Gjoa Haven’s outdated ATV bylaw to be replaced

The Hamlet of Gjoa Haven is moving to modernize its all-terrain vehicle rules with a new draft bylaw set to go before council Tuesday, as officials react to a serious ATV collision that involved a visiting nurse.

Councillors discussed the bylaw during an emergency meeting on June 23. It focused on ATV and snowmobile safety and enforcement after an ATV struck Teresa Vo on her walk home from work on June 18.

She was medevaced to Edmonton and nearly died twice. Medical staff worked for 40 hours to stabilize her condition, according to a hamlet statement on June 24.

The driver was charged with careless driving under Nunavut’s Motor Vehicles Act, the RCMP said last week.

“We really regret that a visiting nurse had this experience, because we rely on them to save our lives,” hamlet chief administrative officer Jennifer Wakegijig said in an interview.

The hamlet said it has been preparing over the past few months to replace its ATV legislation, which dates back to 1992.

“We’re realizing we need to modernize the language of this bylaw,” Wakegijig said, noting it includes outdated penalties such as jail time that cannot be enforced because municipal bylaw officers do not have a jail.

She said that under the existing bylaw, municipal officers cannot “chase” speeding drivers, but they can issue fines and impound unsafe or unregistered vehicles.

However, Wakegijig said the issue is not the bylaw itself, but a lack of enforcement over time.

“I think it’s a community culture of acceptance of this way of driving that neither the families nor the hamlet, with its limited enforcement role, has done enough for,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Christine Porter said safety concerns include riders without helmets, overloaded ATVs and underage drivers who speed, often at night.

“The hamlet needs to be more firm, and parents need to be more firm,” Porter said in an interview. “It’s time for parents to take responsibility. If they have a quad, they are responsible for who has the keys and how anyone drives their quad.”

Both Porter and Wakegijig acknowledged road conditions in Gjoa Haven are “poor,” but they said speeding and unsafe driving is the bigger concern.

“I would say to the hamlet that they don’t use the roads enough to see how bad they are compared to other communities,” said longtime resident Greg Nahaglulik in a Facebook message, adding that roads lack proper gravelling.

“We need to bring focus on actual remediation, like resurfacing the roads with proper gravel and getting people properly trained on road repair and maintenance,” Nahaglulik said.

Hamlet officials say the draft bylaw will undergo first reading on Tuesday, followed by public consultation in July, with a final version expected later this summer.