Mayor won't stop seismic battle
Natanine to continue as representative in joint court case with Greenpeace after election
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, December 14, 2015
KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER
Clyde River Mayor Jerry Natanine might not be the elected representative of the hamlet following a municipal election Dec. 14, but that won't change his campaign with Greenpeace to block seismic testing in the North.
Clyde River Mayor Jerry Natanine stands with a young child during a climate rally in Ottawa. - photo courtesy of Diego Creimer/Greenpeace |
"It's unfortunate the circumstances for Jerry but I think that the whole community seems really interested in continuing on this and we're very happy to provide the support as needed," said Farrah Khan, Arctic campaigner for Greenpeace.
The relationship began with Natanine reaching out to Greenpeace for aid in the fight, she said. His name, Greenpeace, the hamlet and the local hunters and trappers organization are all on the legal documents.
Natanine was disqualified from seeking re-election as mayor by the Department of Community and Government Services following a misunderstanding related to a retroactive pay increase that was revoked, leaving him owing the hamlet money, which is contrary to the Hamlet Act.
The anti-seismic testing group is currently waiting to hear back from the Supreme Court about its leave to appeal, which was spawned in response to the Federal Court of Appeal's decision to deny a judicial review of the National Energy Board granting a permit for testing.
Natanine was recently participating in an Ottawa rally regarding the Paris summit on climate change. He gave a three-minute speech to open the event.
"It was to encourage our leaders to support renewable energy for the world," Natanine said. "It was a good opportunity to thank all the supporters and show gratitude to all our supporters."
The issue of seismic testing will come to the fore early for the new council in Clyde River, when Natanine expects to meet with the new group to decide on what next steps to take.
Khan said she expects a vote of some sort from the new council early in 2016, "but so far it seems that (Natanine) is going to very much be involved."
Back in September, she and a colleague made a presentation to the hamlet council and the local hunters and trappers organization in Clyde River about the fight.
"They unanimously voted in favour of continuing to work with Greenpeace on the legal battle," said Khan. "That was an exciting piece of news for us. The relationship with Clyde has been developing in a really positive way. I'm really excited to be able to work with the new mayor (James Qillaq), who was at the council meeting."
Greenpeace hasn't reached out to other Nunavut communities to join the seismic testing campaign but Khan is open to that possibility.
"I certainly hope that in future there will be opportunities for us to work in solidarity with more than just Clyde," she said.
