Nunavut government must act on coroner’s report

On March 16, 1998, a piece of human refuse by the name of Steven Ayalik, aged 31, selected a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun from a cabinet in his house in Kuglugtuk and loaded five shells into it.

He had every legal right to possess the weapon. When he had applied for a firearms acquisition permit in January of 1994, his wife and a social worker had signed a character reference for him.

Ayalik walked into the bathroom, pushed the mu le of his gun into the mouth of his 13-year-old stepdaughter Michelle, then pushed her down into the bathtub and pulled the trigger.

After that, Ayalik walked through the kitchen, where he ejected the spent round and loaded another into the chamber. In the master bedroom, he found two of his children, Allison, aged seven, and Alexander, aged four.

Ayalik then shot each sleeping child in the face.

For reasons that we will never understand, Ayalik did not murder a fourth child, a son who appeared at the doorway. Instead, he ordered the child to go to his grandmother’s. By the time police arrived, Ayalik had used a fourth round to shoot himself in the head.

So ended an episode of evil such as few communities anywhere in Canada’s Arctic have had to endure. So began an investigative process that exposed a seven-year cycle of official incompetence, and neglect.

A subsequent coroner’s investigation shows that those who had the legal and moral duty to protect the lives of the three innocent children who Ayalik murdered that night failed consistently to perform their duties.

For example:

In September, 1991, Ayalik picked up his infant son and threw him across a room. He was never convicted of the crime and social workers never conducted a child welfare investigation.
In September, 1994, Ayalik applied for an FAC, admitting on the form that he had been reported to the police for acts of violence in reference to the assault on his infant child. Despite that, a social worker signed a character reference on Ayalik’s behalf.
In 1994, 1996, and 1997, Ayalik was convicted of beating his wife in front of his four children, and on one occasion of beating and attempting to rape a neighbour who attempted to intervene. Social workers never conducted a child welfare investigation.
Chief Corner Percy Kinney’s report into Ayalik’s triple-murder-suicide is now in the hands of Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik, Justice Minister Jack Anawak, and Social Services Minister Ed Picco. Kinney’s report contains many sensible recommendations aimed at taking firearms out of the hands of violent offenders, while allowing them access to firearms when they need to go hunting.

Northern Canada is a violent society. In 1996, assaults in the Northwest Territories occurred at a rate of 5,032 per 100,000. In the rest of Canada, they occurred at a rate of only 934 per 100,000.

The Nunavut government must make it an urgent priority to ensure that Nunavut has a child protection system that actually protects children, and a justice system that protects all of us. JB