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Justice through Northern eyes
Calgary students struck by caring, determined life of Inuit

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 24, 2015

RANKIN INLET
Four students from Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alta., finished two weeks of studying Nunavut's justice system in Rankin Inlet this past week.

NNSL photo/graphic

Justice students Nick Eckert, Dylan Dinh, Kennedy Elmy and Ben Reid, back row from left, and professor Scharie Tavcer, front, from Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alta., are set to leave the Kivalliq impressed by what they experienced in Rankin while studying the Nunavut justice system for two weeks earlier this month. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Nick Eckert, Dylan Dinh, Ben Reid, Kennedy Elmy and associate professor Scharie Tavcer observed court proceedings in Rankin, and interacted with about 15 agencies, departments and organizations during their stay.

The students are majoring in criminal justice and the field school gave them a chance to job shadow justice-based agencies to learn how criminal matters are handled in a remote community.

Eckert said he was inspired by how much people who work in Rankin care about Inuit and their culture.

He said the cohesiveness of the community, and seeing how much people care about each other, touched every student.

"Some of the court cases could be intense and horrific," said Eckert.

"We really haven't been exposed to much, being just in our second year of studies, so I can't comment on a comparison between the North and south."

Tavcer said the big difference is that everybody lives together in Rankin.

She said even though people may be offending against those they know in the south, there's a big geographical difference between them.

"You could live in different parts of the city and never see each other," said Tavcer.

"Here, everybody is on top of each other."

Elmy said she found the Northern system to be quite similar to that of the south.

She said the main difference is the Northern system being community based.

"People in custody come in and sit with the rest of the public and you would never see that in Calgary," said Elmy.

"I found the judge great because he really explained everything and didn't want to break-up families here.

"I liked the approach of the offender being taken out on the land.

"We don't have that in Calgary and I thought it was really neat to see."

Elmy said it was interesting to learn of the problems that can be created in the North by the long wait an individual may face before their day in court arrives.

She said she could understand how that could be very difficult for some people.

"Since circuit court only comes once every two months, some people are waiting around a lot.

"A person can change in two months, or commit crimes, so the waiting game can be long here.

"It's such a small community that once people get talking, rumours spread and it can be difficult to deal with."

Dinh said hearing the elders' stories had a dramatic impact on her.

She said what she heard really made her think.

"Talking with Helen Iguptaq, hearing about her experience at the residential school and the rapid social changes she experienced was very moving," said Dinh.

"Being out, living on the land to, all of a sudden, being plucked-up and thrown into a residential school - you have to think about the impacts that would have on her family and the generations to come.

"You think about the root of the causes here, and the common theme probably is the residential schools and the lack of infrastructure that hasn't caught up to all the social changes that have gone on.

"The resilience of people like Helen, the pride they have in their culture, and wanting to keep their customs alive to pass onto the next generation is inspiring to me."

Reid said he was impacted by how life in the North is different in many ways, yet also similar.

He said one area, however, that's completely unique is out on the land.

"You can leave Calgary and go hike up the mountains, but you don't see

anything but trees until you reach a point where you can see through the trees and everything around you," said Reid.

"When you go out on the land here, it's an amazing view everywhere you look.

"The openness of everything reflects how open the people here are in comparison to Calgary, where it's all so constricted.

"I know my neighbours three houses to the left and right in the city, but, after a week here, I could name six or seven people because it's so homy and the people are so close to each other."

Eckert said a big part of criminal justice is not seeing the law, world or people you're dealing with as black or white.

He said it's important to understand different cultures, ways of life and perspectives, so you can factor them into your work when dealing with people.

"So, definitely, the tangible thing we got from this experience was exposure to a world that's not so black and white as the law can sometimes be in southern municipalities," said Eckert.

"You can think of criminal justice in that way."

Tavcer said the group gives thanks and appreciation to the people of Rankin for being welcomed and accepted into the community.

She said the help really meant a lot to the group.

"We appreciate it all, the teaching, learning and opening these doors for our students.

"Hopefully, we can return with more students."

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