EventAction
Northern Affairs Minister rejects Baffinland's Mary River Phase 2 expansion
Minister Dan Vandal accepted the review board's recommendation and rejected the expansion, which would have doubled output to 12 million tonnes a year and added a 110-kilometre railway to Milne Inlet. His letter cited the Inuit organizations' Oct. 25 letter; he said their lack of support played into his decision and that the mine sits on Inuit-owned land, not Crown land (CBC News; Nunatsiaq News, Nov. 16, 2022).
- Date
- Kind
- Permit
- Where
- Canada / Nunavut
- Evidence
- Action: Something was done: a law switched on, a tariff imposed, money committed. How evidence is weighed
- Who
- Government of Canada (acted); Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) (subject); Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization (Pond Inlet) (subject); Baffinland Iron Mines (subject)
Articles that cite this record
Sources
- CBC News, “Northern Affairs minister says no to Baffinland mine expansion” (external site), . source record
- Nunatsiaq News, “Vandal rejects Baffinland's Phase 2 expansion; company expected to release statement Thursday” (external site), . source record
Claims that rest on this event
- Consultation gives First Nations no veto. Courts send approvals back for more consultation but rarely end projects: Trans Mountain's approval was quashed in 2018, granted again in 2019, and the pipeline was built. A nation that objects usually ends with an agreement or with an approval over its objection, so a nation that opposes and later signs reveals nothing about its motive. Provinces and towns holding the same lever end the same way.
Ottawa rejected Mary River Phase 2 after the Inuit organizations' opposition and the review board's recommendation: one case where opposition and the review process ended an expansion.
- In the record so far, resource projects facing organized First Nations, Métis or Inuit opposition reached construction about as often as those without it (approved: 4 of 7 vs 1 of 2; under review: 2 of 4 vs 2 of 8); tiny, selected samples.
Ottawa rejected Mary River Phase 2 during review, the minister citing the Inuit organizations' lack of support: an opposed review-stage project where the opposition weighed in the decision.