May 2, 2008
KIA president claims persecution over assault
“You can’t help what happened yesterday.”
Joe Otokiak, president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, says he's being persecuted by the Qulliit Status of Women Council for being a good father.
Qulliit decried Otokiak's recent electoral victory when it was revealed he is in the middle of serving a 12-month conditional sentence for assault. The council has long campaigned for rules that would bar residents convicted of violent crimes from public office.
But Otokiak says he's no abuser. He's a caring father.
The assault conviction, he says, stems from an argument he got into with one of his two blind sons, who are both in their 20s and live with Otokiak and his wife.
A dispute flared up between Otokiak and his elder son, which ended, Otokiak says, when he "slapped" his son on the shoulder.
 |
He says that his assault conviction shows the rift between Inuit and Qallunaat culture.
Physical discipline, he says, is part of Inuit culture. But RCMP and social workers see it as a crime.
As a result, he says some Inuit parents fear punishing their children. No wonder, he says, so many children in Nunavut run amok and get into trouble today.
Otokiak also says it's the Inuit way to forgive, and that's how his constituents have reacted to the news of his criminal conviction.
"You can't help what happened yesterday," he said. "But you can make improvements today and tomorrow."
"Inuit have always believed in nurturing the good in people. It's too bad some Inuit have lost that value."
Otokiak broke no rules by seeking office. The KIA only bans candidates who have been convicted of an indictable offense in the past five years. Otokiak received a less-serious summary conviction.
He questions whether tougher rules to ban residents with violent criminal records is the right thing to do in Nunavut.
Otokiak says, if this were to happen, it would leave a small pool of eligible candidates in Nunavut, where run-ins with the law are common.
Attention drawn to Otokiak's criminal record followed shortly after Qulliit scolded Nunavut's MLAs for appointing Levi Barnabas, MLA for Quttiktuq, to cabinet in March. Barnabas pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2000. After he served a 12-month conditional sentence, he was re-elected.
While the women's council is supposed to be independent of government, president Donna Olsen-Hakongak, who is an employee of the Government of Nunavut, said she needed permission from her employer to speak.
She didn't return phone calls before the Nunatsiaq News deadline this week.
