Inuit Organizations Do Not Support Baffinland Expansion

In Canada, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association says its decision to not support Baffinland's Phase 2 expansion of its Milne Inlet port came down to a lack of trust among communities, and uncertainty about whether new proposed mitigation measures will actually work with a larger mining operation, according to CBC.

QIA voted no last March. Other indigenous organizations are also critical of the plans.

Baffinland is requesting to double its shipping of iron ore from its Milne Inlet port to 12 million tonnes a year, and build a 110-kilometre railway in relation to the port. Public hearings on the proposal resumed this week in Iqaluit.

Jared Ottenhoff, QIA's director of lands and resource management, pointed to discrepancies between what Inuit are observing about current impacts to caribou and Baffinland's own monitoring, and to the concerns over dust around the mine and the Milne Inlet port.