Iqaluit (Nov 13/06) - A convicted child rapist is literally roaming the streets of Iqaluit.

Jason Hikoalok arrived in Iqaluit on Nov. 6 and was immediately arrested by RCMP on a public interest warrant.

Jason Hikoalok sits outside an Iqaluit courtroom, waiting for someone to tell him where to go. The convicted child rapist arrived in Iqaluit on Nov. 6, and now that he has been released from police custody, he has nowhere to live. - Kent Driscoll/NNSL photo

By Nov. 10, the legal battle - including a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge and a fight over the conditions he has to follow - was over. He was free to go, but with restrictions.

The Crown argued for 19 conditions, but those were reduced by the court. Rules requiring him to not drink alcohol, not to own pornography, not to own electronic devices and to abide by a 9 p.m. curfew were rejected. The Crown wanted him to report to probation officials daily, the court decided on weekly.

He is not allowed near children, or places children frequent, he can not contact his victims, and must still report to RCMP and probation officials.

The charter challenge was dismissed by Justice Earl Johnson, who said it was out of his scope.

"There may well have been a charter breach in Yellowknife. This office was simply the end of the line," said Johnson.

Out of custody on Nov. 8, Hikoalok stayed in a hotel provided by Iqaluit Legal Aid. The next night, he stayed in the Iqaluit men's homeless shelter.

Following court on Nov. 10, he had all of his belongings in a garbage bag, no identification, just under $19 to his name, and nowhere to stay.

Hikoalok had just completed an eight-year prison term for multiple sexual offenses against children in Cambridge Bay.

The principle of habeas corpus - the right to not be illegally detained - was the basis of legal aid attorney Chris Dibicki's charter claim.

"Mr. Hikoalok has been subjected to an unlawful rendition to this community, with no legal basis. There was a complete disregard to proper principles of detention," said Dibicki.

The police argued that the arrest was warranted because the conditions he agreed to in the NWT do not transfer to Nunavut.

Hikoalok now claims he was never interested in coming to Iqaluit.

"My first choice was Kugluktuk and nowhere else. My mother's side of the family is there. So is my mother's grave, which I have never seen," said Hikoalok.

Cheryl Caudron, regional supervisor of NWT Correction Services, testified that criminals are typically released in the community in which they were charged and convicted. Hikoalok was tried and convicted in Yellowknife, before the existence of Nunavut.

"During his federal term, he did not complete any programs, which he should have. He seemed to be an untreated sex offender," said Caudron. "The NWT was given very short notice about Jason coming to Yellowknife."

"We were rushing quite a bit, the reality was that we only had four weeks to pull a plan together," she said. "I found out through Jason that he was arriving in Yellowknife on Oct. 11."

Corrections officials came up with a makeshift plan. If Hikoalok would agree to it, he could spend some time at the Kozo Lake bush camp, outside of Fort Smith.

On Oct. 26, Hikoalok flew to the bush camp with Scott Mills, a project officer with the NWT justice department.

"He wanted to cut wood, wash clothes, to do it all in one day, He said he wanted to work in Iqaluit for a couple of years... and then return to Cambridge Bay or Kugluktuk," said Mills.

Cambridge Bay didn't want him, and was not equipped to help him. said Caudron.

"They were somewhat panicked. They had as (little) notice as we had."

RCMP Sgt. Mike Toohey found out on Oct. 31 that Hikoalok was coming to Iqaluit, and obtained a public interest warrant to detain him upon arrival.

"The first thought was that the 8-10 (a court order compelling serious offenders to follow restrictions) issued in Yellowknife would be sufficient. I asked the Crown to re-examine this, I was advised that, no, this may not be the case," said Toohey.

Toohey also decided - in conjunction with the Nunavut Department of Justice, corrections officials and other RCMP members - to put out a warning to the public.

Hikoalok's lawyer insists he was detained illegally. When questioned about whether he was detained on the plane, Caudron chose her words carefully. "He was not escorted in the judicial sense. They (judicially escorted prisoners) are normally restrained or the person with them carries restraints," said Caudron.

From his release date until Nov. 8, he has been supervised by an official, the basis of Dibicki's argument.

"I am at a loss to find any manner in which you could say he was not detained," said Dibicki.

"For eight years, he was subjected to a routine where people of authority were responsible for his moves. He was passed from authority figure to authority figure."

Justice Johnson concluded: "This matter would have never ended up in this court if Corrections Canada had taken a more proactive approach."