IQALUIT
Nunavut's leaders are taking sides in the debate about whether Baffinland should be exempt from an April 8 Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC) decision that the firm's proposal to ship iron ore from the Mary River mine almost year-round did not conform to the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan. A letter dated May 8 which was leaked this week to media, including Nunavut News/North, indicates Premier Peter Taptuna's desire to see the exemption made.
Premier Peter Taptuna, center, and principal secretary Ed Picco, right, visit Baffinland's Mary River iron mine in July. Taptuna and his government back Baffinland's request for an exemption to ship ore almost year-round. - NNSL file photo
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Others support the planning commission's decision, which said Baffinland could only ship through Eclipse Sound during open-water season, and forbade the use of icebreakers to extend the season to 10 months annually, as requested.
"The Government of Nunavut supports the referral of the BIMC Phase II project proposal to the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) for a comprehensive environmental assessment," Taptuna stated in a letter to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Minister Bernard Valcourt, who is to decide whether to make the exemption. He indicated to Valcourt that the government believes the impact review board can "adequately address" public concerns.
"The Government of Nunavut believes that NPC's continued hesitancy to provide clear direction because of funding issues with your department is putting at risk 260 jobs, millions of dollars in wages and benefits, and many other future benefits this project will bring to Nunavut," Taptuna stated, suggesting the planning commission's decision is politically motivated to garner operational funding. He called for an audit of the Nunavut Planning Commission's finances.
The letter was copied to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Cathy Towtongie, Qikiqtani Inuit Association president PJ Akeeagok, Pond Inlet Mayor Charlie Inuaraq, MP Leona Aglukkaq, Environment Minister Johnny Mike, and Tununiq MLA Joe Enook.
Akeeagok stated in a May 22 news release that QIA opposes bypassing the planning commission, noting he has been calling for changing the route instead of giving Baffinland an exemption.
"I have invited AANDC Minister Valcourt to accompany me to Pond Inlet and hear the concerns of the Pond Inlet residents in person before making his decision on the exemption," Akeeagok stated, expressing concern that an exemption would bypass the public consultation that was used to develop the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan. "Baffinland's proposed project changes are significant. The people most impacted must be heard."
In response, Baffinland communications manager Mary Carey answered a request for comment.
"Baffinland believes that the environmental assessment process is the most effective way to consider the effects and mitigations of the proposed activity and that it also provides for the most thorough consultation with Inuit," she stated in an e-mail.
Responding to a question from Enook noting that his government's support for the exemption was not public, Taptuna indicated that he was prepared to make the letter public.
"There is no miscommunication or misunderstanding," he told legislators June 2, a day after CBC first revealed the letter. "The role of this government is to increase economic viability of this territory and provide our people with the means to put food on the table, and we can't afford to have our fragile economy stalled. We are also very respectful of the need to develop Nunavut in the most environmentally sound and responsible way. Our ecosystems must remain healthy."
That ecosystem was a prime concern noted in the planning commission's decision not to allow icebreaking.
"For people, for polar bears, for seals and other animals in the North, ice is a bridge - both metaphorically to the past and present Inuit values and activities, and as a fact," the planning commission's decision read, noting that Baffinland's plan would open the water between Pond Inlet and Bylot Island between the port at Milne Inlet and Baffin Bay.
The effects of icebreaking on the early degradation of the floe edge, critical to the hunting culture, were also considered in the decision.
"The proposed ice breaking activity for winter shipping would prevent or prohibit wildlife harvesting and traditional activities."
The decision was the planning commission's first rejection, and was made on the basis that navigation through ice does not conform with the land use plan.