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Man charged with murder in Sylvia Lyall’s death

“She was just a joyful person. She had the best laugh.”

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Family matriarch Nipisha Lyall sits with her youngest daughter, Sylvia, in a tent while camping near Taloyoak 10 years ago. (PHOTO COURTESY OF JANET BREWSTER)

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The boyfriend of the late Sylvia Lyall faces murder charges after police found the 41-year-old woman’s body in her downtown Iqaluit apartment last Tuesday.

Police made the discovery above the post office building on June 22, ending the recent upswing Lyall had been enjoying after years of struggling to find a job, and suffering abuse at the hands of her accused killer.

A petite mother of four, Lyall recently landed a full-time position as executive secretary to Finance Minister Leona Aglukkaq, a promising situation after short-lived jobs as a flight attendant, a dry-cleaning worker and a catering cook.

Immediately after announcing her death, police arrested and charged Pat Anablak, a 50-year-old transit system bus driver for the City of Iqaluit and a former corrections officer, with first-degree murder.

Police also charged Anablak with breaching probation conditions related to a past conviction of assaulting Lyall.

Lyall’s death shocked Nunavut’s political élite and a wide-reaching web of family and friends, who described Lyall as a kind woman with a sunny disposition, who spent most of her spare time visiting them, either at their homes, or at the Legion for a game of darts.

”It wasn’t unusual to go over to someone’s house and find Sylvia there,” said niece Janet Brewster. “She was just a joyful person. She was always smiling, and she had the best laugh.”

Lyall was the youngest daughter in a modern-day Arctic dynasty from the Kitikmeot.

Born in Edmonton, she moved between Alberta and Nunavut communities after studying at the Sir John Franklin high school in Yellowknife, with some of Nunavut’s notable public figures, including MLA Hunter Tootoo and MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell.

Premier Paul Okalik, who knew Lyall for 20 years, extended his sympathies, saying “her smile and good humour will be deeply missed in the cabinet offices of government.”

Most Nunavummiut recognize Lyall’s family name because of her father’s historical role in helping establish the community of Spence Bay, now called Taloyoak.

Her father, Ernie Lyall, a Hudson’s Bay clerk from Labrador, helped many Inuit, including his future wife Nipisha, relocate from Cape Dorset to the Kitikmeot.

Once settled, the Lyall family blossomed into an influential force, raising Charlie Lyall, president of the Kitikmeot Corp., the development branch of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association; Bill, a prominent member of the Arctic co-op movement, and former MLA in the government of the Northwest Territories; Dennis, former mayor of Taloyoak; and Pat, former head of Nunasi Corp., Nunavut’s main birthright development group.

However, colleagues remember Lyall for more than her family connections. Phil Bourdeau, who worked with her in the finance department, said he feels a “big hole” in the office that used to be filled by Lyall’s outgoing personality.

“I don’t think, in hindsight, I can ever remember seeing her in a bad mood,” Bourdeau said. “It was a real joy to be around her.

“I think she typified the saying ‘bad things happen to good people.’”

Anablak, a balding man with a grey-stubbled goatee, stared vacantly as he appeared in court on June 28, wearing a dark blue sweatshirt and sweatpants. Justice Robert Kilpatrick ordered Anablak to be held in jail until his next court appearance on August 3.

Lyall’s family will hold her funeral in Taloyoak but haven’t decided on a date. They also plan a memorial service and picnic potluck at Sylvia Grinnell Park in Iqaluit on July 4.

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