Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 9, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Former premier Don Morin will appear in court later this month, after being charged with assaulting a taxi driver in early October.

Don Morin

According to court documents, Morin, 54, is facing one charge of assault and one charge of mischief in relation to an incident that occurred on Oct. 9 outside the Black Knight Pub.

A second person, Scott Naylor, 48, is also facing mischief charges stemming from the incident.

Const. Roxanne Dreilich of the RCMP's community policing unit said officers responded outside the Black Knight Pub at around 9:15 p.m.

She said witnesses reported seeing an altercation between two men and a City Cabs driver on the street outside the pub, and the driver had reported that one of the men punched him in the chest, and that both of the suspects had kicked his car.

According to Dreilich, when the police arrived on the scene, the two men had already left.

"However, some of the witnesses were able to identify one of the men," she said.

The police located the two later in the evening at another bar.

Dreilich said the investigating officers observed the taxi had sustained damage in the incident, however the driver was not treated for any injuries.

Morin served as NWT premier from 1995 to 1998. He is the owner of Aurora Village, a tourist camp catering mainly to Japanese visitors. Mostly recently, he was invited by the territorial government as part of a delegation sent to China in September to drum up interest in trade and tourism with the NWT.

Both Morin and Naylor are scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 27 to speak to the charges.