Drinking and driving exacting heavy price on Rankin Inlet

Published 7:29 am Saturday, December 6, 2025 The toll being taken on the community of Rankin Inlet by drinking and driving continues to mount, including a recent fatal incident. A man lost his life a few weeks ago after crashing into a hydrant bollard in front of the Tapariit Building, according to local Fire Chief Mark Wyatt. “We arrived on scene and I watched the life come out of him as I’m doing CPR on him on the way to the health centre. “Alcohol and ATVs are just a bad, bad idea!” Wyatt emphasized. Another serious accident happened at Johnston Cove, at the end of the point, in November. Wyatt said a man on a snowmobile was whipping back and forth over the thin ice. “The ocean is barely frozen, so getting out to him was a little tricky because you don’t know how stable the ice really is,” said Wyatt. “He rolled his machine and, according to the doctor, he was only minutes away from death by the time we got him to the hospital. He had some serious injuries. It just wasn’t pretty.” Wyatt said he wishes people would stop drinking and driving. He said it’s the dumbest thing in the world and Rankin Inlet has experienced more alcohol-related accidents this year than the past few years. “There was no question about it that this latest serious accident was caused by drinking and drinking. I don’t know who in their right mind figures that it’s going to be a great idea to drink lots of booze and then go drive a quad up the road,” said Wyatt. “We had a pickup truck a few weeks ago come off the first bridge at Kilometre 6 coming back towards town. The truck missed the bridge completely, flipped over, flew off the side of the bridge and landed in the river. “Fortunately, that river was frozen solid because if they had crashed through the ice, we probably would have had at least two fatalities, maybe three. “I can’t comprehend it. I just don’t understand why that is such a popular thing to do — let’s just get drunk and drive. Of the ATV accidents we had here this year, I’d say 13 out of 15 involved alcohol.”