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IQALUIT
Noting he is the grandson, son, brother and husband of RCMP officers, Nunavut Wildlife Management Board CEO Mikidjuk Akavak broke down in court after pleading guilty March 20 to assaulting two officers while intoxicated in July 2011.

Nunavut Wildlife Management Board chair Mikidjuk Akavak pleaded guilty March 20 to assaulting two RCMP officers after his wife, also a police officer, called the RCMP to put him in the drunk tank for the night. - NNSL file photo

"I grew up fighting with my fists protecting my father's occupation," Akavak told Justice Andrew Mahar, who took into account the offender's history of positive relationships with police.

Mahar denied the Crown's request for a three-month sentence. Instead, Akavak was given three days in jail, with 18 months probation. He will have to seek alcohol and anger management treatment as well as trauma counselling. He also has to pay a fine and submit a DNA sample because these are his third and fourth convictions for violence.

Suggesting Akavak may not have a job by the end of the day, his lawyer Malcolm Kempt described him as a "functional alcoholic," while Mahar said his actions made clear he was a "dysfunctional alcoholic."

Pointing to older crimes for possessing a weapon and uttering threats and a more recent assault conviction, Crown prosecutor Larry Stein said Akavak "is no stranger to violence or bullying people."

"You have some demons," Mahar told Akavak. "It's difficult to impose a deterrent sentence (against alcoholics) because the sentence has to deter."

The latest offence came as a result of an apparent anomaly in Akavak's relationship with police. Trouble began when Akavak arrived home at about 2:30 a.m. July 21, 2011 after a night of drinking "at least 10 beers," according to Kempt. Stein told the court Akavak was unable to find cash to pay the taxi, so he roused his RCMP officer wife, yelling that he needed money.

Concerned that he needed time alone to get sober, Akavak's wife told him to leave, saying she would call the RCMP to take him to the drunk tank. She soon did just that, and police arrived to find her locked out of the house with their two children alone inside with Akavak.

When the officers approached the door, the daughter opened it. Once upstairs, the son motioned that his father was in a room with an open door.

When the lead officer entered the room, he did not see Akavak, who then emerged from a closet in a "boxing stance," asking the officer, "Do you want to fight?" Crown prosecutor Larry Stein told the court.

The officer said he was there simply to take Akavak somewhere to get sober, but heard Akavak say in response, "I'm going to kick your ass."

The officer tried to put Akavak in handcuffs, but Akavak got loose and started swinging his arms. Both officers were hit in the back of the head in the struggle to put cuffs on.

The lead officer and Akavak fell to the ground wrestling, and he punched Akavak in the head to no effect. He asked his partner to pepper spray Akavak in the eyes, at which point the offender was restrained, but he fought the officers all the way to the cruiser.

As a result of the incident and arrest, Akavak said his family life is in turmoil. Plus, his status as a public figure has increased his feelings of being under pressure due to scrutiny in the media, he said.

"It's different than someone who has a pattern of disrespect for police," Mahar said, acknowledging Akavak's background with the RCMP and the resulting short sentence. "It's been a very embarrassing incident."

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