Nunavut court rejects Inuit hunters' appeal of challenge to driving ban

The Nunavut Court of Appeal has rejected an application from a group of Inuit hunters who mounted a legal challenge  claiming their Charter rights were breached.

The case comes from four Inuit hunters who were each charged and convicted of impaired driving. 

In Canada, first-time impaired driving convictions come with a mandatory driving ban for at least a year. That mandatory minimum prohibition increases to two years after a second offence, then three years after a third. 

The Inuit hunters argue those driving bans prevent them from going on the land to hunt — a right that's protected under the Nunavut Agreement. 

Nunavut Justice rejected the legal challenge in 2023, and lawyers for the hunters appealed the decision. 

In his 54-page decision released Wednesday, Nunavut Court of Appeal Judge Jack Watson said the Charter would need to be applied broadly to the population, not just to Inuit. 

"In light of the foregoing, the issue of whether bespoke declarations could be stated that would both be correct and workable, even for Nunavut alone, remains a problem," Watson wrote.

Watson said Bychok was right in dismissing the application and that the hunters didn't prove they would be unable to hunt. 

He also said hunters didn't necessarily require a driver's licence to drive Ski-Doos and ATVs on the land. 

"In other words, neither the sentencing judge nor I could make declaration[s] of constitutional inconsistency binding outside of Nunavut, namely affecting the provinces, even if I were persuaded that he or I should do so," Watson wrote. 

During the initial court hearing, the Crown did admit the ban breached the hunters' Charter rights under Section 12. 

When the Crown concedes that a right has been breached, the judge can decide to give Parliament one year to amend its current laws.

Both Bychok and Watson rejected that option.