As a result of a confluence of factors, including rising commodity prices, the reduction in arctic ice conditions and the resulting availability of new shipping lanes, mining activity in Nunavut is increasing dramatically. While this has many obvious implications for Nunavummiut (citizens of Nunavut) and the environment of the territory, the impact on regulators is perhaps not as evident to those outside the regulated community.
The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) is the most significant of several regulatory bodies in Nunavut and was created by the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement to consider the impacts of large projects such as mines. While many issues are coming to the fore in the NIRB proceedings regarding mining projects under development (and Team NorthTM lawyers will be reporting on them in the future), one important issue that may go unreported is the capacity of the NIRB to handle the coming projects.
Capacity issues are common in Nunavut, to the point of being ubiquitous, and it easy to stop listening when they are raised. However, the capacity of the NIRB is fundamental to the development of the Nunavut economy and the issue is one that requires consideration. In the discussion of capacity of the NIRB it is not the question of whether there are knowledgeable people working within the regulator, but rather the numbers of projects that those people have the physical ability to shepherd through the approvals process.
When the NIRB was created it was probably anticipated that the body would need to deal with two or perhaps three large projects concurrently.
Whether or not that was precisely the case, the Board was staffed based on an assumption likely in that range. The problem that is becoming somewhat apparent now is due to the fact that there are several active proceedings (screenings or reviews) and word on the street is that promoters of several other projects will be commencing (or re-commencing) NIRB proceedings in the near future.
This issue would be a challenge for a regulatory body anywhere but is exacerbated, in the case of the NIRB, by travel requirements and related issues in Nunavut. While there is no obvious solution to this issue at this time, it will be interesting for those involved in such processes to see how the NIRB and others cope with the anticipated workload.
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