Nunavut Planning Commission expands public hearing to all three regions

The Nunavut Planning Commission has revised the dates of its upcoming hearing in Iqaluit. It will now run from March 21-26, with new hearing dates set for the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions in June and October 2017. (FILE IMAGE)

The Nunavut Planning Commission has quietly revised its public hearing schedule and will now host territory-wide hearings to gather feedback on its Draft Nunavut Land Use Plan.

In a notice posted last month, the NPC announced plans to conduct a week-long public hearing in Iqaluit, from March 21 to March 28, input from which would be considered while revising and submitting the plan for final approval.

But the NPC now says it will hold three smaller regional hearings across Nunavut between March and October 2017.

In a March 3 release, the NPC said its Iqaluit hearing will run a few days shorter than originally planned, from March 21 to March 26 at the Koojesee Ballroom at the Frobisher Inn.

Next, the NPC will host hearings in the Kivalliq region from June 23 to June 27, although a location has yet to be determined.

The commission will then host a final hearing in the Kitikmeot region from Oct. 24 to Oct. 27, also at a location that has yet to be announced.

The NPC’s senior planner, Goump Djalogue, told Nunatsiaq News that the revised hearings will provide better access to Nunavummiut to weigh in on the plan, and ease the logistics of bringing everyone to Iqaluit.

It’s not clear if the new hearing schedule will delay final approval of the plan; the NPC said the entire process depends on what sort of input the commission receives.

With the change in venue, the NPC says it will fund a total of three—rather than five—representatives from each community in the region to speak on behalf of their community and their local Hunters and Trappers Organizations.

But participants arranging their own travel and accommodations may come to any or all of those hearings.

The NPC has posted a revised agenda for its Iqaluit hearing, set to begin March 21. The agenda already includes 67 speakers, including the federal and territorial governments, Inuit organizations, hamlet and hunters groups from Nunavut and Nunavik, and mining companies.

Following lengthy cross-territory consultations, which wrapped up in 2013, and a series of technical meetings that followed, the NPC published the last version of its draft plan in the summer of 2016.

The plan is designed to guide resource use and development within the Nunavut Settlement Area, mapping it out under three categories: protected areas, special management areas and mixed use.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada has provided $2,072,776 in funding for the hearing process, the department told Nunatsiaq News last month.

For more information on how to participate, or to see the hearing’s written submissions, visit the NPC’s website.