Another Nunavut man avoids mandatory minimum sentence for shooting a gun

• Mandatory minimum sentence for reckless use of guns is unconstitutional, rules judge

In Nungusuituq's case, Justice Susan Charlesworth said three years more appropriately balancesthe severity of the crime with a true chance to rehabilitate the young offender.

Nungusuituq was 20 years old at the time of the offence and has no prior criminal record.

Charlesworthsentenced him on March 22 and the Court released the written reasons for her decision on April 25.

Charter challenge allowed

Both those decisions are being appealed according to the Crown prosecutor in Nungusuituq's case, but Charlesworth says that doesn't mean the reasoning in them was wrong.

A court can find a mandatory minimum unconstitutional, if the defendant proposes a reasonable situation where the sentence would be cruel and unusual according to section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In this case, the proposed hypothetical situation involved a bullied Indigenous person who fires a shot into the air, turns himself into police custody then pleads guilty very similar to the actual events of the three cases being considered: Nungusuituq's and the two earlier cases.

Considering Indigenous offenders

On the night of the community dance, Nungusuituq was drunk and high and was beaten up by some kids in the community.

He got his gun and shot it once into the air abovehis father's house before returning to the area near the community hall where he says he aimed the gun above the heads of people.

One bullet flew over a woman's shoulder, another hit the ground near his cousin. In total four shots were fired.

"This was a very grave offence: Mr. Nungusuituq's actions of firing his rifle with the small hamlet of Kimmirut undoubtedly had a lasting impact on many members of his community," said Charlesworth.

However, Charlesworth says as he was doing well before the incident, living with his grandfather and taking care of him, she sees him as a good candidate for rehabilitation.

"He ... suffered a disrupted, abusive childhood, but had become an avid and talented hunter providing food for his family and community," Charlesworth noted.

Gladue principles principles originating in a Supreme Court case from 1999 direct Canadian courts to give special consideration to the impact colonial policies continue to have on Indigenous offenders.

"Parliament does not appear to have considered Gladue principles in its imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence requiring a significant penitentiary sentence," Charlesworth writes in her decision.

With the credit for the time Nungusuituq had served in the Baffin Correctional Centre before his sentencing, his jail time is complete. He isnow serving his probation.

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