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August 25, 2006
From Nunavut DM to head of United Church
Nora Sanders, formerly Nunavut’s deputy minister of justice, is now the general secretary of the United Church of Canada.
Sanders was well-liked and widely-respected during her stint with the Government of Nunavut. She started with the GN as deputy minister of justice in 1998 until a sudden departure in May of 2004.
At the time, it was perceived that she took the fall for Kevin O’Brien, the former MLA for Arviat and speaker of the house, who was found to have been charged with illegal possession of liquor in Arviat, a dry community.
This undisclosed charge, and subsequent guilty plea, caused much outrage among MLAs, because it was not publicized until after the February, 2004 territorial election, even though O’Brien was defeated in that election anyway.
Shortly after her departure, Sanders found a job as a deputy minister with the Saskatchewan provincial government.
Her new job makes her the senior staff and administrative officer for the United Church’s general council, executive and sub-executive.
August 25, 2006
Okalik names new principal secretary
Premier Paul Okalik named Patricia Angnakak of Iqaluit as his new principal secretary this past Monday.
Angnakak served as CEO of the Kakivak Association from 1992 to 1999, and more recently, as NTI’s director of social and cultural development. She was also Nunavut’s first deputy commissioner.
A political secretary serves as chief of staff and political advisor to the premier. She will be one of several staff who work closely with Okalik on a regular basis.
Angnakak fills the void left by Peter Ma, who was shuffled from his former post as principal secretary on July 1 to a new job as deputy minister of finance.
That move was part of larger shake-up that the government says is supposed to help Inuit senior managers gain experience and skills.
August 11, 2006
Marijuana Party leader pleads guilty
Nunavut’s leader of the Marijuana Party pleaded guilty to longstanding drug-related charges in an Iqaluit court this Tuesday.
Ed deVries pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana and laundering the proceeds of crime, two charges he’s faced since August 2004.
The charges stem from an RCMP investigation that began in December 2003, when police intercepted a filing cabinet containing $100,000 worth of marijuana in Montreal during a Canada Post inspection. The cabinet was bound for a company owned by deVries in Iqaluit.
Earlier this year, deVries’ accomplice, Andrew Macdonald, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and is currently serving 90 days in prison.
Several weeks ago deVries told Nunatsiaq News he planned to stand trial in Igloolik by jury. He said he believed he would be acquitted, given the number of pot smokers he says live in the community.
Since then he’s been accused of tarnishing the community’s reputation by angry residents and Igloolik’s mayor, Paul Quassa. Quassa has said some elders want deVries banished.
DeVries is to appear for sentencing in Igloolik on Sept. 25.
August 4, 2006
Parks officer dies in climbing accident
A Parks Canada patrol officer fell to his death while rappelling down the face of Mount Thor in Auyuittuq National Park last Tuesday.
Philip Robinson, 26, had worked for Parks Canada since 2001, first in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island and later in Auyuittuq National Park, located between Pangnirtung and Qikiqtarjuaq. Robinson was originally from Igloolik.
“He was amazing. He connected to everybody. He was one of those larger than life people,” said Pauline Scott, a communications officer for Parks Canada in Iqaluit.
Police and Parks Canada are investigating the death, which is believed to be caused either by equipment failure or human error. Robinson was considered an experienced climber, Slawson said.
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