Visiting judge in Nunavut grapples with sentencing in Cambridge Bay
“Without alcohol, all of us in this room would be unemployed”
A woman in Cambridge Bay will serve an eight-month conditional sentence in this community of about 1,800 people, a judge determined this week during a circuit court sitting. (Photo by Jane George)
CAMBRIDGE BAY—”Without alcohol, all of us in this room would be unemployed,” says Justice Alan Ingram, a visiting judge in Nunavut, while presiding over circuit court in the Northwest Passage room of the Arctic Lodge in Cambridge Bay.
Alcohol-fuelled assaults and domestic violence filled the docket of a circuit court session in this community of about 1,800.
Among the cases that Ingram considered: that of a woman, 42, who pleaded guilty to two charges, breach of probation and aggravated assault.
Ingram ending up imposing an eight-month conditional sentence to be served in Cambridge Bay.
She will spend the first two months of that sentence under strict house arrest, except for two hours each Saturday afternoon.
Ingram said in court that his aim in sentencing is to deter offenders, and at the same time, to show people in the community that there are consequences to their actions.
That task isn’t easy.
Ingram, with more than 30 years’ experience on the bench in Peterborough, Ont., is one of many deputy judges from outside Nunavut appointed to work in the Nunavut court and help Nunavut judges cope with their heavy workload.
The woman’s charges relate to a bloody brawl last May with her common-law husband.
The woman had been drinking before the fight got underway in the evening, according to evidence presented in court.
A statement from a daughter, one of the woman’s seven children, which was referred to in court, said her mother had been drunk since drinking her “first or second cup” of vodka earlier that day.
Together, the woman and her common-law spouse finished off half of a large bottle of vodka before getting violent with each other.
They started to argue. A coffee table was broken. The woman ended up whacking the man with a candle-holder. The man received many cuts, which required 25 stitches to close.
When police responded to a call from a neighbour this past May 31, they saw blood everywhere in the residence.
The man was taken to the health centre, and the woman taken into custody and released with conditions, including an order not to consume intoxicating substances.
But less than a month after the incident, while out on bail, the woman was found at night sitting on the porch of a residence, intoxicated, shoeless, and without a coat.
She’s pregnant again, her lawyer, Iman Amin, noted in court.
She and the man she injured—who also has a history of violent assaults—are no longer together.
As Amin explained, the woman has little education, first became pregnant at a young age and was brought up surrounded by alcohol.
The woman says she wants to stop drinking, her lawyer said.
Ingram said he’s concerned about the breach in the woman’s probation, but acknowledged that her guilty plea showed remorse.
So he accepted a joint sentencing submission from Crown and defence lawyers.
Ingram imposed a sentence for the two charges that includes the eight months she’ll serve in Cambridge Bay: two months of house arrest, followed by a curfew of six months.
She must not consume alcohol or drugs for those eight months, as well as during part of an additional 12-month probation period.
There. That’s the story of our northern hamlets and towns. Much the same all over. Yes, alcohol keeps us all employed. Such small populations with large numbers of police, doctors, nurses social workers. Judges and lawyers. I would love to see the laws changed in our country, to keep alcohol away from the north. Bootlegged would still go on, but the society will be a better place. This is outrageous, what we are witnessing with alcohol abuse.
I do not think of it being alcohol abuse, but I do see a lot of people who are hurting and they do not seek councilling for their emotions. They tend to use alcohol to find a way to release those unwanted feelings and they end up hurting others while they are hurting themselves
And where is exactly are they suppose to get counselling? That’s the problem there are no real resources and/or help for deep trauma issues… or for any trauma or addictions…
Counselling will not fix the dysfunction of the north. People need to have the need to support themselves, produce products or services that are needed by society, and then carry through with doing it. Knowing you’re needed and being able to perform what is needed of you is what is missing in Nunavut, with all the coddling programs that are layered onto each other in some endless effort to fix problems from the outside. It’s taken away the need for people to look after themselves and each other, and yet all the inuit orgs do is cry for more funding for more bureaucratic ventures that just beg for more and more money.
Colonialist laws where white people control Indigenous access to liquor are not the solution – in fact, they are the problem. Look into it. Alcohol problems are at their very worst in restricted and prohibited communities.
There are no laws about alcohol use in the north, that are made by outsiders. Any law dealing with alcohol comes from the people themselves. The council office or whatever. The reason for such a law, is what you need to be concerned about, not about where the law is coming from. In Canada, most places alcohol is just another product sold, good, bad , or indifferent. In the north, and many indigenous communities, the same law would apply, but indigenous people themselves makes the law accordingly. Don’t blame outsiders for the law about alcohol in your community. There no such thing as a Canadian law against alcohol in the north. Nope.
In the long history of mankind prohibition has never ever worked except to enrich those who are unscrupulous enough to take advantage of the situation (e.g. the bootleggers). The only thing that truly works is when people finally realize the harm that alcohol does and begin moderating their own consumption. Until people own their addictions and seek help beating them alcohol will always be the problem whether it is legal or not.
lol alcohol is the running joke in the north… It’s the same exact 5% of the community populations that are ALWAYS on the court docket. Go ahead you can see online exactly who is in court each time…
http://dockets.nunavutcourts.ca/
Google the section code and you’ll get an idea of what they did.
Idiots always ruining it for everyone else. Alcohol isn’t bad, just like guns aren’t bad. It’s how and who uses it.
If laws were stricter and harsher for those few idiots who “want to quit but can’t”, it would be a better society. If they can’t help themselves then make the laws fix it. (PERIOD)
Again it seems that this offender got a slap on the wrist ….house arrest tell me who is going to enforce this in the community and explain to me why she still has her children when mommy starts her day off with a cup or two of straight vodka. This is appalling if she really wanted to kick alcohol why wouldn’t she be mandated to attend a alcohol program for that time she would have a better chance at remaining clean and sober.
I myself used to be an idiots of this town for 32yrs of drinking & causing trouble to others & myself. Try & drink to forgot problems with family, friends & so on, but when blocked out the next day more bigger troubles. Some problems are my own doing by trying to blame others without looking at myself first. Yes some say they can drink no problem, as it goes down little more little by little things do happen that no one is pleased with. When no one drinks & face the problems of any kind no one get very angry right of the bat, but with alcohol in the system the break out starts.
Simon you just aced it. I was the same and always blamed others instead of taking responsibility for my own actions.
Arctic Bay is not the only community with these issues. Most Nunavut communities do and we know who the people are.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS PEOPLE. IT IS NO ONES FAULT BUT YOUR OWN FOR THE POSITION YOU ARE IN.
I don’t care what race you are. I don’t care if your ancestors were abused by another race. I just don’t care. YOU are responsible. YOU make the choice. YOU find the resolution! You want help, it is available in your community. YOU take the first step!
Alcohol is not the problem here. It’s the people who drink the alcohol that’s the problem. Remember, we all have the CHOICE to consume the product or not to touch it. They made their choice to drink, now they are paying the price. If these two individuals didn’t consume the alcohol, they wouldn’t be in this position.
Proper mental health services and counselling services are needed in every community in order to help those who need the help. Please drink responsibly, thats the age old saying.
Alcohol is the tip of the iceberg but judges and many colonialists like to blame people for drinking and alcohol for crime rates. However, it is well documented that colonialism is behind all this. Colonialism disrupted Inuit social controls and governance, bringing a sense of worthlessness and despair among people. You can limit the use of alcohol all you want, it won’t make much of a difference. In Greenland alcohol is available in grocery stores and crime rates aren’t higher than in Nunavut.
What needs to be addressed is the impact of colonialism and the role the court system played in destroying Inuit social controls. Judges feed on colonialism and when they seem to adopt some of the Inuit traditions, it’s condescending and quite paternalistic as they marginalize it, that is when they understand it! The remedy? Decolonization, restoration of Inuit social control, governance and legal traditions to deal with conflicts. Where Indigenous nations have restored their social controls and traditions, things slowly get back to normal and crimes and violence are reduced significantly. Don’t blame alcohol, blame colonialism and if you want to do something about it, work together to decolonize this country!
I would like to hear what decolonization means to you, or
any one else for that matter ? Honestly I do.
People have asked me if they will get free groceries and a
brand new house, and also free skidoo and Hondas, if they
decide to go with colonization.
I advise them to ask there politicians.
You won’t get an answer to the question because “colonialism” is a blanket concept, a catch all that acts like a boogeyman for all the ills of the Inuit. It’s a way of saying let’s not address these issues honestly and with rigour, but instead we will blame nebulous forces and yell at clouds in the sky. This is the mentality here and it will be so for ages to come.
So I am I to assume that colonialism is the new crutch upon which everyone will hang their dependencies and addictions rather than accepting responsibilitiy for their choices and actions?