Residents of the Kitikmeot community didn't want convicted sex offender Davidee Nakashook to return and said so in a letter to Justice Beverly Browne.

"He has a very long history of violence against community members," said Gord Bligh, interim senior administrative officer for Cambridge Bay.

Nakashook has more than 35 convictions on his criminal record.

Browne, Nunavut's chief justice, denied the community request when she sentenced Nakashook for a sexual assault against a 17-year-old on Nov. 20. However, the judge could have done so.

The Canadian Criminal Code does not prohibit banishment condition.

It can be incorporated into a probation order. In the same way that a judge can order a convict not to drink alcohol, a judge can banish an individual from a community for up to three years, which is the maximum time of a probation order.

Richard Meredith, Nunavut regional director for the Department of Justice Canada, said the judge could impose a banishment order if it is felt necessary to protect society and if it will help the offender integrate into society.

"It's on a case-by-case basis depending on the circumstances that the court will consider banishment," said Meredith.

Banishment happens

In the Northwest Territories, banishment has been used.

In May, Territorial Court judge Robert Bourassa ordered Ronald James Felix to stay away from his hometown of Tuktoyaktuk for two years.

The 36-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in prison and two-year banishment in May after he assaulted his former spouse and their 11-year-old daughter.

Weighing Felix's criminal record of more than 30 prior convictions, including several for spousal assault, Bourassa opted for banishment instead of an ordinary restraining order.

"Obviously the criminal law has failed to protect the family members here," Bourassa said.

"Any efforts by the court, either to punish or rehabilitate has been a total failure."

Felix appealed the order, but although it was upheld, the term was reduced to one year by NWT Supreme Court Justice Virginia Schuler.

In her reasons for judgment, Schuler said the banishment condition was "aimed at protecting certain individuals rather than ridding the community of an undesirable individual," so input from family and community was not considered necessary.

She also noted that given the small size of Tuktoyaktuk, it would have been almost impossible to enforce a no-contact order.

It's part of tradition

Although this form of punishment may seem odd to some, it has traditionally been a part of Inuit and Dene culture.

Steve Anavilok has lived in Cambridge Bay for more than 50 years.

He said many old stories explain how the Inuit used shunning to deal with a problematic member of the community.

Anavilok thinks banishment or shunning is still a good form of justice.

"Once a fully grown man has been sent somewhere away from his community, I think he tends to behave because he's among strangers," said Anavilok.

Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation Chief Archie Catholique agreed that banishment works.

Five years ago, the band council ordered a drug trafficker to leave town and an elders' justice circle sent a band member with alcohol problems out of town for a year.

"Since then, these individuals are quite different," said Catholique.

While banishment might send a message to the offender, there are concerns.

For 'horrific' crimes

Chief Roy Fabian of K'atlodeeche First Nation on the Hay River Reserve said Dene used banishment to deal with people who commit "horrific" crimes.

He said the last banishment on the Hay River Reserve was in 1998 when a justice committee sent a teenager to spend time with his uncle in the bush. Fabian said communities also have to look at their healing process and support for people, before considering banishment.

"Until we start looking at issues, we've got no right to look at that sort of thing," he said. "They can't be thrown out in the bush and forgotten about."

Fabian, and others, believe communities have to avoid transferring their problems to another community through banishment.

In Nakashook's case, officials in Iqaluit were concerned.

"Iqaluit will not become a dumping ground for people banned from other communities," said Coun. Linda Gunn at a meeting on Dec. 10.

Iqaluit's city council will address the issue once it has explored all of its options.

Bligh said that when Cambridge Bay made the decision to request Nakashook be banished, members of the council carefully considered the problem of who would accept him.

"That was the hardest part to overcome. We just didn't know if another community would accept this individual. We also knew that sometimes a change of venue can be very positive," said Bligh.