Nunavut man who 'terrorized his community for 45 minutes' gets 9 years in prison

A Cape Dorset, Nunavut, man has been sentenced to nine years in prison after he "terrorized his community" with a weapon in October 2015.

Elijah Quvianaqtuliaq had pleaded guilty to breach of probation, possession of a firearm while prohibited, pointing a firearm, threatening death, sexual assault with a weapon, and resisting arrest.

According to the agreed facts, his actions included pointing a gun at two people travelling on an ATV, taking a woman into a home, sexually assaulting her at gunpoint and threatening to kill the home's two occupants, telling them "I can kill you all. I have four shells."

Quvianaqtuliaq "terrorized his community for 45 minutes" Justice Bonnie Tulloch wrote in her reasons for decision.

The 28-year-old, who was drunk at the time, "took a loaded firearm and used it to get whatever he wanted. All of his victims were vulnerable. None of them had weapons…. He had no hesitation about pointing that gun at those he came across that night and he knew how to use the weapon to threaten his victims."

The judge denied a request for an exemption from a firearms ban for hunting purposes, citing his previous convictions for careless use of a firearm, possession of weapons for a dangerous purpose, and three assaults with a weapon, as well as the fact he was under a firearms ban at the time of the offence.

"This is someone who has lost the privilege of owning or possessing a firearm," she wrote.

"Based on his history, I am not convinced that if I were to grant a sustenance hunting exemption he would use a weapon solely for that purpose."

Tulloch credited Quvianaqtuliaq 21 months for his time spent in pre-trial custody. He has just over seven years left to serve.