QIA prez, Mayor have mixed reaction to Baffinland decision

The mayor of Pond Inlet is happy with a recent decision to bypass the Nunavut Planning Commission and allow Baffinland Iron Mines to bring its proposal for nearly year-round shipping through Milne Inlet straight to the Nunavut Impact Review Board. 

The company wants to ship iron ore from its Mary River project ten months a year, even though the NPC said that proposal does not conform with the regional land use plan. 

That NPC decision sparked weeks of debate and effectively pitted Nunavut leaders against each other.

Mayor Charlie Inuaraq says he and many hamlet councillors support the decision, not necessarily because they want the Baffinland proposal to be approved, but because residents should be "properly consulted."  

"Communities that are closest to any mega project being planned or reviewed ... need to have a say with concerns or comments that they may have," said Inuaraq in Inuktitut. "That is how Inuit understand the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement."

Inuaraq says the Nunavut Impact Review Board will give people that chance to be heard. 

"Many decisions have been made without talking to the communities," he said. "We only hear about them when they are made policies or law."

"That is not right."

QIA calls decision 'disappointing'

PJ Akeeagok, the president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, says he is very disappointed with the decision. 

"I think this is really going to set a precedent that we have to be very cautious about for all future projects." 

The Inuit leader says the decision goes against the spirit and intent of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, by undermining the regulatory process.

He would rather have seen the mining company amend its proposal and take it back to the Nunavut Planning Commission.

Akeeagok says the point of the process is "to ensure Inuit have every opportunity to participate right from the start to the conclusion of a proposal."

By essentially nullifying the effect of the Nunavut Planning Commission, Akeeagok says the government's decision silences Inuit. 

"Definitely NPC, through the amendment process, would have allowed Inuit to still voice their position."

Akeeagok says QIA is still reviewing the decision and has not yet decided what its next move should be. 

"We'll definitely do our due diligence."