https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
A Pond Inlet, Nunavut, woman managed to lambaste the Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. on several fronts Wednesday, despite being about 1,000 kilometres north of the Nunavut Impact Review Board hearing underway in Iqaluit.
Anita Uuttuvak sat alone in a chair in front of a microphone, while speaking by videoconference in her home community. She looked straight into the camera, and spoke in Inuktitut and English about the mining company and its proposed expansion of the Mary River iron mine, now in its final assessment by regulators.
“Devastating” is how Uuttuvak described the presence of the first phase of the Mary River mine in Pond Inlet’s “backyard.” The mine site lies about 160 kilometres from Pond Inlet, the port is at Milne Inlet about 100 kilometres away from the community, and there’s a tote road between the mine site and the port. Residents are supposed to keep a mile away from the mine complex.
But Uuttuvak said people in her community of about 1,800 feel “belittled” when they are denied access to their land. Uuttuvak said the development’s disturbance has also deprived people there of wildlife and marine animals — and of the food and furs they need for survival.
For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/pond-inlet-baffinland-mine-impact-review-board-hearing-1.6236723