Nunavut Inuit delegation heading to France to pressure French gov't to extradite retired priest

Warning: This article discusses the abuse of children.

A man from Naujaat, Nunavut, is going to France in the hope he will face his alleged sexual abuser. 

He will not be going alone. 

Next week, Steve Mapsalak will travel with a delegation of Inuit led by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) to try to get the French public to put pressure on their government to extradite a former French Oblate priest, Johannes Rivoire, who once lived and worked in northern Canada.

Mapsalak, a former two-term MLA, said NTI approached him to join the delegation heading to Paris.

Painful past

Mapsalak was taken from his parents when he was six years old and forced to attend the Sir Joseph Bernier Federal Day School in Chesterfield Inlet, spending just three months a year at home.

At age 13,  he was sent home for good, and that's when, he alleges, Rivoire sexually abused him. 

"I blame[d] my parents that time, after residential school," he said in an interview with CBC News.

After a quiet moment, he continued to recall that time in his life. 

"I walked away from them, living with some of my cousins and aunts rather than staying there because I was in blame with them that they put me there and it was their fault."

Wiping away tears, Mapsalak remembered making up with his parents. "I'm glad — before they were gone — I had a nice talk with them and apologized to them."

His brother, Marcel Mapsalak, told CBC in 2019 that Rivoire also sexually abused him in the 1960s.

But today, Steve's memories of what Rivoire did to him are too painful to put into words. 

"It's embarrassing. It's hard. Thinking that they're the ones that took me away from my parents. They were the ones that told us what's bad and what's good," he said.

"How could they do this and preach and do this to little boys?"

In the 1990s, Mapsalak said he was approached numerous times and asked whether he wanted to press charges against Rivoire, but the flashbacks were too difficult. 

He eventually agreed, and the first warrant for Rivoire's arrest was issued in 1998, but Rivoire had fled to France in 1993. 

While France has an extradition treaty with Canada, the country does not typically extradite its citizens to other countries, and Rivoire doesn't legally have to return to Canada to face those charges. 

In 2017, those four charges were stayed.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada stated there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction regarding the charges and continuing prosecution was no longer in the public interest. 

Then, in 2021, Nunavut RCMP received another complaint accusing Rivoire of sexual assault over 45 years ago. The report resulted in another warrant for Rivoire's arrest, which is currently active. 

Priest Rivoire

Johannes Rivoire was ordained as an Oblate priest in France in 1958.

He became a Canadian citizen (and still holds dual citizenship) to work in Igloolik, Nunavut, where he lived from 1960 to 1965.

He then worked in Repulse Bay (now Naujaat) from 1965 to 1974 where the alleged abuses occurred. 

Then, he worked as a missionary in Eskimo Point (now Arviat) from 1974 to 1993.

As first reported by APTN in July 2022 after speaking with him in France, Rivoire denies any allegations of committing sexual abuse against Inuit children. 

'Church and its priests are not above the law'

NTI president Aluki Kotierk will be among the six Inuit from Nunavut travelling to France from Sept. 12 to 15. 

Her office has sent letters requesting meetings with the head of the Oblates, as well as France's president, prime minister and justice minister. 

"For 22 of the past 26 years, Rivoire has been a fugitive wanted in Canada for prosecution," Kotierk said in a news release.

"During this time, Rivoire has been under the care and protection of the Oblates in France to avoid negative publicity and to protect the reputation of Roman Catholics. The church and its priests are not above the law."

NTI has also requested to meet with Rivoire. 

More victims

If Rivoire agrees to meet with the Inuit delegation, Tanya Tungilik, who is also part of the delegation, said she knows what she'll say.

"A lot of choice words. I want to tell him how he ruined my dad's life and our life," Tanya said.

Her brother, Jesse Tungilik, will also be going to Paris. Their late father, Marius Tungilik, alleges Rivoire sexually abused him at the same place and time as Steve and Marcel Mapsalak. 

"I want to try and bring Johannes Rivoire to justice. Bring him to Canada," said Tanya from her home in Rankin Inlet. 

She said her father wanted to confront Rivoire but died before he had that chance, and now she and her brother are doing this for him. 

Earlier this summer, Tanya got to tell some of her dad's story to Pope Francis during his stop in Iqaluit. 

French expertise

NTI has hired Nadia Debbache, a lawyer who practises immigration and asylum law in France, and who has worked on similar cases. She is with Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), a worldwide organization that seeks justice for victims.

Debbache said they are waiting on a decision from France's Ministry of Justice to extradite Rivoire and that public pressure will help.

"We have a short time because the age [of] the Monsieur Rivoire," she said.

NTI, which plans to hold a news conference while in Paris, is also working with a human rights activist from Belgium, Lieve Halsberghe, who knew Marius Tungilik.

Halsberghe was active in bringing another defrocked Oblate priest, Eric Dejaeger, to justice in Canada.

'I have very mixed feelings'

Steve Mapsalak said he doesn't know what's going to happen once they're in France but he knows it's high time the matter is dealt with.

He said he'll be thinking about Marius Tungilik, whom he calls a good friend. 

Mapasalak also said he hopes this trip will help cure his pain and that he gets the chance to face his alleged abuser. 

"Even a phone call would help."

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419