Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Jun 19/98) - The federal government gave the green light to the proposed Tuktut Nogait park on June 12, sticking to boundaries originally proposed for the park and shucking off concerns raised by the Inuvialuit.

"The park is three times the size of Prince Edward Island and all we want is two per cent out of that for economic opportunities," said IRC chair Nellie Cournoyea days before Bill C-38 passed third reading to set aside 16,340 square kilometres of land in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

"It's very difficult for us to understand why. I can't seem to get any good reasons," she said.

The Inuvialuit made a presentation to the standing committee on Canadian Heritage, which studied the bill, but their lobbying for an amendment to the south-western boundary went unheeded.

"The Inuvialuit's concerns were listened to by members of the committee," said Margot Doey-Vick, communications assistant to Minister of Parks Andy Mitchell.

"The minister received a letter from Nellie and set forth his reasons in a letter he forwarded to her."

Summarizing those reasons, she said western boundary changes would infringe on calving grounds for the blue-nose caribou and this was a large concern for people in Paulatuk when they gave initial presentations to the government in 1995.

"The portion that was being asked to be removed was right in the heart of the caribou calving grounds."

After the Inuvialuit land claim was settled, Doey-Vick said the people of Paulatuk drafted conservation plans outlining the caribou as a prime resource which they wanted protected.

"They looked at a number of ways of protecting the caribou calving grounds and came to the conclusion that the legislation which provided them with the best chance of protecting the caribou was the National Parks Act."

As Parliament considered amendments to the Parks Act, Darnley Bay Resources moved quickly to explore the area around and inside the proposed park boundaries.

Finding kimberlite pipes meant a possibility for diamond mining. Previous surveys by the Geological Survey of Canada and others had revealed a massive gravity anomaly, and suggested a "moderate to high" potential for concentrations of nickel, copper and platinum beneath the surface.

Canada has long opposed oil development within Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to America's last best chance for an elephant oil discovery. It also contains calving ground for the Porcupine caribou.

Canada could seem hypocritical if she allowed full-scale mining on the Bluenose calving ground, while opposing development within the Alaskan refuge.

"Eighty per cent of the anomaly is outside the park," Doey-Vick said.