Nunavut MLA charged with assault

Pangnirtung MLA Adamee Komoartok has been charged with assault causing bodily harm in connection with an alleged incident earlier this week, CBC News has learned.

Komoartok, 57, is accused of assaulting his 53-year-old spouse,Penena Mosesee, during events that were alleged to have occurred in Iqaluit on Sunday.

Mosesee has been charged with assaulting Komoartok on the same day, according to court documents.

Both Komoartok and Mosesee have been ordered to abstain from consuming alcohol or other intoxicating substances until their charges are heard.

Komoartok was elected to the Nunavut legislative assembly in the October 2008 general election.

Komoartok has been absent from the legislature so far this week. Assembly officials declined to comment on the case Wednesday.

In November 2009, Komoartok was censured by his fellow MLAs after he admitted to a drunken incident at an Ottawa medical boarding home.

Komoartok said he had engaged in inappropriate behaviour during a private visit to the Larga Baffin boarding home, where medical patients from eastern Nunavut stay while they undergo medical treatment in Ottawa.