Join BIPAR, MLA urges GN

Keith Peterson, MLA for Cambridge Bay, says the Bathurst Inlet port-road project, also known by the acronym “BIPAR,” is too big for the Kitikmeot Corp. to push through on its own and that the GN must join in as a “lead proponent.”

Peterson said Charlie Lyall, the president of the Kitikmeot Corp., took that message to the recent Northern Transportation Conference in Yellowknife.

“He told participants that he is taking the project to the Government of Nunavut because it is too big of a project for the Kitikmeot Corporation to do it alone. Mr. Speaker, there are many partners in this project, including the federal government, who are looking to the Government of Nunavut to make a serious commitment…” Peterson said.

The Bathurst project, first proposed by the Kitikmeot Corp. and the Inuit-owed Nuna Logistics firm in 1998, would see the construction of an all-weather road from Contwoyto Lake to a proposed deep-sea port at Bathurst Inlet.

The road would help open up the massive Izok Lake lead-zinc deposit, and provide a cheaper method of fuel re-supply for Kitikmeot communities.

Peter Kilabuk, the economic development minister, said the GN fully supports the Bathurst road-port idea, and “needs to be a leader” in pushing for it.