Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services
Monday, April 23, 2007

IQALUIT - Rejection of a water licence for a Kitikmeot gold mine has led to the firing of the Nunavut Water Board's executive director and resignation of four technical staff.

The showdown was triggered in December when the board rejected Miramar Mining Corp.'s application for a water licence for its Doris North project.

The board ruled on Dec. 21, 2006 that Miramar's application was "substantially incomplete."

It requested the company file additional information before hearings could be held on the licence application.

When Miramar received federal government approval in August, it hoped to be able to begin operations on the mine in mid-2008. To meet that deadline, it would have to ship equipment during this year's sealift season.

Rejection of the water licence put that timeline in jeopardy. After an outcry from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA), the board fired its executive director, Philippe Di Pizzo, on March 23 and decided to hold public hearings on the Miramar application.

Over the next few weeks four members of the board's technical staff resigned in protest.

"My integrity and ethics as a scientist and engineer are important and I do not wish to compromise them," wrote technical advisor Zhong Liu in his April 5 letter of resignation.

He and Joe Murdock, director of technical services, gave 30 days notice while Technical Advisor Matthew Hemp said he will work until June 1.

On April 16, Director of Corporate Services Raj Downe told the board she would not be renewing her contract, which expires at the end of the month.

Reconsideration of the Miramar licence appears to have been triggered by the complaint from the KIA."Unprecedented" "The action of the NWB was both unprecedented and unnecessary," wrote KIA president Donald Havioyak on Feb. 23.

He suggested the licence should have been allowed to go forward while Miramar filed additional information.

"KIA is concerned that the delay resulting from this NWB decision could mean that construction may be further delayed.

"Many of our beneficiaries and businesses have been preparing for these opportunities in anticipation of construction this fall."

During questioning by Cambridge Bay MLA Keith Peterson on March 23, Environment Minister Patterk Netser said he had not become involved in the dispute because the water board was an independent agency but that he was concerned that applications are processed too slowly.

"The Government of Nunavut cannot speed up the process within these institutions of public government; however we are concerned with it," he said.

Peterson said Nunavut has to find a way to balance economic development with environmental protection and not hold up companies.

"We shouldn't throw up all kinds of hoops, hurdles and red tape if proponents are spending millions and millions and millions of dollars," he said in the Legislative Assembly.

After the first three resignations, the water board's acting chief executive officer, Dionne Filiatrault said she didn't "foresee any major disruptions."

Di Pizzo declined to comment.

"I am currently negotiating my severance package and do not want to jeopardize my future and that of my family," he said.

The Doris North project is located 75-kilometres northeast of Umingmaktuuq. Miramar projects the mine would create more than 230 jobs in construction and could produce 311,000 ounces of gold in the first year of a two-year lifespan.