QIKIQTAALUK/BAFFIN ISLAND
The federal government has decided to leave it to the Nunavut Impact Review Board to determine whether a proposed railway is a significant modification to Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation's Phase 2 expansion proposal at Mary River.

If the board determines it is significant, the Phase 2 proposal would fall outside an exemption granted by the previous federal government, and Baffinland would have to go back to the Nunavut Planning Commission.

"Projects typically change both during and after the assessment and approval processes," Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada minister Carolyn Bennett wrote in a Sept. 28 letter to NIRB. "Additionally, new information and evolving circumstances are a constant source of change. Given that, is the inclusion of the northeast rail component a modification of the project? If so, is it a significant modification?"

Bennett notes that the Qikiqtani Inuit Association "asserts this is a significant change".

"A board determination of whether the new rail component is a significant modification will establish whether a new conformity determination (from the planning commission) is required," she stated. "If the board determines that there is no significant modification to the project, then my predecessor's exemption would stand."

This saga began when Baffinland's Phase 2 proposal was rejected by the Nunavut Planning Commission, citing non-conformity with the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan.

The company was seeking to ship 12 million tonnes of iron ore during an extended season of 10 months per year using icebreakers that would clear a path off the coast of Pond Inlet. The commission determined proposed icebreaking would damage traditional sea ice routes for hunters.

Currently, the company can only ship iron ore from its Mary River mine during the two-month open water season.

Baffinland appealed to then-minister Bernard Valcourt for an exemption, which he granted in July 2015. Valcourt sidestepped the commission and sent the project directly to the NIRB.

Then, this past February, Baffinland re-introduced its $5 billion, 100-km railway, intended to replace the current tote road. The company had originally planned a railway in an earlier phase, but deferred construction in late 2013 due to financial constraints. An Early Revenue Phase proposal was approved in mid-2014, with a tote road to Milne Inlet.

In the letter sent in February requesting clarification from the minister on whether the railway fell under the exemption, board chair Elizabeth Copland stated, "The board will not issue additional guidance regarding steps that may follow the receipt of the proponent's Final Environmental Impact Statement Addendum until the Minister's clarification has been received."

Baffinland had planned on submitting its Phase 2 environmental impact statement addendum to the board in September, after which technical meetings and a public hearing were to be scheduled.

The Mary River project is located approximately 160 km south of Pond Inlet, and contains one of the world's largest undeveloped iron ore deposits.

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