‘Policing in Nunavik is broken’: Inuit group wants change after latest fatal shooting

By Canadian Press on May 9, 2025.

MONTREAL — The political organization that represents Inuit in Quebec says policing in the Far North is “broken” after an officer shot and killed an Inuk man on Tuesday.

The shooting by the Nunavik Police Service is the second officer-involved death in the northern region since November.

Makivvik, a group that represents the Inuit of Nunavik, says there is a pattern of police using excessive force in the region.

In a news release, Makivvik head Pita Aatami asked how many families must suffer before the province “understands that policing in Nunavik is broken?”

The organization says the latest death reflects a failure of the police force to de-escalate a situation or employ a level of cultural understanding.

In November 2024, an officer shot and killed Joshua Papigatuk and seriously injured his twin brother Garnet after police responded to a call about alleged impaired driving in Salluit, about 1,850 kilometres north of Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025.

The Canadian Press

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