The Clipper Adventurer was the only cruise ship to stop in Grise Fiord in 2011. The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators warns that a decline in cruise ship travel to Nunavut is inevitable if regulations are not streamlined. - photo courtesy of Jimmie Qaapiq |
Too many bosses in the Arctic
Organization says cruise ship operators fed up with Canada's North
Walter Strong
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 7, 2014
NUNAVUT
Unless cruise ship regulations and permits are streamlined in the near future, operators may stop bringing tourists to the Canadian Arctic - and Nunavummiut will miss out on the significant amount of money spent by visiting tourists.
A single visit from a cruise ship can mean up to $20,000 worth of spending in communities like Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven, Grise Fiord or Pond Inlet, which has a significant impact on local economies.
The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) warns that onerous regulatory processes across Canada's North make Nunavut an increasingly unattractive place to schedule a cruise.
In a July 3 open letter addressed to federal and territorial representatives - as well as numerous offices of economic development and permitting agencies in both Nunavut and the NWT -AECO paints a bleak picture of doing business in Canada's North.
"(T)he Canadian Arctic is considered one of the most cumbersome, expensive and problematic regions in the world for expedition cruise operators to operate in," stated AECO executive director Frigg Jorgensen.
The problem, Jorgensen said, is a cumbersome and vague permitting system that often leaves tour operators unsure of whether they are in compliance or not.
"In other Arctic regions, such as Greenland and Svalbard, permitting requirements are a fairly straightforward matter," Jorgensen stated.
"In Canada, the situation seems to have gotten out of control, with more than 50 different requirements from approximately 35 different authorities - many of which have nothing to do with tourism."
| "The bigger issue is that local entrepreneurs - local people selling arts and crafts, or offering small trips - are missing out" |
Professor Jackie Dawson, Canada research chair in environment, society and policy at the University of Ottawa, has been researching the situation for more than a year.
"Permits are essential to ensure and safeguard aboriginal rights and the environment," Dawson said. "But the system for implementing those permits is flawed.
"That system is hindering economic development and entrepreneurship opportunities for Northerners."
Although Dawson estimated that operators face about 30 different permit requirements to schedule a cruise in the Canadian Arctic - saying the 50 cited by the AECO include some irregular regulations she wouldn't include in her numbers - she agreed that number is high compared to other Arctic jurisdictions.
Since 2005, cruise ships have brought an average of almost 1,100 visitors per year to Canada's North.
Greenland attracted between 15,000 and 30,000 passengers per year over the same time.
Dawson cautioned that Canada's Arctic will likely never see the kind of traffic Greenland sees thanks to unrelated issues, but Nunavut could see as many as 500 passengers per year visiting on cruise ships if regulations are streamlined.
"It's not a territory-wide economic issue," Dawson said.
"The bigger issue is that local entrepreneurs - local people selling arts and crafts, or offering small trips - are missing out."
Ryan Barry, executive director of the Nunavut Impact Review Board, pointed out that the regulations in place are important for safeguarding protected areas and cultural heritage sites.
"While the regulatory framework may be felt to be excessive to some operators and the AECO, a number of experienced operators have successfully operated in these sensitive areas with the appropriate permissions each year and continue to do so," Barry said.
"Nunavut is unique in Arctic destinations in that it has many safeguards for the land and culture entrenched in the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement," wrote Colleen Dupuis, chief executive officer of Nunavut Tourism, in an e-mail response.
She also took issue with the AECO's numbers of regulations, stating that in Nunavut, there are 21 permits or licences required for cruise ships.
"All agree that the process could be simplified," she wrote. "This is something that will be looked at during the development of the Cruise Ship Management Plan which is part of Tunngasaiji: A Tourism Strategy for Nunavut that the Government of Nunavut, NTI and Nunavut Tourism all support."
However, AECO anticipates an eventual decline in cruise ship travel to Nunavut's waters.
"It is our belief that this situation... will lead to a long-term loss of tourism and tourism related business for Canada," Jorgensen stated.
"As Arctic expedition cruise operators, we strongly urge you to start a process in order to streamline the complex, time consuming, expensive and unclear permitting situation that is the reality in the Canadian Arctic today."
Dawson's own research supports the organization's position.
"I've talked to (cruise) operators from several companies who have been coming for two decades or more," Dawson said. "They're saying, 'We can't do this much longer.'"
The AECO represents 35 international members operating approximately 25 ocean-going vessels in Svalbard, Greenland, Canada and Russia.
