November 19, 1998
NTI, Ottawa meet to set rules for High Arctic drilling
DIAND and NTI will meet with communities to set new rules for oil and gas exploration in Nunavut's High Arctic.
DWANE WILKIN
Nunatsiaq News
CAMBRIDGE BAY — Inuit living in Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay could be the first to help lay down rules for new oil exploration in Nunavut.
Officials with Nunavut Tunngavik and the federal government are working on details of the consultation process that must take place now that the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has signaled that it wants to invite oil companies to start bidding for the right to resume exploration in a vast expanse of territory in the High Arctic.
At least one company is said to be moderately interested by the call for nominations, which was first issued last spring by DIAND's oil and gas directorate.
It is the first call for nominations for oil and gas exploration since the Nunavut land claim agreement was signed in 1993.
Article 27 of the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement guarantees Inuit the right to attach certain terms and conditions to the way in which such activity is carried out, including the designation of important wildlife habitats off-limits to exploration.
The proposed area boundary in the High Arctic takes in the Sverdrup Islands, eastern Parry Islands, western Ellesmere Island and the Grinnel Peninsula of Devon Island.
The area was the site of much exploration activity in the 1960s and 70s and encompasses a number of dry and abandoned offshore wells.
Until the settlement of the Nunavut Land Claim, however, Ottawa was under no obligation to inform Inuit of planned exploration activity, let alone consult them.
Prior to the land claim, James Eetolook, NTI's first vice-president, says Inuit often wouldn't learn about oil and gas exploration in their homeland until company helicopters appeared overhead.
Now, through their community land and resource committees in Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay, and in conjunction with the regional Qiqiktani Inuit Association, local people will have their say before any exploration rights in the High Arctic are granted.
Some of the terms and conditions that are eventually attached to exploration licenses in the region might include guaranteed training and employment opportunities for residents of Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay.
Mimi Fortier, head of DIAND's oil and gas directorate, met with officials from NTI's lands department in Iqaluit last week to begin preliminary discussions.