Canada’s Government of Nunavut (GN) and Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA) joint submission on the Grays Bay Road and Port (GBRP) project proposal has been formally accepted by the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB). Once complete, the GBRP will be the only deep water port in the Central Arctic.
According to Government of Nunavut, the northernmost territory of Canada, this is a required step to initiate the screening of the project under the Nunavut Planning and Project Assessment Act and the Nunavut Agreement. The project is transformative with significant national benefits that aim to help define northern economic development throughout the 21st century.
“We are beginning to shape the potential development of Nunavut’s economic future with nation-building infrastructure” said Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Monica Ell-Kanayuk. “We look forward to NIRB conducting the screening process and providing the opportunity for stakeholders to continue to participate in, and understand the details of the project.”
The submission proposes that the GN and KIA will jointly build, manage and operate the GBRP in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region, which consists of an
approximately 230 km all-season road from Jericho Station to a deep-water port at Grays Bay on the Coronation Gulf.
“This is a milestone in moving the permitting process for the GBRP Project forward,” said Stanley Anablak, President of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. “This project is a true partnership between government and Inuit, and it has the capability to be transformative in creating opportunity that leads to major socioeconomic benefits for Inuit and Nunavummiut.”
Upon accepting the proposal, the NIRB will complete a screening assessment of the proposal and subsequently send a screening decision report to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. This report will include a determination as to whether the project requires further review under the Nunavut Planning and Project Assessment Act.
The GBPR project proposal work reaffirms the partnership between the government and Kitikmeot Inuit Association, under the Memorandum of Understanding signed July 9, 2016 to formalize the two organizations’ cooperation as co-proponents of this nation building project. The GBRP is a transportation system that will connect the rich mineral resources of Canada’s Slave Geological Province, which straddles Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, to arctic shipping routes.
