Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Mar 01/99) - Before the RCMP can fully begin to provide a policing service that adequately meets the needs of Nunavut residents, officials around the territory want the police force to apologize for its actions in the past.

And as the result of a community RCMP advisory meeting that took place in Iqaluit last month, drawing brass like RCMP Commissioner Phillip Murray, that apology is forthcoming.

"They're working on the apology right now. That's the number one project," said Const. Jimmy Akavak of Nunavut's community policing section.

"Our (commanding officer) said they were drafting up an apology for the Inuit who were relocated. There was no understanding why they were being moved and killing off dog teams, issues like that."

Akavak's colleague and long-time police officer, Const. Lew Philip, said the meeting and the impending apology would help people heal from past pain while paving the way for Nunavut's police force, which will officially be sworn in on April 1.

"They had concerns about what happened in the 1920s when the RCMP came. They talked about that and how they could address the Inuit these days," said Philip.

Expected to be released within the next few weeks, the apology will precede several other recommendations made by the more than 50 participants from Nunavut communities who attended the three-day conference.

A recruiting drive that will target approximately 30 Inuit youth in Nunavut has been scheduled to begin next month and Philip and Akavak have already been planning ways to overcome obstacles and assist in making the 18-week training period in Regina more sensitive to the needs of those cadets.

"They're exposed to a whole different culture. There's home-sickness, city driving and we have hardly any roads up here, country foods, having someone else there," said Akavak.

Another recommendation to come out of the conference was to send a large group of Inuit for training all at once so they could provide support for one another.

"It's a good idea because we spend so many thousands of dollars on sending so many people that quit. If we send more than 10 people, they can support each other," said Philip.

"If you're the only Inuk person from Grise Fiord, it's pretty hard to go down there," added Philip.

Both Akavak and Philip, who each went through training as part of an all-aboriginal troop, said that all of the recommendations and the efforts of the officers, justice workers and community agencies who attended the meeting would make Nunavut and its justice system more effective.

Inuktitut-speaking police officers would be able to work directly with the residents of each community while translating for southern members working in the North. It was also felt that the more each community participated in their own justice activities, the more reflective that system would be.

"If there's miscommunication on the line, it's not going to work. They'll just fight," said Philip.