Monkey see, monkey do?

Why is the Government of Nunavut even thinking about spending money on a road from Iqaluit to Kimmirut?

We won’t know the complete answer to that question until after the Government of Nunavut releases a consultant’s report on the idea. That report, prepared by SNC-Lavalin, is now in their hands. But it won’t likely be released until GN officials read it, tweak it, and do other things to make it fit for public consumption. Then the minister will decide when and how to release it, though the normal method would be to table it in the legislative assembly.

Given the slow pace of government, all that could take a while. But that’s no reason for the public to refrain from asking serious questions now.

Unlike similar projects proposed for the Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions, the justification for an Iqaluit-Kimmirut road is not immediately apparent – other than evidence of a monkey-see, monkey-do approach to policy making.

The Bathurst Inlet road and port project, for example, runs through a region whose mineral wealth is well-documented. Real companies are proposing to develop real mines there, promising real economic development and real wealth creation. In time, it is entirely possible that the Kitikmeot region will become Nunavut’s economic heartland. The concerns of environmental organizations notwithstanding, the Bathurst Inlet project is surely the most viable of Nunavut’s three unrealized transportation schemes.

As for the Kivalliq, it’s not a road, but an electrical power transmission line that the GN is proposing for the region. The line would run from Churchill through Arviat and Whale Cove to Rankin Inlet, supplying those communities with low-cost hydro-electric power generated by Manitoba Hydro. It could end up being a stepping-stone to the development of hydro-electric dams in the Kivalliq, which would sell power back to Manitoba.

Either way, it promises to reduce Nunavut’s utter dependence on volatile world fossil fuel markets. It could surely provide a source of cheap power to Rankin Inlet’s Meliadine gold project – one of the largest undeveloped gold properties in the world. It’s not inconceivable that Baker Lake, with its equally promising Meadowbank gold project, could be linked to the power grid at some future date. And perhaps one day, a Kivalliq-Manitoba road might follow the power transmission line. Again, this is a project that makes some economic sense.

But now we turn to the idea of an all-weather road linking Iqaluit with a deep-water port at Kimmirut.

There are no proposed mines between the two communities, despite several years of prospecting and geophysical work. To be fair, some of the area has yet to be explored for minerals. No one is talking about stringing an electrical transmission line between the two communities either, even if the Nunavut Power Corporation goes ahead with a proposal to build a hydro-electrical generating station on the Sylvia Grinnell River.

However, Kimmirut’s ice-free season is much longer than Iqaluit’s. The GN’s thinking, apparently, is that a deep-sea port at Kimmirut could land goods nearly all-year round. Goods would be shipped by road to Iqaluit, providing residents with cheaper consumer goods, presumably, while other supplies would be flown to other points in the Baffin region from the Iqaluit airport.

That appears to be the sole justification for an Iqaluit-Kimmirut road. But would those benefits justify the enormous cost of such a project?

The cost of the Bathurst Inlet road, depending on which version you look at, runs between $165 million and $215 million. That’s greater than the GN’s entire capital budget for any given year to date – which means the federal government would be required to pay most of the bill.

So an Iqaluit-Kimmirut road, which would traverse about 160 km of rugged, hilly terrain, requiring several bridges over rivers, could be expected to cost between $100 million and $200 million, plus several more tens of millions to construct a deep-sea port at Kimmirut. And then there are the as-yet-uncalculated operation and maintenance costs every year.

Given all the other transportation needs in the Baffin region, the economic benefits of a south Baffin road would have to be enormous to justify such expenditures.

For example, why is the GN not studying the idea of a deep-water port for Pangnirtung? A port there might make it easier for ocean-going trawlers to land their catch. The fish plant there might actually become a profitable, stable business with a larger supply of fish to process. Various other communities want better docks, wharves, breakwaters, and repairs or replacements for airport runways and buildings.

If the Iqaluit-Kimmirut road-port project is to be supported, the GN had better be prepared to supply a strong economic case to justify the enormous amount of money that such a project would cost. If they can’t, then they should look at investing in other badly needed transportation projects around the Baffin region. JB