Judge may postpone sentencing of accused in Iqaluit Happy Valley standoff

The man behind a 41-hour armed standoff that paralyzed an Iqaluit neighbourhood in April 2015 may have to wait a bit longer to find out how long he will spend in prison.

Jamie Mikijuk, 27, appeared in an Iqaluit courtroom on Tuesday for a sentencing hearing. He pleaded guilty in August to discharging a firearm while being reckless to the life and safety of other people.

The crime carries a minimum sentence of four years in prison, but Crown prosecutors are asking for a sentence of six years, with one-and-a-half times credit for the 578 days Mikijuk has already spent in custody.

The standoff began Tuesday, April 28, 2015 and stretched overthree days, ending on the morning of April 30.

During the standoff, RCMP officers created a perimeteraround Iqaluit's Happy Valley neighbourhood, and nobody could leave their homesor returnto themwithout a police escort and only in the most urgent cases.

The court heard how the standoff cost the RCMP nearly $77,000, largely in overtime expenses and to fly emergency response officers in from Ottawa, Montreal and Winnipeg to assist.

According to an agreed statement of facts read in court, the incident started when Mikijuk, who was drunk, called his girlfriend threatening to kill himself. She then called the RCMP, who responded to Mikijuk's home, saw he was holding a gun and heard shots fired from inside the home.

Over the next 41 hours, Mikijuk fired off a number of shots from the house at the time, the RCMP said it was at least 10 with two shots exiting from the front window, and two more from the back window.

Mikijuk was using his father's .17 calibre Hornady Magnum Rimfire rifle. RCMP investigators couldn't determine whether Mikijuk was aiming at officers set up across the street, or if he even knew they were there Mikijuk maintained he wasn't, and didn't but one officer on scene thought Mikijuk was trying to shoot them, and returned fire with a sniper rifle.

Mikijuk eventually surrendered and was arrested without incident. There were no injuries.

During his submissions, Mikijuk's lawyerWill McNairsaid his client didn't intend to harm anyone but himself. He also said Mikijuk had battled alcohol addiction and was more than once hospitalized for withdrawal.

"That was the state of Mr. Mikijuk's life the night police were called to his home," McNair said.

"He was a despairing, frightened, terminally-intoxicated 26-year-old man, without will to live."

Deterring copycats

Crown prosecutor CarolineLirettecited the disruption for those living in Happy Valley and the shots fired from the home as aggravating factors when asking for asix-year sentence. She also urged the need to deter copycats.

Lirettepointed out that the day after Mikijuk'sstandoff ended, someone else in Iqaluit sparked another standoff. The second incident turned out to bea hoax as the person didn't have a gun and was charged with mischief.

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"We have to deter Mr. Mikijuk and other people from committing these offences," Lirette said.

"[In the] victim impact statements, one of the community members expresses concern about copycats."

Lirette also cited the prevalence of firearm-related offences in Nunavutasanother aggravating factor.

"Hunting is a way of life in Nunavut, but the Crown submits that citizens continue to leave their firearms and ammunition unsecured and too readily accessible," Lirette said.

"When you mix this reality with alcohol or mental health issues, some citizens, like Mikijuk, find themselves in court facing a penitentiary sentence."

More victim impact statements from Happy Valley

Justice Paul Bychok adjourned the caseto Friday morning, to get answers on a few outstanding questions, including whether the Crown needs more time to gather more victim impact statements from people living in Happy Valley.

Crown witness co-ordinators canvassed the Happy Valley neighbourhood, goingto 30 houses altogether. Lirette saidpeople were home at 10of them, while envelopescontaining blank victim impact statements and instructions on how to return it were left at the other 20. Only one was filled and returned.

"It's extremely important that victims have an opportunity to participate meaningfully in what goes on in our criminal courts," Bychok said, citing the Canadian Victims' Bill of Rights passed by the Harper Government in 2014.

"I think all these people should be given a meaningful opportunity to express how this extremely serious incident affected their lives. Many people don't realize that they have a right to be heard if they've been victimized."

Bychok said he'd give "as much reasonable time as necessary" for the Crown to get in touch with other neighbours, possibly untilthe end of January.