Mountie shooting suspect appears in Iqaluit court
Kolola remanded in custody as Nunavut hamlet struggles with alcohol issues
Last Updated: Friday, November 9, 2007 | 7:41 PM CT
CBC News
A suspect in the killing of an RCMP officer in a small Nunavut community made his first court appearance in Iqaluit on Friday.
Pingoatuk Kolola, 37, was remanded in custody.
Pingoatuk Kolola was escorted by Mounties to the Iqaluit courthouse Friday afternoon.
(CBC)
He was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Const. Douglas Scott, 20.
Scott was shot dead Monday night in Kimmirut, an Arctic hamlet 120 kilometres south of Iqaluit on Baffin Island, as he was responding to an impaired driving complaint.
His body was sent to Toronto on Thursday for forensic analysis, and his funeral will be held Tuesday in his hometown of Brockville, Ont.
Some sombre Mounties were among the onlookers in the courtroom. When asked if he understood the first-degree murder charge, Kolola nodded in agreement.
The court granted the Crown's request for a ban on communication between the accused and several potential witnesses.
Kolola has yet to find legal counsel. He was assisted Friday by a legal aid lawyer. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 4 in Iqaluit.
Escorted by two RCMP officers, Kolola was rushed past reporters and photographers, handcuffs binding his hands and a green jacket hood covering his face.
The investigation into Scott's death is wrapping up in Kimmirut, said RCMP Supt. Tim Cogan, with forensic teams and other investigative units starting to pull out of the community.
Two relief officers will remain behind to police the community until permanent staff can be brought in, Cogan said.
Bootlegging a problem in dry hamlet: mayor
While the investigation began to wrap up, the flag remained at half-mast this week at the Kimmirut RCMP office.
The hamlet of about 400 people is one of eight completely dry communities in Nunavut. But Mayor Joe Arlooktoo told CBC News that they're having a difficult time staying ahead of local bootleggers, even though the community has doubled the maximum fine for illegal alcohol from $5,000 to $10,000.
A 40-ounce bottle of alcohol can sell for several hundred dollars in Kimmirut.
Lou Phillip, a retired Inuk RCMP officer who has worked in the North for more than 25 years, said alcohol always seems to be involved in crimes in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
"Every person committing crimes has to [have] alcohol involved," Phillip said. "If we don't have any alcohol or any drugs, we're good people."
The Nunavut government has been trying to control the problem in some communities by banning booze outright. But when asked about the effectiveness of that policy this week, government officials declined to comment in light of the shooting.
"I could already tell that if we did not have ... alcohol, that these things would never happen or we would not be talking about this today," said Paul Kaludjak, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the land claims organization in Nunavut.
The RCMP's Cogan would not say what role alcohol may have played in Scott's death, adding that the facts will emerge as the investigation continues.
Some Nunavut communities, while not completely dry, have alcohol education committees that regulate the import and consumption of alcohol. Others have no bans or committees at all.
Last month, the western Nunavut hamlet of Kugluktuk was the latest to vote in favour of setting up an alcohol education committee in an effort to stem alcohol abuse there.
