Civil forfeiture forum hears input
Prostitution, gambling suggested as activities that could trigger the seizure of property
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, December 7, 2015
IQALUIT
Proposed civil forfeiture legislation would crack down on criminal activity connected to the south, say Government of Nunavut representatives who hosted of a forum on the subject in Iqaluit Dec. 2.
Stephen Shaddock, policy counsel explains the Government of Nunavut's proposed civil forfeiture legislation. The Justice Department is seeking input about whether Nunavut needs this legislation and what scope it should have. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo |
"We're thinking about not only activities that are done by Nunavummiut and everything stays in Nunavut, but also activities that are done on behalf of people who live outside of Nunavut," Stephen Shaddock, policy counsel for the GN, told the audience. "We don't want them profiting illegally off of Nunavut."
Eight of 10 provinces have civil forfeiture laws that take large amounts of money out of criminal organizations, he said.
"Certainly, they say it's quite successful."
Civil forfeiture legislation would see the creation of a forfeiture office that would review cases referred by law enforcement of tips from the public. The director would then determine whether to start a forfeiture proceeding in civil court.
In Nunavut's proposed legislation, no property would be forfeited without a court order, and all Nunavummiut would have the right to be heard by a court to demonstrate their lawful ownership of the property before it could be forfeited.
Audience members questioned the scope of the proposed legislation, such as whether it would cover the proceeds of gambling.
"One of the things (other communities) have identified is they would like to see this proposed legislation target gambling," said Archie Angnakak, senior policy analyst.
Prostitution has also been brought up during the department's community consultations, he added.
Resident Rhoda Ungalaq asked whether it would help deal with parents of children breaking the law.
"I think parents should be responsible for their children's unlawful doings," she said.
Shaddock responded that the law wouldn't address that directly, but it could help tangentially by making it more difficult for adults who use children as a front to profit off illegal activity.
"I would like to point out that we have, during consultations, heard stories anecdotally of children being used to carry out some of these crimes, such as dealing the drugs or taking the money," he said.
Asked where property would be auctioned off after it was seized, Shaddock said the goal would be to reduce conflict where possible.
"If possible it would be auctioned within the community itself, " he said "The idea is to reduce conflict, and we know that if you take a drug dealer or bootlegger or some other person who's committed an illegal act and just give (the seized property) to their neighbour or somebody else, that's probably just going to result in more conflict rather than less."
The department is still seeking input on the proposed legislation at civilforfeitureinfo@gov.nu.ca.
