Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jun 26/00) - On June 16, the day after he turned 56-years old, Iqaluit resident Joseph Morneau was found guilty of violating Section 84 of the Nunavut Liquor Act.

After listening to the testimony of several witnesses, many of whom were RCMP officers, and the arguments of crown prosecutor Richard Meredith and defence counsel Euan Mackay, Justice John Vertes found Morneau guilty of selling or offering to sell alcohol without a licence.

Morneau operated the Explorer's Club, a private bar at Building 2017 in the West 40 section of Iqaluit. As the sole shareholder of Group One, the company that leases space to the Explorer's Club, Morneau acted as landlord and general manager of the operation.

While he said he thought he should have been able to sell alcohol without a liquor licence because he ran a members-only operation, Vertes' verdict maintained that Morneau was not exempt from the Nunavut Liquor Act.

Morneau was given a fine of $3,000 for the violation and an order calling for the forfeiture of all alcohol and bar paraphernalia was made.

Morneau also faces several other related Liquor Act violations and was scheduled to appear back in the Nunavut Court of Justice on July 4 at 9:30 a.m. to set trial dates for two of the charges filed against him.

A resident of Yellowknife, Vertes presided over the four-day trial after both resident judges, Beverly Browne and Robert Kilpatrick, declared a conflict of interest and removed themselves from the case.

Both judges have children who attend Inuksuk high school, the educational institution where Morneau is currently employed.