Nunavut Planning Commission holding meetings in Kivalliq communities
Feedback will be used to revise much-criticized draft land use plan for territory
A stretch of land near Hackett River in the Kitikmeot region, a mixture of Inuit-owned and Crown lands. Hackett River holds a rich silver deposit owned by Glencore. (File photo)
The Nunavut Planning Commission is holding information sessions in Kivalliq communities this month, as it prepares to revamp its draft land use plan for the territory.
The commission held similar meetings in Kitikmeot communities in November.
The commission originally envisioned that it would hold regional hearings in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions. But a news release issued by the commission prior to its Kivalliq meetings states that regional hearings are no longer being planned, for lack of federal funding.
“The Commission has now received funding to complete consultations on the 2016 DNLUP [Draft Nunavut Land Use Plan] by conducting community visits in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions, rather than further public hearings,” the release states.
The commission’s draft land use plan, released in June 2014, drew strong criticisms from Inuit organizations and mining companies. The plan would have banned mining from about 15 per cent of Nunavut’s lands.
That includes land that Inuit selected during land claim negotiations because of its mineral potential.
A public hearing for the Qikiqtani region was held in March 2017. But similar hearings for Nunavut’s other regions were indefinitely postponed in May that year, as the commission sought to resolve “outstanding concerns.”
Nunavut’s land use plan, which would guide development in the territory, has been in the making since the early 1990s.
In April 2018, delegates at the Nunavut Mining Symposium groaned when the commission’s director of policy and planning, Brian Aglukark, said that a completed land use plan wouldn’t be ready until at least 2022.
The Nunavut Planning Commission updated its Kivalliq meeting dates on Jan. 22, due to blizzards and mechanical aircraft issues. The new locations and times are:
- Rankin Inlet Community Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 22
- Arviat Community Hall on Thursday, Jan. 23
- Baker Lake Community Hall on Friday, Jan. 24
- Coral Harbour Community Hall on Monday, Jan. 27
- Naujaat Community Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 28
- Whale Cove Community Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 29
- Chesterfield Inlet Community Hall on Thursday, Jan. 30
Afternoon sessions are from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., while evening sessions are from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., except for Baker Lake, which will have an afternoon session from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and an evening session from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Resources rich land specifically chosen to improve the lives and economic opportunities for Inuit by past Inuit leaders during NLCA, being banned from development as stated in the article, kind of like shooting yourself in the foot isn’t it.
Especially, when you consider all present operating mines in Nunavut take up less than 1% of Nunavut’s land mass, and look at the benefits it creates.