Charges against Nunavut MLA dropped

Impaired driving charges against Nunavut MLA Moses Aupaluktuq have been dropped.

The Baker Lake MLA was charged with impaired care and control of a motor vehicle and having a blood alcohol level over 0.08 in November 2009 after Baker Lake RCMP found him sleeping in his car, which was stuck in a snowy ditch.

Crown prosecutors told a Baker Lake courtroom on Tuesday they were dropping the charges because they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the vehicle was capable of being put in motion.

At the time, Aupaluktuq said he had backed his car into a snowy ditch, where it became stuck. Later that day, he said, he went outside after a dispute at a local residence and went to his car in the ditch.

Aupaluktuq said he entered his car to warm up because he was not wearing gloves or a hat, and he had left his keys in the house where the dispute took place.

He said he then fell asleep in the car, where RCMP officers found him.

Aupaluktuq maintained he was not operating the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

It is unlikely Aupaluktuq will be sanctioned by the Legislative Assembly now that the charges have been dropped.

However, Aupaluktuq is still facing a separate charge of unlawful possession of liquor under the Nunavut Liquor Act. The hamlet of about 1,700 in Nunavut's Kivalliq region is a controlled community.

Aupaluktuq made his first appearance in that matter on Nov. 30. He is scheduled to return to court on in March 2011 to enter a plea.   Calls to Aupaluktuq's office by CBC News were not returned by Wednesday afternoon.