May 9, 2008
KIA president resigns over legal issue
“I’m sure there’ll be opportunities in the future.”
Joe Otokiak, president of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, resigned May 5, just seven weeks after being elected.
Otokiak appears to have resigned due to ongoing controversy surrounding a 12-month suspended sentence he is serving for assaulting his son.
Bylaws passed by the KIA in 2005 state that candidates who have committed indictable offences are not permitted to hold office. But that posed no problem to Otokiak, because he was convicted of a less-serious, summary offence.
Except there's a catch. According to Otokiak's resignation letter, the KIA has yet to inform the Government of Nunavut's registrar's office of the changes they made to their bylaws in 2005.
That means, legally speaking, these changes haven't occurred yet.
It's unclear why, after three years, this paperwork has yet to be filed. Fred Elias, the KIA's executive director, did not return phone calls before the deadline of Nunatsiaq News.
In any case, Otokiak decided to resolve the problem by resigning, rather than fight a legal battle.
"I thank the Inuit who supported me in the Kitikmeot for the position that I ran for and I'm sure there'll be opportunities in the future for me to pursue to try and help Inuit prosper," Otokiak wrote in his resignation letter.
An election to choose a new president will be held in a few months, says a KIA press release. In the meantime, Raymond Kayaksark, first vice-president of KIA, will serve as acting president.
