The Kivalliq Inuit Association (KivIA) wanted to determine whether the Draft Nunavut Land Use Plan (DNLUP) was compatible with the KivIA’s mandate to represent the Inuit of the Kivalliq Region in the development, protection, administration and advancement of their rights and benefits as Aboriginal People, and to promote their economic, social, political and cultural well-being through succeeding generations.

HESL provided review expertise in the areas of freshwater (especially in relation to drinking water supplies), Heritage Rivers, marine areas, migratory birds, and the development of the Nunavut-Manitoba all-weather road and to coordinate input from other disciplines.

We provided feedback on the 2014 and 2016 versions of the DNLUP. 

We reviewed the overall framework of the DNLUP regarding the rationale for land use designations, the decision-making process, and opportunities for systematic Plan review and updates.

We evaluated whether the Plan’s approach was scientifically defensible and whether it provided adequate protection of the natural environment.

Upon evaluation and critique, we provided a series of recommendations to strengthen DNLUP measures to protect freshwater, Heritage Rivers, marine areas and migratory birds, and to improve the potential for linear infrastructure development connecting Nunavut with southern Canada.

We then compiled a joint technical review, combining our findings with those of the rest of the technical team to address caribou protection, marine mammals and mineral potential.

The technical review was presented to the Nunavut Planning Commission in 2016. Following our recommendations, the 2014 and 2016 iterations of the plan were not adopted and are currently being revised to better incorporate Inuit traditional knowledge as well as the best available science, address the KivIA’s needs within the natural environment and allow for future linear infrastructure projects to physically connect Nunavut with the rest of Canada.