Naujaat man sentenced to 8 months over standoff with RCMP

Paul Tegumiar made threats of ‘deadly force’ and failed the youths of his community, says Justice Susan Cooper

Paul Tegumiar will be jailed for eight months in relation to a standoff that led to police issuing a shelter-in-place alert in Naujaat last June. (File photo by David Venn)

By Arty Sarkisian

A Naujaat man who pleaded guilty to charges related to a standoff with police that lasted several hours in June was sentenced to eight months in jail Friday.

Paul Tegumiar, 48, joined the hearing in Iqaluit by phone from Naujaat.

On Nov. 21, Tegumiar pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, uttering threats and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

For his role in the standoff, Tegumiar didn’t just cause significant “psychological impact” on the officers, he also failed as a role model for young Inuit of Naujaat as a respected member of the community, Justice Susan Cooper said in her sentencing.

On June 1, two RCMP officers responded to a call of a domestic disturbance and arrived to Tegumiar’s home at 8:35 a.m., Cooper said.

When they entered the residence and attempted to arrest Tegumiar, his wife ran from the house and hid behind the RCMP car.

Cooper said Tegumiar resisted and began fighting the officers, causing one of them to fall. The officers left the house but remained outside, as they didn’t have the “tools” to deal with the “combative” Tegumiar.

The officers called for police emergency units from Edmonton and Iqaluit.

Meanwhile, Tegumiar kept opening the door, spitting at the officers and shouting obscenities at them.

Around 2 p.m., poice advised Naujaat residents to shelter in place and avoid the area where the standoff was ongoing.

In that time, Tegumiar made eight Facebook posts.

“The language in the posts is clear and unequivocal. There is a clear intent to kill,” Cooper said.

The posts included photos of rifles with captions threatening to kill “that lady cop,” referring to one of the RCMP officers, Cooper said.

In her impact statement given in court on Nov. 21, the officer said she regularly faces threats and racist comments on the job, but Tegumiar was the first person she believed might actually kill her.

At about 4:40 a.m. the next day, June 2, Tegumiar surrendered after RCMP crisis negotiators from Iqaluit convinced him to leave the house.

The incident didn’t turn deadly, but Tegumiar’s threats were of “deadly force,” Cooper said.

The fact the threats were made against police officers is an aggravating factor as they are in a particularly “vulnerable” position, she said.

“They do not have the option of walking away. They do not have the option of going home and locking the door behind them. They do not have the option of calling for help — they are the help,” Cooper said.

Crown prosecutor Ori Powell asked for a jail sentence of between 18 months and two years less a day, plus a prohibition on possessing weapons for that term.

Tegumiar’s lawyer Alan Regel suggested a three-year suspended sentence or a conditional sentence, under which Tegumiar would have avoided incarceration.

Cooper sentenced Tegumiar to the total of eight months in jail followed by 18 months’ probation that includes a ban on possessing firearms.

She specified the ban does not include an exemption for hunting.

“That is, in my view, the most significant part of the sentence that I have imposed, and I do so recognizing and appreciating how important hunting is to you,” she told Tegumiar.

 

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(11) Comments:

  1. Posted by Serious? on

    So clear intent to kill a police officer and a whole 8 months, assault on a police officer, never mind the bad example to kids, the justice system in nunavut is such a joke

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    • Posted by Johnny Oh Ima on

      It’s not just Nunavut, it’s the criminal code, in Canada justice systems, applies all conditions and circumstances that happened during the incident. Justice suppose to be blind, that another whole issue dealing with indigenous peoples and any laws in criminal code is applied through out Canada not just Nunavut.

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      • Posted by Change is Needed on

        Yes, and this sort of racist application of the law needs to change.

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  2. Posted by Mit on

    Same guy that got a Commissioner Award for Bravery back in 2021. Sounds brave alrite. Look it up.

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  3. Posted by Another slap on

    Another slap on the hand. Why would anybody in Nunavut be afraid of a sentencing that put you behind bars? 8 months….. it’s another joke. Death threats, cursing, and spitting at RCMP officers, what’s up with the dude? I’m glad about the happy ending and angry about the ridiculous verdict, but I also suggest reclaiming all costs that occurred, including the medical care cost for the female RCMP officer. (even though she has medical care).

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  4. Posted by John WP Murphy on

    Isn’t Naujat the same community that elected a mayor shortly after he was charged with sexual assault, Hmmm!

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      • Posted by John WP Murphy on

        Not dropped tho, stayed ony. He could still go back to court.

      • Posted by John WP Murphy on

        A stay puts a halt to court proceedings with no presumption of guilt or innocence. If, after a year, the Crown does not resume prosecution, the charge is “deemed never to have been commenced,” according to the Criminal Code of Canada.

        Neither Crown prosecutor Trisha McCarthy nor Tegumiar’s lawyer Alan Regel offered reasons for the stay.

        • Posted by Here We Go Again On My Own on

          Thanks Paul, although like most of your posts they’re missing some context. In the case of the court proceedings, a stay does not imply a presumption of guilt or innocence. However, Section 11.D of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms says that any person has the right to be presume innocent until proven guilty.

          Soooo, yes, he has the right to be presumed innocent, even with the stay. Unless you don’t like the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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