Geotimes
Feature
Bringing Sustainability
to the People of Nunavut
Ross L. Sherlock, David J. Scott and Gordon MacKay
Nunavut is Canada’s newest territory, established on April 1, 1999. Encompassing
about 20 percent of Canada’s landmass and accounting for nearly 70 percent
of Canada’s coastline, Nunavut is roughly four and a half times the size
of Texas. The territory has 26 communities, with populations ranging from 130
people in Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island to more than 5,000 people in Iqaluit
on Baffin Island, for a total population of about 28,000, 85 percent of whom
are Inuit.
Nunavut is Canada’s frontier, as isolated and remote as any place in the
world. No highways link the communities of Nunavut, and access to the territory
is only by air or sea. Located on tidal flats, all communities are icebound
six to 10 months of the year. The climatic conditions are harsh, with almost
all of the territory above the tree line and more than half the communities
above the Arctic Circle. Given the physical realities of Nunavut, the economy
has only limited directions in which to expand; the only practical means is
through responsible development of its natural resources.
Nunavut’s
geology is diverse, representing more than 3 billion years of Earth’s history
and encompassing many environments that are favorable for large ore bodies.
Nunavut hosts several of the largest undeveloped lode-gold deposits in Canada
— Meliadine, Meadowbank, Goose Lake-George Lake and Hope Bay — as
well as large undeveloped zinc resources at Izok Lake and copper resources at
High Lake. Recently a number of companies have been aggressively exploring for
diamonds in different regions of Nunavut, and initial results are quite promising.
In Nunavut, the potential to discover world-class mineral deposits is high.
These folded metamorphic rocks are typical
of the ancient Canadian Shield bedrock that underlies Nunavut and is the source
of much of its mineral wealth. Photo courtesy of Governments of the Northwest
Territories and Nunavut.
The Government of Nunavut embraces the United Nations’ Brundtland definition
of sustainable development, which states that development must be undertaken
in ways that “meet the needs of the present, without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs” (see story,
this issue). This approach invariably involves maximizing the economic and
social benefits to local people through training and support, so that mine closures
leave the local communities in a sustainable state without environmental liabilities.
In Nunavut, responsible development of natural resources is viewed as a mechanism
to develop human capital, thereby creating a sustainable social and economic
climate that can expand beyond a reliance on resource extraction.
Exploration and future mining projects are part of a balance, with a healthy
diversified economy, environmental integrity and economic opportunities for
today that do not compromise opportunities for future prosperity. Individual
projects must use industry’s best practices and follow an underlying moral
imperative to develop mineral resources in a responsible manner. Each project,
however, is just part of a larger vehicle to ensure the economic and social
viability of the territory through the transfer of benefits to Nunavut residents
by development of its resources.
Meet the community
Key to understanding the concept of sustainable development in Nunavut is an
appreciation of the physical and socioeconomic realities of the territory. The
Inuit of Nunavut are in transition from a traditional to modern lifestyle. Many
of the older residents of Nunavut were born on the land and moved into modern
houses as children. Many Nunavummiut (residents of Nunavut of any ethnic background)
still spend a large portion of the year in Nunavut, hunting, fishing and gathering.
As a result, young Nunavummiut balance between the traditional lifestyle of
their elders and the modern lifestyle that they are exposed to via television
and the Internet.
Nunavut
has a very young and rapidly growing population; about 60 percent is under the
age of 25, and 41 percent under the age of 16. More than half the adult population
has not completed high school, and only a small percentage of the population
has a post-secondary education. Income levels in Nunavut are low, which, compounded
with the very high cost of living, result in more than half of Nunavummiut needing
some form of income support during any given year. Unfortunately, these socioeconomic
conditions have resulted in serious health problems, such as high incidences
of infant mortality, tuberculosis, diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases and
lung cancer.
Nunavut, Canada’s newest territory, has a very young population, with more
than half under the age of 25 and 40 percent under the age of 16. Photo courtesy
of Governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Nunavut’s economy is a unique mix of traditional activities (hunting, fishing
and carving) as well as wage-based employment. The traditional activities are
very important in terms of providing food, modest financial gains, and preserving
the social and cultural infrastructure. However, the realities of the 21st century
require Nunavummiut to increase their participation in the wage economy if they
are to rise above the poverty line.
The wage-based economy in Nunavut is dominated by the public service industry,
representing almost 40 percent of Nunavut’s gross domestic product (GDP),
followed by mining and resource development (about 18 percent of GDP). The three
operating mines in Nunavut have recently closed due to depleted resources, which
will increase the economy’s reliance on government and government services.
In a recent study, the Conference Board of Canada concluded that Nunavut’s
reliance on government employment is not sustainable. The coming years will
see a large influx of Nunavummiut seeking employment; the economy must diversify
if the territory is to achieve sustainability.
Mineral rights
In 1993, the Inuit of Nunavut signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA).
Self-determination over resource development forms key sections in the agreement.
The NLCA gave the Inuit ownership of 356,000 square kilometers of land (about
16 percent of Nunavut) and combined surface and mineral rights to about 35,000
square kilometers (about 2 percent of Nunavut) of the most promising ground.
The mineral rights are held and administered by Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
(NTI), the nonprofit corporation established primarily to oversee implementation
of the NLCA on behalf of the Inuit. Where the Inuit own the mineral rights,
NTI issues licenses to explore and mine through its own mineral-tenure system.
Although NTI holds mineral rights to only 2 percent of Nunavut, much of the
territory’s mineral wealth belongs to the Inuit of Nunavut.
Ownership of mineral resources is critical to the future economic prosperity
of Nunavut. The people of the territory, through NTI, regulate mining and exploration
and collect royalties on future operations. These royalties can be very significant.
A modern diamond mine, such as Ekati or Diavik in the Northwest Territories
of Canada, could provide royalties in excess of Can$600 million over a mine’s
25-year life. Similarly, modern gold or base metal mines could provide Can$10
million to Can$100 million in royalties over a 10- to 20-year mine life. NTI
can use these royalties to reinvest in the communities and directly improve
the quality of life of the Nunavummiut.
In addition to royalties, the NLCA requires that project proponents establish
impact-benefit agreements with the Inuit. These agreements typically create
direct employment and training opportunities, building capacity in Nunavut’s
communities and ensuring responsible development through community consultation
and shared-monitoring programs. A key requirement of these agreements is improvement
of basic education levels. Then, Nunavummiut will be able to participate in
these economic opportunities and consequently help retain the benefits of mining
in Nunavut.
Even prior to the commencement of mining operations, exploration projects offer
economic benefits. These projects contribute approximately 10 percent of their
total expenditures to the local communities, mainly through direct employment
and provision of goods and services. Although a relatively small proportion,
exploration programs in Nunavut are commonly in excess of Can$1 million per
year, which can have a very significant impact on a small community that consists
of several hundred people. Presently, the capacity of most communities is limited,
such that one or two exploration projects will fully engage the service capacity
of a community. This capacity gap is not unique to the exploration industry;
it is prevalent throughout the developing economy. As Nunavut’s economy
matures, and more impact-benefit agreements are completed, the capacity to service
all forms of industry will improve. Local communities can then capture more
of the benefits of exploration and other economic sectors.
Need for geoscience
A well-recognized relationship exists between the provision of public geoscience,
increased exploration activity, and discovery and development of new mineral
deposits. As established mines become depleted, exploration companies will increasingly
explore in more remote areas; but they need geologic information in order to
select areas and reduce their exploration risk. Public geoscience knowledge
(bedrock and surficial geological framework) is reasonably complete in many
mature jurisdictions of Canada and elsewhere; in these areas, the private sector
can identify energy and mineral resources. Nunavut, however, as a frontier jurisdiction,
lags far behind the rest of Canada in terms of providing a comprehensive geoscience
database at a regional level. Large areas of the territory have never been mapped
at a scale that is useful for mineral exploration or for making informed land-use
planning decisions. Thus, there is an enormous opportunity for new mapping to
stimulate further exploration.
Nunavut is competing worldwide for exploration dollars; companies can go anywhere
in the world to explore and develop mineral deposits. To successfully compete,
Nunavut needs to demonstrate its mineral potential through developing and maintaining
a high-quality geoscience knowledge base that is available and readily accessible
to the public. Ultimately, this knowledge will enable the discovery and development
of mineral resources that will benefit the Nunavummiut, and allow the territory
to develop a sustainable social and economic climate that can expand beyond
a reliance on resource development. Although the potential to discover new economic
mineral deposits is high, government-funded earth science must provide the geologic
framework to facilitate these discoveries.
Sherlock is a research scientist
with the Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office (C-NGO) in Iqaluit, where he conducts
research projects on mineral deposits in Nunavut.
Scott is the program manager of the Geological Survey of Canada’s Northern
Resources Develop-ment Program, overseeing geoscience projects across Canada aimed
at supporting sustainable development in Canada’s north. He was the founding
chief geologist of the C-NGO in Iqaluit, a partnership formed to build geoscience
capacity in Nunavut.
MacKay is the director of Environment and Integrated Resource Management with
the Government of Nunavut’s Department of Sustainable Development. As a professional
geologist with close to 20 years experience in government and the mining industry,
MacKay is working to support the development of a strong Nunavut economy.
Link:
"Sustainable Development and the Use of
Nonrenewable Resources," Geotimes, December 2003
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