The Supreme Court of Canada will hear appeal of Inuit Clyde Solidarity Organization November 30th. The previous Conservative federal government gave permission to oil companies in 2014 to conduct seismic blasting for five years in the northern Arctic in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, an area that abounds in sea life, including a high percentage of the World’s narwhal whales, as well as belugas and bowheads. The blasting has been carried out daily at frequent intervals. This area includes part of the North Water Polynya, which is valuable for its abundant sea life. A polynya is an area of warm, open water surrounded by ice. This polynya consists of 85,000 square kilometres, and is a traditional Inuit hunting ground. Hunters became alarmed that the force of blasting could damage these creatures, including whales, affecting their hearing, reducing their ability to communicate and causing them to change their migration routes.
The Hunters and Trappers Organization of Clyde River, a community on the northwest coast of Baffin Island, with the support of other groups including Greenpeace and Amnesty International, formed the opposition Clyde River Solidarity Organization to contest the permit and have brought a court action against the oil companies and government to prevent this exploration. When the courts, including the Federal Court of Appeal, rejected their case, they went to the Supreme Court, which will hear the appeal November 30th.
Learning of the coalition’s forthcoming appeal to the Supreme Court, the conglomerate of companies carrying out the activity postponed blasting for the present year. Lined up against the coalition are: TGS-Nopec Geophysical Company (ASA) and Multiklient Invest as (MKI), the National Energy Board (NEB) and the federal Attorney General. The Inuit state that the affected communities on northern Baffin Island did not obtain adequate consultation and did not give consent. They base their case on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
A committee of the Inuit Circumpolar Council is calling for joint control by Inuit of Canada and Greenland of the North Water Polynya. This is the result of their months’ long consultations among the Inuit. The panel consists of Kuupek Kleist, former Prime Minister of Greenland, Eva Aareak, former premier of Nunavut, and Ookalik Eegeesiak, President of the Council. Ms. Eegeesiak states that many Inuit from both Nunavut and Greenland depend on the area for food on a near-daily basis. She listed their three major issues: the impact of shipping, oil and gas exploration and climate change.
The panel also calls for the restoration of the “ice bridge” around the north edge of the polynya which Inuit freely travelled by dogsled, snowmobile and even light plane between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Inuit have relatives on both sides of the two countries who used to exchange visits in the spring. After the terrorist attacks of 9-11 the government ended the free passage.
Transportation in the Arctic.
A Remarkable Book. The Right to be Cold, by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Penguin, Canada, 2015. Ms. Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact of global climate change on human rights, especially in the Arctic. She was President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council from 1995 to 2002. An Inuit, she has devoted much of her life to the promotion of the health, education, independence and traditional life of her people. The Mississauga library system has a copy.
The Arctic has had many talented writers and artists over a long period. If you have information that you would like to send me at [email protected], it will be helpful for an article here. There is now a law school at Akitsiraq, Nunavut.
The Hunters and Trappers Organization of Clyde River, a community on the northwest coast of Baffin Island, with the support of other groups including Greenpeace and Amnesty International, formed the opposition Clyde River Solidarity Organization to contest the permit and have brought a court action against the oil companies and government to prevent this exploration. When the courts, including the Federal Court of Appeal, rejected their case, they went to the Supreme Court, which will hear the appeal November 30th.
Learning of the coalition’s forthcoming appeal to the Supreme Court, the conglomerate of companies carrying out the activity postponed blasting for the present year. Lined up against the coalition are: TGS-Nopec Geophysical Company (ASA) and Multiklient Invest as (MKI), the National Energy Board (NEB) and the federal Attorney General. The Inuit state that the affected communities on northern Baffin Island did not obtain adequate consultation and did not give consent. They base their case on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
A committee of the Inuit Circumpolar Council is calling for joint control by Inuit of Canada and Greenland of the North Water Polynya. This is the result of their months’ long consultations among the Inuit. The panel consists of Kuupek Kleist, former Prime Minister of Greenland, Eva Aareak, former premier of Nunavut, and Ookalik Eegeesiak, President of the Council. Ms. Eegeesiak states that many Inuit from both Nunavut and Greenland depend on the area for food on a near-daily basis. She listed their three major issues: the impact of shipping, oil and gas exploration and climate change.
The panel also calls for the restoration of the “ice bridge” around the north edge of the polynya which Inuit freely travelled by dogsled, snowmobile and even light plane between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Inuit have relatives on both sides of the two countries who used to exchange visits in the spring. After the terrorist attacks of 9-11 the government ended the free passage.
Transportation in the Arctic.
- Planes are still the main means for inter community travel. Small communities have cars, trucks and road equipment. Many Inuit use ATVs for getting around and going to their hunting grounds. Search and rescue crews use these vehicles in 12 communities, with an adaptation for winter of treads around the eight wheels, which enable it to float as well, by churning the water.
- Canadian North and First Air are the regular airlines that bring in passengers, food and other supplies from the south. Iquaiuit International Airport on Baffin Island is a northern hub. There are a number of Arctic regional airlines. Air Nunavut, a local, Inuit owned airline that provides charter services and MEDEVAC, is based in that region. Its fleet includes a small jet, and operates throughout the Arctic, including Greenland. Air Inuit serves the eastern territory of Nunavit (Northern Quebec). It, too, is Inuit owned. Air Labrador, in which the territory’s government bought 51 per cent, serves Nunatsiavut (on Labrador’s eastern coast). Shipping and travel by air are expensive.
- Many villages have airstrips. However, most of the airstrips were built in the 1950s near the DEW line, during the cold war, most are gravel, only a dozen being paved. The main planes that fly in are the 737-200 series, built in the 1970s, many of which are wearing out. Propeller or turbo prop planes are commonly flown but carry smaller loads. Almost all landing strips cannot accommodate the new jets which are more economical on fuel, as most are not more than about 1,200 metres in length, and in many cases, there is not suitable land to extend them to the 1,520 metres required for the small new planes. Research is underway to find ways of preserving the permafrost under the airstrips.
- In the summer people carry on a good deal of travel by water to visit other communities. The kayak is passing out of regular use for travel, fishing and hunting, replaced by large, motorized canoes and umiaks, 18 feet long open boats with a 50 hp motor.
- The road bed of the 137 kilometre highway between Tuk and Inuvit is complete, connecting Nunavut to the Dempster Highway, and the route will open in 2017 after the surface is paved. Snowmobiles are the main vehicle in winter for hunting and trapping, on land or ice. A minority of Inuit have dog teams, particularly those who for taking tourists out to hunt. This can be a lucrative business.
- Modern communications have also made travel and hunting easier and safer. Communities have telephones, computers and send emails. GPS and radios assist hunters, trappers and their families, many of whom spend several weeks in the summer in their traditional hunting grounds. The Canadian Coast Guard constantly prepares weather maps and radio reports. There is satellite communication, though it is patchy. The University of McGill has recently begun a project of installing buoys in ice which can measure its stress, thickness, temperature and movement. These are focused on the western Arctic.
- This has been a serious situation for a number of years. The rate is particularly high in the westernmost part of Nunavut (more than 40% of babies born in 2009), around Hudson Bay (24 per cent), and in Nunvik (western Arctic Quebec and Labrador). where nearly half of all new infants had to be hospitalized for respiratory infections.
- Causes and Treatment. Anna Banerji, who has studied the situation over many years, says that the causes are “overcrowded homes, high exposure to cigarette smoke, and poor nutrition” (Globe and Mail, Oct. 19/16). Other infections such as influenza may contribute to the illness. The drug, palivizumab, is effective in treating the lung infections and Ms. Banerji recommends that all babies born in these areas receive the drug, whose cost she estimates at about $6,500 per child. Hospital treatment costs $36,000 for each child. Ms. Banerji considers the possibility that Inuit may have a genetic tendency for these infections.
- There is also a high rate of Sudden Death Syndrome among Inuit babies.
A Remarkable Book. The Right to be Cold, by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Penguin, Canada, 2015. Ms. Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact of global climate change on human rights, especially in the Arctic. She was President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council from 1995 to 2002. An Inuit, she has devoted much of her life to the promotion of the health, education, independence and traditional life of her people. The Mississauga library system has a copy.
The Arctic has had many talented writers and artists over a long period. If you have information that you would like to send me at [email protected], it will be helpful for an article here. There is now a law school at Akitsiraq, Nunavut.