City worried about GN mix-up on sea port

The Government of Nunavut must move quickly to sort out its confusion over where to build a deep port in South Baffin, Elisapee Sheutiapik, the mayor of Iqaluit, said this past Tuesday in a statement to Iqaluit City Council.

“It appears that Nunavut is sending mixed messages on the location of a deep sea port in south Baffin to the federal government, who are expected to be the major funding agent,” Sheutiapik said.

The issue came to light last week when a GN cabinet document, leaked to Nunatsiaq News, revealed that Olayuk Akesuk, the GN’s minister of transportation, told the federal transport minister that the GN’s “priority” is for a deep sea port at Kimmirut, linked to Iqaluit by a 160-kilometre road.

But last year, City of Iqaluit produced a study — paid for with GN money — that concluded a small deep sea port could be built in Iqaluit, at Innuit Head past the end of the causeway, for about $50 million.

An Iqaluit-Kimmirut road, on the other hand, pushed through the mountainous terrain of the Meta Incognita Peninsula, would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, based on past estimates for Arctic roads in other regions.

After its study was finished last fall, the city used it to lobby aggressively for an Iqaluit port during the federal election campaign.

In the aftermath of Akesuk’s declared support for a Kimmirut port and road, the city now wants the GN to come clean on its intentions.

“It is not in the best interests of Nunavut to have the territorial and municipal governments having different positions on the location of a port in Nunavut,” Sheutiapik said.

She also said the GN should set “assessment criteria” to figure out the best place to put a port.

Those criteria should include total cost, social and economic impacts and benefits, available infrastructure, and timelines for completing the port project.

Akesuk fended off questions from Hunter Tootoo, the MLA for Iqaluit Central, by straddling the fence.

“I’d like to see if the federal government would commit any money; whether it’s to Iqaluit or to Kimmirut I would be very happy. So anything that’s coming to south Baffin is a good project for us to accept from the federal government as most of the money would come from the federal government,” Akesuk said.

Sheutiapik, on the other hand, said the GN must decide its port priority soon, and publicly state its position.
“It is very important to the economic development of Nunavut to have a port facility in Nunavut as soon as possible,” she said.