Mary River closure would hit economy, but could be good for local hunters, says Arctic Bay resident
Company that operates iron mine seeks creditor protection for more than $1B in debt
Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. is facing financial troubles that could force its Mary River mine to “cease operations,” according to court documents. (File photo)
The potential closure of Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s Mary River iron mine would be a “great loss” to today’s Inuit workers, but a win for “next generations” of Inuit, says Arctic Bay resident Marie Naqitarvik.
“The workers over there and their families would suffer, I know, but if [the mine] were to continue, that would be hard for our next generation and hunters,” she said Thursday in a phone interview.
The Oakville-based company is seeking creditor protection for approximately $1 billion in debt, according to Ontario Superior Court files. It has operated the Mary River iron mine, located on northern Baffin Island near Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet, since 2015.
The company’s financial problems came to light last week..
The troubles in part due to the $1.46 billion the company spent on its proposed Milne Inlet railway expansion that was ultimately rejected by the federal government. Between 2017 and 2022, Baffinland “entered into significant contracts” in anticipation of approval, according to documents filed in Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
As a result, Baffinland says it lacks the means to buy fuel before this year’s sealift shipping window closes, which may force the mine to “cease operations entirely,” court documents say.
Despite that, Baffinland expects no operational disruptions to the mine and day-to-day decisions are still being made by executives, “subject to court oversight,” said Peter Akman, the company’s spokesperson, Wednesday in an email to Nunatsiaq News.
Naqitarvik was the spokesperson for the Nuluujaat Land Guardians, a group of seven Inuit who, in 2021, blocked access to the mine for a weeklong protest of Baffinland’s proposed expansion.
For years, people in communities near the mine have said increased industrial activity in the area is driving away the animals they rely on for sustenance. These concerns are what ultimately led the federal government to reject Baffinland’s proposed expansion for Milne Inlet in 2022.
Naqitarvik said the locals observed the company expanding its infrastructure before it got the necessary approvals.
Over at the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, acting executive director Hudson Lester declined to comment on the company’s billion-dollar investment in its unapproved Milne Inlet project, saying he didn’t have the technical background to do so.
But he did say it was concerning to see the company seek creditor protection.
“You never want to see a company go through this, especially one that employs so many Inuit workers and contractors,” he said.
Baffinland is Nunavut’s largest private sector employer with 1,200 people on its payroll, including approximately 300 Inuit employees, according to court documents, and mining makes up almost half of Nunavut’s gross domestic product.
If the mine were to close, it would have an impact on the territory’s workforce and GDP, Lester said.
The Qikiqtani Inuit Association would also take a “hit” if the mine closes, Lester said.
Mary River mine sits on Inuit Owned Land and Baffinland pays $1.25 million in quarterly royalties to the Inuit association for the right to mine there.
Representatives from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Despite the mine’s troubles, Lester says he still holds an “optimistic” view of Baffinland’s future.
“I haven’t had an in-depth chat with Baffinland as of yet, just with all that’s going on, so I can’t speak to it for certain, but I’m still on the hopeful side, and on the side that things will stay as they are,” he said.
Nunavut MP Lori Idlout says she will “continue to monitor” the situation.
“The Mary River Mine is a critical part of Nunavut’s economy. It supports jobs, training opportunities, and local businesses across the Qikiqtani Region,” Idlout said in a written statement on Thursday.
In 2021, before she became a member of Parliament, Idlout was the lawyer representing the anti-Baffinland Nuluujaat Land Guardians group.
Quote, “but a win for “next generations” of Inuit”. Seriously! What is wrong with some of us. Is hunting paying the bills for the vast majority of “working” Nunavummiut’s? Is the mine going to be replaced by a food processing plant that will miraculously appear to process hunters’ hauls? The approximately 300 Nunavummiut it employs will find themselves unemployed. Trying to find work in a work deprived region. Trying to take care of their families and grow a future. Those dollar figures that are pumped into the local economy are vital and critical to the local economies. That plus the impact from the Royalites it pays which would ultimately impact all Nunavummiut.
I don’t know what it will take for people to pull their heads out of their behinds. Nunavut needs jobs. Badly. It needs companies and people to do business here. There are close to 50% of the people living below the poverty line! No one wants to say this so I will. There is no economic future or stability in hunting. That ship sailed. A large part of that way of life unfortunately is disappearing and not coming back, Mines or not. Should we try and protect existing hunting grounds? ABSOLUTELY! Should we try and protect what is left for future generations? ABSOLUTELY! Should the prospect of a large-scale businesses/employer closing down In Nunavut for the benefit of hunting be celebrated. That would be a hard NO!
You don’t have to like the mines, you don’t have to like mining (even though almost everything in and around your house and things you count on daily has products, tools and equipment (including snow machines, 4 wheelers, boats, motors, pots, pans, etc., etc., etc..) made from what that mine or other mines like it produce). What you cannot do, is pretend like it is not one of the main economic engines that drive the economy in that region and Nunavut and that someone, somehow, is going to be “better off without it. It will not happen. Not now, not in a generation.
Maybe the next generation won’t know how to hunt. Most of the new generation now doesn’t even know how to talk in their own language. And we can’t even go caribou hunting because of the decline. Hunting supplies costs $$$$$,cthe list goes on and on. Jobs is the only option nowadays.
Kids these days are in love with phones and iPads, they are losing their language,respect for people and they don’t want to work hard, just expand the damn mine and get to work,let Nunavut make money for it self
For you, yes but not for us.
The issue of 1200 employees being laid off is overplayed. The significant majority of these are non Nunavut residents, so the territory will not get the same impact. No bigly if they shutdown for a few years so the Inuit can learn more mining skills at the other operating mines in the territory. The company screwed up and spent money that was never approved and now they are bearing the costs.
If the mine shuts down, even temporarily, the statement that this will be a win for the next generations of Inuit will be put to a strong and realistic test.
The Nuluujaat Land Guardians asserted that this operation was bad for caribou. Yet, while it has been operating, the caribou on Baffin have started a strong recovery. So there is good evidence this assertion was in fact, wrong.
The Nuluujaat Land Guardians have also asserted that this operation was bad for marine mammals. If concentrate shipping were to be paused, it would therefore be an opportunity to use this change to see if this is true; by observing if marine mammal behavior and distribution changes under a shutdown scenario, or not.
The huge reduction in sea ice in Qikiqtani region due to climate change, and the presence of Killer Whales are other plausible reasons why whales are not as abundant or stay longer near affected communities.
If the whales continue to travel further to the north and west even in the absence of commercial shipping, this will prove that the Nuluujaat Land Guardians were wrong again.
However, if Qikiqtani sees more whales for longer periods of time in the absence of commercial shipping, then the negative effect of commercial shipping will be proven.
If and when the owners of this operation solve their financial woes, what the public should taking from this is some learnings to calibrate their attitudes and concerns about this project.
This would be valuable insight well worth remembering for the future.
“Nunavut MP Lori Idlout says she will “continue to monitor” the situation.”
Is she going to pretend she is anything but thrilled over this? It would be amusing if she did, but I don’t expect that will happen.