A Yellowknife man said his civil rights were ignored when he was arrested in an Iqaluit pub last month.

Bob Stewart said he was sitting at the Kickin' Caribou Pub with his father while on a business trip when he was arrested for what the RCMP called public drunkenness.

Stewart said he was not intoxicated, but that he had been drinking and had had about nine beers over a five-hour time span.

He said about eight Mounties, a liquor inspector and the fire marshal entered the pub when they were there.

Stewart said he commented to his father that he thought it was 'overkill'. An RCMP officer who overheard him asked him to repeat his comment, which Stewart did.

"He said, 'how about I arrest you for being drunk in public?' and I said 'you can’t, I’m not,'… and then he said after that, 'I’m going to arrest you for being drunk in public', and then I turned to him and I looked directly at him and I said, 'no, you are not', and that’s when he grabbed my hand," said Stewart.

Stewart said the RCMP put him in hand cuffs, escorted him out of the pub, searched him and then took his cell phone and wallet.

He was then put into the police cruiser. He was later released, his belongings returned.

The RCMP did not lay any charges against Stewart, but Stewart says he will as soon as he finds a lawyer.

He also posted an account of his experience on the internet for the public to read, and has suggested changes to Nunavut’s Liquor Act.