Jack Anawak will be sentenced for impaired driving Jan. 15. He appeared in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit on Thursday after pleading guilty to drinking and driving in June.
It is the second such offence for the former Member of Parliament for Nunavut and former Member of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.
Anawak, 67, made the following statement in court:
"I accept full responsibility for my inappropriate actions and to be held accountable for them. For far too long, I have seen many in the leadership fail to be held accountable and I do not want to be one of those. Inuit culture sees all persons as equals, not one person up here and one down there. Whatever trauma I have experienced should never get in the way of knowing the difference between right and wrong. I was wrong."
In 2013, Anawak was convicted of impaired driving and later in the year of driving while his licence was suspended.
Anawak made a bid for the Aivilik seat, comprising Naujaat and Coral Harbour, in the Oct. 30 territorial election. He came up short against Patterk Netser, 318 votes to 218.