Kuujjuaq marchers call for end to police brutality against Inuit
Similar marches in Inukjuak, Salluit call for justice after 3 police-involved deaths
Community organizers Mary Mesher and Annie Kumarluk lead a march in Kuujjuaq in November calling for justice and an end to police brutality. Marches were also held in Salluit and Inukjuak. Nov. 4 was the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of a man in Salluit by police. Two other police-involved fatalities have occurred in Nunavik since then. (File photo by Dominique Gené)
More than 40 people took to the streets of Kuujjuaq on Tuesday demanding an end to what they say is police brutality in Nunavik.
Holding the march on Tuesday was significant — Nov. 4 marks one year since Joshua Papigatuk died and his twin brother Garnet Papigatuk was badly injured in a confrontation with police as officers in Salluit responded to a report of an impaired driver.
Marchers in Kuujjuaq Tuesday demand an end to what they say is police brutality against Inuit. (Photo by Dominique Gené)
Since then, there have been two other police-involved deaths of Nunavik residents.
“I want people to be able to feel safe to request assistance without the fear of being harmed,” said Mary Mesher, one of the volunteers who led the march in Kuujjuaq, in an interview.
Marchers carried signs with messages such as “No to Police Brutality,” “I Want a Safe Community” and “No Shooting Use Taser.” The marches were organized by Kuujjuaq residents Olivia Christie Ikey Duncan and Suzy Jeannie Kauki.
Use of deadly force by police officers in Nunavik is unacceptable, said Annie Kumarluk, who was one of the people leading the march.
“Inuit people are saying no to police brutality,” she said. “Why don’t they shoot the leg? Why don’t they use their taser? Why not their batons?”
Similar marches were also held Tuesday in Salluit and Inukjuak.
In the past 10 years, there have been 16 police-involved deaths in Nunavik with a population of 14,000. By comparison, in that time there were 250 reported in all of Quebec, with a population of nine million.
Since Papigatuk’s death there have been two more police-involved deaths in Nunavik, prompting numerous calls for change.
In May, Mark R. Annanack was allegedly shot and killed by police in Kangiqsualujjuaq when they were trying to apprehend a man in a tent. After using pepper spray to get him to exit, he came at police with a “bladed weapon.”
An officer then allegedly used a conducted energy weapon — or stun gun — before firing his gun, according to a news release issued by the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, Quebec’s police watchdog.
On July 17, a man died in Inukjuak after allegedly being shot by Nunavik Police Service officers after approaching them with a “bladed weapon” as they responded to a call. That’s also according to a release from the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes.
Following the death in July, the Kativik Regional Government launched a review of the Nunavik Police Service.
Nunatsiaq News asked KRG for comment and update on the review this week but a spokesperson could not be reached.
Also in July, family members of Papigatuk and Annanack called for a meeting with Quebec Premier François Legault, asking for changes to policing in Nunavik starting with a ban on use of lethal firearms by police officers.
They also launched a petition calling for justice for Inuit. QR codes pointing to the petition online were posted on streets of Kuujjuaq during Tuesday’s march, encouraging people to sign.
In September, Nunavik police deputy chiefs Jean-Francois Morin and Shaun Longstreet announced the service was looking into giving officers rubber bullets to reduce the chances of confrontations turning deadly.
Morin said then that no implementation date had been set.
When Kumarluk was asked at Tuesday’s march if police using less-lethal weapons is a step in the right direction, she said, “If they feel like they have to shoot somebody with the non-lethal weapons that won’t kill, well let’s see it.”
“We haven’t seen it,” she said. “They are still shooting our people.”
There are no answers yet whether charges will be filed in the recent Nunavik police incidents.
The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes handed over its investigation report into the Salluit shooting to the province’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions on June 26. No decision about possible charges has been announced.
The bureau is still investigating the two other police-related shootings.
If people in Nunavik were law abiding citizens, they wouldn’t need police.
Instead of telling police how they should be responding to dangerous situations, they should be telling themselves to stop creating those situations.
@John
“….. they should be telling themselves to stop creating those situations.”
They are.
This is why they march to put an end to hiring of Cowboy cops.
There are no longer “cowboy cops” in Nunavik. With the exception of inuit, all officers are trained graduates of a police college.
Shooting in the legs and other ideas won’t happen. Police aren’t trained that way. It’s not a realistic expectation.
Until the underlying issues of trauma and substance abuse are meaningfully addressed, this situation will not improve.
Even the use of less lethal munitions presents challenges, as they require lethal force oversight and containment to be used effectively. They require the same degree of storage and containment as firearms. Making them difficult to deploy in the context of Nunavik.
As long as Nunavikmiut are creating dangerous situations, there will always be dangerous outcomes.
Fix your community first
In my town, people get real stupid and violent after a few drinks.
Give the people of Nunavik their own Government. Let them set their own tax rates and laws and manage their own law enforcement.
Nunavik has one of the highest crime rates in the world. Maybe we can ask trump if he can send the national guard there?
You need to demand that the Feds take back Nunavik (Ungava) which was “given” to Quebec in 1912. Then it could join Nunavut, where, obviously, it rightly belongs.
With Quebec nationalism again ascendant it make no sense for Nunavik to be part of Quebec with its corresponding French language policy. Inuit have always had English as their next language—the language of the Internet, worldwide aviation and international commerce.
I’m sure that randomly and unilaterally giving a third of its territory, over which it has land shareagreements (not claims!) to another federal jurisdiction will go splendidly and not at all fuel the cause for an independent Quebec.
Wouldn’t taking an Inuk with them on their cross Canada hiring sprees/drives/career fairs, etc, help weed out undesirables to the job?
Is this a bridge to far for consideration?
Sometimes the most basic idea can have positive impacts.
How about a march to stop violence in communities and threats of bodily harm to police?
Shooting in the legs… Perhaps a little bit of public education on the use of force principles may improve their perception.
The protest id good, but keep it going to cover the full story of the falling of Nunavik. Yes the police need big changes. But the whole society needs to address crime within. The ridiculous handling of alcohol needs discussion and discipline. Admit in a constructive way that significant numbers of drinkers are not handling alcohol well. This is in all communities and down in Montreal as well around uulivik and hotels where people are sick and needing medical care. It’s unacceptable to this to ge happening and it’s even more disgusting to see that it is allowed to continue. The protest you see here is part of doing something, but not to miss the opportunity to get to the deepest issues.
Nunavik is full of short and sweet or not so sweet talks. Never any action. This protest is over until someone wakes up early once in awhile to do another one. In between protest its dead silence. Not a piece of concrete action, none
I have requested that the BEI report is made public in Nunavik before anywhere else, especially to the families involved.
Once we have all the information, we can then be in a better position to make reasoned comments.
If only they can keep the protest alive. Dont wait until another tragedy. Do it often. It will eventually get more support. You can show how police are not proactive in some communities, like Kuujjuaq. Non existent really at night and for drunk driving. The police only react to a call, no prevention whatsoever. And when they do show up, it’s dangerous to the victim and the arrested one. Yes protest until the cows or caribou come home. The story of a child with a weapon on her from police says it all.
We hope for better. We are not so different the police and their families and us and our families, wishing for the same to enjoy a peaceful safe home and town and region. How do we get there in a semi mad world where having more stuff with less responsibility trends. Thinking less of your neighbours, less sharing of your time, it does not come down only to money and stuff. The dependence of substances with the craving for more makes things difficult. Moderation is the key to living a better life yours, your families and friends. It is a difficult thing to turn the rising tide of social decay but even in loss making an effort counts.