Idlout calls on Ottawa to sign land use plan protecting Inuit hunting grounds
Nunavut MP says delay benefits mining companies while creating uncertainty around investment in the territory
Nunavut MP Lori Idlout is calling on the federal government to sign the Nunavut Land Use Plan as soon as possible before the upcoming territorial election in October. (File photo)
Nunavut MP Lori Idlout is calling on the federal government to approve the Nunavut Land Use Plan, which she says has been unnecessarily delayed for more than two years.
“Personally, I think there has been such a long delay because mining companies have such a strong voice and they are asking questions and asking for the approval to be delayed,” Idlout said in an interview Wednesday.
Until the plan is signed and approved, she said, Inuit will face economic and environmental uncertainty. A finalized plan would allow Inuit “to implement their own priorities for economic development.”
The Nunavut Land Use Plan is a wide-reaching document which, if approved, would designate protected habitats for animals such as caribou and polar bears, while setting aside land for development.
Mining industry leaders, however, have criticized the plan, saying it would limit expansion of some existing mining infrastructure as well as future exploration and mining projects.
To be approved, the plan must be signed by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Government of Nunavut and the federal government. So far, none have signed.
Idlout suggested mining companies care more about their rights to mine, than about Inuit hunting rights.
She called on federal Northern Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand to sign off on plan, which has been sitting with the federal government since June 2023, in a letter sent Monday.
Her letter, she said, is intended to draw attention to the issue.
“[Chartrand] needs to work with NTI and the Government of Nunavut immediately” to approve the plan, Idlout said, noting territorial elections are set for Oct. 27.
“The sooner she does it, the better,” Idlout said.
Delaying the plan’s approval maintains the status quo, to the benefit of mining companies, she added.
While the plan remains unsigned, it creates uncertainty that’s harmful for future investment, Karen Costello, executive director of the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines, said Thursday.
“The recommended Nunavut Land Use Plan represents a significant decision point for all three signatories,” she said, adding each has to make its own assessment.
“I have no doubt that the minister of northern affairs will give due consideration to the analysis and recommendations of the other signatories.”
Costello said, “Industry remains very concerned that the recommended plan’s approach to existing rights is fundamentally flawed,” goes too far in limiting land usage, and may “strand” existing projects from being completed.
She said Nunavut is “under-mapped” from a mining perspective, and that designating protected areas now without a full mineralogical understanding of the territory may cut off potential resources from future development.
Mining companies would like the signatories to consider revising and reducing some areas the plan proposes for protection, Costello said.
According to a Nunavut Planning Commission document provided to Nunatsiaq News by executive director Sharon Ehaloak, the land use plan does not prevent protected areas from being redesignated later as open for development.
Neither Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. nor the Department of Northern Affairs responded to a request for comment late Thursday afternoon.
The reason no one has signed the land use plan is that it is generally recognized to be a complete mess that’s not fit for purpose.
A poignant reflection of our MP’s political career, dare I say…
Well, at least now we know where NTI stands.
This is the problem with our MP. Idlout shows that she fundamentally has zero clue about business and cannot be counted on to make rational, informed and reasoned decisions that affect people’s livelihoods (both Inuit and non-Inuit, although it must be said she seems to happily ignore her Non-Inuit constituents and act like a leader of Inuit).
Uncertainty and delay on the ground rules for development does not benefit business. Nor does this encourage capital to be invested into our territory. It does the opposite. Business is the task of balancing risk and reward, and what is happening with the NPC and NLUP increases risk for business, with in the case of mineral exploration, an uncertain reward.
Anybody passively sitting around watching the unfolding global tariff horrors over the past 4 months would understand that about the economy. Except Idlout apparently.
Inuit do not need a posturing MP or a Land Use Plan to protect our hunting grounds. All the most critical hunting grounds we have have already been selected as Inuit Owned Lands. We own that land. We decide. Not her, individually. Not the NPC. Not the GN. Not the Feds.
If there are other lands and waters more important for hunting than development, we have our say on the water board, the review board, and even if necessary, on the Surface Rights Tribunal. A Land Use Plan is a nice to have. It is not required to assert Inuit rights.
Honestly, how does the Inuit elite of Nunavut get off being so ignorant?
Nothing amuses me more than nunatsiaq commenters pretending to be Inuit.
The fact is, the NLUP was developed after years and years of consultation with Inuit across Nunavut.
You don’t get to claim authority via IOL and then ignore the requirements for an NLUP contained in the same NLCA that gave rise to IOL.
We do not have any responsibility to help southern companies weather the global economy. We don’t have any responsibility to help Canadas GDP. Even the GDP growth in Nunavut is primarily driven by wages that flow immediately out of the territory.
This is our land, and access to it and its resources is a privilege not a right. This isn’t Botswana or Chile, so you’re gonna have to learn to play ball or go home.
Lori do not just represent inuit, she represents Nunavut. And the same can be said of rest of Canada, we don’t owe anything to Nunavut. Do you even know the amount of $$$ given to Nunavut for such a small population? Where do you think those food vouchers come from? Chile or Botswana a hundred years ahead than Nunavut
Nunavut is the Monty Python of Canadian democracy.🤣
Money pit.🤑
“We don’t have any responsibility to help Canadas GDP.”
Guess Canada can go ahead and cancel those $4.2 BILLION annual transfer payments to Nunavut for education, health care, justice, housing, food subsidy programs, administration that serve under 40,000 people.
$4.2 Billion…..Where do you get that figure from, where are your sources?
I did a little research and have determined federal funding flowing into Nunavut for 2023/24 was $2.15 Billion.
2024/25 $2.18 Billion
2025/26 $2.3 Billion Projected.
My sources –
Government of Nunavut – Finance Publications
Government of Canada – Department of Finance – Major Federal Transfer report
ISC and CIRNAC Departmental Plans and Reports
Your claim of $4.2 Billion is way off than what has been reported.
Thanks. Hunter. GN 2023/24 operating budget was $2.15B; capital was another $.5B for total of $2.65B
There was another $.65B given directly to various RIAs, NGOs and non-profits. Total $3.3B
The real total is probably considerably higher through various indirect funding – subsidies, tax breaks, allowances to individuals and through direct Federal spending in federal ministries such as transportation, research, environment, and DIAND.
The real total spend is likely very close to Welp’s estimate
Ever bitter.
Assuming the identity of your opponents must simplify arguments a lot.
Inuit hunting grounds?
Not sure if Lori has heard this little thing called climate change and global warming.
An elder once told me, “Hunting will no longer be viable in the future. Stay in school. Get education. Get a job.”
In today’s world not many hunt. Just weekend warriors.😂🤘
If idlout wants it signed, then it is a bad plan. All Canadians have rights.
She is sooooo anti development!
No Toothless Inuit (NTI) leadership will do nothing along with Government Nothing (GN). Have to press the only hope government of canada. Need a tangible plan to address mining and allow hunting at the same time. Without a plan it is just unhinged mining claims.
“Personally, I think there has been such a long delay because mining companies have such a strong voice and they are asking questions and asking for the approval to be delayed,” Idlout said in an interview Wednesday.
Categorically incorrect per usual. The delay is because the LUP cannot be legally implemented in its current draft, despite 14 years of a consultation record and $64 million spent to get to a plan none of the signatories want to sign. NPC cherry picked ‘concerns’ to design it so that Plan amendments (which would require public consultations each time) would be required in the future for every project application in order to keep funding flowing their way. This approach effectively duplicates processes between NPC and NIRB.
The MP should not interfere in the NLUP. It has a process in place.
And just because NPC released the plan doesn’t mean that NTI, Nunavut Government or Government of Canada has to approve.