QIA, Baffinland make progress on Mary River Inuit benefits deal

Baffinland wants to build its Mary River iron mine on north Baffin Island, but first it has to get a project go-ahead from the Nunavut Impact Review Board and strike an Inuit Impacts and Benefits Agreement with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. (FILE PHOTO)

Baffinland Iron Mines and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association announced Sept. 9 that they recently reached “a significant milestone in the negotiation of the Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement” for the Mary River iron mine project.

The two sides agreed on provisions releated to education, training, business opportunities, and finance, and “will continue working towards concluding an agreement,” a joint Sept. 9 news release said.

The IIBA is a requirement developed under Article 26 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, under which promoters of major projects, such as the Mary River mine, are required to negotiate impact and benefit agreements with regional Inuit associations. Potential benefits could included training, employment, business development opportunities, and profit-sharing.

In addition, “the IIBA will be designed to ensure social, cultural, and community activities received support through from the Mary River Project,” the news release said.

Due to the scale of the Mary River mine, “significant training and employment opportunities will be required,” so Baffinland and QIA want to work on training as quickly as possible, the statement said.

“Our progress on the IIBA demonstrates commitment on behalf of QIA and Baffinland to negotiate an agreement that will promote and sustain benefits for Inuit. QIA’s goal remains to develop the best possible project for Inuit and I am happy to announce with Baffinland we are continuing along that path,” said QIA president Okalik Eegeesiak.

Tom Paddon, Baffinland’s president and chief executive officer, called progress towards an IIBA “an achievement for Baffinland and for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and is an important step in building our relationship, which will become the cornerstone for the successful development of the Mary River Project. I have seen first hand the growth and prosperity that can be reached by aboriginal organizations through these types of agreements.”

Mary River project is moving through the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s environmental assessment process, during which Baffinland “will seek to address any concerns regarding proposed plans that have been expressed by Inuit during the process,” the news release said.

If this process is successfully completed, NIRB will give the project a “project certificate,” and, then, the QIA and Baffinland will sign a final IIBA, the two said in the news release.

Last month, the QIA said it opposed the construction of a deep sea port at Steensby Inlet to ship iron ore to Europe from the proposed Mary River iron mine.

The huge iron mine at Mary River could revolutionize the economy of the Baffin region, creating many hundreds of new jobs and business opportunities.

The plan for the mine includes the construction of Canada’s most northerly railway, one that would bring the explosions and rumbling sounds of industry, along with thousands of workers — to a place known more for snow, caribou and char.

The draft environmental impact statement for the Mary River project, which Baffinland issued this past April, suggests the project, as it is now proposed, could inflict serious damage on marine wildlife.

Baffinland Iron Mines is now held as a private company by ArcelorMittal, the European steel-making giant, who owns 70 per cent, and by Iron Ore Holdings LP, a private investment firm.