Former Nunavut politician Jack Anawak gets jail time for impaired driving

Former Nunavut politician, Jack Anawak, was sentenced to 30 days in jail for impaired driving in court in Iqaluit on Monday.

He pleaded guilty in November to driving drunk in June of 2017.

No one and no property were harmed in the incident, but it was his second impaired driving offence and third relevant driving offence, so jail time is required by the Criminal Code.

A justice of the peace agreed to the joint submission from the lawyers, which suggested the minimum allowable sentence of 30 days.

He will serve the time on weekends starting Feb. 2 at the Baffin Correctional Centre, after he returns from a speaking engagement at a conference at the University of Manitoba.

As Anawak's driver's licence is his only piece of government identification, he will hold onto it until after he travels to Manitoba. He promised not to drive during that time.

He is banned from driving for three years and will pay a $100 victim surcharge by the end of the month.

In court, Anawak said he took responsibility for his actions and acknowledged that saying sorry was not enough. He said he promised his wife and sister, to whom he recently donated a kidney, that he will not drink — and hasn't in four months.

Anawak is a former Member of Parliament, a former Nunavut cabinet minister and former Ambassador of Circumpolar Affairs.