David Annanack acknowledged that his son Mark R Annanack had violated some laws in the past, but said he had a good heart. He told Mark to stop evading the police, but when his son stopped running, everything went terribly badly.
Mark died in his town of Kangiqsualujjuaq, which. After a shooting in the fatal police in May.
“He was waiting for the police to pick him up to take him to jail. As soon as they saw it, he was shot twice … one of those police officers,” Annanack said.
The Quebec police guardian dog, the Independent Enquêtes office (BEI), is still investigating that shooting.
His preliminary findings at that time suggested that a person left a tent with a weapon with a fusion weapon and the police tried to use pepper and a taser to submit it. Bei’s statement did not indicate how many shots were shot.
Annanack has now signed a letter that asks for changes within the Nunavik Police Service (NPS) and for a meeting with Quebec François Legault minister.
The letter leaves the back of a fatal police shooting in Inukjuak on July 17, marking the Third death of this type in the region since November 2024 and 17th death related to the police in Nunavik, a region of less than 15,000, since 2017, according to the BEI database.
The other signer is Garnet Papigatuk, who was shot by the police in Salup In November 2024. He survived, but his brother Joshua did not.
That letter, also published on Facebook on Tuesday, has three demands for the province, to disarm local police officers, initiate a complete investigation of the Public Commission at the Nunavik Police Service and create a team to work towards reconciliation.
‘They will kill more’
The mayor of Inukjuak, Bobby Epoo, said recent death is still very fresh for the community. He said that some family members, from the nearby Sanikiluaq, NU, are still arriving in Inukjuak.
“Other members of the family of our neighboring community arrived by boat over the weekend. They are still in shock. They are still mourning,” he said.
The body still needs to be sent to the south for an autopsy, before the family can make funeral arrangements. Epoo asked Bei to issue a public statement about his findings after his investigation into death is completed.
He also pointed to the training that some officers receive from the École Nationale de Police du Québec, which he believes does not take into account the realities of the north and is not culturally relevant. Above all, he wants to see the police find ways to use only lethal force as a last resort.
“Why do training in a pepper and pepper spray if you are not going to use it?” He asks. The BEI said that his current investigations do not suggest that these deterrent elements were used in Inukjuak before the police opened fire.
With all deaths related to the police in the region, Annanack urged the province to meet their demands.
“It is the only way to stop them. If they carry firearms on their side, in the streets, they will kill more. You have to stop. We are not animals, we are not dogs,” he said.
Ongoing reviews
In response to the letter from Annanack and Papigatuk, the Minister of Public Security of Quebec, François Bonnardel, offered their thoughts to the affected families. But he reiterated the need for Bei to complete his investigations.
“The Quebec government is paying special attention to the erosion of a feeling of trust between the population of Nunavik and its police service,” he said in a French statement.
The Regional Government of Kattik (KRG) launched an independent audit on the Nunavik Police, after Annanack’s death. The KRG has civil supervision on NP.
“Being responsible for the administration of its police force and out of respect for its autonomy, the teams of the Ministry of Public Security will be available to support, advise and facilitate the implementation of this independent audit by the KRG,” said Bonnardel.
KRG did not speak directly with the letter, but issued a statement in advance, offering his condolences and announcing some of the changes he is working on, including a plan to finish “a rotation system for the NPS administration.”
“These repeated fatal shootings deny Nunavimmiut the opportunity to heal and feel completely safe in their communities,” said KRG’s vice president, Mary Arngaq, in the statement.
“We urgently need to find ways for our communities to work with the Police and residents to identify, prevent and decline situations that threaten life.”
