Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NUNAVUT
A progress report on the Nunavut Draft Land Use Plan calls for public consultation and a tempering of expectations, though it notes "significant progress has been made."

The land use plan, being developed by the Nunavut Planning Commission, will determine how land outside communities will be used, and what is protected. It covers land use planning in the Nunavut Settlement Area and in the Outer Land Fast Ice Zone.

The independent review ordered by the federal government was done in agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the territorial government and the Nunavut Planning Commission.

The 138-page report, prepared by Dillon Consulting Ltd. of Yellowknife and dated June 15, recommends 20 steps and formulates eight "guiding principles" to move forward with the project.

Those principles include aligning everyone's expectations, workload and capacity, and the report states everyone needs to be more realistic about what can be achieved.

"To use a common analogy, too many people involved in the process seem to be looking for a home run rather than seeing the value of hitting a single," states the report, adding the dynamic between all those involved needs to change, according to the report.

It notes the process has become too focused between the Nunavut Planning Commission and the Government of Nunavut and not enough on public consultations. Formalizing communication and improving documentation, including establishing a public registry before starting public consultations, are some of the other principles noted in the report.

The report did note "significant progress" has been made to date, notably with baseline information such as the Use and Occupancy Mapping.

"Nothing we have seen convinces us that the planning process should go back to the beginning and start again," states the report.

Nunavut Planning Commission staff are examining the report and its recommendations, said Adrian Boyd, the commission's acting executive director.

"We're quite happy with the document," he said. "Our solutions are limited by the amount of resources we have in place."

He added the draft plan is still a couple of years away. Robin Aitken, regional director general at the Nunavut office of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, would not speculate on when the draft plan would be ready.

Aitken said his department is developing a vision and expectations for the land use plan and will meet with the planning commission to hopefully have a more shared vision than they did prior to the report.

"The federal government is quite satisfied with the recommendations from the report. Our challenge now is to implement those recommendations," he said, adding that is feasible. "What we have to work on is to have a much more thorough explanation of what the government's expectations are for a land use plan."

NTI would not comment on the review.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.