{"id":106092,"date":"2026-06-23T12:47:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=106092"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:47:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:47:57","slug":"many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Nunavut MLAs face the law but not political consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Nanulik MLA James Arvaluk had battled his criminal charges for two years before a judge found him guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend in Coral Harbour. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about the sentence,\u201d Arvaluk said shortly after the ruling in 2003, \u201cbut my political career is over.\u201d He was wrong. In 2004, a judge sentenced him to nine months in jail. Two years later, Arvaluk went on to win a byelection in Tununiq, the riding that encompasses Pond Inlet. He won the seat again in 2008. In the end, it was bad health that forced Arvaluk out of politics. He resigned from his seat in 2011 following a heart attack and stroke. Arvaluk\u2019s story is not unique. Since the territory\u2019s creation in&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F23%2Fmany-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Nanulik MLA James Arvaluk had battled his criminal charges for two years before a judge found him guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend in Coral Harbour. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about the sentence,\u201d Arvaluk said shortly after the ruling in 2003, \u201cbut my political career is over.\u201d He was wrong. In 2004, a judge sentenced him to nine months in jail. Two years later, Arvaluk went on to win a byelection in Tununiq, the riding that encompasses Pond Inlet. He won the seat again in 2008. In the end, it was bad health that forced Arvaluk out of politics. He resigned from his seat in 2011 following a heart attack and stroke. Arvaluk\u2019s story is not unique. Since the territory\u2019s creation in... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F23%2Fmany-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Many Nunavut MLAs face the law but not political consequences - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Many Nunavut MLAs face the law but not political consequences - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Nanulik MLA James Arvaluk had battled his criminal charges for two years before a judge found him guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend in Coral Harbour. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about the sentence,\u201d Arvaluk said shortly after the ruling in 2003, \u201cbut my political career is over.\u201d He was wrong. In 2004, a judge sentenced him to nine months in jail. Two years later, Arvaluk went on to win a byelection in Tununiq, the riding that encompasses Pond Inlet. He won the seat again in 2008. In the end, it was bad health that forced Arvaluk out of politics. He resigned from his seat in 2011 following a heart attack and stroke. Arvaluk\u2019s story is not unique. Since the territory\u2019s creation in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T16:47:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/23\\\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/23\\\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Many Nunavut MLAs face the law but not political consequences\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T16:47:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/23\\\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":790,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/23\\\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/23\\\/many-nunavut-mlas-face-the-law-but-not-political-consequences\\\/\",\"name\":\"Many Nunavut MLAs face the law but not political consequences - 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