Nunavimmiut share mixed feelings on proposed road link

Makivik Corp.’s vice president Michael Gordon, second from left, speaks at a public consultation at Katittavik town hall Jan. 25 when Transport Quebec officials, to his far left, presented the results of a prefeasibility study looking at a road link to the community. (PHOTO BY ISABELLE DUBOIS)

It would lower the cost of living and bring new opportunities to the region, but Nunavimmiut hold mixed feelings about the idea of a road linking their largest community, Kuujjuaq, to Quebec’s southern road network.

The region got its first look at what that potential link might look like Jan. 25, when officials from Transport Quebec presented the findings of its pre-feasibility study at a public consultation held in Kuujjuaq.

Under Quebec’s Plan Nord, the province committed millions of dollars to look at developing major links to Nunavik, including the construction of a road between Kuujjuaq and Quebec’s southern road network.

The pre-feasibility study, prepared in 2011 by the firms Genivar and SNC Lavalin for Transport Quebec, looks at a 423-kilomtre road that would connect Kuujjuaq to the community of Caniapiscau, at the eastern tip of the Transtaiga route.

From Caniapiscau, the Transtaiga route continues west towards Chisasibi on James Bay, but also forks south towards Chibougamau on another roadway called the Route du Nord (see map.)

The study estimates that the construction alone of the road running north to Kuujjuaq could cost $645 million, although costs would likely climb close to $1 billion once the required land surveys are completed.

That’s compared to the estimated $2.5 billion another recent study pegged as the cost of building a 600-kilometre line linking Kuujjuaq to the province’s southern rail network via the community of Schefferville.

Once in operation, a roadway would cost about $4.3 million a year to maintain, compared to the $17.7 million estimated for maintenance of a railway.

The study predicts that initial construction of the route would employ more than 9,000 workers, while roughly 30 workers would be employed to do year-round maintenance once the road is in service.

The study highlights the roadway’s potential benefits: an alternative to air transport, lower costs for bringing in food, fuel and materials, as well as the potential to build an electric transmission or fibre optic line to Kuujjuaq.

But Transport Quebec’s Denis Blais said the Jan. 25 consultation also highlighted some major concerns about how the link would affect the region.

Many Nunavimmiut fear a road link would give the region better access to drugs and alcohol; others fear the road would infringe on traditional hunting grounds.

“For those reasons, many people would prefer to see a railway link because they believe it would mean more controlled access to Kuujjuaq,” Blais said.

But Blais said the Kuujjuaq meeting also showed that Nunavimmiut want to explore the road option in more depth.

“This is a big project for Nunavimmiut,” Blais said. “These are questions and concerns that will dictate how the project moves ahead and Inuit will decide what kind of consultation they want.”

The needs of mining developments near Kuujjuaq, such as Adriana Resources’ Otelnuk Lake iron project south of Kuujjuaq and the Oceanic Iron Corp. project west of Aupaluk, will also factor into future studies on the ground link to Nunavik, Blais said.

But the lack of consultation with Inuit so far has some of the region’s leaders concerned, including Makivik Corp.’s new president, Jobie Tukkiapik.

Tukkiapik says that, while a road would bring opportunity to the region, it would also have a huge impact on Nunavik’s traditional lifestyle.

For now, he says, it’s time to listen to what Nunavimmiut have to say.

“This is the very start of the consultations that might need to go to other communities because they’re affected by this too,” Tukkiapik said.

“Our need to harvest plays a very important role in our lives and that needs to be considered.”

This Transport Quebec map shows the Transtaiga route, ending at Caniapiscau, which could be the launching point of a road north to Kuujjuaq. The line in red shows the proposed railway link from Schefferville to Kuujjuaq. (IMAGE COURTESY OF TRANSPORT QUEBEC)