None of that Paper Stuff Works': A Critique of the Legal System's Efforts to End Domestic Assault in Nunavut

• Author: Chris Durrant
• Position: Graduated from McGill University's joint BCL/LLB program in December 2013
• Pages: 43-62

APPEAL VOLUME 19

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43

ARTICLE

“NONE OF THAT PAPER STUFF WORKS”:

A CRITIQUE OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM’S

EFFORTS TO END DOMESTIC ASSAULT

INNUNAVUT

Chris Durrant*

CITED: (2014) 19 Appeal 43–62

INTRODUCTION................................................. 44

I. NUNAVUT AND THE INUIT COLONIAL EXPERIENCE ............ 46

A. Foreign Justice ................................................ 48

II. LEIGH GOODMARK’S ANTIESSENTIALIST FEMINISM.............49

A. Taiaiake Alfred’s Anti-colonial Prescriptions.......................... 50

III. THE PUBLIC PROSECUTION SERVICE OF CANADA’S

NODROP POLICY ............................................. 51

A. No-Drop prosecution .......................................... 51

B. Diversion Skepticism ........................................... 52

C. Reluctant Witness Support....................................... 53

D. e “Special Circumstances” of the Territories ........................ 53

I V. FAMILY ABUSE INTERVENTION ACT ............................. 54

A. Evaluation: EPOs.............................................. 55

B. Evaluation: CIOs .............................................. 56

C. Conclusions on the FAIA........................................ 58

V. RANKIN INLET SPOUSAL ASSAULT PROGRAM ................... 58

A. Evaluation ................................................... 59

FURTHER STEPS AND CONCLUSIONS ............................. 60

* Chris Durrant graduated fro m McGill University’s joint BCL /LLB program in December 2013. This

paper was written for t he McGill International Human Right s Internship Seminar following a

placement with Maliiganik Tukisiinia kvik Legal Services in Iqa luit, Nunavut. Chris would like to

thank Professor Nandini Rama nujam for her comments and guidance, and L aura Browne for her

help with the editing proce ss. He is also grateful for Nicholas McD onald and the Appeal editorial

committee’s contributions to th e paper.

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APPEAL VOLUME 19

INTRODUCTION

On April 1, 1999, Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut, came into existence. e divi sion

of the Northwest Territories into two jurisdictions wa s the result of more than a decade

of negotiations between Inuit repres entatives and the federal govern ment. In the new

eastern Arct ic territory, Inuit would make up the vast majority of the popul ation as

opposed to the previous situation of sha ring the Northwest Territories with sizable First

Nations and European populat ions.

e hope of the Inuit who negotiated the agreement wa s that Nunavut’s new government

would incorporate traditiona l Inuit values into its institutions a nd processes.1 e

goal was a poigna nt one. During the twentieth c entury, the Canadian govern ment’s

colonial and assi milating policies as wel l of the deployment of the Royal Northwest

Mounted Police drastica lly changed the Inuit way of life. D ecisions were taken without

any consideration of Inuit traditions, a nd institutions reecting Eu ropean values were

imposed. e creation of Nunavut represents t he potential to decolonize the territory.

ough the Inuit are now in control of the forma l mechanisms of government in the

territory, the colonial period has lef t deep scars. e territory strug gles with high levels of

suicide and substance a buse. Among the most troubling are the territory’s rates of fa mily

violence. Based on police-reported d ata, 1,132 Nunavumm iut2 were victims of fami ly

violence in 2010.3 Half of thos e victimized were a ssaulted by their spouse.4 e rate of

family violence is t he highest in Canada, and a Nunav ummiuq is 17 times more likely to

be a victim of fami ly violence than someone who lives in Ontario, Ca nada’s province with

the lowest rate of family v iolence.”5 Surveys have shown that women disproportiona lly

bear the burden of thi s violence. Fifty-two per cent of women have experienc ed at least

one act of physical violence in their adu lthood (as opposed to forty-si x per cent of men),

and twenty-seven per cent have e xperienced forced sexua l activity or attempted forced

sexual act ivity (compared with ve percent of men).

In light of the drast ic statistics, a variety of orga nizations in the territory have attempted

to address the problem throug h legal means. e territoria l government has passed the

Family Abuse Intervention Act,6 which created both new leg al procedures for addressi ng

domestic abuse, and the position of Commu nity Justice Outreach Worker to help

facilitate the use of t he procedures. e Public Prosecution Serv ice of Canada (PPSC),

which continues to act in the terr itory independently of the Nunavut government, has

also addresse d the problem through a set of polices specic to domestic violence and t he

North.7 Additiona lly, Rankin Inlet’s Pulaa rik Kablu Friendship Centre has lau nched a

1 Graham White, “Governance in Nunavut: Capacit y vs. Culture” (2009) 43 Journal of Canadian

Studies 57.

2 Nunavummiut is the plural demonym for the reside nts of Nunavut. Nunavummiuq is the

singular demonym. Use of the wor d Nunavummiut implies that numbers inclu de Nunavut’s

non-Inuit resident s as well the Inuit population. According to th e 2011 census, Inuit make up 85.4

percent of Nunavut’s popul ation (Statistics Canada, 2011 National Household Survey: Aboriginal

Peoples in Canada: First Nations People, M etis and Inuit, online: Statistics Canad a

statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130508/dq130508a-eng.htm> [Statistics Canada, 2011 National

Household Survey).

3 Nunatsiaq News, “Nunavut’s sky- high family violence rates tops in Canad a” Nunatsiaq News (23

May 2012), online: NunatsiaqOnline .

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

6 Family Abuse Intervention Act, S Nu 2006, c 18.

7 Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC ), The Federal Prosecution Service Deskbook at ch 28,

online: PPSC /www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/fps-sfp/fpd/toc.html> [PPSC, Deskbook].