9th Akitsiraq law grad called to Nunavut bar

Another graduate of the Akitsiraq Law Program was called to the Nunavut bar late last week, adding to the number of graduates from Nunavut's first law degree program to be called to the bar.

Henry Coman of Iqaluit took his oath before a packed courtroom at the Nunavut Court of Justice late Friday afternoon.

Coman, an RCMP constable, articled for a year after he graduated, then spent a year training police officers in Afghanistan.

"My little trip to Afghanistan for a year sort of delayed a lot of that ... just delay after delay, but [I] finished it after all," Coman told CBC News at the ceremony.

Coman becomes the ninth of 11 Akitsiraq graduates to have been called to the bar. The class graduated in 2005 from the four-year program, in which law courses from the University of Victoria were offered to Inuit students in Iqaluit.

The Akitsiraq Law Society, which runs the program, plans to offer a second round of courses in 2010.

Three of Coman's fellow graduates watched the bar ceremony Friday, dressed in traditional black lawyer robes and smiling proudly and tearfully.

"It's an emotional moment because we watched each other as classmates struggling, and not just with the school work but with life on top of schoolwork," said Sandra Inuitiq, a fellow student.

Also at the ceremony, which featured a special lighting of the traditional Inuit qulliq lamp, were Coman's wife and children and his RCMP colleagues.