'A giant park': Nunavut senator says planning commission is anti-development

Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson is accusing the Nunavut Planning Commission of having a bias against development.

Patterson says the current draft of the Nunavut Land Use Plan is unbalanced in terms of how much land is protected versus how much can be developed.

The senator first shared his views in a room full of delegates at the Nunavut Trade show last month. 

"I don't think it's balanced," he repeated in an interview with CBC. 

"I think it's over-weighted in favour of protected areas and I don't think that's the way the land claim agreement was supposed to work."

Patterson said he prefers the 2014 draft of the land use plan, which included considerable areas marked for mixed use development.

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"The current version of the land use plan has eliminated most of those mixed use areas and instead basically will turn Nunavut into a giant protected area — a giant park," said Patterson.

According to Patterson, the blame lies on the shoulders of "park-promoting, anti-development lobbyists like the World Wildlife Fund and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and Greenpeace."

Patterson said some of those mixed use areas have great mineral potential. But the current draft of the land use plan makes many of those areas off limits for development.

'Senator is incorrect'

Nunavut Tunngavik vice-president James Eetoolook remembers the land claim negotiations. He says the senator misunderstands the role conservation played in drafting the agreement.

"The senator is incorrect to say that resource development is the spirit and the intent behind [the land claims agreement]. That's not really the truth," said Eetoolook.

"The intent of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is the wildlife, the environment and the land."

Eetoolook added that the land claim agreement was intended to give Inuit a say over how their land was being used, as previously many companies were engaging in mining and exploration work in the region without consulting Inuit.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., along with other Inuit organizations, the public and government, have taken part in several consultations during development of the land use plan. 

Pushing southern and foreign interests

WWF-Canada suggests the senator may also be unclear about the difference between temporary designations set up by the land use plan and permanently protected areas.

"The Nunavut Land Use Plan does not set up parks, or permanent protected areas, but rather temporary land designations," stated Paul Crowley, director of WWF-Canada's Arctic Program in an email to CBC.

"Individuals and companies with serious projects can apply for an amendment to the plan, and the whole plan itself is reviewed every five years."

National parks, in contrast, are areas permanently protected from development and other uses disruptive to nature and wildlife, noted Crowley.

Crowley also rejects the senator's assertion that the organization is attempting to influence Inuit leaders.

"Inuit leaders and organizations make their own decisions," stated Crowley. "To state otherwise underestimates the abilities and autonomy of Inuit leaders and their organizations."​

WWF-Canada states that its agenda is based on science-based approaches to conservation including traditional knowledge.

"Science doesn't reflect anyone's interests, southern, northern, foreign or otherwise," added Crowley.

But Crowley notes at least one area where conservationist and Inuit concerns overlap: the disappearing caribou. 

The most recent draft of the land use plan proposes protecting core caribou habitat, though the Nunavut government has stated that's not necessary. 

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Less than 4% for parks

Sharon Ehaloak, the executive director of the Nunavut Planning Commission, would not comment on Patterson's remarks.

But in an email she said the current draft plan proposes reserving 74 per cent of Nunavut's settlement area for mixed use and only 3.4 per cent for established parks. 

The final hearings for the land use plan will take place in spring 2017.

When the plan is finalized, it will become Nunavut's first territory-wide land use plan.

The document is intended to dictate the use of the various land and marine areas in the territory, balancing environmental, social and  economic needs.