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Judge fines tourism operator $2,300 for violating Nunavut Wildlife Act

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NNSL file photo

Arctic Kingdom must pay a total of $2,300 for four violations of the Nunavut Wildlife Act, Justice Paul Rouleau has ruled.

NNSL file photo

The tourism operator was found guilty of failing to obtain wildlife observation licences for activities in Qikiqtarjuaq on March 25-28, 2017.

The Crown prosecutor wanted Arctic Kingdom Inc. to pay an additional $2,000 per offence to the Natural Resources Conservation Trust Fund as an added deterrent, but Rouleau rejected that submission. The judge instead chose to impose the minimum fine per offence. His reasoning was that no wildlife was actually harmed. As well, Arctic Kingdom didn't "intentionally or recklessly" commit the offences as the company had been in contact with the local hunters and trappers organization and "there is little to suggest that Arctic Kingdom Inc. gained a financial benefit from the commission of the offences," according to Rouleau. In addition, the company doesn't have a history of non-compliance, he added.

"In the circumstances, I consider (the minimum $500 fine per offence, plus a 15 per cent victim surcharge) to be proportionate to the low level of blameworthiness associated with Arctic Kingdom Inc.’s conduct," Rouleau wrote in a decision dated Feb. 10.