KIVALLIQ
Politicians, government representatives and community leaders gathered in Churchill, Manitoba, for a meeting of the Hudson Bay Neighbours Round Table earlier this month.

It was a full house at the Hudson Bay Neighbours Regional Round Table in Churchill, Man., earlier this month. - photo courtesy Sam Tutanuak

Arviat Mayor Bob Leonard said the April 16 and 17 discussions focused a great deal on a hydro line to the Kivalliq from Manitoba.

He said, in his opinion, the round table was the best to date.

"We had every Kivalliq MLA except one, which means we had two ministers present in George Kuksuk and Tom Sammurtok," said Leonard.

"Deputy Premier Monica Ell also attended, as did Paul Okalik, so our new government is paying attention to the round table."

Leonard said the hydro line is more attractive to Manitoba with the Kivalliq's mining industry now a potential customer.

He said Manitoba Hydro could complete the project in five years, including the regulatory work.

"The talk we heard -- on what we'd be paying with a hydro line to Manitoba -- was around the 10-cent-per-kilowatt-hour range.

"Ten cents is the starting mark, but, potentially, we may even negotiate a better rate than that."

Leonard said the hydro line would benefit Nunavut in numerous ways.

He said a lot of money will have to be spent on old infrastructure to keep the existing system operational.

"We have all these ancient power plants that went into operation in the '60s and '70s, and they're all going to have to be replaced soon.

"And we have ancient tank farms that need to be replaced in the next few years.

"Our government ties up millions of dollars in fuel it buys once a year.

"We're going to spend a whole bunch of money one way or another, so are we going to spend it replicating what we have or moving onto something new and better?"

Leonard said the Kivalliq isn't big enough to be a valuable customer to Manitoba Hydro right now.

That means the only way the hydro line becomes a reality in the near future is through federal help.

"If we don't get something like that, it becomes much more difficult for our region to grow through more mining activity or whatever.

"So, somebody has to make a move to create the customer base we need to make this thing feasible."

Leonard said there was also lots of talk about a road to Manitoba, with most of the discussion focused on building a winter road and improving it year by year.

He said that model has worked well in Manitoba.

"The small First Nation communities on the east side of Winnipeg are winding up with all-weather roads through a 10-year process.

"If someone had said we need all these billions of dollars to put these highways in, it would never have happened."

Rankin Inlet Coun. Sam Tutanuak attended the round table for the first time and said he was impressed by what he saw and heard.

He said while there was a feeling of optimism at the meetings, he still doesn't expect to see anything tangible for quite some time.

"It took 15 years to get a new health centre in Rankin, and it will be 15 or 20 years before we see a hydro line, but at least they're talking about it," said Tutanuak.

"In my view, I just don't see anything that will get a deal going within the next five years, or so.

"It might be attractive if the Meliadine project goes through, but, after it's gone, the rest of the Kivalliq would be peanuts to Manitoba Hydro.

"I can't see the federal and Nunavut governments spending more money on new power plants, so we will see Kivalliq hooked-up with Manitoba Hydro, but the question is when?"

Tutanuak said it's hard not to envy what the rest of the country pays for power.

He said it's unfair to always have to pay a lot more for calling the North home.

"It would be awesome to pay 10 cents a kilowatt hour for power here, and it would improve life for many Nunavummiut.

"Our generation won't see it, but I sure as hell hope our grandchildren get to see it.

"Churchill is only 300 miles away and they pay three cents per kilowatt hour.

"There's something basically wrong with that."

The Hudson Bay Neighbours Round Table will meet again this coming September in Baker Lake to coincide with the Kivalliq Mayors Conference.

Tutanuak said he'd like to attend again.

He said he wants to hear more on the winter-road model discussed in Churchill.

"Building a winter road and adding to it each year is the best way to go about it.

"It would provide connection for a good part of the year right away, while we built upon that and added the bridges we'd need to make an all-weather road feasible.

"When you see all the lakes between Churchill and Arviat, you realize any road would be washed out pretty quickly that lacked a solid bridge system in place."