Committees to look at Mary River project review

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association plans to set up committees in seven communities to look at the Mary River project review.

The project in northern Baffin Island, recently acquired by the Luxembourg steelmaker ArcelorMittal, would see a road and ship-offloading facility at Milne Inlet or possibly a 230-km railway running south-east from the mine site to a port at Steensby Inlet, which opens onto the Foxe Basin, for the production and shipment of iron ore to Europe as early as 2013.

These local committees will “be instrumental” in forming positions and directions which represent their communities, said a March 28 news release.

“The challenge for QIA and the communities is to understand the size of the Mary River project and to get involved in every way they can with Baffinland, the regulatory processes and the various levels of government,” said QIA president Okalik Eeegeesiak.

“These committees will help to develop meaningful benefits for Inuit, their families and Baffin communities.”

To assist the communities— Hall Beach, Igloolik, Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Kimmirut and Cape Dorset, and their committees, the QIA has hired a full-time project coordinator.

Committee members must be Qikiqtaaluk residents, at least 16 years old and Nunavut Land Claims beneficiaries.

The local community liaison officers can assist with applications to become a member of the committee, said the news release.