “This is embarrassing. My God, if you come down here, and you don’t have alcohol in your pocket, we’re not coming looking for you. It’s sad. I think it’s disgusting, and Inuit, they love to say they take care of each other.”

Ikey is upset that the president of the bar’s board of directors, George Peters, decided not to close the Ikkaqivik Bar and lounge down on Friday night.

“I’m ashamed. He goes on the radio on behalf of the mayor, and says ‘this person was not from Kuujjuaq anyways. He was lost for a month. We’re going to go ahead and continue our bar and lounge opening.'”

Gordon said he left it to the bar’s board to decide whether or not to close down on Friday night, but they decided to close it on Saturday instead.

Ikey feels the bar should have been closed down out of respect for the deceased.

“Inuit in other communities have respect and they do that. They close everything down no matter who you are or how you’ve been dead, but Kuujjuaq is nothing but a big bar,” Ikey said. “I’m not kidding. It’s an open bar in this town. You’re not going to see nothing but drinking. You cannot walk down this town without walking into drunks. It’s sad. It’s pathetic.”

Ikey said municipal and regional leaders should show more leadership in dealing with booze problems in town.

“They have a voice. They can make a difference. So, let’s get together as a community and talk like the elders used to,” Ikey said. “If this is what this town is all about I’d rather not be a part of it. I’m ashamed of it. Imagine how Quaqtaq is feeling.”