North Baffin Inuit form new group to raise concerns about proposed mine expansion – by Meagan Deuling (Nunatsiaq News – September 3, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Leaders from five communities on northern Baffin Island are unifying as the North Baffin Group in the hope of having their concerns heard by a mining company and by an organization that is supposed to represent their interests.

If their concerns aren’t heard, the group warns Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. that its operations at the Mary River iron ore mine will not continue.

“This information has been the same since Baffinland started—work with the Inuit, you will succeed. If you try to work alone, you’re going belly up,” said Eric Ootoovak, the chair of the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization.

Pond Inlet, Igloolik, Clyde River, Arctic Bay and Sanirajak are the closest communities to the Mary River mine. People who live in these communities say they have noticed that narwhal and caribou are being affected by the mine’s activity since it started operation in 2015.

“The data that’s being provided right now is not correlating with what the communities are seeing on the ground,” said Merlyn Recinos, the mayor of Igloolik.

For the rest of this article: https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/north-baffin-inuit-form-new-group-to-raise-concerns-about-proposed-mine-expansion/