IQALUIT - A nurse charged with sexual assault in relation to an incident at Qikiqtani General Hospital last June had been disciplined in Quebec for sexually inappropriate behaviour with a patient prior to being hired in Nunavut.

Raymond Labrecque was charged with one count of sexual assault this past December in relation to incidents alleged to have occurred in June 2010 at Qikiqtani General Hospital.

While working as a registered nurse in Quebec, Labrecque lost his licence for two months after he was disciplined in 2003 for sexually inappropriate behaviour with a patient.

He appeared in court on Jan. 20 and is next expected in the Nunavut Court of Justice on March 7 to enter a plea.

Labrecque had been working as a registered nurse at the Iqaluit hospital since 2004, before being suspended when the allegations surfaced this past June.

"When the allegation was first made in June 2010, the department acted on it at once by reporting it to RCMP immediately and suspending the employee on the spot," said Gabriel Zarate, a spokesman with the Department of Health and Social Services. "That individual is no longer employed for the Government of Nunavut."

Labrecque's nursing licence in Nunavut was suspended after he informed the Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut of the charge in December, said Steven Leck, the association's executive director.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.