Families of 2 men killed by police demand change in Nunavik

The families of two men who died after being shot by police in Nunavik are calling for a meeting with Quebec Premier François Legault, citing three key demands.

Garnet Papigatuk, left, stands with his brother Joshua in this undated photo. Garnet Papigatuk is calling for changes to policing in Nunavik after he was badly wounded and his brother was fatally shot by police in Salluit last year. (Photo courtesy of François Léger-Savard)

David Annanack Sr., whose son Mark was killed in Kangiqsualujjuaq in May, and Garnet Papigatuk, who was seriously injured and whose twin brother Joshua died in a police-related shooting in Salluit last November, both signed onto a letter to the premier seeking immediate changes to policing in Nunavik.

Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, has completed its investigation into the Salluit shooting and submitted its report to Quebec’s Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, which authorizes and directs criminal prosecutions.

It is still looking into the incident in Kangiqsualujjuaq.

“We respectfully require a new system and reform right now for Inuit citizens, who deserve better and who have been failed by Quebec for the past decades,” Louis-Nicholas Coupal, the lawyer representing both families, said in an interview Wednesday.

The letter, published on Coupal’s website and on Facebook Tuesday, follows a third shooting in Inukjuak last Thursday that left one person dead. The person’s name has not been released.

A change.org petition calling for Justice for Inuit, posted alongside the letter, had garnered more than 700 signatures as of midday Wednesday, Coupal said.

Mark R Annanack died in May after being shot by police in an incident in Kangiqsualujjuaq. (Photo courtesy of Facebook)

The families want police officers to stop carrying lethal firearms, and instead use non-lethal methods such as pepper spray or conducted-energy weapons, often called stun guns, when responding to calls.

They’re also asking for a public commission, supervised by the federal government, to investigate police and judicial services in Nunavik back to 2005, looking into systemic issues like cancelled court cases over a shortage of judges, and overcriminalization of Inuit communities.

Coupal said these demands are built on previous reports and calls to action related to other incidents in Nunavik, and that the recent shootings are a consequence of a failed system.

In 2016, the Quebec ombudsman — an independent body that protects citizens’ rights — reported there’s an overrepresentation of Inuit in the correctional system and that detention conditions are below standards in Nunavik.

Five years ago, Makivvik Corp., the Inuit rights organization in Nunavik, called on the Quebec government to completely overhaul the justice system in the region.

The families’ final demand calls for a team to be created as a step toward reconciliation with Inuit and a $250-million fund be established for health and social services in Nunavik.

A French email from the office of François Bonnardel, Quebec’s minister of security, said Bonnardel’s thoughts are with the families but that he will let the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes complete its investigations before commenting.

In Nunavik, the Kativik Regional Government has launched its own review of the Nunavik Police Service in the wake of the three fatal shootings.

“These repeated fatal shootings deny Nunavimmiut the opportunity to heal and to feel fully safe in their communities,” KRG vice-chairperson Mary Arngaq said in a news release Monday.