Jim Pankiw charged with public intoxication after leaving plane during refuelling

Jim Pankiw, the former Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Humboldt, is facing charges in Ontario after allegedly walking off a flight while drunk.

Pankiw was on his way home from the Dominican Republic on Jan. 22 and was said to have walked off the plane while it was on the tarmac refuelling during a scheduled layover in Hamilton.

He is charged with public intoxication and trespassing.

Sunwing Airlines said passengers were made aware of the stop in Hamilton and were told they would not be leaving the aircraft while it was refuelling.

Hamilton Police Service (HMS) was called by airport security regarding Pankiw’s actions.

HMS said officers found him walking in the direction of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum after climbing over a fence.

Sunwing said its protocols then required the crew to take his luggage off of the plane and wait for local authorities to clear the flight for takeoff.

“This unexpected exit of the passenger caused just over a two-hour delay to this service while additional actions and verifications were taken in line with our security policies,” said a statement from the company.

It’s not Pankiw’s first brush with controversy.

In 2016, he had a drunk driving conviction from 2014 overturned by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

The chiropractor has also signed an agreed statement of fact with the provincial body that oversees practitioners that says in January 2018, he was working while under the influence.

It resulted in a three-week suspension, regular alcohol testing before seeing a patient, and a $10,000 fine.

Pankiw spent two terms in parliament representing Saskatoon-Humboldt before an unsuccessful campaign to be Saskatoon’s mayor.

Global News reached out to him for comment but didn’t receive a response before deadline.