Inuit org to hold workshops on seismic testing

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association will hold workshops in east and north Baffin communities starting in late March to gather Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit on areas that might be impacted by a seismic testing survey — such as this area near Qikiqtarjuaq. The five-year seismic survey is scheduled to begin in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait during this year’s ice-free season unless a federal court challenge is successful in stopping it. (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS PHOTO)

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association wants to know what eastern and north Baffin residents think about a planned seismic survey in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait — and oil and gas exploration in general — so they’re organizing a series of public workshops.

The QIA said in a Feb. 17 news release that during those Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit workshops on traditional Inuit knowledge, they hope to gather information to “highlight important areas in the survey zone,” and then use that information to help those designing the survey make informed decisions that reflect Inuit knowledge of the area.

“The IQ workshops aim at listening to the community concerns and to open a dialogue with community members on the environmental impacts of the potential seismic survey,” QIA President P.J. Akeeagok, said in the news release.

“Regardless of the outcome of the Clyde River Federal Court case on the seismic survey, scheduled for April 20, 2015, QIA needs to be well prepared to provide valuable input to minimize the negative impacts seismic surveying could have on harvesting marine mammals that Inuit depend on.”

In other words, if you can’t stop the project, then at least gather information from stakeholders in the hopes of influencing project design.

A multinational consortium of companies is proposing to begin a comprehensive five-year survey of potential undersea oil and gas reserves off the coast of Baffin Island by pulling a sound array behind a ship and interpreting the echoes to produce a map of what’s beneath the seabed.

The project got the thumb’s up from the National Energy Board in June 2014 and the companies are planning to begin the project as soon as the waters are ice free this summer.

Opponents from Clyde River are asking the Federal Court of Appeal to quash the NEB’s approval on a number of grounds including the potential impact on sea mammals and what they describe as inadequate consultation on the matter, guaranteed to Aboriginal Canadians when their culture or traditional lifestyle is at stake.

In holding the workshops, the Baffin Inuit organization is living up to a promise made after a lengthy and detailed discussion about seismic testing at their annual general meeting in October 2014

“Inuit have made their position clear that we object to any seismic testing before our concerns are properly addressed,” a QIA news release said back in October.

The IQ workshops will be held in Kimmirut, Clyde River, Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq and Iqaluit from March 23 to April 3, the most recent news release says.

Public service announcements are expected to be issued later to detail the date, time and location of each workshop.

Editors note: In a previous version of this story, we used the word “partner” when describing the QIA’s potential contribution to the proponents’ future seismic project design. That word was used in error. The QIA has no intention of becoming partners with the seismic proponents.