Flawed permitting processes hurt northern residents

The problems experienced by the Diavik diamond mine project in obtaining a land-use permit centred around power, politics and money. For the majority of participants, environmental concerns were a card to be played — a means to an end, and not an end in itself. Process and turf, as opposed to the end-result, became the main concern for the power-brokers. Unfortunately, those affected by the delay in permitting, namely residents of the north, had little influence in the matter.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, as the entity responsible for controlling non-renewable resources in the Northwest Territories, is charged with managing the process. It failed miserably. If it was indeed the department’s intention to delay the project, this should have been communicated at an early stage. This was not done.

Instead, the process was allowed to drag on until the need for a decision became a crisis. The blame does not lie with environmental groups, first nations, or Diavik Diamond Mines, but with those responsible for managing the process.

There is a strong anti-mining lobby, and these citizens should not be ignored. They are skilled and powerful and credible. Past mine-based environmental disasters are a legacy that many environmentally conscious corporate citizens must deal with. Many of these past problems resulted from the failure of regulations or regulators, and not a failure to comply with them.

Regulators have become so spooked about the sins of the past that they are afraid to approve anything. The rules have become increasingly convoluted and unclear. In its zeal to spread and avoid responsibility, the federal government has widely distributed veto power such that it is almost impossible to gain approvals for new projects in the Northwest Territories. The message being sent to investors — and the world — will cause much pain in the future for Canadians, particularly those who live in the north.

The Northwest Territories will depend on non-renewable resources for its wealth in the foreseeable future. Much of the economy is based directly or indirectly on the mining and exploration sectors. Without non-renewable resource extraction, there is no economic future for most of our citizens.

Currently, the federal government retains most of the royalties earned in the north and provides remote administration from Ottawa. The people who bear the brunt of the impacts of development, both positive and negative, have little say through their elected representatives. Instead, lobbyists of all stripes trek to Ottawa make their case. Local input concerning the costs and benefits is minimized, and our role is to live with mistakes.

Much of the local opposition to mine development is based on the fear that mines will provide employment only for a generation, then disappear. Northern residents wish to ensure that today’s mining employment and related training will form the basis for non-mine-related prosperity in the future. We do not want to slough off responsibility for providing government services to the resource industries; we wish to have the means of providing these ourselves. There can be no political independence and accountability without economic independence.

What the mining industry requires are comprehensible terms and conditions that are communicated up-front and that do not change as a project evolves. What the people of the Northwest Territories require from the federal government is a devolution agreement to provide a measure of local control and an agreement to provide a share of royalties to local people. The current remote, colonial-like situation, with its current lack of accountability to those of us directly affected, should not be acceptable to any of us.

Mayor David Lovell

Yellowknife, N.W.T.