INUVIK
The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) has reached out to the federal government with an ambitious proposal.

Inuvialuit Regional Corporation chairperson Duane Smith says the Inuvialuit are not waiting around for industry or government to get studies going, instead taking the initiative to see it done early. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

A letter sent March 8 outlines a plan that would see the federal government and the IRC partner to implement a Regional Strategic Environmental Assessment (RSEA).

More than a regular environmental assessment, an RSEA would be a more comprehensive, extensive and meaningful way to approach a study of the ecosystems - both human and animal - of the region, IRC officials said.

"There have been periodic, sporadic, species-specific assessments," said IRC president Duane Smith, adding that Canada's other two coasts have a massive body of research from which to draw when questions of impact arise and the Beaufort Sea has no such advantage. "We need a broadening of that research. We need to find a baseline."

Smith said while some studies had been conducted, the funding for them has now lapsed and more needs to be done. The work with belugas - which was featured in a summit a few weeks ago - was a good example of the benefits of traditional knowledge and scientific inquiry working together, Smith said. But it should be extended.

"There's a need for stock assessments," Smith said. "We don't know what's out there. Fisheries biologists and scientists have an idea but they don't know everything about them."

While it wasn't intentional, Smith said the timing of the letter and the joint news release issued by the Prime Minister's Office as a result of the visit by Canadians to the United States could not have been better. That statement spoke of a need to work together to protect the Arctic, something in which the Inuvialuit have a vested interest.

The letter talks about gaps in the knowledge that has been recorded so far, including stock assessments, but also including traditional knowledge.

"We need to get a better understanding of just how much the Inuvialuit relationship is to the marine system," Smith said. "It should be documented and recorded."

While environmental assessments are usually triggered by industry, this more comprehensive process would pre-empt that.

"If industry is in the region in the future, then we have that information, and we're not pressed for time," Smith said of the advantages of doing things independently. He also noted the process would not mean industry would not also be responsible for their own studies.

"We're not sitting back waiting," he said. "We want to develop a strategy, a plan and approach that will meet everybody's objective."

While Smith said there was no price tag associated with this project as of yet, he emphasized cost should be a secondary concern.

"The key concern should be what is actually required for the scale and the scope of it," he said, adding he wouldn't expect it to take anything close to a single season. "Then we can look at resources."

The Drum asked for comment from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, one of six recipients of the letter, but did not hear back before press time.

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