Iqaluit – The Concordian

The state of emergency in the capital of Nunavut continues

A state of emergency was called in Iqaluit on Oct. 12 when evidence of fuel was found in the city’s water supply; the Nunavut minister of health has extended the state of emergency until Oct. 28.

Iqaluit is the capital city of Nunavut, with a population of more than 7,500 people, and the highest population of Inuit of any Canada city, with over 3,900 Inuit people living there. Residents of the city have been advised not to drink or cook with the tap water, even boiled or filtered, as the tap water is not safe for consumption.

According to an article in Nunatsiaq News, residents began complaining on Facebook of foul-smelling tap water on Oct. 2. The source of the fuel contamination is still under investigation.

As the crisis continues, hospitals are unable to wash or sterilize their equipment. Iqaluit Deputy Mayor Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster explained in a Twitter thread that, because of the water crisis and the pandemic, some patients have had to be medivaced to Ottawa. One medivac can cost over $40,000.

“The current state of emergency in Iqaluit has impacted our only hospital’s ability to provide my mum’s urgently required procedure because the equipment that is needed can not be safely sterilized due to the fuel in the water,” tweeted Brewster.

Nunavut CBC reporters Jackie McKay and Pauline Pemik believe that this water crisis is tied to infrastructure gaps between the Arctic and the rest of Canada, as well as the impacts of climate change in the region and the failure of the federal government.

The issue has reached Canada-wide, with NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, along with NDP MP for Nunavut, Lori Idlout, sharing in a public statement, “The federal government must immediately respond to the state of emergency in Iqaluit due to a contaminated water supply.”

The statement explained that having access to clean water is a common issue in rural and remote communities, specifically in Northern areas and Indigenous communities.

The Federal government responded to the crisis on Oct. 22 by sending the Canadian Armed Forces to help provide and distribute clean drinking water in Iqaluit.

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

Hundreds of Mary River Mine employees were unable to return home as Inuit hunters fought for wildlife protection

The proposed expansion of the Mary River Mine in Nunavut was interrupted by a week-long Inuit protest earlier this month. A group of seven hunters barricaded its main road and airstrip, which left 700 mine employees stranded at the facility.

Inuit land defenders were outraged by the planned construction of a 110-kilometre railway, which would connect Mary River Mine to the nearest port in Milne Inlet. While the expansion allows the mine to double its output and ship 12 million tonnes of iron ore annually, it also raises serious environmental concerns.

The Inuit hunters, also known as the Nuluujaat Land Guardians, believe this expansion will disrupt the local caribou and narwhal habitats. To this day, these animals play a significant role in Inuit life, as hunting is a necessity rather than a hobby in the isolated communities of the north.

Mary River Mine is located almost 1,000 kilometres away from Iqaluit, the only town with a population of over 5,000 in the territory. As the hunters saw a potential threat to the traditional way of Inuit life, they physically blocked the mine’s operations for an entire week, until Feb. 11.

Donat Milortuk, an Inuit activist from the town of Naujaat, organized a local protest in his community in support of the hunters’ actions.

“We are thinking about our younger generations. We want a clean environment and healthy food. This is everyone’s responsibility,” he said in an interview with the CBC. “We don’t want our wildlife and land contaminated.”

However, as a result of the barricade, the mine workers had no access to fresh food and supplies while being trapped in the facility. The land defenders refused to free the airstrip that would allow the employees to return home, only making an exception for one bus carrying medical equipment.

“It’s unfortunate that they felt they had to go to those extremes to be heard,” said Udloriak Hanson in an interview with CBC, the vice-president of community and strategic development at Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation.

Mary River Mine lost an estimated $14 million due to the week-long blockade. As the business was at a standstill during the protests, the Inuit resistance ended up costing the company over $2 million per day.

When the mine corporation’s lawyers took this matter to court, Justice Susan Cooper issued an order to the Inuit hunters on Feb. 10, requiring them to free the airstrip and to allow the workers to come back home. The land defenders peacefully agreed to end the blockade, following the order from Nunavut’s Court of Justice.

In return, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation announced that the company is open to adjusting the mine’s expansion plan, which includes scaling back its planned increases in shipping. The potential expansion will also undergo an environmental and socio-economic review in Iqaluit, during a series of public hearings set to begin on April 12.

After the hearings, the Nunavut Impact Review Board will advise the territorial government whether this controversial project should become a reality on the land of Inuit people.

Graphic by Lily Cowper