Residents will be asked for feedback on three possible sites for new generating station

Consultants working for the Qulliq Energy Corp. will hold a series of meetings between now and early November to consult Iqalummiut on the social and economic effects of a future hydro-electric plant.

Iqaluit resident Natsiq Kangok, whom the QEC has hired to run the consultation effort, said those meetings will kick off on the evening of Oct. 16 at a venue that's yet to be determined.

She said the Oct. 16 gathering will be used to provide introductory information on the three sites that the QEC is looking at for the hydro plant, and to distribute a written questionaire aimed at recording the views of Iqaluit residents.

On Oct. 18, Kangok's firm will hold an Inuktitut-only meeting, also at a venue that's yet to be determined, to do the same thing.

The QEC's three possible sites are: Cantley Bay (near Ward Inlet); the Armshow River (across the bay from Iqaluit); and Jaynes Inlet (further down the bay, on the same side as Armshow River).

If either the Armshow or Jaynes Inlet sites are chosen, they would likely be connected to Iqaluit by a long road stretching around the end of Frobisher Bay.

After the Oct. 16-18 meetings, consultants will meet governments and organizations on the afternoon of Oct. 24 at the parish hall, and with cabin owners on the evening of Oct. 25, also at the parish hall. On the afternoon of Nov. 8, they'll meet in the parish hall with business representatives.

"We would definitely like to hear from cabin owners, hunters, fishers, campers, and to have them participate in these events," Kangok said.

She also said her group will meet with the hunters and trappers association.

And for any residents who can't attend these meetings, she said the QEC will soon put up a website that people can use to answer the questionaire online.

Kangok said that by the end of next January, her company will put the results of these consultations into a report for the QEC.

The QEC will use the information to help make a final decision on a site for the hydro station, and for the socio-economic section of an environmental impact statement.

The power corporation wants to start construction by 2011 on a hydro plant that would generate electrical power for 50 to 80 years. Right now, Iqaluit's power station burns up about 25 per cent of all diesel fuel consumed by the QEC in Nunavut.