IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
Caribou protections were once again front and centre as the Nunavut Impact Review Board held public hearings at the Luke Novoligak Community Hall in Cambridge Bay April 25 to 30 related to Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.'s Back River (Hannigayok) gold project.

Alex Power of the Yellowknives Dene Nation, left, and 80-year-old Alfred Crapeau-Baillargeon of Dettah speak at the Nunavut Impact Review Board hearings into Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.'s Back River Gold Project in Cambridge Bay April 28. Crapeau-Baillargeon spoke of the changes to the land and decline of caribou since development is happening in his homeland. - Navalik Tologanak/NNSL photo

All interveners are agreed Sabina must improve its monitoring and mitigation measures for caribou especially, including staged shut-downs. Interveners do not oppose the project, but recommend beefing up inadequacies.

"Since its original submission, Sabina submitted an updated Wildlife Mitigation and Monitoring Program Plan, and these updates will be addressed in the technical hearing," stated a Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) spokesperson in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North at the time of the hearing.

The Government of Nunavut was not available for comment and Sabina declined to comment until the outcome of the hearing is made public.

Sabina acquire the project in 2009 to develop a gold mining complex about 400 km south of Cambridge Bay. The project is proposed with a 10-year mine life - with the addition of new deposits the project mine life may be extended - and operations are expected to begin in 2019, according to the company's website. The project will use conventional open pit and underground mining methods. The proposal originally included the Goose Property and the George Property. The George Property - which overlapped with the Bathurst caribou range - has since been removed by Sabina.

The Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA) noted in its presentation at the hearing that, "the KIA and Sabina have a positive working relationship" and that " Sabina has been receptive and cooperative in addressing the KIA's concerns to date."

Regarding caribou, KIA noted Sabina's plans contained "insufficient detail on caribou monitoring and scientific

rationale for distances and numbers," adding, "Sabina did not provide information on monitoring effort and deployment, " and that "distances to trigger responses to nearby caribou are unjustified scientifically."

These concerns regarding caribou, and steps proposed by the mining company to protect the Bathurst and Beverley herd whose calving grounds are located on either side of the project, were shared by many groups and agencies, including representatives of Dene organizations from the Northwest Territories who, according to one observer, arrived to the hearing angry.

Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation (LKDFN) and Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) are primarily concerned with the Bathurst herd, a source of food for both First Nations. Both had representatives at the hearing.

In their intervener application, the Yellowknives state: "The Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) has harvested the Bathurst caribou since time immemorial. To this day the Bathurst herd serves as the primary source of country food for YKDFN members.

"The recent collapse of the Bathurst caribou population has created a significant food security challenge for YKDFN, as any project that affects this herd, particularly in the sensitive calving grounds, is of the utmost concern."

The LKDFN states it "has been working with various organizations and governments with the intent of protecting the remaining caribou who have suffered great population declines in recent years."

Its primary concern is related to the location of the project and the potential impact on both the Bathurst and Beverley herds.

"This project is a large operation near the calving and post-calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou, a herd that has suffered the greatest decline," state the LKDFN.

The GNWT spokesperson confirmed the continued decline of caribou.

"Population surveys completed this summer on the Bluenose East, Bluenose West, Bathurst, Cape Bathurst and Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula barren-ground caribou herds in the Northwest Territories indicate the herds continue to decline."

In its intervener submission, the GNWT states: "In particular, the Bathurst caribou herd is currently highly vulnerable and actions that pose risk of further decline or delayed recovery need to be very carefully considered."

According to GNWT numbers, the Bathurst herd was last estimated at about 20,000 animals in 2015, and has declined 96 per cent from peak numbers in 1986 of 470,000, including a loss of 15,000 animals over the last three years.

However, in its presentation for a community roundtable, Sabina stated, regarding caribou and trans-boundary impacts, that there was no overlap of project activities during sensitive periods in any season with the Bathurst herd and that there are no potential project effects on the Bathurst herd.

Meanwhile, with regard to the Beverley herd, the company states there is overlap of project activities in summer and fall, and occasionally in the winter. In terms of effects, there would be habitat loss, disturbance and reduction in reproductive potential on the Beverley herd but the company states these effects to be "not significant," with "high to medium confidence."

However, the Government of Nunavut (GN), also an intervener, "maintains that, due in part to limitations of the methodology, these conclusions should be assigned a low degree of confidence."

The GN adds: "Since demographic effects are the impacts of ultimate concern for any species, low confidence in predictions regarding things such as reproductive productivity, heightens overall uncertainty in the effects assessment for wildlife, especially caribou."

Further, according to the GN, the company "tend(s) to under-emphasize the extent to which caribou interact with the project and in particular the extent to which the Beverly herd interacts."

The GNWT states that "appropriate contingency planning in the event of range shifts, along with robust caribou mitigation measures, are key to preventing impacts to the Bathurst and Beverly herds."

The hearing was scheduled to conclude at the end of last week, after a series of community roundtables.

NIRB has 30 days post-hearing to present its final hearing report with recommendations to the minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.