City lawyer clarifies lottery licencing in Iqaluit

Thank you for your balanced and thoughtful editorial of Jan. 14, 2005. Unfortunately, it raises many large issues that are beyond the scope of the City of Iqaluit’s responsibilities under their lottery licensing bylaw.

As the City’s solicitor, I shall confine my remarks to making a few clarifications.

First, the GN does not get municipalities to do their bingo licensing work for them. In most communities, license applicants must still go through the GN. There are approximately a dozen communities, including Iqaluit, who have had licensing authority delegated to them by territorial regulation. In Iqaluit, that means the territorial Lotteries Act no longer applies and City bylaws are the law.

City council and administration must apply the law as it is written. They cannot make subjective decisions based on the potential long-range impact to the entire territorial justice system, nor can they canvas numerous justice groups in coming to their decision.

They can only apply the rules as they are set down in the bylaw and examine the materials submitted to them by any license applicant, not just the John Howard Society of Nunavut.

One last point: the editorial states that the JHSN is a charity, but that is not true. JHSN is not registered with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the only organization in the country that can confer charitable status. It is a territorial not-for-profit organization, but that is not the same as being a charity.

Thank you for the opportunity to offer these clarifications.

Karen Lajoie
Barrister & Solicitor
Peterson, Stang & Malakoe
Yellowknife