The community of Salluit, Nunavik in northern Quebec is mourning the loss of community member Joshua Papigatuk.
Papigatuk was shot by a Nunavik police officer in the community in the early morning hours on Nov. 4.
His brother, Garnet Papigatuk, was also at the scene and shot by the officer as well. He was medevaced to a hospital in the south where he received surgery.
APTN News was told by a source in contact with the family that Garnet woke up on Monday and is now in stable condition.
Quebec watchdog the Bureau des Enquetes has five investigators looking into the situation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the BEI said preliminary information provided to the BEI suggests the incident occurred after a call was made to 911 over a person attempting to drive while impaired. It said two officers arrived on scene leading to a physical altercation between the officers and two people.
The BEI said the police used electric shock weapons and pepper spray to subdue the people without success then a police officer opened fire at one of the people. The BEI said the officer then continued to open fire on the second person.
This is the tenth Indigenous person to die in Canada during an interaction with police since the end of August.
History of police violence in Nunavik
Nunavik is the Inuit region in northern sub-Arctic Quebec. It has a history of police violence towards community members. Between July 2016 and September 2018, civilians were being killed by Nunavik’s police service at the highest rate in Quebec.
The Nunavik police service is at the heart of more than four per cent of all incidents including death or serious injury it investigates, according to the BEI.
The Nunavik police has had approximately 26 times more lethal and/or severe injury events compared to the Montreal police since 2016.
Protests have been held in Nunavik in response to the killing of Joshua Papigatuk for the last two days.
Many in the social group Salluit Breaking News are questioning the use of guns against community members and calling for accountability.
“[I] hope our community leaders will get us some answers to why lethal weapons were used to our friend’s & relatives [Joshua] & Garnet,” group member Ali Audlaluk wrote. “Don’t Nunavik Police Force have [non] lethal devices on them too.”
APTN asked Nunavik police about whether the officer was still on duty. It did not respond to our request by air time.
Pita Aatami the president for Makivvik, the legal representation of Quebec’s Inuit, said in a statement that this incident is a painful reminder that Nunavik needs significant reform to truly serve and protect the community.
“Non-lethal de-escalation methods must become standard practice, and there must be a stronger, more respectful connection between police and our communities,” said Aatami. “When police enter our communities, they should be here to protect us—not to cause harm.
