Former QIA president vacates staff housing

Meeka Kilabuk, former Qikiqtani Inuit Association president, has left QIA staff housing after a six-month rent-free stay. Her April 5 exit means QIA has withdrawn its civil suit against Kilabuk.

QIA dropped the case on April 11, days after Kilabuk complied with the rentals officer eviction order under the Residential Tenancy Act. One of the order’s conditions was that Kilabuk would face no financial penalties if she left by April 5.

“QIA was not happy with that [condition] but it wasn’t worth appealing,” said Michael Osland, of Dubuc Osland, the law firm representing QIA.

QIA’s board asked Kilabuk to leave house 2432 in Tundra Valley within a week of firing her on Sept. 19, 2001. The ousted leader, who served as president for nine months, refused to leave on the grounds she’d been wrongly dismissed.

Appointed president Thomasie Alikatuktuk has since moved into the house.

Kilabuk could not be reached for comment.