PHASE 2 DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL - MARY RIVER IRON

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· · · · · · · · · ·NUNAVUT IMPACT REVIEW BOARD

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· · · PHASE 2 DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL - MARY RIVER IRON

· · · · · · · · ORE MINE NIRB FILE NUMBER 08MN053

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· · · · · · · · · · · · · · HEARING

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · VOLUME 5

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· · · · · · · · · · · ·Pond Inlet, Nunavut

· · · · · · · · · · · · January 29, 2021

·1· · · · · · · · · · · TABLE OF CONTENTS

·2

·3· ·Description· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·Page

·4

·5· ·January 29, 2021· · · · · · · Morning Session· · ·818

·6· ·Opening Remarks· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·818

·7· ·Ikajutit Arctic Bay Hunters and Trappers· · · · · 824

·8· ·Organization Questions Baffinland Iron Mines

·9· ·Corporation

10· ·Hamlet of Clyde River and Clyde River Hunters· · ·829

11· ·and Trappers Organization Questions Baffinland

12· ·Iron Ore Corporation

13· ·Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Organization· · · · · 833

14· ·Questions Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

15· ·World Wildlife Fund Questions Baffinland Iron· · ·844

16· ·Mines Corporation

17· ·Oceans North Questions Baffinland Iron Mines· · · 849

18· ·Corporation

19· ·Caleb Ootoova (Elder) Questions Baffinland Iron· ·853


21· ·Kaujak Komangapik (Elder) Questions Baffinland· · 858

22· ·Iron Mines Corporation

23· ·Simon Idlout (Elder) Questions Baffinland Iron· · 864


25· ·Elijah Panipakoocho (Elder) Questions Baffinland· 867


·1· ·Nunavut Impact Review Board Questions· · · · · · ·871

·2· ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

·3

·4· ·January 29, 2021· · · · · · · Afternoon Session· ·878

·5· ·EMMA MALCOLM, PHIL ROUGET, PATRICK ABGRALL,· · · ·881

·6· ·MARINA WINTERBOTTOM, JOHN MCCLINTOCK, Affirmed

·7· ·Presentation by Baffinland Iron Mines· · · · · · ·886

·8· ·Corporation (Marine Environment)

·9· ·Charlie Inuarak (Elder) Questions Baffinland· · · 919


11· ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association Questions· · · · · · ·927

12· ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

13· ·Directional Update by Nunavut Impact Review· · · ·946

14· ·Board Legal Counsel (Summaries on Motions)

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16· ·January 29, 2021· · · · · · · Evening Session· · ·952

17· ·Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated Questions· · · · · 972


19· ·Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated Questions· · · · · 980


21· ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet Questions Baffinland· · · · ·1001


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·1· · · · · · · · · · · · · EXHIBITS

·2· ·Description· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·Page

·3

·4· ·EXHIBIT 9 - PowerPoint Presentation, Marine· · · ·885

·5· ·Environment, Public Hearing Iqaluit and Pond Inlet

·6· ·January 25 - February 6, 2021 (English/Inuktitut)

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·8· ·EXHIBIT 10 - Baffinland Correspondence and· · · · 885

·9· ·attachments:· Response to Pond Inlet Proposal

10

11· ·EXHIBIT 11 - PowerPoint Slides on Marine Noise· · 885

12· ·(Visual aids for reference in relation to Slides

13· ·44 and 47 of Exhibit 9)

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15· ·EXHIBIT 12 - PowerPoint slides on narwhal harvest 885

16· ·data

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18· ·EXHIBIT 13 - Key Topics Reference Guide,· · · · · 885

19· ·previously filed with NIRB on December 18

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21· ·EXHIBIT 14 - Summary on Significance, previously· 885

22· ·filed with NIRB on December 18

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24· ·EXHIBIT 15 - Baffinland Response to Hamlet of· · ·885

25· ·Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik) Announcement with regard

26· ·to Support for Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

·1· ·Phase 2 Expansion of the Mary River Project

·2· ·_______________________________________________________

·3· ·Proceedings taken at Atakaalik Community Hall,

·4· ·Pond Inlet, Nunavut.

·5· ·_______________________________________________________

·6· ·NUNAVUT IMPACT REVIEW BOARD

·7· ·K. Kaluraq· · · · · · · ·Chair of Hearing

·8· ·M. Qumuatuq· · · · · · · Panel Member

·9· ·C. Emrick· · · · · · · · Panel Member

10

11· ·NUNAVUT IMPACT REVIEW BOARD STAFF (POND INLET)

12· ·T. Meadows· · · · · · · ·Legal Counsel

13· ·K. Costello· · · · · · · Executive Director

14· ·K. Gillard· · · · · · · ·Manager, Project Monitoring

15· · · · · · · · · · · · · · and Acting Director Technical

16· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Services

17· ·C. Barker· · · · · · · · Technical Advisor

18· ·P. Evalik· · · · · · · · Environmental Administrator

19· ·B. Beattie· · · · · · · ·Environmental Technologist

20· ·F. Emingak· · · · · · · ·Junior Technical Advisor

21

22· ·NUNAVUT IMPACT REVIEW BOARD STAFF (IQALUIT)

23· ·K. Morrison· · · · · · · Manager, Impact Assessment

24· ·G. Daoust· · · · · · · · Technical Advisor

25· ·E. Adjun· · · · · · · · ·Outreach Coordinator

26· ·O. Evalik· · · · · · · · Senior finance Office

·1· ·NUNAVUT IMPACT REVIEW BOARD STAFF (BY PHONE)

·2· ·T. Arko· · · · · · · · · Technical Services

·3· ·S. Amuno· · · · · · · · ·Technical Advisor

·4

·5· ·PROPONENT

·6

·7· ·BAFFINLAND IRON MINES CORPORATION (IQALUIT)

·8· ·B. Armstrong· · · · · · ·Legal Counsel

·9· ·C. Kowbel· · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

10· ·M. Lord-Hoyle· · · · · · Vice-President, Sustainable

11· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Development

12· ·L. Kamermans· · · · · · ·Director, Sustainable

13· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Development

14· ·J. Tigullaraq· · · · · · Head of Northern Affairs

15· ·A. Moore· · · · · · · · ·Manager, Government Relations

16· · · · · · · · · · · · · · and Public Affairs

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18· ·BAFFINLAND IRON MINES CORPORATION (POND INLET)

19· ·B. Penney· · · · · · · · President, Chief Executive

20· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Officer

21· ·U. Hanson· · · · · · · · Vice President, Community and

22· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Strategic Development

23

24· ·BAFFINLAND IRON MINES CORPORATION (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

25· ·L. Duke· · · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

26· ·A. McLeod· · · · · · · · EDI Environmental Dynamics Inc.

·1· ·E. Malcolm· · · · · · · ·Sustainability Specialist

·2· ·C. Murray· · · · · · · · Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

·3· ·C. Moore· · · · · · · · ·Intrinsik

·4· ·C. Devereaux· · · · · · ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

·5· ·C. Merkosak· · · · · · · Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

·6· ·C. Legault· · · · · · · ·Fednav Limited

·7· ·D. Jarrat· · · · · · · · Stantec

·8· ·D. Del Cardo· · · · · · ·Genessee Wyoming Canada

·9· ·E. Malcolm· · · · · · · ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

10· ·F. van Biljon· · · · · · Hatch Engineering

11· ·F. Pittman· · · · · · · ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

12· ·J. McClintock· · · · · · Wood Plc

13· ·J. Krizan· · · · · · · · EDI Environmental Dynamics Inc.

14· ·M. Winterbottom· · · · · Golder Associates Ltd.

15· ·M. Clark· · · · · · · · ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

16· ·M. Austin· · · · · · · · JASCO Applied Sciences

17· ·M. Setterington· · · · · EDI Environmental Dynamics Inc.

18· ·P. Abgrall· · · · · · · ·Golder Associates Ltd.

19· ·P. Osbourne· · · · · · · Golder Associates Ltd.

20· ·P. Rouget· · · · · · · · Golder Associates Ltd.

21· ·R. Cook· · · · · · · · · Knight Piésold

22· ·S. Wallace· · · · · · · ·Stantec

23· ·S. Borcsok· · · · · · · ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

24· ·S. Douville· · · · · · · Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

25· ·T. Keane· · · · · · · · ·Fednav Limited

26· ·T. Sewell· · · · · · · · Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

·1· ·V. Corning· · · · · · · ·Stantec

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·3· ·INTERVENORS

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·5· ·NUNAVUT TUNNGAVIK INCORPORATED (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·6· ·A. Yuan· · · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

·7· ·N. Gonzalez· · · · · · · Legal Counsel

·8· ·J. Eetoolook· · · · · · ·Interim President

·9· ·D. Lee· · · · · · · · · ·Wildlife Biologist

10· ·P. Irngaut· · · · · · · ·Director

11· ·B. Dean· · · · · · · · · Assistant Director

12· ·D. Kunuk· · · · · · · · ·Chief Operating Officer

13· ·H. Uniuqsaraq· · · · · · Chief Administrative Officer

14· ·C. Lyall· · · · · · · · ·Executive Assistant

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16· ·QIKIQTANI INUIT ASSOCIATION (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

17· ·L. Land· · · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

18· ·P.J. Akeeagok· · · · · · President

19· ·J. Ottenhof· · · · · · · Director, Lands and Resource

20· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Management

21· ·R. Paton· · · · · · · · ·Director, IQ & Engagement

22· ·S. Williamson-Bathory· · Special Advisor

23· ·L. Barnabas· · · · · · · Portfolio Lead

24· ·A. Macdonald· · · · · · ·The Firelight Group

25· ·R. Olsen· · · · · · · · ·The Firelight Group

26· ·S. Leech· · · · · · · · ·The Firelight Group

·1· ·J. Higdon· · · · · · · · Freshwater and Marine Specialist

·2· ·B. Stewart· · · · · · · ·Freshwater and Marine Specialist

·3· ·J. Ash· · · · · · · · · ·Arktis Solutions

·4· ·N. Jewitt· · · · · · · · Arktis Solutions

·5· ·M. Hemp· · · · · · · · · Qikiqtani Inuit Association

·6· ·C. Spencer· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association

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·8· ·HAMLET OF POND INLET (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·9· ·J. Arreak· · · · · · · · Mayor of Pond Inlet

10· ·F. Tester· · · · · · · · Technical Advisor

11· ·C. Sangoya· · · · · · · ·Pond Inlet Hunters and

12· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Trappers Organization

13· ·J. Merkosak· · · · · · · Resident Advisor in IQ

14· ·J. Alooloo· · · · · · · ·Elder Advisor

15· ·L. Quassa· · · · · · · · Community Representative

16· ·J. Kiyoopik· · · · · · · Youth Representative

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18· ·MITTIMATALIK HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS ORGANIZATION

19· ·(REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

20· ·E. Murphy· · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

21· ·K. Julta· · · · · · · · ·Legal Counsel

22· ·M. Bradley· · · · · · · ·Legal Counsel

23· ·J. Zyla· · · · · · · · · Woodward & Company

24· ·L. Mar· · · · · · · · · ·Woodward & Company

25· ·E. Ootoovak· · · · · · · President

26· ·E. Inuarak· · · · · · · ·Vice President

·1· ·A. Hanson-Main· · · · · ·Technical Advisor

·2· ·Dr. V. Vergara· · · · · ·Marine Expert

·3· ·E. Solomon· · · · · · · ·IQ Expert

·4· ·S. Elverum· · · · · · · ·IQ Expert

·5· ·J. Simonee· · · · · · · ·Community-Based Monitoring Witness

·6· ·V. L'Hereault· · · · · · Community-Based Monitoring Witness

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·8· ·IGLOOLIK WORKING GROUP AND IGLOOLIK HUNTERS AND

·9· ·TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

10· ·P. Ivalu· · · · · · · · ·Chairperson, Igloolik Working

11· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Group

12· ·M. Recinos· · · · · · · ·Igloolik Working Group

13· ·J. Quassa· · · · · · · · Igloolik Working Group

14· ·J. Malliki· · · · · · · ·Igloolik Hunters and Trappers

15· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Association

16· ·D. Irngaut· · · · · · · ·Igloolik Hunters and Trappers

17· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Association

18· ·P. Awa· · · · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Igloolik

19· ·N. Piugattuk· · · · · · ·Elder Advisor

20· ·M. Ivalu· · · · · · · · ·Community Representative

21· ·W. Immaroitok· · · · · · Youth Representative

22

23· ·HAMLET OF SANIRAJAK (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

24· ·J. Audlakiak· · · · · · ·Mayor of Sanirajak

25· ·L. Primeau· · · · · · · ·Chief Administrative Officer

26· ·V. Curley· · · · · · · · Hamlet of Sanirajak

·1· ·D. Arvaluk· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Sanirajak

·2· ·T. Kuppaq· · · · · · · · Hamlet of Sanirajak

·3· ·J. Kaernerk· · · · · · · Community Representative

·4

·5· ·HAMLET OF ARCTIC BAY AND IKAJUTIT HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS

·6· ·ASSOCIATION (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·7· ·L. Idlout· · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

·8· ·O. Eegeesiak· · · · · · ·Hamlet of Arctic Bay

·9· ·M. Koonoo· · · · · · · · Arctic Bay Hunters and

10· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Trappers Association

11· ·O. Naqitarvik· · · · · · Elder Advisor

12

13· ·HAMLET OF CLYDE RIVER AND CLYDE RIVER HUNTERS AND

14· ·TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

15· ·J. Natanine· · · · · · · Hamlet of Clyde River

16· ·W. Bernauer· · · · · · · Hamlet of Clyde River

17· ·S. Aipellee· · · · · · · Clyde River Hunters and

18· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Trappers Association

19· ·O. Audlakiak· · · · · · ·Clyde River QIA Women

20· ·S. Palituq· · · · · · · ·Elder Advisor

21· ·J. Palituq· · · · · · · ·Youth Community Representative

22

23· ·AMARUQ HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION (REGISTERED

24· ·SPEAKERS)

25· ·M. Mike· · · · · · · · · Amaruq Hunters and Trappers

26· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Association

·1· ·Jeetaloo Kakee· · · · · ·Elder Advisor

·2

·3· ·HAMLET OF RESOLUTE BAY (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·4· ·M. Idlout Amarualik· · · Resolute Bay Hunters and

·5· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Trappers Association

·6· ·S. Idlout· · · · · · · · Hamlet of Resolute Bay

·7

·8· ·GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·9· ·E. Stockley· · · · · · · Legal Counsel

10· ·M. Kinney· · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

11· ·N. O'Grady· · · · · · · ·Avatiliriniq Coordinator

12· ·G. Karlik· · · · · · · · Assistant Deputy Minister

13· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Department EDT

14· ·J. Onalik· · · · · · · · Deputy Minister EDT

15· ·S. Pinksen· · · · · · · ·Assistant Deputy Minister DOE

16· ·J. Elliott· · · · · · · ·Project Manager Impact Assessment

17· · · · · · · · · · · · · · DOE

18· ·J. Ringrose· · · · · · · Qikiqtani Regional Wildlife

19· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Biologist

20· ·E. Zell· · · · · · · · · Manager, Environmental Assessment

21· · · · · · · · · · · · · · and Regulation EDT

22· ·A. Robinson· · · · · · · Manager, Land Use and

23· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Environmental Assessment DOE

24· ·S. Atkinson· · · · · · · Wildlife Consultant

25· ·A. Cyr-Parent· · · · · · Senior Advisor

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·1· ·NORTHERN PROJECTS MANAGEMENT OFFICE (REGISTERED

·2· ·SPEAKERS)

·3· ·L. Dyer· · · · · · · · · Director General, Northern Projects

·4· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Management Office

·5· ·A. Shafi· · · · · · · · ·Technical Support, Northern

·6· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Projects Management Office

·7· ·S. Qazi· · · · · · · · · Technical Support, Northern

·8· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Projects Management Office

·9· ·S. Hitchcox· · · · · · · Northern· Projects Management

10· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Office

11

12· ·DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

13· ·S. Gruda-Dolbec· · · · · Legal Counsel

14

15· ·CROWN-INDIGENOUS RELATIONS NORTHERN AFFAIRS CANADA

16· ·(REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

17· ·S. Dewar· · · · · · · · ·Director, Resource Management

18· ·K. Henrikson· · · · · · ·Regional Director General

19· ·F. Ngwa· · · · · · · · · Manager, Impact Assessment

20· ·A. Chaikine· · · · · · · Senior Environment Assessment

21· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Specialist

22· ·D. Abernethy· · · · · · ·Regional Socio-economic Analyst

23· ·M. Hopkins· · · · · · · ·Director General, Natural

24· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Resources and Environment

25· ·K. Pawley· · · · · · · · Manager, Environmental Assessment

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·1· ·J. Walsh· · · · · · · · ·Senior Environmental

·2· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Assessment Analyst

·3· ·J. Neary· · · · · · · · ·Environmental Assessment Analyst

·4· ·K. Ma· · · · · · · · · · Regional Environmental

·5· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Assessment Coordinator

·6

·7· ·FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·8· ·G. Bernard-Lecaille· · · Senior Biologist, Fish and

·9· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Fish Habitat Program, Arctic

10· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Region

11· ·A. Sorckoff· · · · · · · Fish and Fish Habitat Protection

12· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Biologist

13· ·A. Beattie· · · · · · · ·Team Lead, Mining Oil and Gas

14· · · · · · · · · · · · · · North

15· ·M. Marcoux· · · · · · · ·Marine Mammal Expert, DFO Science

16· ·K. Howland· · · · · · · ·Aquatic Invasive Species Expert,

17· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Oceans Canada Science Group

18· ·T. Hoggarth· · · · · · · Regional Director, Aquatic

19· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Ecosystems

20· ·C. Matthews· · · · · · · Research Scientist

21· ·J. Paulic· · · · · · · · Science Advice Liaison

22· ·J. Shead· · · · · · · · ·Aquatic Invasive Species Biologist

23· ·K. Hedges· · · · · · · · Research Scientist

24· ·P. Hall· · · · · · · · · Environmental Specialist

25· ·S. Bailey· · · · · · · · Research Scientist

26· ·S. Nudds· · · · · · · · ·Physical Scientist (Oceanographer)

·1· ·S. Ferguson· · · · · · · Research Scientist

·2· ·S. McLennan· · · · · · · Manager, Arctic Projects and

·3· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Governance

·4· ·T. Seal· · · · · · · · · Junior Project Officer

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·6· ·PARKS CANADA (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·7· ·A. Stoddart· · · · · · · Environmental Assessment

·8· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Scientist

·9· ·J. Chisholm· · · · · · · Ecologist Team Leader

10· ·A. Maher· · · · · · · · ·Resource Conservation Manager,

11· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Nunavut Field Unit

12· ·J. Bastick· · · · · · · ·Environmental Assessment

13· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Specialist

14· ·J. Boon· · · · · · · · · Field Unit Superintendant,

15· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Nunavut Field Unit

16· ·L. Jonart· · · · · · · · Project Manager, Tallurutiup

17· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Imanga National Marine

18· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Conservation Area, Nunavut

19· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Field Unit

20

21· ·TRANSPORT CANADA (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

22· ·J. Barker· · · · · · · · Regional Environmental Advisor

23· ·A. Gudmunson· · · · · · ·Regional Manager Environmental

24· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Programs

25· ·J. Johar· · · · · · · · ·Manager Marine Safety and Security

26· ·J. Cram· · · · · · · · · Manager Rail Safety Engineering

·1· ·M. O'soup Bushie· · · · ·Major Resource Development

·2· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Projects & Aboriginal Consultations

·3

·4· ·ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE CANADA (REGISTERED

·5· ·SPEAKERS)

·6· ·A. Graham· · · · · · · · Environmental Coordinator

·7· ·M. Fairbairn· · · · · · ·Regional Director

·8· ·B. Asher· · · · · · · · ·Technical Expert, Air Quality

·9· ·R. Holt· · · · · · · · · Technical Expert, Air Quality

10· ·M. Parsons· · · · · · · ·Technical Expert, Air Quality

11· ·C. Kabanguka· · · · · · ·Environmental Emergencies Expert

12· ·J.F. Dufour· · · · · · · Technical Expert, Water Quality

13· ·K. Patel· · · · · · · · ·Technical Expert, Water Quality

14· ·M. Tobin· · · · · · · · ·Technical Expert, Water Quality

15· ·A. Wilson· · · · · · · · Technical Expert, Water Quality

16· ·R. Ejeckam· · · · · · · ·Senior Mining Project Officer

17· ·N. Cote· · · · · · · · · Executive Director

18

19· ·HEALTH CANADA (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

20· ·M. Gale· · · · · · · · · Regional Manager

21· ·K. Buset· · · · · · · · ·Impact Assessment Program

22· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Manager

23· ·W. Wilson· · · · · · · · Impact Assessment Coordinator

24· ·T-T. Nguyen· · · · · · · Engagement Specialist

25· ·N. Lyrette· · · · · · · ·Environmental Specialist

26

·1· ·NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·2· ·P. Unger· · · · · · · · ·Senior Environmental

·3· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Assessment Officer

·4· ·R. Johnstone· · · · · · ·Deputy Director, Explosives

·5· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Safety and Security Branch,

·6· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Lands and Minerals Sector

·7

·8· ·IMPACT ASSESSMENT AGENCY OF CANADA (REGISTERED

·9· ·SPEAKERS)

10· ·Y. Stoimenova· · · · · · Policy Analyst

11· ·T. Frezza· · · · · · · · Manager, Legislation

12

13· ·NUNAVUT INDEPENDENT TELEVISION NETWORK (REGISTERED

14· ·SPEAKERS)

15· ·I. Gilles· · · · · · · · Legal Counsel

16· ·L. Tulugarjuk· · · · · · Chairperson, Executive Director

17· ·Z. Kunuk· · · · · · · · ·Founder and Director

18· ·C. Kunnuk· · · · · · · · Nunavut Independent Television

19· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Network

20· ·L. Lipsett· · · · · · · ·Technical Advisor

21· ·M. Malliki Jr.· · · · · ·Nunavut Independent Television

22· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Network

23

24· ·WORLD WILDLIFE FUND (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

25· ·A. Dumbrille· · · · · · ·Lead Specialist, Marine Shipping

26· · · · · · · · · · · · · · and Conservation

·1· ·P. Okalik· · · · · · · · Lead Specialist, Arctic

·2· ·B. Laforest· · · · · · · Senior Specialist, Arctic

·3· · · · · · · · · · · · · · Species and Ecosystems

·4· ·E. Keenan· · · · · · · · Specialist, Eastern Arctic

·5

·6· ·OCEANS NORTH (REGISTERED SPEAKERS)

·7· ·C. Debicki· · · · · · · ·Legal Counsel

·8· ·A. Joynt· · · · · · · · ·Senior Policy Advisor

·9· ·G. MacDonald· · · · · · ·Arctic Research Specialist

10· ·J. Jones· · · · · · · · ·Scripps Institution of Oceanography

11

12· ·INTERPRETERS/TRANSLATORS

13· ·V. Dewar· · · · · · · · ·Language Translator

14· ·R. Katsak· · · · · · · · Language Translator

15· ·T. Arnajaallak· · · · · ·Language Translator

16· ·J. Peter· · · · · · · · ·Language Translator

17· ·J. Tucktoo· · · · · · · ·Language Translator (Iqaluit)

18

19· ·A. Vidal, CSR(A)· · · · ·Official Court Reporter

20· ·S. Burns, CSR(A), RPR,· ·Official Court Reporter

21· ·CRR

22· ·_______________________________________________________

23

24

25

26

·1· ·(PROCEEDINGS COMMENCED AT 9:05 AM)

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Good morning.

·3· · · · My name is Kaviq Kaluraq.· I am the Chairperson of

·4· ·the Nunavut Impact Review Board or NIRB.

·5· · · · On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome

·6· ·everyone back to Day 5 of the NIRB's resumed public

·7· ·hearing associated with the assessment of Baffinland

·8· ·Iron Mines Corporation Phase 2 development proposal

·9· ·related to the Mary River Iron Ore Mine Project.

10· · · · Welcome to everyone attending in Pond Inlet and

11· ·Iqaluit and those joining us on Zoom and over the

12· ·phone.

13· · · · Opening prayer before we resume.

14· ·Opening Prayer

15· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Thank you, Caleb.

16· ·Opening Remarks

17· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Just a quick reminder to

18· ·everyone participating in person here in Pond Inlet and

19· ·in the hub in Iqaluit, that due to the COVID-19

20· ·pandemic, the Nunavut Impact Review Board has put in

21· ·place additional procedures for those attending in

22· ·person to keep us all safe and in compliance with local

23· ·public health requirements so that the Board can have

24· ·80 people join us in Iqaluit and 100 people in Pond

25· ·Inlet.

26· · · · The Board has posted our COVID-19 practices in

·1· ·English and Inuktitut on the doors as you enter the

·2· ·hall, and we require everyone to comply with these

·3· ·requirements so that we can ensure we all remain safe

·4· ·and healthy.

·5· · · · The pandemic has also limited the ability of

·6· ·people to travel to Iqaluit or Pond Inlet, so several

·7· ·people are joining us via video feed and audio links.

·8· ·Wherever you are and however you are participating in

·9· ·these public hearings, the Board really appreciates you

10· ·taking the time to join us during these important

11· ·meetings.

12· · · · The COVID-19 pandemic has also meant that

13· ·approximately 200 people are joining us in the

14· ·proceedings either on Zoom or through telephone.

15· ·Although we have had a few small technical glitches so

16· ·far this week, we are grateful to everyone taking the

17· ·time to participate on whatever platform you are able.

18· ·For all parties, no matter where you are, please wait

19· ·for me to turn the microphone over to you as I am often

20· ·giving the interpreters time to finish before our AV

21· ·technicians switch to your feed.

22· · · · When you speak, please say your name and identify

23· ·your organization that you will be speaking for, and be

24· ·mindful that our interpreter -- of our interpreters as

25· ·you go so that we can ensure the Board has an accurate

26· ·record of these proceedings.

·1· · · · Please note that simultaneous interpretation of

·2· ·these proceedings is available throughout these

·3· ·meetings and interpreters here in Pond Inlet and

·4· ·additional interpreter is available in Iqaluit to

·5· ·assist with logistics for the designated community

·6· ·representatives.· Receivers are available from the

·7· ·sign-in table at each in-person location, and

·8· ·language-specific information has been provided for

·9· ·those participating online.

10· · · · In both Pond Inlet and Iqaluit, the receivers

11· ·using the -- are using the following channels:

12· ·Channel 0, floor; Channel 1, English; Channel 2,

13· ·Inuktitut.· If you are at an in-person location and are

14· ·having regular trouble hearing the proceedings, please

15· ·let one of the NIRB staff know, and they will assist

16· ·you.· Any issues with the online feed can be

17· ·communicated to Keith Morrison.

18· · · · For those attending in person in Pond Inlet and

19· ·Iqaluit, there are sign-in sheets at the table as you

20· ·come in.· I ask everyone to sign in on these sheets if

21· ·you have not already done so.· This will ensure that

22· ·the Nunavut Impact Review Board can provide an accurate

23· ·record of hearing participants and allow for adherence

24· ·to public health measures.

25· · · · The Nunavut Impact Review Board is required to

26· ·gather contact information for everyone attending in

·1· ·Iqaluit and Pond Inlet.· This information will only be

·2· ·used for contact tracing purposes.· Those participating

·3· ·through the online feed should have preregistered to

·4· ·receive the information, but if you did not

·5· ·preregister, please contact Cory Barker to indicate

·6· ·your participation.

·7· · · · In addition to the video feed for participants on

·8· ·Zoom, the Board is working with the Nunavut Independent

·9· ·Television Network to arrange to broadcast the live

10· ·feed from Pond Inlet and Iqaluit through the Arctic

11· ·Co-op and Shaw Direct cable TV throughout the territory

12· ·and beyond through Uvagut TV.

13· · · · These additional broadcasting measures are

14· ·intended to enable community members to view the

15· ·technical sessions and community roundtable of the

16· ·public hearing from their own homes.· Also, as I noted

17· ·yesterday, there are several media outlets, including

18· ·CBC, Nunatsiaq News, and Canadian Press also following

19· ·these proceedings through Zoom.· The Board appreciates

20· ·the interest and participation by the media covering

21· ·these proceedings and extending the proceedings to

22· ·audiences within and outside Nunavut.

23· · · · The Board reminds the media that because the Board

24· ·is engaged in a decision-making process for the Phase 2

25· ·development project, the Board and staff will not

26· ·provide comments or answer specific questions on this

·1· ·matter until the Board's public hearing report is

·2· ·issued publicly.

·3· · · · For the safety and convenience of everyone here

·4· ·with me in Pond Inlet, the washrooms are located

·5· ·outside in this -- outside this room in the lobby area,

·6· ·and the exits are located through the main doors to the

·7· ·lobby and on both sides of this room.· However, to exit

·8· ·the room during the breaks, we ask that you use the

·9· ·main lobby entryway.· In Iqaluit, NIRB staff will give

10· ·you information about the washrooms and emergency exits

11· ·at your location.

12· · · · Throughout these hearings, I will be chairing the

13· ·meetings from the hall here in Pond Inlet.· To my left

14· ·is Catherine Emrick, and to my right is Madeleine

15· ·Qumuatuq.· We are the three-member Panel responsible

16· ·for decision-making in respect of the Phase 2

17· ·development project.

18· · · · The Panel is supported in Pond Inlet, Iqaluit, and

19· ·on the phone by several members of the Board staff and

20· ·our legal counsel.· In the interest of time, I won't

21· ·reintroduce them all to you, but if you need

22· ·assistance, please look for the people with the NIRB

23· ·badges, and they will help you out.

24· · · · Before we conclude the questioning of Baffinland

25· ·about their terrestrial environment presentation, I

26· ·want to advise everyone that the Panel's decisions and

·1· ·procedural direction in respect of the four written

·2· ·motions filed with the Board on Tuesday will be

·3· ·provided at the close of this afternoon's session.

·4· · · · Everyone watching and listening these proceedings

·5· ·over the past four days has undoubtedly been moved by

·6· ·the heartfelt and passionate debate about the topics

·7· ·discussed so far.· Parties have many questions and

·8· ·sometimes strongly disagree with each other's

·9· ·viewpoints.· However, some comments have been personal,

10· ·unfair, and unkind to other people or organizations.

11· ·This is unacceptable.· While the Board too feels the

12· ·weight of these proceedings, belittling others has no

13· ·place in these proceedings.· The Nunavut Impact Review

14· ·Board expects everyone participating in these important

15· ·meetings to avoid personal attacks on other parties or

16· ·the Board and staff and to respect the directions of

17· ·the Board.

18· · · · If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that we

19· ·are all in this together.· Let us not forget this

20· ·lesson even if we disagree and are overcome by strong

21· ·emotions.· As I indicated yesterday, the last three

22· ·presentations by Baffinland are topics that were not

23· ·presented during the public hearing proceedings in

24· ·November 2019.· As a result, the Board is not putting a

25· ·limit on questions that intervenors may ask.· However,

26· ·the Board appreciates the efforts of all parties to

·1· ·keep their questions short and to the point.· Don't

·2· ·repeat questions that have already been asked and

·3· ·answered, and we ask parties to be prepared to ask

·4· ·their questions or provide answers when I turn the

·5· ·microphone to you.

·6· · · · Community representatives are waiting patiently so

·7· ·that they can ask their questions and provide their

·8· ·comments to the Board.· They are waiting to hear the

·9· ·positions of intervenors, so we ask that you respect

10· ·the time allotted for them and keep your questions

11· ·concise.

12· · · · And now I turn to questions from the intervenors

13· ·in relation to the unresolved technical issues arising

14· ·from the terrestrial environment presentation.

15· ·Starting where we left off yesterday, the

16· ·Ikajutit Arctic Bay Hunters and Trappers Organization,

17· ·Lori Idlout.

18· ·Ikajutit Arctic Bay Hunters and Trappers Organization

19· ·Questions Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

20· ·MS. EEGEESIAK:· · · · · ·If it's okay, I ask your legal

21· ·advisor since Lori cannot be here today, if we could

22· ·replace her.

23· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Go ahead.· It's fine.

24· ·MS. EEGEESIAK:· · · · · ·Okalik Eegeesiak from the

25· ·Hunters and Trappers Association from Ikajutit.· We're

26· ·with Moses Koonoo.· He said he could -- was able to ask

·1· ·questions since Lori is not here.

·2· · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· First I would like to

·3· ·echo that NIRB posting documents on their website is

·4· ·not sufficient.· When Baffinland says that documents

·5· ·have been in the public registry, not only is

·6· ·Baffinland not answering questions for us here in

·7· ·Iqaluit, for people in Pond Inlet, people on Zoom and

·8· ·on telephone, and they're not answering questions for

·9· ·the record.· So we end up spending our time looking for

10· ·these -- those documents.

11· · · · When we are spending our time looking for

12· ·documents, we are prevented from digging deeper into

13· ·other detail that we would have sought information on.

14· ·As I have said, it is very difficult to find these

15· ·documents on NIRB registry.· I have more than three

16· ·questions and, again, echo other intervenors that this

17· ·process is limiting intervenor inclusion and

18· ·participating as each day passes, and we are behind and

19· ·likely, if other things don't change, we will be

20· ·rushed.

21· · · · Before I ask my questions to Baffinland, as per

22· ·Peter's request yesterday, could you please have

23· ·translated and made available in both -- in both -- in

24· ·print at both hubs the charts on Slides 6 and 7 and

25· ·inform us which Inuktitut term is correct on Slides 31

26· ·and 32?· The translations in adaptive management are

·1· ·different.· Please let us know when these are done.

·2· · · · And when I -- when I, Okalik Eegeesiak, was

·3· ·talking about the lack of Inuktitut translators for us,

·4· ·I understand Baffinland said yesterday or the day

·5· ·before that they have their own translators and

·6· ·interpreters, and we don't have that kind of resources.

·7· · · · I'm going into Lori's questions since she has more

·8· ·than three questions.· On Slide 4 in relation to

·9· ·Technical Supporting Document 12, on birds, you say in

10· ·the report on page 80 -- or 101 of -- on the PDF format

11· ·that:· (as read)

12· · · · Baffinland conducted a number of public

13· · · · consultation meetings and personal --

14· · · · personal interviews to receive information on

15· · · · baseline data and -- and to scope potential

16· · · · issues of perceived project effects for the

17· · · · approved project.

18· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·You can --

19· ·MS. EEGEESIAK:· · · · · ·In the following page, you

20· ·have quotes of Inuit.

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Okalik, if you can slow down

22· ·for the interpreters.

23· ·MS. EEGEESIAK:· · · · · ·I'll repeat the page number or

24· ·the -- what we're referring to.· (as read)

25· · · · Baffinland conducted a number of public

26· · · · consultation meetings and personal interviews

·1· · · · to receive information on baseline data and

·2· · · · to scope potential issues of perceived

·3· · · · project effects for the approved project.

·4· ·And in the following page, you have quotes of Inuit

·5· ·from Inuit.· Are these quotes what you consider a

·6· ·formation of your baseline data?· Madam Chair.

·7· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Baffinland, Megan Lord-Hoyle.

·8· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Megan Lord-Hoyle, Baffinland.

·9· · · · Madam Chair, the quotes provided are to provide

10· ·some insight without having to read the entire

11· ·document, and, yes, they form part of the baseline of

12· ·the information that was used in the assessment.· Thank

13· ·you.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Ikajutit Arctic Bay Hunters

15· ·and Trappers Organization, Okalik Eegeesiak.

16· ·MS. EEGEESIAK:· · · · · ·Thank you, Chairperson.

17· · · · Just to expand on that -- on those quotes, some of

18· ·the quotes include:· (as read)

19· · · · Birds and eggs are also harvested during this

20· · · · period, late May to July.

21· ·We're providing -- we want to highlight these quotes

22· ·because they provide some -- some context into the next

23· ·two questions.

24· · · · Another question is:· (as read)

25· · · · Birds, including geese and murres are

26· · · · harvested during this season.· We also see

·1· · · · snow buntings during this time, late May to

·2· · · · July.

·3· ·Another -- one more quote that we'd like to provide as

·4· ·an example:· (as read)

·5· · · · Snow geese egg harvesting beginning the

·6· · · · second week of June.

·7· ·Do you confirm that these are what you mean by Inuit

·8· ·knowledge?· Madam Chair.


10· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Megan Lord-Hoyle, Baffinland.

11· · · · Yes.· This is information that was shared with us

12· ·by Inuit through workshops and meetings, so, yes, we

13· ·believe this is Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.· Thank you.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Ikajutit Arctic Bay Hunters

15· ·and Trappers Organization, Okalik Eegeesiak.

16· ·MS. EEGEESIAK:· · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

17· · · · Would you agree that these types of Inuit

18· ·knowledge is also qallunaaq knowledge that biologists

19· ·and other scientists could -- have also given you this

20· ·information, that what you say is Inuit knowledge or

21· ·Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is actually -- is not actually

22· ·used in your decision-making?· What actual Inuit

23· ·knowledge has been used?· Madam Chair.

24· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Baffinland, Megan Lord-Hoyle.


26· ·Thank you for the question.

·1· · · · I think this provides a good example, Madam Chair,

·2· ·where western science and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit may

·3· ·align, and, yes, western science may be able to find or

·4· ·share the same types of information.· But the quotes

·5· ·provided were directly from Inuit who were partaking in

·6· ·those workshops.· For example, if we switch to caribou,

·7· ·our biologist, Mike Setterington, has said what they've

·8· ·learned about caribou movements in the North Baffin

·9· ·came exclusively from Inuit because scientists hadn't

10· ·been studying the area for as long as Inuit.· Thank

11· ·you.

12· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Clyde River Hamlet and Hunters

13· ·and Trappers Organization, Jerry Natanine.

14· ·Hamlet of Clyde River and Clyde River Hunters and

15· ·Trappers Organization Questions Baffinland Iron Ore

16· ·Corporation

17· ·MR. NATANINE:· · · · · · Thank you, Chairperson.· Good

18· ·morning.· I say good morning to those in Pond Inlet.

19· · · · I'll speak in English.· Some of the things in this

20· ·project proposal are so -- so obviously wrong and

21· ·couldn't be fixed.· You know, it would be good if they

22· ·were more receptive to our suggestions like those dust

23· ·collectors up at the mine site.· They said they were

24· ·going to lower them because that was suggested, and

25· ·they didn't do that.

26· · · · We suggested a different route that we would

·1· ·accept.· They wouldn't take that, and my question is

·2· ·regarding the rail, the train.· It's now obvious -- and

·3· ·I appreciate them for being direct about this -- that

·4· ·if the caribou were to come back up there, there will

·5· ·be caribou kills, being hit by the train.

·6· · · · And I'm trying and trying to think of how that

·7· ·could be positive, and I want to ask:· Is there a way

·8· ·to put something in front of the train that when it

·9· ·hits a caribou or a herd, the caribou don't go under

10· ·the train, just bounce off to the side, be picked up

11· ·and the meat saved?

12· · · · And our technical advisor, Dr. Warren Bernauer,

13· ·will have another question.· Thank you.



16· · · · This is something that we can investigate further.

17· ·Thank you.

18· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · · Clyde River Hamlet and

19· ·Hunters and Trappers Organization, Warren Bernauer.

20· ·MR. BERNAUER:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Can

21· ·you hear me clearly this time?

22· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Yes, you can proceed.

23· ·MR. BERNAUER:· · · · · · Thank you very much.

24· · · · My next question pertains to the terrestrial

25· ·working group referenced on Slide 30.· So in some of

26· ·the statements that Baffinland has made, they seem to

·1· ·imply that these environmental working groups would

·2· ·deal primarily with the science side of adaptive

·3· ·management.· Will -- the Inuit committee would be in

·4· ·charge of the Inuit knowledge side of adaptive

·5· ·management?

·6· · · · And I just want to clarify.· Am I understanding

·7· ·you correctly that most of the scientific discussions

·8· ·would take place at the level of these working groups

·9· ·and the IQ discussion would be more focused on the

10· ·Inuit committee?· And if so, do you foresee any

11· ·problems with dividing Inuit knowledge and western

12· ·science in this way?· Thank you.



15· · · · These working groups, yes, are predominantly

16· ·scientific advisory groups.· That's how they've been

17· ·established under the project certificate, and with the

18· ·development of the Inuit committees, we acknowledge

19· ·that there should be some connection between the two

20· ·groups.

21· · · · The Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization

22· ·are members of both the terrestrial and marine working

23· ·groups.· This can help provide information around land

24· ·use, specifically in the scientific discussions, but

25· ·what we've been in development of thinking about, Madam

26· ·Chair, is that the advisory groups, the scientific

·1· ·advisory groups, would provide recommendations which

·2· ·would then receive an Inuit lens through the Inuit

·3· ·committees.

·4· · · · I should note that the terms of reference for the

·5· ·Inuit committees are still to be developed, so the

·6· ·connection between the two groups may change, but

·7· ·that's currently how it's envisioned.· Thank you.

·8· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Clyde River Hamlet and Hunters

·9· ·and Trappers Organization, Warren Bernauer.

10· ·MR. BERNAUER:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

11· ·Warren Bernauer with the Hamlet of Clyde River and

12· ·Nangmautaq Hunters and Trappers Association.

13· · · · My final question for this round follows up on

14· ·issues raised by Paul Okalik from the World Wildlife

15· ·Fund.· In his response to Mr. Okalik, Mr. Kamermans

16· ·said that Baffinland would develop protocols for

17· ·temporary road and rail closures when caribou return to

18· ·the area in numbers that require it.· I'm just

19· ·wondering if Baffinland could provide a bit of

20· ·clarification here, how many caribou need to be in the

21· ·North Baffin region before it's necessary to develop

22· ·these mitigation measures.· Thank you.



25· · · · Madam Chair, I'd like to ask Mike Setterington to

26· ·respond.· Thank you.

·1· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Mike Setterington.

·2· ·MR. SETTERINGTON:· · · · Madam Chair, Mike Setterington

·3· ·for Baffinland.

·4· · · · The question, as I heard it, was about how many

·5· ·caribou will it take in the North Baffin region to

·6· ·implement mitigation measures.· Madam Chair, in order

·7· ·to implement mitigation measures, as we've describe

·8· ·many of them, it takes one caribou to be near the

·9· ·project to implement things like a caribou decision

10· ·tree for the road and rail.

11· · · · On the broader scale, Baffinland is looking at

12· ·further follow-up monitoring and research in line with

13· ·our contribution agreement with the Government of

14· ·Nunavut through the terrestrial working group.· In some

15· ·work we're doing, we are looking at monitoring triggers

16· ·and looking at the exact question of how many caribou

17· ·does it take to interact with the project before we'll

18· ·get meaningful information on how the project is truly

19· ·impacting caribou at the population scale.

20· · · · Basically, some of the preliminary findings from

21· ·that research is showing that we need 350 caribou in

22· ·35 individual groups that will be collared in order to

23· ·inform on project impacts.· Thank you, Madam Chair.

24· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Amaruq Hunters and Trappers

25· ·Organization, Jeetaloo Kakee.

26· ·Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Organization Questions

·1· ·Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

·2· ·MR. KAKEE:· · · · · · · ·Thank you, Chairperson.

·3· · · · This -- there are a lot of questions here, so I'm

·4· ·giving the questions to these things to my colleague

·5· ·here, Meeka Mike.

·6· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Meeka Mike.

·7· ·MS. MIKE:· · · · · · · · Thank you, Chairperson.· Meeka

·8· ·Mike from the Amaruq Hunters and Trappers.

·9· · · · We were not able to ask this question.· We wanted

10· ·to support Oceans North's motion.· Because they come

11· ·here, the belugas or the narwhals come here, in our

12· ·area, so I want to mention that first.· It's a

13· ·statement.· It's a support statement.

14· · · · And also supporting Okalik's questions in regards

15· ·to the questions for the Clyde River technical support.

16· ·Also somebody asked that already, one of my questions.

17· ·So for these -- for the Elders, that they seem to make

18· ·a statement or story when their thoughts are important,

19· ·and so although we should be saying some hurtful words

20· ·sometimes, the words that are given to us are hurtful.

21· · · · For Mike Setterington to comment on behalf of

22· ·Baffinland, he said when we're talking about birds, he

23· ·did not understand because they didn't know about

24· ·birds.· That's what he said.· So not to be opposing or

25· ·not to be argumentative, but sometimes those kind of

26· ·statements are not good to hear.

·1· · · · So the caribou question is:· How do they have --

·2· ·in terms of regulations or rules if people have

·3· ·questions, we always ask how long would it stop, how

·4· ·long would it be not moving if there are first and

·5· ·third -- first, second, and third herds in bunches

·6· ·passing through?



·9· · · · I believe that the question is -- is essentially

10· ·how often are the trains moving or stopped that would

11· ·allow caribou to cross, and the answer is they'll be --

12· ·the trains will essentially be continuously moving, but

13· ·they will be passing by any one spot every two to three

14· ·hours.· So there will be a larger window where there

15· ·will be no trains present at all, and if you were in a

16· ·single spot, either a land user or wildlife, it would

17· ·take approximately 60 seconds to 80 seconds for the

18· ·train to pass.

19· ·(VIDEO AND AUDIO FEED LOST)


21· ·The feed is frozen.· Baffinland, Megan Lord-Hoyle.· The

22· ·feed froze in Pond Inlet.· If you can restate your

23· ·response or repeat your response.· Baffinland, Megan

24· ·Lord-Hoyle.

25· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Megan Lord-Hoyle.

26· · · · I'll repeat what I said, Madam Chair, but I think

·1· ·I just received clarification on the question.· I had

·2· ·understood it as how often are trains going to be

·3· ·moving, and how long do they take to pass to allow

·4· ·wildlife to cross, and the answer to that is that

·5· ·trains will be continuously moving, but they'll pass a

·6· ·specific area every two to three hours, and it'll take

·7· ·approximately 60 to 80 seconds for that train to pass.

·8· ·So every two to three hours there will be a minute

·9· ·where a train is present.

10· · · · But I believe the question was if a train were to

11· ·stop to allow caribou to cross, how long would the

12· ·train be stationary for, and that would be a matter of

13· ·how long it takes for the caribou to cross.· So the

14· ·train would remain stopped for the period required to

15· ·allow the caribou to cross through safely and move away

16· ·from the train tracks.· Thank you.

17· ·MS. MIKE:· · · · · · · · (INUKTITUT SPOKEN - NO

18· ·TRANSLATION)

19· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Amaruq Hunters and Trappers

20· ·Organization.

21· ·MS. MIKE:· · · · · · · · Can I say something again?· We

22· ·were being skipped a couple times.· So in English we

23· ·were told that I was very quiet, so I tried to be

24· ·really loud.

25· · · · The question was:· In light of the mass migration

26· ·that comes down to South Baffin through the

·1· ·Ipkitiktookja [phonetic] from mainland, from Nunavik --

·2· ·mainland is Nunavik, not the Nunavik that is other

·3· ·modern region -- how long would the project stop?

·4· ·Because the first migrators, they're not the scouters

·5· ·in this case.· The smaller herds have scouters.

·6· ·They're the bulls, and they're the first ones.· Then

·7· ·there's second one, which is the greatest number, and

·8· ·if the third one decide to follow, how long would the

·9· ·train be stopped?· Because the mass migration is most

10· ·important for our area.· That have to pass through that

11· ·part.· Some of them will disperse for sure.· That's the

12· ·question.



15· · · · I'll ask Mike Setterington to respond.· Thank you.

16· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Mike Setterington.

17· ·MR. SETTERINGTON:· · · · Madam Chair, Mike Setterington

18· ·for Baffinland.

19· · · · In response to -- to Meeka's question and her

20· ·certainly valuable operations on how the mass caribou

21· ·migration, certainly in southern Baffin, that is the

22· ·kind of information that we've been trying to

23· ·characterize since our early engagement with Inuit,

24· ·wondering how the caribou are going to come back.

25· · · · Again, this has been a key question for us and

26· ·something we have been trying to sort out in speaking

·1· ·with Inuit and engaging with the Government of Nunavut

·2· ·on the science side as well too, to try and figure out

·3· ·how the caribou are going to come back.

·4· · · · We have continuously been told -- and this -- this

·5· ·occurs right across the north -- about letting the

·6· ·leaders pass, and that sounds good, but Meeka is

·7· ·bringing up the question:· What exactly are the leaders

·8· ·when they come in waves, if they come in groups?· Is it

·9· ·the first caribou?· Is it -- is it the second group of

10· ·caribou or the third group of caribou?

11· · · · And, Madam Chair, again, I -- the -- the best

12· ·approach forward is to continue to work with -- with

13· ·Inuit and engage with Inuit as the caribou are coming

14· ·back.· We have the great opportunity right now to

15· ·continue working on this and study how this caribou

16· ·population will recover so Baffinland is prepared in

17· ·the decades to come when the caribou do return.

18· · · · How the railway is actually going to respond and

19· ·how we identify those leaders, Madam Chair, I think

20· ·that's a challenge -- I think that's a challenge for

21· ·all mining operations, including Baffinland.· I think,

22· ·again, we have the opportunity to be studying that and

23· ·learning that to be well prepared in the decades to

24· ·come.· Madam Chair, perhaps I'll return it to

25· ·Baffinland.


·1· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Megan Lord-Hoyle.

·2· · · · I think we'll leave it there, Madam Chair.· Thank

·3· ·you.

·4· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Amaruq Hunters and Trappers

·5· ·Organization, Meeka Mike.

·6· ·MS. MIKE:· · · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

·7· · · · I did not say -- I did not say perhaps.· If I say

·8· ·perhaps, I tell you always like -- like, that's why we

·9· ·say -- the younger generation, that's why we respond in

10· ·such a negative manner, because we answer

11· ·automatically.

12· · · · Like, if -- in meadowlands -- at meadowlands,

13· ·there were caribou which did not cross for two days,

14· ·and they will just say even though the caribou do not

15· ·cross, will you keep saying that -- like, group of

16· ·caribou would not cross, so when they're actually

17· ·trying to cross, it's very apparent, and the Elders and

18· ·the hunters know, and my late father was there.

19· · · · Like, Inuit were the guides and leaders in our

20· ·hunting area.· They were the leaders.· So these are

21· ·some apparent signs that you have to look out for.· So

22· ·will we be in the same scenario?· Like, because

23· ·caribou, if they do not cross, then they will have to

24· ·go back.· Will you be on the same procedure?



·1· · · · I'll ask Lou Kamermans to respond.

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Lou Kamermans.

·3· ·MR. KAMERMANS:· · · · · ·Lou Kamermans, Baffinland.

·4· ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

·5· · · · So our understanding of caribou in the North and

·6· ·South Baffin is that when they were in high numbers,

·7· ·you could find them walking through communities there

·8· ·were so many.· Other knowledge that's been shared with

·9· ·us has indicated that the North Baffin caribou herd

10· ·went from being in the area west of the tote road to

11· ·being to the -- to the east, meaning they all passed

12· ·over that -- that existing tote road that was there.

13· · · · Other knowledge that's been shared with us

14· ·indicates that nothing will stop the caribou from

15· ·crossing when their numbers return, but that doesn't

16· ·mean Baffinland won't do all that it can in terms of

17· ·implementing protections and mitigations along the

18· ·railway and tote road to facilitate this.

19· · · · This means implementing special management areas

20· ·where we believe caribou are more likely to cross,

21· ·building the railway in a way that makes it crossable,

22· ·but to put it simply, we need to put these mitigations

23· ·into place.· We'll need to monitor them to make sure

24· ·they're effective, and if there's more we can do, then

25· ·we have to be adaptable.· So that's why we put such a

26· ·focus on those three items in this assessment, and

·1· ·that's what gives us a high degree of certainty that we

·2· ·can manage this project effectively.· Thank you.

·3· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · · Amaruq Hunters and Trappers

·4· ·Association, Meeka Mike.

·5· ·MS. MIKE:· · · · · · · · This previous question was in

·6· ·reference to Paul Okalik's question on Wednesday, and

·7· ·my question is from -- in supporting what he was saying

·8· ·about Meadowbank.· My question is -- you said that,

·9· ·yes, you got shared traditional knowledge, that nothing

10· ·stops caribou from crossing.· Do you know which

11· ·migration that is from?· I'm asking that when us South

12· ·Baffin people are aware of those.· Is it just crossing

13· ·to get within where they're -- where they're going or

14· ·from region to region?· Transitional -- traditional

15· ·region, the transitional regions by wildlife.

16· · · · Those kind of answers does not help to make

17· ·decisions when you try and apply what you heard to

18· ·everything from one -- one community or one area or

19· ·Inuit are used to working before European.· This was

20· ·always our number one priority, consulting from between

21· ·South Baffin and North Baffin on the west side of

22· ·Baffin Island.· So is that what -- you're applying that

23· ·to crossing just one river or crossing a lake?

24· ·Qujannamiik.



·1· · · · Thank you for the -- for the comments and

·2· ·questions and -- and clarifying.· I think what we're --

·3· ·what Baffinland is also trying to say is that we don't

·4· ·understand caribou behaviour at that level of detail.

·5· ·What we've learned about caribou movements has been

·6· ·from the North Baffin region and has been from engaging

·7· ·with Inuit who have been present or have learned

·8· ·experiences from when caribou were in higher numbers in

·9· ·the region.· One of shared thoughts about their

10· ·movements and patterns and have shared with us

11· ·potential options to put in place for mitigation

12· ·measures for the rail, including things like ensuring

13· ·that the first caribou moves over and the caribou

14· ·behind will follow.· So we have to set up our

15· ·operations that will allow that to happen.

16· · · · But we recognize that our job isn't done and that

17· ·we're going to have to continue seeking feedback from

18· ·Inuit now and throughout the operations to understand

19· ·better how caribou -- when they're starting to come

20· ·back into the area, how they're moving and how they're

21· ·behaving, which can then influence our operational

22· ·chances.

23· · · · So in some ways, we do not want to put such rigid

24· ·or fixed operational procedures in place right now.· We

25· ·want to make sure that we can be responsive to what

26· ·we're learning and seeing by working with Inuit in the

·1· ·years to come.· Thank you.

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Government of Nunavut, Natalie

·3· ·O'Grady.

·4· ·MS. O'GRADY:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

·5· ·Natalie O'Grady, Government of Nunavut.

·6· · · · We heard a really good question from Qikiqtani

·7· ·Inuit Association on having the caribou protection

·8· ·measures updated in the terrestrial environment

·9· ·management plan with that working group.· We had the

10· ·same question of the proponent, heard the response,

11· ·that there will be commitment to use that working group

12· ·for that matter.· We're very supportive of Qikiqtani

13· ·Inuit Association's initiative in that and would like

14· ·to just offer the Government of Nunavut's -- I guess

15· ·either.· If it's amenable to both parties, we can be

16· ·involved in drafting that commitment language as well.

17· · · · We also heard a very good question from David Lee

18· ·from Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated on the use of horns

19· ·and whistles.· There's a potential mitigation measure

20· ·that's outside of the scope of this particular

21· ·assessment that we can have further discussion on with

22· ·communities, the proponent, and the Qikiqtani Inuit

23· ·Association that Transport Canada offered last time in

24· ·the third technical meeting.· So we can have more

25· ·discussions on that outside of this particular hearing.

26· · · · We do need to follow up with Baffinland, and I

·1· ·have some additional clarifications on the July 23rd,

·2· ·2019, memo, but we can do that offline outside of this.

·3· ·I've heard lots of questions about the agreement in

·4· ·principle, the contribution agreements, and we look

·5· ·forward to updating parties on that in our

·6· ·presentation.

·7· · · · I would like to note that, you know, Government of

·8· ·Nunavut is always willing to work with -- with parties

·9· ·on these matters.· We try very hard to be open and to

10· ·hear from people.· We were listening intently to -- to

11· ·these concerns but just would like to note that

12· ·communication is also a two-way street, as they say,

13· ·but just know that we're always available, and any

14· ·parties in here in Pond Inlet or in Iqaluit, please

15· ·don't hesitate to speak with any of our -- our team, to

16· ·ask questions or request information, additional

17· ·information.· So I just wanted to put that out there.

18· · · · For this second round of questioning, though, we

19· ·have no further questions on this matter for the -- the

20· ·sake of time.· Thank you.

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·World Wildlife Fund, Paul

22· ·Okalik.

23· ·World Wildlife Fund Questions Baffinland Iron Mines

24· ·Corporation

25· ·MS. MIKE:· · · · · · · · Madam Chair.

26· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Meeka Mike.

·1· ·MS. MIKE:· · · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

·2· · · · Paul Okalik was supposed to fly to Pond Inlet

·3· ·today.· He's probably in flight.

·4· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·World Wildlife Fund, Andrew

·5· ·Dumbrille.

·6· ·MR. DUMBRILLE:· · · · · ·Hello, Chair.· Can -- hello,

·7· ·Chair.· Thanks very much.· Andrew Dumbrille from World

·8· ·Wildlife Fund and filling in for Paul here.· Thanks,

·9· ·Meeka Mike.· He's travelling to Pond Inlet this

10· ·morning.

11· · · · And then -- so my first question, Slide 24, the

12· ·caribou decision-making framework appears to be draft

13· ·and in need of much more time, attention, and study.

14· ·My question:· How has Baffinland incorporated Inuit

15· ·Qaujimajatuqangit into the caribou decision-making

16· ·framework, and where are the numbers of caribou in each

17· ·step of the framework?· For instance, would a single

18· ·caribou trigger these mitigation actions?· Would

19· ·Baffinland agree that more studying needs to be

20· ·undertaken with the framework before a decision on

21· ·Phase 2 can be considered?· Thank you.



24· · · · I'll ask Lou Kamermans to provide a response.

25· ·Thank you.

26· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Lou Kamermans.



·3· · · · These -- this decision framework, as I explained

·4· ·yesterday, has evolved from our road decision

·5· ·framework, which was developed for the early revenue

·6· ·phase.· That program was developed based on the

·7· ·understanding that to let caribou pass, you have to let

·8· ·the leader pass.· The rest will follow.· So that was

·9· ·essentially the -- the entire premises for the

10· ·framework.

11· · · · The distances are -- are more operational

12· ·constraints.· 250 metres as opposed to the 100 metres

13· ·for the -- the road framework is based on the site

14· ·lines that are possible from being more elevated in the

15· ·terrain than as opposed to the road, but it also lines

16· ·up with how far the headlights and sidelights from the

17· ·train can see in the dark, so we can operationalize it

18· ·at any time of the year.

19· · · · Again, I want to stress that these are measures

20· ·that an operator may be able to implement.· It will

21· ·influence their decision-making, but we'll always be

22· ·subject to their -- their discretion on -- on what is

23· ·the safest path to take.

24· · · · As for the number of caribou at each stage, a

25· ·single caribou would trigger that decision-making

26· ·process for the operator.· So there's no need to add

·1· ·additional caribou or group sizes to that outside of

·2· ·the -- the migratory condition at the beginning.· And,

·3· ·yes, there was always the intent that these would be

·4· ·finalized with input from both the Terrestrial

·5· ·Environment Working Group as well as the Inuit

·6· ·committee.· Qujannamiik.


·8· ·Dumbrille.

·9· ·MR. DUMBRILLE:· · · · · ·Thank you, Chair.· Thank you,

10· ·Baffinland.

11· · · · It's -- it's striking to WWF that so much more

12· ·needs to be done and studied and considered, much more

13· ·engagement before -- before decisions can be made on

14· ·many factors with this -- with this project.

15· · · · My second question is picking up on what was

16· ·mentioned yesterday about special management areas

17· ·along the railway.· How were these developed?· Thank

18· ·you.



21· · · · I'm ask Lou Kamermans to respond.· Thank you.


23· ·MR. KAMERMANS:· · · · · ·Lou Kamermans, Baffinland.

24· ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

25· · · · I just want to clarify, in my response, I did not

26· ·indicate that anything else needed to be studied. I

·1· ·think we have a good rationale for the measures as they

·2· ·are, and -- and I think it's good practice to have the

·3· ·Inuit committee and the Terrestrial Environment Working

·4· ·Group review them before they're finalized.· That's --

·5· ·that's a perfectly natural progression towards

·6· ·finalization of a document like this.

·7· · · · It's also not required to finalize all documents

·8· ·before a public hearing.· You need time to work based

·9· ·on additional guidance that can -- that can come out of

10· ·a public hearing from both the Nunavut Impact Review

11· ·Board as well as the minister.

12· · · · As for the establishment of the special management

13· ·areas along the railway, that work was initiated first

14· ·through the rail workshop we held at the mine site in

15· ·July and August 2019, and that work will be further

16· ·progressed through additional IQ studies as committed

17· ·to with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association following

18· ·project approval but before railway construction.

19· · · · I just want to point out that the railway cannot

20· ·be constructed before we receive a Fisheries Act

21· ·authorization, which requires a Nunavut Impact Review

22· ·Board approval.· So the initiation of that construction

23· ·isn't planned until the later part of 2022.

24· · · · So, again, we have time to do this before our

25· ·construction begins, and I think it's perfectly

26· ·acceptable what we've put forward at this point through

·1· ·the rail summary report as the base for that work in

·2· ·addition to all of the other work contained in our

·3· ·Technical Supporting Document 10 for wildlife as well

·4· ·as in our many IQ studies carried out since 2006 which

·5· ·have informed our understanding of caribou migration

·6· ·and presence in relation to the railway when their

·7· ·numbers return and as they transition to that return.

·8· ·Thank you.


10· ·Dumbrille.

11· ·MR. DUMBRILLE:· · · · · ·Thank you, Chair.· Andrew

12· ·Dumbrille, World Wildlife Fund.

13· · · · No further questions.· Thank you.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Oceans North, Christopher

15· ·Debicki.

16· ·Oceans North Questions Baffinland Iron Mines

17· ·Corporation

18· ·MR. DEBICKI:· · · · · · ·Christopher Debicki, Oceans

19· ·North.

20· · · · Madam Chair, I'll begin with a clarification with

21· ·respect to a question that was asked by my colleague

22· ·Ms. Joynt.· Now, Ms. Joynt asked the question, which

23· ·I'll paraphrase.· If the Milne railroad, the northern

24· ·railroad, is found to have significant effects on

25· ·terrestrial wildlife and if Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and

26· ·western science or -- and/or western science identifies

·1· ·evidence to suggest that an additional railroad to

·2· ·Steensby Inlet would have significant cumulative

·3· ·adverse effects, what would happen in that scenario?

·4· · · · And my understanding from Ms. Lord-Hoyle's

·5· ·response is that Baffinland suggested that they've

·6· ·already produced a cumulative effects study, and so

·7· ·this has already been taken into account.· And so this

·8· ·is why, Madam Chair, I'm asking this morning for

·9· ·additional clarification.

10· · · · To be clear, Oceans North was asking about

11· ·potential real effects in -- in the real world, real

12· ·effects in a future scenario and not anticipated

13· ·effects of a desktop exercise.· And so I'll put that

14· ·question again to Ms. Lord-Hoyle.· Thank you, Madam

15· ·Chair.



18· · · · The adaptive management framework that's been

19· ·discussed throughout these proceedings would apply to

20· ·the scenario being discussed.· Any learnings we have

21· ·from the northern rail would be applied to the

22· ·construction and development of the southern rail, so

23· ·additional mitigations that would be required or

24· ·avoidance of -- of impacts would be applied to the

25· ·construction and operation of the south rail.· Thank

26· ·you.

·1· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Oceans North, Christopher

·2· ·Debicki.

·3· ·MR. DEBICKI:· · · · · · ·Qujannamiik, Madam Chair.

·4· ·Christopher Debicki, Oceans North.

·5· · · · This is not a separate question.· It's not my

·6· ·second question, Madam Chair.· But just to -- just to

·7· ·clarify, does adaptive management -- from the

·8· ·proponent's perspective and their approach to adaptive

·9· ·management, do they not acknowledge that such

10· ·management could result in a situation under which it

11· ·will not be possible to build the southern railway

12· ·because of the terrestrial effects -- the real

13· ·terrestrial effects of the northern railway?· Thank

14· ·you, Madam Chair.



17· · · · I think the -- the answer is both yes and no.· No,

18· ·we don't envision a scenario in which this happens

19· ·because we want to put all practices and procedures in

20· ·place to avoid real impacts where we would be faced

21· ·with that decision.· But should that occur, we would

22· ·have to evaluate at that time, and we would evaluate at

23· ·that time.· That's the level of management and

24· ·operational change that we've committed to under the

25· ·adaptive management framework.· Thank you.

26· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Oceans North, Christopher

·1· ·Debicki.

·2· ·MR. DEBICKI:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.· Just

·3· ·before I get to my second question, just one final

·4· ·clarification just so this is understood.

·5· · · · So just to be clear, the proponent accepts that

·6· ·there is a hypothetical possibility that there are real

·7· ·effects, terrestrial effects, such that it may not be

·8· ·possible to build the southern railway.· Yes or no?

·9· ·Thank you very much, Madam Chair.



12· · · · Yes.· We accept this very hypothetical situation

13· ·could occur, but it is not consistent with our

14· ·assessment or any of the practices we are putting in

15· ·place.· Thank you.

16· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·It's almost 10:30.· We'll have

17· ·a break for 15 minutes.

18· ·(ADJOURNMENT)

19· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Welcome back, everyone.

20· ·Finishing off questions to the proponent.· Nunavut

21· ·Impact Review Board staff.

22· ·MR. BARKER:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

23· · · · Nunavut Impact Review Board staff.· We have no

24· ·questions at this time.

25· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Some community members

26· ·identified that they had some questions as well.· The

·1· ·first one is Caleb Ootoova.

·2· ·Caleb Ootoova (Elder) Questions Baffinland Iron Mines

·3· ·Corporation

·4· ·MR. OOTOOVA:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Chairperson.

·5· ·Caleb -- I'm Caleb Ootoova from Pond Inlet.

·6· · · · I just wanted to mention a story about the hunting

·7· ·area this spring and this summer.· If there's a map, it

·8· ·would be good, but for those that don't live around

·9· ·here, they could understand.· For those that are --

10· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·What kind of map?· Milne Inlet

11· ·area or the mainland?

12· ·MR. OOTOOVA:· · · · · · ·Including Milne Inlet and

13· ·before Milne Inlet, if you could.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · · (NO ENGLISH FEED) have some

15· ·maps of the North Baffin area that includes Milne

16· ·Inlet?

17· ·MR. OOTOOVA:· · · · · · ·If it's not available, it's

18· ·okay.

19· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Baffinland, do you have a

20· ·slide that you could suggest?· Megan Lord-Hoyle.

21· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · There will be maps of the

22· ·general project area in both the introduction

23· ·presentation, but perhaps the marine presentation might

24· ·be a better place to look if it's specifically for

25· ·Milne Inlet.· I don't have an exact slide number with

26· ·me at the moment.

·1· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·The project area, the general

·2· ·project area.· Is there a map in the terrestrial

·3· ·presentation and the slide number?

·4· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Slide 28 in the overview

·5· ·presentation, Slide Number 2 in the terrestrial

·6· ·presentation, and I believe there is also maps posted

·7· ·in the Pond Inlet community hall as well.· Thank you,

·8· ·Madam Chair.

·9· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·If the tech staff can please

10· ·pull up the one from the terrestrial presentation.· Is

11· ·that adequate?

12· ·MR. OOTOOVA:· · · · · · ·It's -- it's not exactly in

13· ·that area.· I'm talking about the area where I usually

14· ·have camping.· It's okay.· I'll just speak to it.

15· · · · While we're out on the land in the spring and the

16· ·summer, perhaps 35 miles away -- while we're out on the

17· ·land there, there was something noticeable recently.

18· ·One of the inlets, the other inlet, there used to be

19· ·narwhal that would go in there, not every day but they

20· ·would go in the inlet, so they would go inside the

21· ·inlet and then they would go back out.

22· · · · So recently in the last three years, we haven't

23· ·seen anything going on like that.· So this is

24· ·noticeable.

25· · · · And the other thing, on the beach there used to be

26· ·lots of fish there where we live, especially the

·1· ·inlets.· They had a lot of fish.· So if we put our nets

·2· ·in and we just need to get them out and stretch them

·3· ·out for a little bit, and would pull them in because

·4· ·they're full now.

·5· · · · Now recently, maybe four or five or six fish all

·6· ·day is what it is like.· If it's all night, maybe

·7· ·three -- maybe three or four overnight.

·8· · · · Also, there's an area there.· It's called

·9· ·"Iqaluit".· It has a lake.· My son-in-law was fishing

10· ·there recently last month, and he was gone about six

11· ·days, and he caught three fish.

12· · · · And also towards Milne Inlet there's a place

13· ·called "Tugaat", and it has very little fish as well.

14· ·And also close to Milne Inlet there is also Koluktoo --

15· ·it's called "Koluktoo", and they have two big lakes,

16· ·maybe three, and there's also (INUKTITUT SPOKEN - NO

17· ·TRANSLATION) to Tremblay Sound, close to that that has

18· ·fish, and even that area has very little fish.· So when

19· ·they're going up the river, there used to be lots of

20· ·fish.

21· · · · And something I noticed as well and would be part

22· ·of my question, so past Mary River, there's a big --

23· ·from the Mary River side there's a big lake.· It

24· ·doesn't flow to this area -- to our ocean.

25· · · · This big lake -- huge lake used to have lots of

26· ·fish.· While I was there caribou hunting in that area

·1· ·last year, it had brown -- a brown colour all the way

·2· ·down on the snow from the dust -- from the Mary River

·3· ·dust.· If environment could notice that, Environment

·4· ·Canada and Department of Environment would notice that,

·5· ·our area is not very good anymore.

·6· · · · And this plan for a Phase 2 proposal -- so how are

·7· ·we, in this area, are we going to be able to live now?

·8· ·The hunting area where we had freedom to hunt, so --

·9· ·with the winters being long and harvesting time in the

10· ·spring and the summer, it should be a good harvesting

11· ·area.· People should be free to harvest.· It's

12· ·different now.

13· · · · And Baffinland indicates that they are managing

14· ·things well and their trucks that are loaded with --

15· ·ore trucks, they still don't have covers on them.

16· ·They're not even -- you know, put a tarp on it or

17· ·something so the dust is going everywhere either by

18· ·wind -- the dust get carried away.· So the question:

19· ·If the railroad is to be continuing, so would the ore

20· ·loaded on the rail car be covered so that the dust

21· ·doesn't go everywhere?

22· · · · I would like to have an answer to that question,

23· ·if there would be covers or tarps or something to cover

24· ·them.· That is my thought.· Thank you for giving me the

25· ·opportunity to comment.



·2· ·Thank you for sharing your comments and for asking the

·3· ·question.

·4· · · · I'll start by answering the question first.· No.

·5· ·At this time we don't envision having covers on the

·6· ·rail cars, and there's a number of different reasons

·7· ·for that.· Largely, the dust that's produced now along

·8· ·the transportation corridor is from the trucks

·9· ·themselves on the road.· When we move into Phase 2,

10· ·those big ore trucks are going to come off the road,

11· ·and all the ore will be moved by rail.

12· · · · We're also changing our crushing process.· So ore

13· ·will not be crushed at the mine site to the smaller

14· ·sizes that they are right now before they're moved.

15· ·That crushing to break the ore into smaller sizes will

16· ·now happen at the port site in an indoor facility.

17· ·With these measures, we believe that there will be a

18· ·big reduction in dust along the transportation

19· ·corridor.

20· · · · That said, we have agreed to look at placing

21· ·covers over the ore rail cars if it's determined that

22· ·that would help if we see dust that is coming out of

23· ·those ore cars.

24· · · · So right now we don't propose to use it.· We don't

25· ·think it will be needed, but if it is needed, it's

26· ·something that we can consider in the future.

·1· · · · I also just wanted to share in terms of the fish

·2· ·in the areas that were mentioned, we have provided to

·3· ·the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization a

·4· ·proposed study design for their advice on the design

·5· ·and the methods to be used to study fish in the three

·6· ·areas you mentioned, Iqaluit Lake, Koluktoo, and the

·7· ·Tugaat River.· Thank you.

·8· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Pond Inlet, Kaujak Komangapik.

·9· ·Is she here?

10· ·Kaujak Komangapik (Elder) Questions Baffinland Iron


12· ·MS. KOMANGAPIK:· · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

13· · · · The question I have, Caleb Ootoova from Pond Inlet

14· ·has already mentioned it a little bit.· It's basically

15· ·the same question.· I had this question:· This dust

16· ·coming from the mine site -- the dust that is coming

17· ·from there, from the mine site, from what you are

18· ·mining, it comes from that mine site, the red dust.

19· · · · The trucks you -- from the tires on the trucks, it

20· ·doesn't come from those tires.· It goes -- it's

21· ·directly from the dust.· That really nice iron that you

22· ·like, the dust comes from there.· It's iron ore, and

23· ·it -- and it disperses a long ways, even as close to

24· ·Hall Beach.

25· · · · So the question is:· As Baffinland, are you

26· ·planning -- for this Phase 2 expansion proposal, you

·1· ·want to iron -- mine more iron.· So the hunters and

·2· ·Pond Inlet residents and the Hamlet of Pond Inlet will

·3· ·be the most affected, especially those of us in Pond

·4· ·Inlet will be most affected.· Even if there is

·5· ·pollution, are you going to be acting like you don't

·6· ·know, or are you going to respond quickly to the

·7· ·concerns?· That's my question because -- the reason I'm

·8· ·asking, and it's information.· When we, as hunters, it

·9· ·was a problem for us, as a Pond Inlet harvester and

10· ·hunter, to have country food, especially us that have

11· ·country food.· It seems to be a lot of pollution over

12· ·the years, but Baffinland, they took a long time to

13· ·review the effects, and they are finding from the

14· ·hunters and the harvesters -- the hunters were the ones

15· ·who brought in the problem, and they're the ones that

16· ·noted that there was an issue, and this is what is

17· ·causing us to be in difficulty because we're the ones

18· ·that gave that information, and you are now asking for

19· ·a larger proposal, and you'll be touching the

20· ·environment of the ocean close to this community and

21· ·the caribou hunting area and the fishing area and the

22· ·beautiful places of camping that we go.· These are the

23· ·areas that you will be touching.· Are you going to be

24· ·taking a long time to inform people if there are

25· ·effects?· Thank you, Chairman, for the anticipated

26· ·answer.



·3· · · · Thank you for those comments.· I want to first

·4· ·start by acknowledging, yes, we know that dust is

·5· ·produced from the mine site and that it's travelling

·6· ·much further and can be seen much further than we

·7· ·expected, and we learned that from hunters who are

·8· ·travelling through the area.

·9· · · · What we're introducing with the Phase 2 proposal

10· ·are a few changes in our process with the goal of

11· ·reducing dust further by not crushing the same way we

12· ·do at the mine site right now and by changing our

13· ·transportation method and by not moving smaller pieces

14· ·of ore down the tote road or down the rail.

15· · · · I'll also acknowledge that we didn't communicate

16· ·as quickly as we should have around what it was that we

17· ·were doing in response to what we were hearing, and the

18· ·community of Pond Inlet did deserve to know that we

19· ·were acting in response to what we heard.

20· · · · We've been hearing for a number of years that dust

21· ·has been travelling far away from the mine site, and so

22· ·our first actions were to investigate the sources of

23· ·dust at site, and we've been over the years adding more

24· ·and more measures to reduce dust produced where we're

25· ·finding the biggest sources of dust.

26· · · · We've also -- in addition to hearing stories from

·1· ·hunters or those who are travelling through the area,

·2· ·we've also added satellite imagery, which helps us

·3· ·understand how far dust can be seen.· It may not be

·4· ·able to be detected using our monitoring methods, but

·5· ·it can still be seen.

·6· · · · So in our current operations, we're trying to get

·7· ·a better handle on dust sources and what we can do to

·8· ·prevent it from moving further, and we're also planning

·9· ·through the Phase 2 to introduce a number of new

10· ·techniques that will also help reduce dust in the

11· ·environment.

12· · · · We do release all the results of our monitoring

13· ·programs every year, and we come to the community of

14· ·Pond Inlet, specifically, a number of times throughout

15· ·the year, to discuss results and what we're doing about

16· ·monitoring, but we know that that information has to

17· ·get out to a bigger audience, the public, so we've been

18· ·trying new methods like Facebook, going on the radio to

19· ·try and reach more people, so not just those who we're

20· ·meeting with, to find out more about Baffinland and

21· ·what it's doing.· So thank you.· Your comments are very

22· ·much appreciated.· We take them to heart, and we'll --

23· ·we'll keep putting additional measures in place to

24· ·reduce dust and get more information to the public.

25· ·Thank you.

26· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Kaujak Komangapik.

·1· ·MS. KOMANGAPIK:· · · · · Kaujak Komangapik from Pond

·2· ·Inlet.

·3· · · · Thank you, Chairperson.· Thank you for that

·4· ·answer.· Last question again.· It may not seem like a

·5· ·question.

·6· · · · As Inuit, we want to try to make sure you

·7· ·understand beforehand because we are beneficiaries and

·8· ·First Peoples on this land, and we survive with hunting

·9· ·and -- from a long time ago, so our upbringing is based

10· ·on getting food from out on the land.· So you're trying

11· ·to analyze and to monitor, and while you're trying to

12· ·do -- affecting the environment, is that how you're

13· ·going to do it while you -- so, for example, this dust

14· ·was creating an effect.· In all your operation and all

15· ·your mining, is it something that you are learning from

16· ·but at the same time you're still doing the work?· It's

17· ·like you're doing something to learn from something.

18· ·We don't want to be an example.· We don't want to be a

19· ·test site, especially with the people and the animals

20· ·and the wildlife because these are our basis for

21· ·living, not just the animals.· Because of our

22· ·traditional activities and our cultural ways, we are in

23· ·tune with the land.· And while you, it seems to be,

24· ·polluting the environment but also seem to be using it

25· ·as the project -- as a learning curve for your project.

26· · · · So for the Nunavut Impact Review Board, that you

·1· ·need to consider that -- give it serious consideration

·2· ·as a review board.· Are we a testing site?· Are we a

·3· ·learning site so that the plan is saying that they're

·4· ·going to be doing this?· There's a question mark. I

·5· ·think we're going to be doing this is a question mark.

·6· ·When you say "you think", we don't want any more word

·7· ·that says guuk, which means there's a doubt in that

·8· ·word.· You're not really sure.· And we don't think it's

·9· ·truth.· Even though there is a beautiful plan, it's

10· ·still a question mark.· We don't want to be a test

11· ·site.· Thank you.· That's the end of my comments. I

12· ·don't have any more questions, and once I sit, you can

13· ·answer that question.· Have a good day.



16· ·Thank you for those comments and questions.

17· · · · We do not view the operation or impacts on any of

18· ·the communities as a test site.· We've built very large

19· ·and comprehensive assessments based on science, based

20· ·on experiences elsewhere, based on Inuit knowledge that

21· ·has been shared with us to assess what we believe may

22· ·happen if we are to expand the current operations.· So

23· ·what we base this process on is an understanding of

24· ·what we predict will happen, but then what's critical

25· ·to that process and all of the oversight of the project

26· ·from Inuit, regulators, the Nunavut Impact Review

·1· ·Board, is to monitor whether those predictions were

·2· ·right or if they were wrong.· And if they're wrong,

·3· ·then we have a process that will ensure that we change

·4· ·our operations in response to what we're seeing.

·5· · · · So we are learning, but the good part about the

·6· ·learning is that we can make changes, and we can adjust

·7· ·the operations.· And what we've recently committed to

·8· ·is that who will be identifying those changes will be

·9· ·Inuit, and who will be monitoring those changes are

10· ·Inuit.· So they'll be able to share with us early

11· ·warning signs of when we need to get ready to make

12· ·changes.· And that's what we have committed to do and

13· ·what we'll continue to do.· Thank you.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·An Elder from Iqaluit, Simon

15· ·Idlout.

16· ·Simon Idlout (Elder) Questions Baffinland Iron Mines

17· ·Corporation

18· ·MR. IDLOUT:· · · · · · · Am I ready?· My name is Simon

19· ·Idlout, and I live in Resolute Bay.

20· · · · I am a participant here to listen about the Mary

21· ·River Project, and I used to live in Pond Inlet.· Now I

22· ·live in Resolute Bay.

23· · · · The topic that was mentioned earlier, we did

24· ·most -- all of the Inuit did not really like that

25· ·because we live in the high Arctic.· The snow is all

26· ·red now, and geese and rabbit and other terrestrial

·1· ·animals are all red.· The reason -- like, because

·2· ·people of Pond Inlet are in a dire situation, and we

·3· ·live in the high Arctic at Resolute Bay, and, to date,

·4· ·we have not been impacted yet by the dust.

·5· · · · Those communities which have been impacted by the

·6· ·dust, we as Inuit and Elders relied on food -- Inuit

·7· ·food, so our country food.· But I just want to say --

·8· ·and the second one, I have heard something -- pleasant

·9· ·news in regards to all the dust, how -- I'm glad that

10· ·you're trying to have some mitigation issues to handle

11· ·the dust.· Now it's going to be crushed at Milne Inlet.

12· ·That's good to hear.· We want the mining operation to

13· ·run smoothly and the people of Pond Inlet to be much

14· ·happier because of these issues, mitigation issues.· So

15· ·that was something that I thought about.

16· · · · I asked my fellow board members, What kind of

17· ·topics will I bring?· They just told me, Oh, you will

18· ·handle it, and I am grateful that the proponent will be

19· ·reverting to the rail cars carrying uncrushed ore to

20· ·load the ships.· When I heard that, only near the

21· ·shoreline you will be crushing the ore, and one can

22· ·foresee that all the dust will no longer be such a

23· ·problem because wildlife -- we rely on wildlife for

24· ·food, and we don't want negative impacts or eat food

25· ·that have been impacted by the dust or lead.

26· · · · I have gone to the Mary River area on more than

·1· ·one occasion to go hunting, and I was -- it was

·2· ·pleasant to hear some commenters saying, like, when the

·3· ·caribou -- you're going to -- the trains will have to

·4· ·wait for the first wave of caribou to cross over, and

·5· ·if one stops, all of them will return.· That is how all

·6· ·of wildlife behave.

·7· · · · Before we move to the marine environment

·8· ·presentation, I wanted to mention that -- that

·9· ·terrestrial animals -- and also sort of -- again, right

10· ·now there are too many wolves.· Like, the -- please --

11· ·the mining companies, please kill these wolves.· So you

12· ·will be able to -- you should be able to kill wolves

13· ·for the sake of protecting.· Some wolves are very fast,

14· ·even though the caribou are fast as well.· So if anyone

15· ·can hear me, please -- please kill all the wolves.

16· · · · And, secondly, we blame the ships.· People --

17· ·people blame the fish -- the ships.· There are lots of

18· ·orcas as well, killer whales.· How can we sort of

19· ·reduce the population of the killer whales because not

20· ·only ships are bothering the narwhals, killer whales

21· ·are also killing the narwhals.

22· · · · So I will end it for now.· At least I made a

23· ·comment.· So I will be -- I'm glad that there will be a

24· ·crusher at the Milne Inlet port site because I used to

25· ·work at the mine.· Like, if you transport the ore

26· ·without being crushed to the mine -- to the Milne Inlet

·1· ·area, then it will be more appropriate if you crush it

·2· ·down there.

·3· · · · So if the project will continue, then Canada will

·4· ·generate some revenue.· I will end my comments for now,

·5· ·if I made sense.· Thank you.



·8· · · · Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the project

·9· ·and sharing some of the positive aspects that you see

10· ·from this proposal moving forward.· Thank you.

11· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Mittimatalik Elder -- an Elder

12· ·from Mittimatalik, Elijah Panipakoocho.

13· ·MR. IDLOUT:· · · · · · · There was mention -- I will

14· ·end it for now.

15· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Elijah.

16· ·Elijah Panipakoocho (Elder) Questions Baffinland Iron


18· ·MR. PANIPAKOOCHO:· · · · All ready?· Thank you.· Thank

19· ·you, Madam Chair.

20· · · · I just want to tell a short -- I want to make a

21· ·short comment.· In the past, 2011, yes, I was also

22· ·partaking narwhal monitoring at Bruce Head to see their

23· ·behaviour.· I was working there for numerous years

24· ·working for Baffinland and also with the caribou

25· ·monitoring.· We did aerial surveys counting the

26· ·narwhal -- caribou.· Like, when we were monitoring

·1· ·narwhal on top of Bruce Head before the ships arrive in

·2· ·August, we were counting the narwhal.· There were well

·3· ·over 30,000 in numbers entering that area, and

·4· ·sometimes we could not even count them because they

·5· ·were too numerous.· That was the case initially.· And

·6· ·as the years progressed, the number of narwhal seem to

·7· ·diminish and also Koluktoo -- Robertson -- Koluktoo

·8· ·Bay.· So they were moving to that area more.· You see a

·9· ·few narwhals passing by Bruce Head when narwhals --

10· ·iron ore carriers were in operation.

11· · · · And caribou in that area between Steensby Inlet

12· ·and Mary River, there used to be caribou and the

13· ·population numbers diminished -- start diminishing.

14· ·They were trying to cross over to the Mary River area,

15· ·but when they heard all the noise from the mining

16· ·operation, they return.· So that's something that I

17· ·want you to see about the behaviour.

18· · · · And the actual monitors do not really explain, but

19· ·I can, so that's what we observed by -- and we counted

20· ·the caribou via helicopter.· And, for example, we tried

21· ·to determine how many calves, and there were usually

22· ·around 200 calves that we counted when we were in that

23· ·area near Mary River.

24· · · · And as they start -- as the mining operation

25· ·increased, more ore was being mined, the marine mammals

26· ·near -- seals, not just narwhal, they did not really

·1· ·have an impact.· The mining did not really have an

·2· ·impact on narwhals or seal but as the iron ore carriers

·3· ·started to increase, there are hardly any more narwhal

·4· ·and only before the ships arrive during the spring you

·5· ·see lots of narwhals, then once the iron ore carriers

·6· ·start travelling, then they disappear, including the

·7· ·seals.

·8· · · · And right now this past winter we could travel

·9· ·everywhere.· Like, even though we're Elders, like,

10· ·it's -- hunting -- I enjoy hunting, going out.· We

11· ·really enjoy it.· Like, we want to eat something which

12· ·is not store bought.

13· · · · Today now -- even if you go seal hunting near Pond

14· ·Inlet area, you can't see any breathing holes, even

15· ·during the winter.· There are no ships.· That is the

16· ·case today.· Like, when you try to find breathing

17· ·holes, you cannot find any, even the area maybe perhaps

18· ·around 30 miles away at Levoiette [phonetic] Point.

19· ·Like, we used to go seal hunting during the winter.

20· ·Right now there are hardly any seal breathing holes.

21· ·It's almost a waste of time going there to hunt.

22· · · · And also near Button Wide -- Button Point.· We go

23· ·to Button Point during the winter and also the

24· ·situation is different.· Like, it's almost impossible

25· ·to hunt seals.· That is the case.· So that's a concern.

26· · · · Like, we support Mary River Project, but --

·1· ·there's a "but".· Like, if we increase the number of

·2· ·ships traversing through our area, then it is more

·3· ·likely that there will no longer be marine mammals in

·4· ·our future, I think, because we can relate to that

·5· ·because we live in this area.· That is the case today,

·6· ·and that's a fact.

·7· · · · Like, if we go out hunting, like, we can see it

·8· ·for sure and also go to the actual site.· And it was --

·9· ·I was also involved in monitoring narwhals at Milne

10· ·Inlet, and there were hardly any.· That is the case

11· ·today.· So if you get accurate stories about wildlife

12· ·monitors, then we've never actually heard them, even

13· ·though I am a member of the Hunters and Trappers

14· ·Organization.

15· · · · So, like, it's -- our future is uncertain when it

16· ·comes to marine mammals.· Like, when the mining

17· ·operation should end, then after that, I don't know how

18· ·long it would take for the wildlife to return to this

19· ·area; that you have to give this into consideration

20· ·that there are the communities which -- when I speak to

21· ·people, like, from Nanisivik -- like, from Arctic Bay,

22· ·for example, they always say -- they relate their

23· ·experience.· Thank you for listening.· That is it.

24· ·Thank you.



·1· ·Thank you, Elijah, for those comments.

·2· · · · In terms of some of your observations around the

·3· ·marine environment and declining wildlife, I think

·4· ·we'll touch more on that in the marine session, but

·5· ·specifically around seals, I just want to confirm that

·6· ·we are not proposing to ship during the winter months,

·7· ·so we'll be avoiding some of those sensitive seal time

·8· ·periods that you spoke to.· We would be looking to

·9· ·begin shipping in July based on the ice conditions in

10· ·any given year.

11· · · · But what you have just highlighted, observations

12· ·about wildlife abundance in the area and the importance

13· ·of country food to Pond Inlet specifically, that's

14· ·exactly why we want Inuit to be at front and centre

15· ·helping us manage this project and helping to define

16· ·how we're going to operate the Phase 2 proposal.

17· · · · I know that you've been a strong supporter of

18· ·monitoring over the years -- and I thank you for that

19· ·and your participation in a number of our monitoring

20· ·programs and the design of programs -- and we're going

21· ·to take that lesson learned and move forward with even

22· ·more and stronger Inuit-led programs.· Thank you.

23· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Finishing up the section on

24· ·the terrestrial environment, any questions from the

25· ·Board?· Catherine.

26· ·Nunavut Impact Review Board Questions Baffinland Iron

·1· ·Mines Corporation

·2· ·MS. EMRICK:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· I'll

·3· ·combine two questions into one just for -- in the

·4· ·interests of time.

·5· · · · I'm wondering if Baffinland has consulted with

·6· ·Agnico Eagle on their caribou decision framework for

·7· ·the Meadowbank Mine road.· And, in relation to this,

·8· ·have you estimated or established the maximum number of

·9· ·days annually that the rail traffic could be stopped to

10· ·allow caribou to pass and still have the project remain

11· ·viable?· Thank you, Madam Chair.



14· ·Thank you for the question.

15· · · · I'm going to pass to Lou Kamermans, but before I

16· ·do, I'd just like to highlight that we actually had an

17· ·Inuk from the Kivalliq who works for Agnico Eagle

18· ·present at one of our rail workshops held at the mine

19· ·site, so this individual could help share some insights

20· ·from their operation and management of caribou, given

21· ·the larger number of caribou in the area.

22· · · · But to speak more directly to your question, I'll

23· ·pass to Lou Kamermans.· Thank you.




·1· · · · The modelling we've done to date or the

·2· ·simulations on our rail, we work with about 300 working

·3· ·days in the year.· Those other 64, 65 are anticipated

·4· ·downtime due to weather or due to maintenance, planned

·5· ·or unplanned, and could include the need to suspend

·6· ·operations for the passage of caribou when the

·7· ·migrations return.

·8· · · · That's not necessarily a fixed number.· We do have

·9· ·options where we could modify the train configurations.

10· ·We could have longer trains.· We could have more

11· ·shorter trains.· There's options that we could work

12· ·with that would require additional analysis, but there

13· ·is further investigation that could occur.

14· · · · This is also our rationale for operational

15· ·flexibility that's being proposed because we're

16· ·anticipating not being able to -- to transport and ship

17· ·12 million tonnes each year because of the mitigations

18· ·we're committing to, including the commitment not to

19· ·break land-fast ice or to have to shut the railway down

20· ·during certain periods of the year to allow caribou to

21· ·pass.

22· · · · So I think we're well prepared for this, and I

23· ·think our commitments in the adaptive management plan

24· ·that will be integrated into the terrestrial

25· ·environment working -- or mitigation and management

26· ·plan will also help us tailor the need for these

·1· ·temporary shutdowns to when they are required.

·2· · · · But just as a point of reference in the Kivalliq,

·3· · ·where Agnico Eagle shuts down its roads while caribou

·4· ·migrate, they were shut down for approximately 60 days

·5· ·in 2019, so that is within the scope of the planned

·6· ·downtime we have, and we could certainly coordinate

·7· ·those downtimes so that there's overlap.

·8· · · · But, ultimately, we will have to understand more

·9· ·about the caribou in our areas as they return in

10· ·greater numbers and how they will interact with our

11· ·railway and when and where they'll be most likely to

12· ·migrate over it.

13· · · · And I think it's important to note that we do have

14· ·good relationships with the other miners in Nunavut.

15· ·And talking about mitigation and what we can do to

16· ·manage caribou in relation to our railway and road, is

17· ·something that we can share knowledge of between all of

18· ·the mines.· Thank you.

19· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Any more questions from the

20· ·Board?· No?

21· · · · I have one question.· There's been a lot of

22· ·questions and concerns related to dust and the proposal

23· ·to build the rail.· Whether you're in an Inuit

24· ·community or a road on the outskirts of a community,

25· ·say, a mine road or community access road, especially

26· ·in the summer you can see lots of dust if the vehicle

·1· ·is moving -- if the vehicle is speeding.· And what

·2· ·you're proposing to do is build a rail, and it could be

·3· ·possibly over 60 cars connected to one train, and

·4· ·you're saying that it would reduce the impacts.

·5· · · · Without having seen a rail in a Nunavut

·6· ·environment moving across that kind of a surface, I'm

·7· ·asking Baffinland if you could explain, in more general

·8· ·terms, how using a rail would reduce dust?· Like, why

·9· ·does the dust level go down?· Is it because the way the

10· ·train is moving?· The speed?· And how does that reduce

11· ·the impacts to wildlife?· Like, when you're on the tote

12· ·road -- if you're driving on a road with a vehicle you

13· ·can stop, but on a train, as you said, it would take a

14· ·minute or longer for this very long locomotive to stop,

15· ·which, you know, when you picture it conceptually, it's

16· ·very different, especially if you saw wolves or foxes

17· ·or caribou trying to cross the rail.

18· · · · So can Baffinland clarify, based on your

19· ·assessment and what you're proposing to do, how that

20· ·could look like and why it reduces the impacts?

21· ·Baffinland, Megan Lord-Hoyle.


23· · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

24· · · · And may I ask that Slide 23 from the terrestrial

25· ·presentation be put up in the background.· It will help

26· ·with my answer.· Thank you.· And thank you for allowing

·1· ·us to elaborate on this and to share what those who

·2· ·were at the workshop were able to see, but we do need

·3· ·to describe much better.

·4· · · · So you've raised some of the -- the biggest

·5· ·reasons why we're saying that moving to a rail

·6· ·operation will help reduce the dust.

·7· · · · What we have on the tote road right now are very

·8· ·large trucks that have a contact of the wheel on a

·9· ·gravel road, and so we need to try and use water or

10· ·other dust suppressants to compact that gravel to

11· ·reduce dust the same way as in communities, when

12· ·communities apply water on the road to try and stop the

13· ·wheels from digging up the dirt and spreading it

14· ·around.

15· · · · When we move to the rail operation, we're changing

16· ·what that contact surface is.· So what's shown in this

17· ·photo on the right is the rail embankment.· So the rail

18· ·embankment is going to be built of stone, so blasted

19· ·material, gravel -- larger pieces of gravel that will

20· ·build up to the height that's needed and to make sure

21· ·that there's a level surface.

22· · · · But then on top of that, there's going to be

23· ·wooden ties.· So at the top of what you see in this

24· ·photo, there will be wooden ties going across, and then

25· ·along the length of the rail line will be a steel

26· ·structure, and I believe yesterday that was referred to

·1· ·as a "super structure", so that's what's meant.· There

·2· ·is the height of the embankment, and then there's a

·3· ·couple of extra inches to the height, which is the wood

·4· ·ties and the steel track.

·5· · · · And then the train and the rail cars will have

·6· ·steel wheels -- metal wheels.· So it will actually be

·7· ·the action of metal on metal versus rubber on gravel.

·8· · · · Speeds play into this as well, and there will be

·9· ·speed controls on the train, but that is largely more

10· ·for safety reasons than for a dust control mechanism.

11· · · · Another piece that was touched on in the questions

12· ·just asked around covering ore trucks versus rail cars,

13· ·the rail cars themselves are not going to be filled up

14· ·to the top with ore.· The ore that's included in the

15· ·rail car is also going to be bigger pieces than is

16· ·currently moved along the tote road.· So the trucks

17· ·right now are filled up -- the back of them are filled

18· ·up with smaller pieces of ore than will be moved in the

19· ·rail before they go down to port to be crushed into the

20· ·smaller pieces that we ship to our customers in an

21· ·indoor facility.· Thank you, Madam Chair, I hope that

22· ·helps to elaborate and clarify.· Thank you.

23· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·That concludes the terrestrial

24· ·environment presentation portion of the agenda.· We're

25· ·going to break for lunch, and after lunch we'll move on

26· ·to the presentation on the marine environment.· We'll

·1· ·break 'til 1:15.· 1:15.

·2· ·_______________________________________________________

·3· ·PROCEEDINGS ADJOURNED UNTIL 1:15 PM

·4· ·_______________________________________________________

·5· ·(PROCEEDINGS COMMENCED AT 1:20 PM)

·6· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Welcome back, everyone.

·7· · · · Before we go into the marine presentation, one of

·8· ·the Board members has a question.

·9· · · · Madeleine.

10· ·MS. QUMUATUQ:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

11· · · · Under the compensation for hunters in the event

12· ·they can no longer harvest wildlife or fish under that

13· ·section and the agreement with the Qikiqtani Inuit

14· ·Association, it implies that they would provide

15· ·compensation in the event -- to the hunters in the

16· ·event that the hunters cannot hunt, and the amount is

17· ·$750,000.

18· · · · This morning, as we heard, there used to be fish,

19· ·narwhal and such, and they're no longer available in

20· ·abundance.· Maybe can you -- would you be able to raise

21· ·the amount of the compensation in the event that there

22· ·is actually no more wildlife to harvest.· Right now

23· ·that is my question.· So if Baffinland can answer, that

24· ·would be great.· Thank you, Madam Chair.



·1· · · · There are actually a number of different

·2· ·compensation programs available or those that can help

·3· ·support hunting and harvesting activities.· The

·4· ·wildlife compensation fund that was referred to is an

·5· ·existing program under the Inuit Impact Benefit

·6· ·Agreement administered by the Qikiqtani Inuit

·7· ·Association.

·8· · · · That fund is a top-up fund, so Baffinland has

·9· ·placed $750,000 in the fund, and as it's used, it's

10· ·topped back up.· In addition, currently in place is a

11· ·harvesters enabling program in Pond Inlet that provides

12· ·$400,000 or the equivalent for fuel for any Inuk over

13· ·the age of 12 years old.

14· · · · In addition, to account for changes in hunting

15· ·experiences that may have occurred as a result of the

16· ·project, the hunters and trappers organization have

17· ·received a $300,000 payment provided by Baffinland

18· ·through the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and will

19· ·receive another $1 million payment.

20· · · · Baffinland has also formed an agreement with the

21· ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet and the Hunters and Trappers

22· ·Organization to pay $10,000 for every vessel -- for

23· ·each vessel that's needed to move more than 4.2 million

24· ·tonnes in any given year, and this program would

25· ·continue into Phase 2, and it goes to what is known as

26· ·the Tasiutit working group, which was formed through

·1· ·this agreement.

·2· · · · Finally, more recently, we have committed to a

·3· ·regional harvesters enabling program in the amount of

·4· ·$750,000 as well, which would be available to all

·5· ·hunters and trappers organizations of the five

·6· ·communities administered by the Qikiqtani Inuit

·7· ·Association, and the culture, resources, and land-use

·8· ·assessment that will be completed later this year will

·9· ·help to inform if adjustments to those funds or

10· ·programs are required.

11· · · · Our first path of approach will always be to avoid

12· ·impacts, but we do want to provide that certainty that

13· ·compensation would be available if it's required, and

14· ·that's why we've agreed to set up these funds or

15· ·provide these payments.· I hope that helps clarify.

16· ·Thank you.

17· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Now to Item 7.5 on the agenda,

18· ·Baffinland's presentation on the marine environment. I

19· ·will now ask our legal counsel to swear and affirm

20· ·Baffinland's presenters and mark the next exhibits.

21· · · · NIRB legal counsel.

22· ·MS. MEADOWS:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

23· ·Teresa Meadows, legal counsel for the Nunavut Impact

24· ·Review Board.

25· · · · So, Madam Chair, I have a list of the witnesses

26· ·who need to be affirmed to be able to offer evidence

·1· ·and respond to questions during this section.· I will

·2· ·state their names, and then I will administer the oath,

·3· ·and if I can have the people whose names have been

·4· ·stated confirm for me that they affirm, state their

·5· ·name and say "I affirm", then we will turn to the

·6· ·marking of exhibits.

·7· · · · The first name is Emma Malcolm, Phil Rouget,

·8· ·Dr. Patrick Abgrall, Marina Winterbottom.· Ben Wheeler,

·9· ·and John McClintock.· Dr. Melanie Austin who is also on

10· ·that list, Madam Chair, did affirm earlier in these

11· ·proceedings.

12· ·EMMA MALCOLM, PHIL ROUGET, PATRICK ABGRALL, MARINA

13· ·WINTERBOTTOM, JOHN MCCLINTOCK, Affirmed

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·NIRB legal counsel.

15· ·MS. MEADOWS:· · · · · · ·Madam Chair, I also have Ben

16· ·Wheeler on my list.

17· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Ben Wheeler.

18· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Madam Chair, Megan Lord-Hoyle

19· ·again.

20· · · · I was just informed of a schedule change, and it

21· ·doesn't appear that Ben Wheeler is able to be on the

22· ·call at the moment.· Apologies for that confusion.

23· ·Thank you.



26· ·Teresa Meadows, legal counsel for the Nunavut Impact

·1· ·Review Board.

·2· · · · So, Madam Chair, there are several additional

·3· ·exhibits in addition to the PowerPoint presentation

·4· ·that will be presented today, and perhaps for the

·5· ·convenience of the Panel and to ensure that we have a

·6· ·clear understanding of the additional materials, I

·7· ·should turn it over to legal counsel for Baffinland to

·8· ·walk us through their proposed filing of exhibits.


10· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Baffinland legal counsel.

11· ·MS. KOWBEL:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

12· · · · We have five additional exhibits to file at this

13· ·time.· The first is Baffinland's response to the Pond

14· ·Inlet proposal filed at the end of December.· We filed

15· ·a document that includes a translation of Baffinland's

16· ·response to that proposal together with a cover letter

17· ·to the NIRB.· The cover letter to the NIRB has not yet

18· ·been translated.· We'll provide translations of that

19· ·cover letter when available.

20· · · · The second exhibits are two additional PowerPoint

21· ·slides relating to marine noise.· This slide is a

22· ·visual representation of information that has already

23· ·been shared in many different ways, including previous

24· ·monitoring reports on the NIRB registry.· The -- the

25· ·topic is spoken to directly during the marine

26· ·presentation, and the noise figures just serve as a

·1· ·visual aid for the discussion on several slides in the

·2· ·marine presentation, Slides 44 and 47 specifically.

·3· · · · The next slide is an additional figure and table

·4· ·relating to narwhal harvest numbers reported to the

·5· ·Department of Fisheries and Oceans.· This is, again,

·6· ·just updating information that is found in the food

·7· ·security assessment.

·8· · · · The next document is a document that was

·9· ·previously filed on the NIRB registry on December 18th

10· ·with translations included.· This document is the key

11· ·topics reference guide, and it's just a summary

12· ·response to issues that have come up during the

13· ·assessment to serve as a convenient aid to people that

14· ·are interested in the current status of Baffinland's

15· ·commitments on key topics in this assessment.

16· · · · And the last document would be the summary of

17· ·significance, again, previously filed with NIRB on

18· ·December 18th with translations included, and that's a

19· ·document that was requested by NIRB in its prehearing

20· ·conference report, and we may be referring to that

21· ·document in answer to questions, and we thought it

22· ·was -- it would be good for people to know that that

23· ·was on the registry, and so we're proposing to mark it

24· ·as an exhibit in this proceedings.

25· · · · For all these documents, there are some copies at

26· ·the back of the room here in Iqaluit.· Should we need

·1· ·additional -- should we need additional copies, please

·2· ·let Baffinland know, and we will get additional copies

·3· ·printed for people who are interested.· I understand

·4· ·that there also being -- copies being printed in Pond

·5· ·Inlet, and, again, if you need copies, please ask

·6· ·Baffinland, and they will arrange for additional copies

·7· ·for you.

·8· · · · And, Madam Chair, I think I forgot to say my name

·9· ·at the beginning, but I'm Christine Kowbel.· Legal

10· ·counsel for Baffinland.· Thank you.



13· · · · So with respect to the second and third item that

14· ·was discussed by Ms. Kowbel being the additional

15· ·PowerPoint slides on marine noise and at the additional

16· ·figure and table on narwhal harvest, those materials

17· ·have also been circulated by the Board on the public

18· ·registry about 35 minutes ago, and we have invited

19· ·participants to make their objections known to those

20· ·materials before we will actually enter them as

21· ·exhibits on the public hearing record because they

22· ·are -- have not been previously presented to the Board

23· ·or previously filed on the registry.· They are based on

24· ·information that is on the registry, but they are --

25· ·they are new in their current form.

26· · · · And so parties are invited to let me know by

·1· ·5:00 Eastern, so by the close of this afternoon

·2· ·session, whether or not they object to those materials

·3· ·being referenced and being accepted onto the public

·4· ·hearing record.

·5· · · · In addition, Madam Chair, I will be filing as well

·6· ·as an exhibit the presentation materials entitled the

·7· ·"Marine Presentation" in English and Inuktitut in a

·8· ·single version.· Thank you, Madam Chair.· Those are my

·9· ·matters.

10· · · · EXHIBIT 9 - PowerPoint Presentation, Marine

11· · · · Environment, Public Hearing Iqaluit and Pond

12· · · · Inlet January 25 - February 6, 2021

13· · · · (English/Inuktitut)

14· · · · EXHIBIT 10 - Baffinland Correspondence and

15· · · · attachments:· Response to Pond Inlet Proposal

16· · · · EXHIBIT 11 - PowerPoint Slides on Marine

17· · · · Noise.· (Visual aids for reference in

18· · · · relation to Slides 44 and 47 of Exhibit 9)

19· · · · EXHIBIT 12 - PowerPoint slides on narwhal

20· · · · harvest data

21· · · · EXHIBIT 13 - Key Topics Reference Guide,

22· · · · previously filed with NIRB on December 18

23· · · · EXHIBIT 14 - Summary on Significance,

24· · · · previously filed with NIRB on December 18

25· · · · EXHIBIT 15 - Baffinland Response to Hamlet of

26· · · · Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik) Announcement with

·1· · · · regard to Support for Baffinland Iron Mines

·2· · · · Corporation Phase 2 Expansion of the Mary

·3· · · · River Project



·6· · · · We will be asking Phil Rouget, who is the lead

·7· ·marine biologist for Baffinland and lead author on the

·8· ·marine assessment, to be providing the presentation on

·9· ·our behalf.· And, again, for the technicians, he will

10· ·be under the name "Melanie Austin".

11· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Phil Rouget.

12· ·Presentation by Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation

13· ·(Marine Environment)

14· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Thank you.

15· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Good afternoon, Madam Chair,

16· ·Members of the Board.· My name's Phil Rouget, Golder

17· ·Associates.· I serve as the technical lead on the

18· ·marine mammal component of the Phase 2 proposal.

19· · · · On behalf of Baffinland, I will be presenting

20· ·today's presentation on the marine environment.· Next

21· ·slide, please.

22· · · · The presentation will include an overview of the

23· ·assessment approach, a summary of key issues, and

24· ·mitigation measures for both the Milne Port and

25· ·shipping components of the project and will have an

26· ·overview of the assessment conclusions followed by a

·1· ·summary of the technical review process.· Next slide,

·2· ·please.· Next slide, please.

·3· · · · Of great benefit in the Phase 2 application is

·4· ·that Baffinland is an operating project and has been

·5· ·shipping iron ore since 2015.· The assessment builds on

·6· ·prior approvals accumulated, operational experience,

·7· ·and years of working with Inuit to better understand

·8· ·key environmental risks.· Next slide, please.

·9· · · · Baffinland has been able to improve shipping

10· ·operations and test the effectiveness of mitigation

11· ·measures based on results from our annual monitoring

12· ·programs and input received from communities and

13· ·intervenors.· Next slide, please.· Slide 6.

14· · · · Inuit knowledge was shared with Baffinland through

15· ·interviews and workshops, community meetings, input

16· ·from Inuit staff involved in our field programs,

17· ·reports developed by the QIA, and through engagement

18· ·with the MHTO.· This Inuit knowledge was used to inform

19· ·the baseline assessment to identify valued ecosystem

20· ·components for the project, to identify potential

21· ·project effects that are marine related and in the

22· ·development and application of mitigation measures.

23· ·Next slide, please.

24· · · · Inuit participation in the monitoring programs and

25· ·in community engagement sessions has resulted in

26· ·meaningful changes to Baffinland's shipping operations.

·1· ·For example, Inuit concerns regarding vessel noise in

·2· ·key narwhal calving areas have directly led to

·3· ·mitigation measures in the form of no-go zones along

·4· ·the west coast of Milne Inlet as well as within

·5· ·Koluktoo Bay, which is shown here in this figure in the

·6· ·green hatched area.· Next slide, please.

·7· · · · This figure shows a more specific breakdown of

·8· ·where and how IQ has been incorporated into the

·9· ·assessment.· I'll be giving examples of this throughout

10· ·the presentation.· Next slide, please.

11· · · · The marine assessment undertaken is rigorous and

12· ·comprehensive, and it has advanced the scientific

13· ·understanding of marine processes in Eclipse Sound and

14· ·Milne Inlet.· The assessment itself used conservative

15· ·assumptions, including worst-case scenarios instead of

16· ·more likely realistic-case scenarios.· For example, the

17· ·underwater noise modelling assumed that all project and

18· ·non-project vessels in the regional study area would be

19· ·as loud as a cape-sized ore carrier which is the

20· ·loudest of all the vessel classes proposed for the

21· ·project.· Next slide, please.

22· · · · The assessment builds on the approved final

23· ·environmental impact statement which spans over ten

24· ·years and includes over 30 different studies.· To

25· ·provide greater certainty in the assessment, Baffinland

26· ·has also had a peer review carried out on the

·1· ·icebreaking effects assessment.· Baffinland has also

·2· ·implemented adaptive management measures under its

·3· ·current operations that have formed the basis for many

·4· ·of the mitigations considered in the present Phase 2

·5· ·assessment.· Next slide, please.

·6· · · · Separate study areas were selected for the

·7· ·assessment of the marine environment and marine

·8· ·mammals.· The marine environment study area shown on

·9· ·the left reflects the maximum spatial extent of

10· ·predicted project-related change as a result of port

11· ·construction and operation.· The marine study mammal

12· ·area is shown on the right, which encompasses the

13· ·northern shipping route and extends out to the boundary

14· ·of the Nunavut settlement area.· It also includes Navy

15· ·Board Inlet and Tremblay Sound.· Next slide, please.

16· · · · Six valued ecosystem components were evaluated in

17· ·the Phase 2 assessment for marine.· These were selected

18· ·based on a number of criteria, including, for example,

19· ·being identified as culturally, ecologically, and

20· ·economically important to Inuit.· Next slide, please.

21· · · · This slide shows the various pathways by which the

22· ·project might affect the marine environment.· These

23· ·pathways outline the basis for the scope of the

24· ·assessment.· Next slide, please.

25· · · · Baffinland has taken a holistic approach to its

26· ·mitigation planning and has prioritized development of

·1· ·mitigation measures that directly address key potential

·2· ·adverse effects identified in the assessment such as

·3· ·those from shipping noise, ballast water, and impacts

·4· ·of shipping on Inuit culture.· Next slide.

·5· · · · Baffinland's proposed mitigation measures have

·6· ·been shaped by input from Inuit as well as project

·7· ·intervenors and stem from a deep respect for the

·8· ·communities sharing the waters of Eclipse Sound and

·9· ·Milne Inlet.· For example, the development of shipping

10· ·no-go zones at Bruce Head was in direct response to

11· ·feedback from local Inuit who asked for avoidance of

12· ·hunting areas in this region.· Next slide, please.

13· · · · Mitigation committed to by Baffinland have been

14· ·demonstrated to be operationally feasible and

15· ·biologically meaningful, which provides increased

16· ·confidence in the significance determinations for

17· ·Phase 2, additionally, the commitment to meet or exceed

18· ·regulatory requirements and commitments for best

19· ·practice for Canadian ports.· Next slide, please.

20· · · · Baffinland and QIA --

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·If you can please slow down.

22· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Apologies, Madam Chair.· Slide

23· ·18 we're on.

24· · · · Baffinland and QIA's jointly approved adaptive

25· ·management approach will be incorporated into an

26· ·updated marine monitoring plan for Phase 2 if approved.

·1· ·Next slide, please.

·2· · · · We'll now talk about the Milne Port component of

·3· ·the project, including construction and operation.

·4· ·Construction of a second ore dock is proposed as part

·5· ·of Phase 2 shown in light green in the figure here.

·6· ·The second ore dock will be connected to the existing

·7· ·ore dock and the freight dock by two new causeways.


·9· · · · Structural modifications and increased port

10· ·activity have the potential to result in adverse

11· ·effects on the marine environment.· This includes

12· ·impacts on fish and fish habitat in the immediate -- in

13· ·the immediate vicinity of the port.· Baffinland has

14· ·developed mitigation measures and habitat offset

15· ·planning to address these effects.· The conceptual

16· ·offsetting plan in Technical Support Document 23

17· ·outlines many of these mitigations and identifies

18· ·potential offsetting measures for the Phase 2 port

19· ·modification.· Next slide, please.

20· · · · Industry best practices for in-water works such as

21· ·use of silt curtains to control sedimentation will be

22· ·implemented during port construction.· Additional

23· ·mitigation measures will be developed with DFO through

24· ·the Fisheries Act authorization process, and these will

25· ·be reflected in a construction environment --

26· ·environmental monitoring and management plan which will

·1· ·be developed for the new ore dock construction.· Next

·2· ·slide, please.

·3· · · · Ballast water modelling was used to assess

·4· ·potential effects of ship ballast water discharges in

·5· ·the marine environment.· In 2017, a three-dimensional

·6· ·hydrodynamic model was developed by global experts

·7· ·using site-specific oceanographic data used to predict

·8· ·potential changes to the marine environment that could

·9· ·occur as a result of ship ballast water releases.

10· · · · This included running a three-month simulation to

11· ·evaluate mixing and dispersal of ballast water in Milne

12· ·Inlet.· That was for during and after the open-water

13· ·season comparing current date temperature and salinity

14· ·conditions to those predicted with the project.· Next


16· · · · In 2019, the model was updated using oceanographic

17· ·data collected in Milne Inlet and was shown to perform

18· ·well in comparison to in-field measurements.· Based on

19· ·recommendations from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada

20· ·and other intervenors, a sensitivity analysis was

21· ·undertaken in 2019 to evaluate the robustness of model

22· ·predictions using a broader range of temperature and

23· ·salinity values for the release ballast water than

24· ·would normally occur during normal operations.

25· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Please slow down for the

26· ·interpreters.· If you can take -- slow down with your

·1· ·sentences, please.

·2· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Apologies, Madam Chair.· I'll

·3· ·slow her down.

·4· · · · Modelling results demonstrated that the effects of

·5· ·ballast water releases in the marine environment under

·6· ·a Phase 2 scenario would not be detectible above normal

·7· ·conditions and would not cause a measurable impact on

·8· ·the temperature and salinity of the waters in Milne

·9· ·Inlet.· Given that temperature and salinity are key

10· ·determinants of species distributions, these results

11· ·lend confidence to impact predictions in that ballast

12· ·water discharges will have negligible impacts on marine

13· ·fish and fish habitat.· Next slide, please.

14· · · · This graphic represents an analogy to explain why

15· ·ballast water released from ships would be undetectable

16· ·within a few metres of their discharge point.· This is

17· ·because the total amount of ship ballast water released

18· ·into Milne Port in a given year is equivalent,

19· ·relatively speaking, to a raindrop in a bathtub based

20· ·on existing shipping levels.· Under a Phase 2 scenario,

21· ·this would be equivalent to about three raindrops in a

22· ·bathtub.· This is not enough to influence salinity and

23· ·temperature levels in the receiving environment.

24· · · · For comparison, the total amount of local

25· ·freshwater from rivers and runoff would be equivalent

26· ·to a coffee cup in this analogy.· For these reasons,

·1· ·the effect of ballast water discharges on marine water

·2· ·quality were predicted to be not significant.· Next

·3· ·slide, please.· And next slide, please.· Slide 27.

·4· · · · Baffinland's proposed ballast water management

·5· ·practices for Phase 2 will exceed federal requirements

·6· ·under Transport Canada's ballast water control and

·7· ·management regulations and are thus considered

·8· ·precedent setting.· Next slide, please.

·9· · · · All vessels calling on Milne Port are required to

10· ·perform an open-ocean ballast water exchange in the

11· ·North Atlantic.· This effectively reduces the risk of

12· ·invasive species introductions by expelling organisms

13· ·far away from the coast.· In addition, vessels with

14· ·on-board treatment systems are required to both

15· ·exchange as well as treat their ballast water.

16· · · · Current regulations call for either exchange or

17· ·treatment but not both.· So this exceeds existing

18· ·federal requirements.· Baffinland currently conducts

19· ·ballast water monitoring in the form of salinity

20· ·measurements at Milne Port to verify that exchange has

21· ·occurred on the vessels and has further committed to

22· ·work with DFO on a risk-based biological sampling

23· ·program specific for ballast water.· These are

24· ·voluntary measures that, again, exceed federal and

25· ·international guidelines for ballast water management.

26· ·Next slide, please.

·1· · · · Baffinland will also support the development of a

·2· ·trigger list of high-risk marine species along with

·3· ·associated response plans for these species.

·4· ·Baffinland will refine this aquatic invasive species

·5· ·list with Fisheries and Oceans on an ongoing basis

·6· ·starting in 2021.· Next slide, please.

·7· · · · With the increased port activities under Phase 2,

·8· ·it is expected that more airborne ore dust will be

·9· ·present at Milne Port.· Air quality -- air quality

10· ·modelling shows that there may be some low-level

11· ·increases in total suspended sediments and metal

12· ·loading in localized areas around the ore dock.· These

13· ·increases are not predicted to be significant given the

14· ·natural occurrence of iron ore in the marine receiving

15· ·environment and the dispersion that will occur through

16· ·local coastal processes.· Next slide, please.

17· · · · To confirm and monitor effect predictions, ongoing

18· ·sediment sampling and fish tissue sampling will -- will

19· ·take place.· Since the start of operations, no

20· ·significant increase in marine sediment iron

21· ·concentrations have been recorded relative to

22· ·preoperation condition.· Similarly, metal

23· ·concentrations in fish tissue have been relatively

24· ·consistent between 2010 and 2019 and are aligned with

25· ·the normal natural variability expected.· Modelling

26· ·predictions and monitoring results to date indicate

·1· ·that no significant adverse effects (INDISCERNIBLE -

·2· ·AUDIO FEED LOST) marine sediment quality or to char --

·3· ·Arctic char health are predicted to occur.· Next slide,

·4· ·please.

·5· · · · In the next part of the presentation, we'll be

·6· ·talking about shipping impacts, Slide 33.· The shipping

·7· ·route for Phase 2 shown in this figure is the same as

·8· ·that currently being used by Baffinland and has been

·9· ·established in collaboration with the Pond Inlet

10· ·community.· The route prioritizes the middle of the

11· ·channel in deep water to avoid the shoreline where a

12· ·higher density of narwhal are often present.

13· · · · Baffinland has also committed not to have the

14· ·project use Navy Board Inlet, Lancaster Sound, or

15· ·interact with the North Water Polynya.· Known important

16· ·habitats such as Koluktoo Bay and the west shore of

17· ·Milne Inlet are also actively avoided.· Vessel speed

18· ·restrictions have been set to 9 knots, and project

19· ·vessel speed is monitored diligently through an

20· ·automated vessel tracking system.· Next slide, please.

21· · · · During the early shoulder season, Baffinland has

22· ·implemented a 40-kilometre setback area beyond the

23· ·Nunavut settlement boundary which prevents ships from

24· ·staging in this area prior to entering the regional

25· ·study area.· The objective here is to avoid impacts on

26· ·marine mammals at the floe edge.· A real-time alert

·1· ·system notifies Baffinland shipping department if

·2· ·vessels deviate off course, if vessels speed beyond

·3· ·9 knots, if any vessel enters a no-go zone, if any

·4· ·drifting occurs, or if vessels enter the setback zone

·5· ·without authorization to proceed.

·6· · · · In addition, Baffinland has hired Inuit shipping

·7· ·monitors in Pond Inlet that also track vessel activity

·8· ·using a real-time vessel tracking system.· Next slide,

·9· ·please.

10· · · · The proposed Phase 2 shipping season could extend

11· ·from July 1st to November 15 where it is safe to do so

12· ·based on ecological and environmental factors.· Based

13· ·on feedback from the communities, there will be no

14· ·shipping during the winter and spring seasons in order

15· ·to avoid conflict with on-ice travel and hunting

16· ·activities as well as critical life cycle periods for

17· ·ringed seal.· Baffinland has also committed to not

18· ·shipping any time land-fast ice is present and limiting

19· ·its shipping operations using a transit restriction

20· ·system when thicker sea ice is present.· Next slide,

21· ·please.

22· · · · Baffinland has established a communication

23· ·protocol with the MHTO for the start of the shipping

24· ·season.· No shipping will occur until the MHTO confirms

25· ·the floe edge is closed for hunting each year.· This

26· ·protocol helps to ensure that the project will not

·1· ·disrupt a critical harvesting period for local hunters

·2· ·ensuring their full use of the floe edge for hunting.


·4· · · · Shipping during the shoulder seasons will be

·5· ·limited by transit restrictions any time ice conditions

·6· ·require this.· Only one transit per 24-hour period will

·7· ·be allowed when ice concentrations are greater than

·8· ·six-tenths, and only two transits per 24-hour period

·9· ·will be allowed when ice conditions are between

10· ·four-tenths and six-tenths.

11· · · · The objective of the transit restrictions is to

12· ·minimize the daily noise exposure on marine mammals

13· ·allowing sufficient quiet time for those marine mammals

14· ·occurring in the regional study area during icebreaking

15· ·operations.· Baffinland has also recently committed to

16· ·applying similar transit restrictions during the fall

17· ·shoulder season.· Next slide, please.

18· · · · Given the variability and ice presence and related

19· ·mitigation measures which limit the number of transits

20· ·based on ice concentration, it's not possible to

21· ·accurately predict vessel schedules and monthly port

22· ·calls.· However, the assessment was based on a maximum

23· ·of 176 ore carrier voyages per shipping season, as well

24· ·as 20 cargo or fuel vessels, 2 ice breakers, and

25· ·10 tugboats.· Next slide, please.

26· · · · While some cargo and fuel vessels will be

·1· ·required, most of the project vessel activity will be

·2· ·from ore carriers.· The relative sizes are shown here.

·3· ·In our assessment, we assumed a combination of these

·4· ·types of vessels with a conservative maximum of

·5· ·14 cape-sized vessels per year.· Next slide, please.

·6· · · · Project vessels will travel at a maximum speed of

·7· ·9 knots.· As shown in this table, a total of 99 percent

·8· ·of project ore carriers and icebreakers were compliant

·9· ·with the speed restriction in 2019.· In contrast,

10· ·non-project vessels such as cruise ships and coast

11· ·guard vessels were shown to travel in the regional

12· ·study area around 14 to 16 knots for the majority of

13· ·the time.· Next slide, please.

14· · · · Three anchorage locations have been identified at

15· ·Ragged Island and are a necessary part of ensuring

16· ·operational efficiency.· Baffinland considered five

17· ·different locations for anchoring proposed by the MHTO,

18· ·but it was determined that Ragged Island is still the

19· ·best location for anchoring because of its proximity to

20· ·port, depth of water, and safe refuge it provides for

21· ·vessels waiting to be called to port.· Next slide,

22· ·please.· Slide 42.

23· · · · I am now going to speak about the potential

24· ·underwater noise impacts on marine mammals from

25· ·shipping operation.· Noise has the potential to affect

26· ·marine mammals in various ways each with its own level

·1· ·of severity.· This includes acoustic injury in the form

·2· ·of hearing loss.· It also includes potential

·3· ·behavioural disturbance as well as acoustic masking

·4· ·effects.· The potential for these impacts to occur

·5· ·depend on the characteristics of the sound source

·6· ·itself, how loud is the sound and what frequency is it

·7· ·in.

·8· · · · It also depends on the relative hearing ability of

·9· ·the animal involved as well as how close the animal is

10· ·to the source of the noise when it is exposed to the

11· ·noise as we tried to capture in this figure.· Next


13· · · · Acoustic injury.· Over 80 scenarios were modelled

14· ·using different combinations of ships at different

15· ·locations along the shipping route.· None of these

16· ·produced noise levels that exceeded established injury

17· ·thresholds for a marine mammal.· Measurements of ship

18· ·noise collected by underwater recorders in 2018 and

19· ·2019 confirmed that modelled estimates are conservative

20· ·and overrepresent potential effects.

21· · · · Mitigation measures such as vessel speed

22· ·restrictions will reduce both the spatial and temporal

23· ·effects of vessel noise on marine mammals.

24· ·Additionally, Baffinland has committed to an acoustic

25· ·monitoring program that will be able to verify the

26· ·prediction that vessel noise will not cause injury,

·1· ·including from icebreaking operation.· Next slide,

·2· ·please.

·3· · · · Behavioural disturbance.· The marine mammal

·4· ·assessment uses an acoustic disturbance threshold of

·5· ·120 decibels which applies to all marine animals -- all

·6· ·marine mammals and is based on best available science.

·7· ·The 120-decibel threshold is based on results from

·8· ·behavioural response studies of baleen whales such as

·9· ·bowheads and gray whales.

10· · · · These types of whales have a sensitive hearing

11· ·range in the low frequency range such as shipping.

12· ·This threshold is not weighted to account for the

13· ·frequency range of mid-to-high-frequency cetaceans such

14· ·as narwhal.· Because narwhal fall into the

15· ·mid-frequency cetaceans category and ship noise occurs

16· ·primarily in the lower frequency range, there is little

17· ·overlap between ship noise and narwhal hearing.

18· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·If you can please slow down

19· ·for the interpreter.· Repeat the last part.

20· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Because narwhal are

21· ·mid-frequency cetaceans and ship noise occurs in the

22· ·lower frequency range, there is little overlap between

23· ·ship noise and narwhal hearing.· Therefore, we expect

24· ·this disturbance threshold of 120 decibels to be

25· ·conservative for narwhal and likely overrepresentative

26· ·of actual disturbance effects.

·1· · · · Using this threshold, we modelled the total daily

·2· ·exposure period based on Phase 2 shipping operations.

·3· ·Results indicated that marine mammals in the regional

·4· ·study area would experience 21-and-a-half hours per day

·5· ·when there would be a low likelihood of acoustic

·6· ·disturbance during the open-water season and up to

·7· ·15 hours per day during the early shoulder season.· The

·8· ·reality is that the low frequency hearing of narwhal is

·9· ·poor, and they simply will not be able to hear much of

10· ·the ship noise, especially if the ship is at long

11· ·distances.

12· · · · We have prepared two figures to better illustrate

13· ·this that were submitted as exhibits to this

14· ·presentation, and we will have them on file when the

15· ·relevant questioning comes up following the

16· ·presentation.

17· · · · Multiple lines of evidence, including Inuit

18· ·knowledge, scientific literature, modelling, and our

19· ·field monitoring studies were used to inform the

20· ·assessment prediction that narwhal will be disturbed by

21· ·vessel-based sound but that the responses will be

22· ·short-term and localized.· To date, results from our

23· ·monitoring programs support this prediction, meaning

24· ·that when vessels are approaching narwhal, animals may

25· ·temporarily swim away, but once the vessel has passed,

26· ·the narwhal are shown to resume their activities.

·1· · · · The results demonstrate that narwhal respond to

·2· ·ship presence at distances that range from 1 to

·3· ·5 kilometres from the ship.· Tagging data confirms that

·4· ·the relative proportion of time that narwhal spend

·5· ·within this range is quite low, about 2 percent of the

·6· ·total time.

·7· · · · It's also important to note that a narwhal

·8· ·response to ship noise is very variable.· Not all

·9· ·animals respond.· Individuals respond differently.· In

10· ·fact, the same individual can respond differently to

11· ·the same type of ship exposure.

12· · · · To help visually illustrate what I'm talking

13· ·about, we have a short video animation that shows a

14· ·real life example of how narwhal respond to project

15· ·shipping in the regional study area.· I would ask for

16· ·the next slide to be pulled, and if you could play the

17· ·video.

18· ·Video Played

19· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · These data were collected in

20· ·August 2017 and showed the local surface movement of

21· ·three tagged narwhal shown in gray here.· They're

22· ·swimming just south of Bruce Head at the entrance of

23· ·Koluktoo Bay.· Note the animation is sped up for visual

24· ·purposes and that actual vessel speeds are slower than

25· ·they seem in the video.

26· · · · Push play again, please.· As you can see, the path

·1· ·of the narwhal is first crossed by an ore carrier shown

·2· ·in orange travelling northbound from the port and

·3· ·shortly thereafter by two separate project

·4· ·vessels approaching Bruce Head from opposite direction.

·5· · · · The first encounter does not seem to generate any

·6· ·obvious directional avoidance from the narwhal.

·7· ·However, the second dual exposure appears to elicit a

·8· ·localized temporary response in terms of the narwhal

·9· ·changing direction and adjusting their position away

10· ·from the shipping lane and then reoccupying the

11· ·shipping lane shortly after the vessels have passed.

12· ·This type of response is consistent with assessment

13· ·prediction.· This animation represents one of the more

14· ·obvious surface avoidance responses observed in narwhal

15· ·following a close shipping encounter.

16· · · · In many of the vessel narwhal interactions

17· ·analyzed, it is not uncommon to see narwhal show no

18· ·response or a low-level response to these events.· Even

19· ·at similar distances from ships, responses can vary

20· ·from nothing to obvious.· While this animation shows

21· ·narwhal and vessels can come in close contact, our

22· ·tagging data indicates that narwhal generally do not

23· ·approach closer than several hundred metres from a

24· ·vessel.· Next slide, please.· Slide forty -- we're on

25· ·Slide 46.

26· · · · Mitigation measures have been developed

·1· ·specifically to reduce the spatial and temporal aspects

·2· ·of noise exposure from shipping.· This includes vessel

·3· ·speed restrictions throughout the entire regional study

·4· ·area as well as transit restrictions during icebreaking

·5· ·operations and a 40-kilometre setback zone from the

·6· ·floe edge.· In light of these effective mitigation

·7· ·measures and given the low-level responses documented

·8· ·and the limited time narwhal spend in the disturbance

·9· ·zone, we do not anticipate that shipping noise will

10· ·decrease fitness at the individual or stock level.

11· ·Therefore, residual effects in the assessment were

12· ·characterized as not significant.

13· · · · To date, there has been no evidence in the

14· ·monitoring programs of large-scale displacement or

15· ·abandonment of the regional study area in response to

16· ·shipping.· We recognize this prediction is associated

17· ·with some level of uncertainty under a Phase 2

18· ·scenario.· To address this uncertainty, Baffinland has

19· ·committed to continuing and enhancing its marine mammal

20· ·programs during Phase 2 operation.· Next slide, please.

21· · · · Acoustic masking.· Masking occurs when the ability

22· ·to hear a sound of interest is affected by the presence

23· ·of another sound.· To give an example, acoustic masking

24· ·is like being at a party where the music is loud, and

25· ·you might have to raise your voice to talk to a friend

26· ·sitting next to you.· But when the music's turned down,

·1· ·you can hear each other much easier.

·2· · · · In the case of the project, we are referring to

·3· ·the potential for ship noise to interfere with marine

·4· ·mammal communication in the project area.· Some degree

·5· ·of masking is predicted to occur as a result of the

·6· ·project.· However, there currently are no established

·7· ·regulatory thresholds for masking that would indicate

·8· ·at what level of masking might occur in different

·9· ·marine mammal hearing groups or what level of masking

10· ·may result in a biological consequence.

11· · · · In general, the science on the effects of masking

12· ·is relatively young.· Given this limitation and in

13· ·order to better understand potential masking effects,

14· ·JASCO used acoustic monitoring data from 2018 and 2019

15· ·to estimate the level of reduced listening range that

16· ·would occur for narwhal due to ship noise and

17· ·relevant -- relative to ambient conditions.

18· · · · Results from this work demonstrated that sound

19· ·levels capable of masking would be intermittent and

20· ·temporary in nature and that narwhal are already

21· ·exposed to similar levels of masking from natural

22· ·sounds such as wind and waves.· This suggests that

23· ·narwhal likely have some form of strategy for dealing

24· ·with a noisy environment.· In fact, marine mammals have

25· ·been shown to modify their vocal behaviour to overcome

26· ·competing sound sources in their environment.

·1· · · · For example, beluga, similar to narwhal, are known

·2· ·to be able to modify their communication to avoid

·3· ·masking effects.· They do this in the presence of

·4· ·shipping by shifting up their calls to frequencies that

·5· ·do not overlap with the shipping noise.

·6· · · · Narwhal produce five types of calls.· Four of

·7· ·these have little frequency overlap with ship noise,

·8· ·including echolocation vocalizations that are used for

·9· ·finding food.· The fifth call type, whistles, which are

10· ·thought to be used for social purposes, can occur at

11· ·frequencies below 1 kilohertz which does overlap with

12· ·ship noise, but, generally, whistles occur at

13· ·frequencies of several kilohertz where there is little

14· ·overlap with vessel noise.

15· · · · In consideration of this information and in

16· ·concert with planned implementation of the mitigation,

17· ·masking effects are predicted to occur but are

18· ·anticipated to be temporary and, therefore, have been

19· ·evaluated as nonsignificant at the population level.

20· · · · It is fully acknowledged that acoustic masking is

21· ·complex, and its biological consequences remain poorly

22· ·understood.· Moving forward to address this level of

23· ·uncertainty, data collected as part of our acoustic

24· ·monitoring programs will provide more insight on

25· ·potential masking effects.· Additionally, to advance

26· ·the science on this topic, Baffinland has partnered

·1· ·with the University of New Brunswick to undertake

·2· ·collaborative research on potential masking effects on

·3· ·narwhal using data collected from the project area.


·5· · · · Entrapment.· Ice entrapment is a natural event

·6· ·that has been documented in the Arctic for hundreds of

·7· ·years.· Inuit knowledge confirms that entrapment is a

·8· ·source of natural mortality for narwhal.· Two

·9· ·entrapment events have been recorded in the regional

10· ·study area in the last 15 years.· No shipping was

11· ·occurring at the time of either entrapment event.

12· ·However, there is concern that artificially opened

13· ·water channels, such as those created by icebreaking,

14· ·may be problematic for marine mammals who may confuse

15· ·them for leads or polynyas.

16· · · · This was taken into account in our assessment.· We

17· ·predicted there would be a low risk of entrapment of

18· ·narwhal for the following reasons:· To date, there's

19· ·been no evidence demonstrating a direct link between

20· ·shipping activities and ice entrapment.· We know

21· ·narwhal are an ice-adapted species and occupy ten tenth

22· ·pack ice throughout the winter.· No narwhal entrapment

23· ·events occurred as a result of icebreaking during

24· ·previous Nanisivik mine operations, which included

25· ·icebreaking earlier in the season to May and ending in

26· ·November.· Multiple lines of evidence, including Inuit

·1· ·knowledge and tagging data, have shown us that most

·2· ·narwhal have left or are in the process of leaving the

·3· ·regional study area at the time of initial ice

·4· ·freeze-up.

·5· · · · Lastly, despite the lack of an established link

·6· ·between shipping and entrapment, Baffinland has

·7· ·committed to conducting an aerial clearance survey at

·8· ·the end of the fall shipping season to visually detect

·9· ·possible entrapments.· This will allow resource

10· ·managers to decide on a course of action in accordance

11· ·with the community's preference.· Next slide, please.

12· ·Slide 49.

13· · · · Vessel strikes have the potential to cause injury

14· ·or mortality to marine mammals, but with appropriate

15· ·mitigation, there is a low risk of a strike.

16· ·Baffinland has implemented the highest level of

17· ·precaution to prevent ship strikes by voluntary --

18· ·voluntarily committing to a 9-knot speed restriction in

19· ·the project area.· This is the single most effective

20· ·measure known to minimize the risk of lethal ship

21· ·strikes on marine mammals.

22· · · · As a comparison, the Government of Canada has

23· ·implemented a 10-knot restriction in the Gulf of

24· ·St. Lawrence to protect the endangered North Atlantic

25· ·right whale, a whale species that is known to be

26· ·vulnerable to ship strikes.· Vessel speed compliance

·1· ·will be diligently monitored, and no vessel strikes

·2· ·have been reported in the project area since shipping

·3· ·began.· With continued implementation of these speed

·4· ·restrictions, no ship strikes on marine mammals are

·5· ·anticipated under a Phase 2 scenario.· Next slide,

·6· ·please.· Slide 50.

·7· · · · As described earlier in the presentation,

·8· ·Baffinland has been undertaking extensive monitoring in

·9· ·the Eclipse Sound region for many years, and we've been

10· ·able to detect changes in narwhal behaviour.· The

11· ·marine-based monitoring programs listed here will

12· ·continue under Phase 2 with ongoing input on study

13· ·design and indicators from Inuit and regulators. I

14· ·have presented on some of our results already, and in

15· ·the next few slides, I'll include some additional

16· ·highlights from our other monitoring programs.· Next

17· ·slide, please.· Next slide is 62, please.

18· · · · Inuit participation in the monitoring programs is

19· ·critical.· Through past years, we've had the pleasure

20· ·of training, employing, and learning from a great

21· ·number of Inuit from several different North Baffin

22· ·communities who have worked with us on the delivery of

23· ·our marine monitoring programs.· In 2019, more than

24· ·50 percent of participants in Baffinland 's marine

25· ·monitoring programs were Inuit resulting in over

26· ·700 hours of training and nearly 6,000 hours of

·1· ·employment on these monitoring programs.· Next slide,

·2· ·please.

·3· · · · Inuit monitors help integrate Inuit knowledge in

·4· ·program implementation and in data collection as well

·5· ·as an interpretation of the results.· Inuit are

·6· ·involved in all aspects of the monitoring programs and

·7· ·have been trained and hired to undertake data analysis

·8· ·and work with Baffinland's technical consultants

·9· ·following the completion of the field program.

10· · · · Baffinland's commitments under the Inuit Certainty

11· ·Agreement will also see expanded Inuit-led, independent

12· ·monitoring principles.· This is separate and over and

13· ·above the Inuit monitoring included in the existing

14· ·monitoring program.· The Inuit Certainty Agreement

15· ·commitments will also help set adaptive management

16· ·thresholds and indicators, which will be based on an

17· ·updated culture, resource, and land-use study as well

18· ·as scientific indicators.

19· · · · Baffinland will continue to hire full-time

20· ·shipping monitors in Pond Inlet to conduct live

21· ·monitoring of vessels and to act as the main point of

22· ·communication between Baffinland's shipping department,

23· ·the community, and the MHTO.· Next slide, please.

24· · · · To monitor potential changes in the number of

25· ·narwhal in the Eclipse Sound stock, regular surveys of

26· ·the stock have been undertaken using aerial transit

·1· ·surveys.· As shown in this table, the Eclipse Sound

·2· ·stock has been surveyed four separate times since 2004.

·3· ·All four surveys are considered reliable and were

·4· ·conducted using comparable methods.· Note that the

·5· ·Eclipse Sound stock appeared to decrease between 2004

·6· ·and 2013 prior to shipping, although this change was

·7· ·not shown to be statistically significant.

·8· · · · In 2019, the population size of the Eclipse Sound

·9· ·summer stock was measured and was shown to be

10· ·consistent and within range of previous population

11· ·estimates, including prior to shipping.· This finding

12· ·aligns with impact predictions that the project is

13· ·unlikely to compromise the integrity of the population

14· ·either through mortality or via large scale

15· ·displacement or abandonment effects.· Next slide,

16· ·please.

17· · · · This slide presents the total number of narwhal

18· ·harvested in Eclipse Sound each year since 1994.· This

19· ·slide presents the total number of narwhal harvested in

20· ·Eclipse Sound each year since 1994 as reported by the

21· ·MHTO to DFO.· This includes landed catches throughout

22· ·the life of the project.

23· · · · The gray bars represent the total number of

24· ·reported landed narwhal in that given year.· The red

25· ·bars indicate the total number of narwhals taken

26· ·humanely during the two narwhal natural entrapment

·1· ·events.· The white boxes above the red solid line

·2· ·represent the narwhal allocated catch for that given

·3· ·year.· We know from Inuit knowledge and community

·4· ·feedback that harvest numbers were low in 2018 as shown

·5· ·in the gray bars.· However, the total number of narwhal

·6· ·reported as hunted in 2019 is higher by 50 animals than

·7· ·in 2014 before project shipping started.· That is

·8· ·actually higher than every other year prior to the

·9· ·start of shipping.

10· · · · This graph also shows that narwhal harvesting has

11· ·fluctuated over the years and has been steadily

12· ·increasing over time with most harvesting occurring in

13· ·the last several years.· This presents a second line of

14· ·evidence to what is seen in the aerial survey results

15· ·in that narwhal continue to use the regional study area

16· ·despite an incremental increase in shipping and hunting

17· ·levels over the last six years.· As a note, the red

18· ·line here is labelled as "total allowable harvest", but

19· ·the correct term is "tag allocation".· Next slide,

20· ·please.

21· · · · Consistent with Term and Condition 110 and 112 for

22· ·the project, Baffinland is responsible for selecting an

23· ·early warning indicator for early detection of project

24· ·effects on narwhal.· Narwhal calf ratio was selected as

25· ·the early warning indicator which is expressed as the

26· ·proportion of immature narwhal, calves and yearlings,

·1· ·relative to the adult population.· This is considered

·2· ·an effective early indicator because it is thought that

·3· ·if the population was being harmed, changes in

·4· ·reproductive output can be monitored to indicate an

·5· ·overall change to the population.

·6· · · · This early warning indicator was also selected

·7· ·because of what we've heard from Inuit in that Bruce

·8· ·Head and Koluktoo Bay are very important areas for

·9· ·narwhal calving.· Data for this early warning indicator

10· ·has been collected at Bruce Head prior to the start of

11· ·shipping and throughout shipping operations since 2015.

12· · · · The data available to date demonstrates that the

13· ·proportion of immature animals at Bruce Head has not

14· ·changed since project shipping started.· It should be

15· ·noted here that Mary River is unique amongst all other

16· ·shipping projects in Canada as it is the only one to

17· ·develop and adopt an early warning indicator to monitor

18· ·for potential project effects on marine mammals from

19· ·shipping.· Next slide, please.

20· · · · The Bruce Head shore-based monitoring program has

21· ·also evolved over the years and now incorporates new

22· ·tools to better monitor this early warning indicator.

23· ·Such is the use of drone imagery.· Not only does this

24· ·provide a more reliable means to document age class of

25· ·narwhal, it is a very effective tool to evaluate

26· ·potential changes in group composition and behaviour as

·1· ·a result of shipping.

·2· · · · To illustrate this, I am now going to play a short

·3· ·video of drone footage we took this last summer on

·4· ·August 30th during a focal follow study conducted as

·5· ·part of the 2020 Bruce Head monitoring program.· I'll

·6· ·ask for the next slide and video to be queued, please.

·7· ·Video Played

·8· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · The drone here followed a

·9· ·mother and calf pair that were resting near Bruce Head

10· ·for an extended period.· This behaviour took place

11· ·during an active ore carrier transit in the study area

12· ·shown in the previous figure.· You can see -- as you

13· ·can see in the figure, the location of the vessel

14· ·relative to the mother and calf pair seen here is

15· ·approximately 3.9 kilometres.· Throughout the survey,

16· ·the pair is observed in close association with one

17· ·another resting and occasionally engaged in slow travel

18· ·as the calf continuously nurses from its mother.

19· · · · As we can see in this video, even at distances of

20· ·less than 5 kilometres from a vessel, it is not

21· ·uncommon for narwhal to maintain normal behaviours in

22· ·the presence of ships even for animals which we could

23· ·categorize as being likely more sensitive or cautious

24· ·such as mother-calf pairs.· Behavioural responses

25· ·observed as part of the Bruce Head shore-based program

26· ·are consistent with responses observed in the 2017 and

·1· ·2018 narwhal tagging program as noted earlier.· This

·2· ·further provides us confidence in the Phase 2

·3· ·assessment predictions regarding disturbance effect.


·5· · · · In summary, our assessment is founded on best

·6· ·available science, conservative assumptions, multiple

·7· ·mitigation measures with demonstrated effectiveness,

·8· ·many of which were undertaken based on Inuit input, as

·9· ·well as strong commitments to follow-up monitoring and

10· ·an adaptive management.· Therefore, we are confident in

11· ·our prediction that narwhal will continue to use the

12· ·regional study area despite an incremental increase in

13· ·shipping.· Next slide, please.

14· · · · Our assessment has been transparent in that

15· ·narwhal and other marine mammals will be disturbed by

16· ·shipping noise, but these effects are anticipated to be

17· ·short-term, localized, and reversible in nature, as has

18· ·been demonstrated through present monitoring program.

19· ·Therefore, it was concluded that an increase in

20· ·shipping would unlikely lead to either long-term

21· ·effects on the population or stock level or cause

22· ·permanent displacement or abandonment from the regional

23· ·study area.· Next slide, please.

24· · · · Baffinland has committed to implementing

25· ·mitigation measures designed to directly address

26· ·adverse effects identified in the Phase 2 assessment

·1· ·and based on concerns raised by intervenors and Inuit

·2· ·throughout the review process.· The proposed mitigation

·3· ·and management measures exceed any industry or

·4· ·regulatory standards in Canada.· Next slide, please.

·5· · · · Predictions of effects are made best -- on best

·6· ·available information, in consideration of the proposed

·7· ·mitigation measures, and through adoption of a

·8· ·precautionary approach.· However, uncertainty in these

·9· ·predictions always exist to some extent.· To address

10· ·uncertainty, extensive follow-up monitoring involving

11· ·Inuit will effectively verify assessment predictions,

12· ·and regulators will be involved in monitoring findings

13· ·and adaptive measures as required.· Next slide, please.

14· · · · For this last part of the presentation, I will

15· ·provide an overview of the technical review process as

16· ·it relates to the marine environment.· Next slide,

17· ·please.

18· · · · There are a total of 71 final written submission

19· ·technical comments received.· 57 of these are now

20· ·resolved; 2 of these are partially resolved.· Since the

21· ·filing of this presentation, there are only 7 remaining

22· ·outstanding comments, all of which are related to the

23· ·MHTO 's technical comment submission, and 6 remain

24· ·under review, which are being actively resolved through

25· ·the development of commitment language with Fisheries

26· ·and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada.· Next slide,

·1· ·please.· Slide 65.

·2· · · · Of the 13 comments that remain outstanding or

·3· ·under review, these are focused on components of the

·4· ·project related to discharges to the marine

·5· ·environment, marine monitoring, and shipping

·6· ·activities.· Baffinland continues to work with Parks

·7· ·Canada and Fisheries and Oceans to resolve the

·8· ·remainder of these outstanding concerns.· Next slide,

·9· ·please.

10· · · · Through the technical review process, Baffinland

11· ·has been able to resolve 59 of 71 technical comments by

12· ·making key commitments related to marine mitigation

13· ·and/or monitoring.· Some of these include expansion or

14· ·maintenance of commitments associated with the current

15· ·operations, including implementation of transit

16· ·restrictions, no-go zones along the shipping route,

17· ·enforcement of vessel speed restrictions, and

18· ·undertaking end-of-season narwhal entrapment aerial

19· ·surveys.· Baffinland has also made new commitments such

20· ·as applying dust suppressants to the stockpiles at

21· ·Milne Port to reduce dust dispersion.· Next slide,

22· ·please.

23· · · · Additional commitments include ongoing monitoring

24· ·for early warning indicators for the marine environment

25· ·and marine mammals as well as the establishment of

26· ·indicator threshold and responses through the joint

·1· ·management of the adaptive management plans with the

·2· ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association.· Baffinland is also

·3· ·committed to continuing to work with key regulators

·4· ·such as DFO on the implementation of the highest

·5· ·standards for ballast water monitoring and the MHTO,

·6· ·DFO, and QIA on the implementation of programs such as

·7· ·ringed seal monitoring.· Baffinland has also committed

·8· ·to further enhancing Inuit input into project shipping

·9· ·and marine management activities through the

10· ·development of the Inuit Stewardship Plan.· Please

11· ·switch to Slide 72.

12· · · · This concludes our marine presentation for today.

13· ·Thank you for listening, and we look forward to

14· ·discussing the marine component of the assessment in

15· ·the following session.· Thank you.

16· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Right now it's 3:10.· Before

17· ·we go into questions for the marine environment, let's

18· ·take a 15-minute break.

19· ·(ADJOURNMENT)

20· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Welcome back, everyone.· Going

21· ·to questioning the proponent on the marine environment

22· ·presentation.· Pond Inlet Elder, Charlie Inuarak.

23· ·Charlie Inuarak (Elder) Questions Baffinland Iron Mines

24· ·Corporation

25· ·MR. INUARAK:· · · · · · ·I'm an Elder now.· Thank you.

26· ·Welcome to Pond Inlet.· Have good meals.· Be welcome.

·1· · · · Although we have the pandemic issues, we are

·2· ·welcoming people generally, so I want to welcome

·3· ·people.· Just some questions in regards to the first

·4· ·part of the presentation.· I'm not mad.

·5· · · · So he mentioned quite some time ago -- I've been

·6· ·living here quite some time in this area.· I was --

·7· ·used to be able to go hunting to the Koluktoo area and

·8· ·also Qaurnak, also to Tremblay Sound any time, whether

·9· ·it be spring.· So with the seals and the narwhals, I

10· ·got to know their environment because there used to be

11· ·a lot of young seals up there because the seals can --

12· ·was getting good prices, and we would be away from the

13· ·springtime until the ice starts to break, and once the

14· ·ice has broken, then we will be narwhal hunting.· This

15· ·was our way of life.

16· · · · He mentioned or they mentioned in the first

17· ·instance in regards to the salt water, and my

18· ·ancestors, they have indicated -- they always said that

19· ·ocean water -- I don't know it myself, perhaps I'm too

20· ·young about it -- sometimes there would be instances,

21· ·especially when the ice has just taken -- just gone

22· ·down.· There is less acoustic sound when the ice has

23· ·just broken.

24· · · · When they say there is a larger area where the

25· ·sound is travelling, everything -- especially when it's

26· ·cold, the noise travels far even though there's ice,

·1· ·and seals are able to detect easily when the noise

·2· ·travels fast, and there's a more echoing ground --

·3· ·echoing noise.

·4· · · · So when you're travelling on a kayak, the seal or

·5· ·narwhal at the end of the -- when the ice is just

·6· ·broken up, you're able to get to the animals easily and

·7· ·more because with the kayaks, you could be able to go

·8· ·narwhal hunting or seal hunting where there is less

·9· ·noise detected.

10· · · · So when Inuit are talking about -- so in the

11· ·summertime -- so just when the ice has gone and then

12· ·into the summertime, in the summertime then the echo

13· ·starts to go further, so the acoustics are much

14· ·clearer, and so narwhals are easy to detect people on

15· ·the boat or on the ships.

16· · · · So has Baffinland, when they are doing their

17· ·mitigation planning or monitoring, if that particular

18· ·knowledge has been taken into consideration because it

19· ·makes sense that in the high acoustic period that

20· ·animals would be able to hear from far away.

21· · · · So in the -- using the kayaks, so it would be

22· ·easier for them to catch the animals when there are

23· ·waves, so they would be able to catch the sleeping

24· ·animals and be closer to them when there are waves.

25· · · · Perhaps it should not be part of it, but I think

26· ·it needs to be part of it, about acoustic sound and

·1· ·noise travelling far and whether that has been

·2· ·discussed is a question.

·3· · · · If you would let me, Madam Chair, to continue.

·4· · · · In the inlets south of us, there used to be a lot

·5· ·of wildlife, narwhals, lots of birds and seals making a

·6· ·lot of noise.· And animal noises could be heard

·7· ·especially in the Koluktoo area.· When you're in the

·8· ·cliffs there, you can hear the sounds of the narwhals

·9· ·eating, so that was what it was like.· Those things we

10· ·don't see now today.· We don't know where they went.

11· · · · For the food, what the narwhal eat, is eating

12· ·shrimps and cod and other things -- sorry, not shrimps,

13· ·cod and other things, little starfish and other things

14· ·that they have, but the most that are usually in their

15· ·stomach is cod.

16· · · · And the small fish, we also -- when we were young

17· ·we also tried to get them -- we also look into the cod

18· ·stomach as well, and they're eating krill.· What's in

19· ·their stomach is krill, tiny ones, and I'm just

20· ·thinking if there is a -- a safety issue regarding the

21· ·krill that the narwhals, what they eat and what the

22· ·seals eat, they are eating what's in their environment.

23· ·If they -- if they don't have anything to eat, then

24· ·they would not be there.· If there was no food source,

25· ·they would not be there.

26· · · · We understand this as hunters.· When the fish have

·1· ·come down from the river to the lake, the narwhals get

·2· ·there, they are fishing there.· So we don't see much of

·3· ·them getting char.· Once the char has run on to the

·4· ·ocean, then the narwhals are present.· So once the

·5· ·runoff has done, then they leave the area, and they

·6· ·will go into Eclipse Sound and to other areas.

·7· · · · So in terms of Tremblay Sound and the rivers that

·8· ·are there and the immediate inlets, that's where the

·9· ·narwhals usually go, especially if they don't -- if

10· ·they go to Koluk -- sometimes they don't go to

11· ·Koluktoo.· We call -- a place called Koyukatsuuq

12· ·[phonetic], and you see a lot of narwhal there eating

13· ·and playing.· So sometimes they will go into Cape Hat

14· ·and to other places.· So in this place is what they

15· ·have eaten -- scientific knowledge, have you considered

16· ·what they are eating?· What's in their stomach?· If

17· ·their food source is not present, the narwhal goes.

18· · · · And, finally, this summer, I was in Arctic Bay to

19· ·go narwhal hunting with my children.· So we were able

20· ·to be given the tags there to go narwhal hunting there

21· ·and even we had a double tusk.· There was lots of

22· ·narwhals.· Lots and lots of narwhals there.· All the

23· ·way from that area to this area, lots of narwhals.· So

24· ·Arctic Bay had lots of narwhals, and they were very

25· ·happy, but there might be a safety issue there.· If

26· ·they have too many narwhals over there, their food

·1· ·source may become scarce, and so -- animals are born

·2· ·and they multiply, but this is part of the

·3· ·consideration.· So these are tiny questions and --

·4· ·because they're just part of my lifestyle here.

·5· · · · So are we going to be part of -- or perhaps in the

·6· ·future these are -- these sorts of considerations may

·7· ·be actually included in the planning and monitoring.


·9· · · · Before you respond, just to advise the parties, we

10· ·will be having an evening session.

11· · · · Megan Lord-Hoyle.


13· ·Qujannamiik, Chair, and Qujannamiik, Charlie, for the

14· ·questions.

15· · · · I'm going to ask Melanie Austin, who conducted our

16· ·noise assessment, to respond to questions around how

17· ·different seasons and sounds were taken into

18· ·consideration, and then I'll ask Phil Rouget to speak

19· ·to some of the behavioural changes and impacts on the

20· ·food chain.· Thank you.

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Melanie Austin.· Melanie

22· ·Austin, if you can please proceed.

23· ·MS. AUSTIN:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

24· ·Melanie Austin with JASCO for Baffinland.

25· · · · Thank you for sharing that observation about the

26· ·sound -- how far the sound travels, particularly right

·1· ·after the ice melts, and I agree with that observation

·2· ·that the sound can travel far when the surface of the

·3· ·water is very cold right after the ice melts.· The

·4· ·things that influence how far the sound travels in the

·5· ·water include the temperature of the water and the

·6· ·salinity of the water, so those are important factors.

·7· · · · And the model that we use to estimate how far the

·8· ·vessel noise will travel does take the water

·9· ·temperature as an input, and we selected temperature

10· ·conditions that would cause sound to travel the

11· ·greatest distances when we were estimating how far the

12· ·sounds from the vessels would travel.· Thank you.


14· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Phil Rouget, Golder Associates


16· · · · I'd like to acknowledge those comments from

17· ·Charlie Inuarak, very useful information.· We do have a

18· ·fish collection program that we implement at Milne Port

19· ·that takes place annually.

20· · · · As part of this program, we look at both fish

21· ·quantity as well as fish quality, and we do stomach

22· ·content analysis to look at fish predator-prey

23· ·relationships.· The majority of that work is focused in

24· ·the Milne Port area.· It, however, does not extend

25· ·throughout Eclipse Sound.

26· · · · We know that climate change impacts on sea ice are

·1· ·having implications on the Arctic food web, including

·2· ·impacts on Greenland halibut and Arctic cod, which as

·3· ·you've flagged are important components of narwhal

·4· ·diet, and we know they're also thought to be in

·5· ·declining numbers due to the increased length of the

·6· ·open-water season associated with climate change.

·7· · · · How narwhal may be adjusting their foraging

·8· ·behaviour to meet their energetic requirements is

·9· ·presently uncertain.· It's unknown by -- by us or by

10· ·anyone.

11· · · · We see this as a useful regional initiative that

12· ·would be led by the responsible resource manager for

13· ·looking at effects on prey availability due to climate

14· ·change.· Baffinland would be interested in

15· ·collaborating on such an initiative and working with

16· ·others to determine what's going on relevant to this

17· ·subject.

18· · · · In the interim, we continue to monitor marine

19· ·mammal health as part of our marine environmental

20· ·effects monitoring program that looks specifically at

21· ·pathways related to project effects not only on marine

22· ·mammals, but on marine mammal prey, and further down

23· ·the trophic chain.

24· · · · Demographic variables for narwhal including calf

25· ·ratio and stock abundance are monitored with the

26· ·assumption that depressed narwhal health would be

·1· ·reflected or would manifest through decreased

·2· ·reproductive output and ultimately a decline in the

·3· ·population.

·4· · · · Monitoring, to date, yields no evidence of changes

·5· ·in calf ratio or population decline, despite an

·6· ·increase in shipping we've seen with the project.

·7· · · · We also monitor multiple receptors in the marine

·8· ·ecosystem over time that collectively represent habitat

·9· ·and food quality for marine mammal populations, such as

10· ·narwhal, using indicators such as metal concentrations

11· ·in marine sediment and fish tissue.

12· · · · Monitoring to date hasn't revealed any evidence of

13· ·contamination, but should that change, this would

14· ·represent a pathway to marine mammals through the food

15· ·chain that would be explored further and, if necessary,

16· ·adaptive management measures would be implemented.

17· · · · More information on this is available in a

18· ·technical memo that we submitted to the Board on the

19· ·23rd of January 2020, Public Registry ID Number 332710.

20· ·Thank you.

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Onto the list of registered

22· ·intervenors.· Qikiqtani Inuit Association,

23· ·Jared Ottenhof.

24· ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association Questions Baffinland Iron


26· ·MR. OTTENHOF:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

·1· · · · Jared Ottenhof for the Qikiqtani Inuit

·2· ·Association.· I'll lead off with a few questions

·3· ·followed by Richard Paton, Bruce Stewart, and Jeff

·4· ·Higdon.

·5· · · · The Qikiqtani Inuit Association would like to

·6· ·begin with clarification questions about the number of

·7· ·ship transits being considered.

·8· · · · In Technical Support Document 2, Appendix C in the

·9· ·key facts table, Baffinland lists a number of key facts

10· ·on number of ships.· The Qikiqtani Inuit Association

11· ·assumes that this table represents the key assumptions

12· ·used to design the rest of the Phase 2 proposal.· The

13· ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association also assumes that a great

14· ·deal of attention went into this table about shipping.

15· · · · In light of questions being asked about shipping,

16· ·the Qikiqtani Inuit Association looked at this table

17· ·again to make sure we understand what Baffinland is

18· ·proposing.

19· · · · In Technical Support Document 2, Appendix C, the

20· ·key facts table, on PDF page 138 of the document, the

21· ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association notes that as the project

22· ·transitions from 6 million tonnes per annum to

23· ·12 million tonnes per annum, the number of ships is

24· ·proposed to increase from 83 vessels per year to 134

25· ·ore carriers per year.

26· · · · We note that on Table 1.1 of Technical Support

·1· ·Document 2, which is on PDF page 14 and is the

·2· ·comparison of the approved project to the Phase 2

·3· ·proposal, Baffinland states that the number of sailings

·4· ·required to ship 12 million tonnes per annum is 134 to

·5· ·164.

·6· · · · On page 5.5 of technical supporting Document 2, or

·7· ·PDF page 73, Baffinland states the total number of

·8· ·ships that are required each year is expected to range

·9· ·between 134 and 176.

10· · · · During sessions this week, we have heard

11· ·Baffinland state they require 176 ore carriers per

12· ·year.

13· · · · We also note that the Baffinland Iron Mines LP

14· ·Mary River Expansion Stage 3 Definitive Study Report

15· ·from 2017, on page 17 estimated that using the market

16· ·available ships, the project could ship 12 million

17· ·tonnes of ore annually using 120 vessel trips.

18· · · · My two-part question is this:· Can Baffinland

19· ·please confirm why the key facts table would state 134

20· ·vessels are needed while in subsequent sessions,

21· ·Baffinland says it requires 176 ore carriers, and the

22· ·Hatch report says 120 vessel trips could be used, and

23· ·can Baffinland clearly -- clarify the uncertainty and

24· ·inconsistency in the materials which show such a wide

25· ·variation in the number of ships needed.· Thank you,

26· ·Madam Chair.



·3· · · · Madam Chair, we do acknowledge the inaccuracies.

·4· ·This was brought to light at some of the first

·5· ·technical meetings that were held, and we have since

·6· ·clarified that issue through a memo that was submitted

·7· ·in December of 2019, and then reconfirmed in the

·8· ·updated project description submitted January 2020.

·9· · · · I'll pass it to Lou Kamermans to give a very brief

10· ·summary of why these inaccuracies occurred.· Thank you.




14· · · · Just to speak to the 120 vessel number provided in

15· ·the Hatch report just quoted, the number of vessels

16· ·needed to move 12 million tonnes is ultimately

17· ·dependent on the size of vessels that we're able to

18· ·charter, and the ultimate mix that we have.· So while

19· ·120 may hypothetically be possible, further

20· ·investigation of the market for ice class vessels to

21· ·come to Milne Port showed that was not possible.

22· · · · There is only one ice class cape-sized ore carrier

23· ·that would be able to come to the project outside of a

24· ·very short season when non-ice class vessels are able

25· ·to come to the project.· It is not even certain that

26· ·that vessel would be decommissioned before we begin

·1· ·shipping for Phase 2.

·2· · · · So this meant we had to adjust our expectations

·3· ·and assume that we could have the same sized vessels

·4· ·for moving most of the ore from Milne Port.

·5· · · · While the second ore dock gives us the capability

·6· ·to load up to a cape-sized vessel, we will always be

·7· ·limited by the availability of those size of vessels to

·8· ·come to Milne Port.

·9· · · · So as Megan said, this is why we put forward the

10· ·summary of vessels by vessel size in the marine

11· ·overview in December 2019 to make this clarification.

12· ·Thank you.

13· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association,


15· ·MR. OTTENHOF:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Jared

16· ·Ottenhof for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

17· · · · When we reviewed the materials provided by

18· ·Baffinland to date, the only information which have

19· ·been provided regarding ship transits is the total

20· ·number of vessels without full documentation justifying

21· ·exactly how many vessels are needed.· What

22· ·documentation has Baffinland presented that details the

23· ·manner in which Baffinland has assessed the number of

24· ·vessels required to ship 12 million tonnes per annum.

25· ·Thank you.



·2· · · · The assessment in reality evaluated a greater

·3· ·number of daily transits than is expected based on the

·4· ·number of voyages or vessels in the project

·5· ·description.· The number can also vary based on the

·6· ·different assessments that were conducted.· For

·7· ·example, when assessing noise impacts or acoustic

·8· ·impacts, the behavioural disturbance on marine mammals,

·9· ·it was assumed that most, 116 of the 176 of the ore

10· ·carriers calling to port were the larger cape-sized

11· ·vessels, which have the loudest noise footprint or the

12· ·loudest noise sound of all the vessels considered in

13· ·the assessment excluding the icebreaker.· Thank you.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association.



17· ·Ottenhof, Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

18· · · · As a follow-up to the previous question:· In

19· ·Baffinland's "Overview of Marine Operations" document,

20· ·which was provided in response to information requests,

21· ·Baffinland provided three examples of shipping

22· ·schedules.· All three schedules use the same mix of

23· ·vessel types ranging from supermax to cape-size, and

24· ·the same numbers of vessels per type with a total of

25· ·176 ore carriers for each example schedule.· Based on

26· ·this, my question is:· Can Baffinland indicate where in

·1· ·the record it provides information about any

·2· ·sensitivity analysis it conducted to assess the impact

·3· ·trade-offs between using fewer large vessels and more

·4· ·smaller vessels in terms of noise disturbance, and how

·5· ·this impact might change with an increase in shipment

·6· ·of ore tonnages over the range from 6 to 4.2 -- or,

·7· ·sorry, 14.4 million tonnes per annum.· Thank you.


·9· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Megan Lord-Hoyle, thanks for

10· ·the question.

11· · · · Madam Chair, there's no sensitivity analysis

12· ·per se in the way it was just described, and that's

13· ·because we used overly conservative modelling.· So we

14· ·used the highest predicted noise levels on the basis

15· ·that if you're to reduce vessels, those noise impacts

16· ·will also be reduced.· So essentially we overmodelled

17· ·so that any reductions would just be less than what it

18· ·is that we predicted.

19· · · · I believe the last part of the question was around

20· ·the 14.4 million tonnes as operational flexibility, and

21· ·that analysis was included in the operational

22· ·flexibility memo submitted in October 2020, but it's

23· ·important to note that under that scenario, there's no

24· ·increase in vessels.· We've still captured the

25· ·predicted noise levels within that operational

26· ·flexibility.· Thank you.

·1· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association,

·2· ·Jared Ottenhof.

·3· ·MR. OTTENHOF:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Jared

·4· ·Ottenhof for Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

·5· · · · Can you confirm if there was an assessment of the

·6· ·minimum number of vessels required -- or market vessels

·7· ·required that could ship up to 14.4 million tonnes per

·8· ·annum.· Thank you.



11· · · · May I ask for a clarification.· When you say

12· ·"assessment", what are you referring to there?· What

13· ·are you looking for?· Thanks.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association



17· ·Ottenhof for Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

18· · · · We're looking for the smallest number of vessels

19· ·that Baffinland could use to ship up to 14.4 million

20· ·tonnes per year, and what analysis may have been done

21· ·to arrive at that number.· Thank you.



24· · · · I think -- I think this is a bit of a confusing

25· ·question, Madam Chair, because, again, it's based on

26· ·the mix of vessels that we could get or use.· So in

·1· ·terms of assessment, we've already included 176 ore

·2· ·carriers within our assessment and explained that if we

·3· ·were to try to move 14.4 million tonnes, it would be

·4· ·within that 176-vessel mix.

·5· · · · So if the question is trying to get at the

·6· ·environmental assessment of the minimum number, again,

·7· ·it's been covered by the conservative assessment that's

·8· ·been done.· Thank you.

·9· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association



12· ·Ottenhof, Qikiqtani Inuit Association.· We'll leave

13· ·this line of questioning.· I'll turn it over to Richard

14· ·Paton now for another question.· Thank you.

15· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Richard Paton.

16· ·MR. PATON:· · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

17· ·Richard Paton on behalf of Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

18· · · · I have one question.· On Slide 8, Baffinland

19· ·presented a key slide for Inuit on the incorporation of

20· ·Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, and similar to past

21· ·presentation material, an incorporation of Inuit

22· ·Qaujimajatuqangit in project reporting.· Baffinland

23· ·skimmed over it without giving importance to

24· ·identifying how Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit was

25· ·incorporated in greater detail, other than to state it

26· ·will be discussed throughout the presentation.

·1· · · · The Qikiqtani Inuit Association has thoroughly

·2· ·assessed the Phase 2 proposal and highlighted the lack

·3· ·of integration of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and Inuit

·4· ·perspectives from the impacted communities into project

·5· ·monitoring and management systems to date.

·6· · · · Baffinland did not demonstrate incorporation of

·7· ·Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in later slides.· There were

·8· ·two quick references with no explanation on how it was

·9· ·incorporated.· One in discussing Inuit monitors on

10· ·Slide 52, and one on Slide 48, with a quick reference

11· ·to Inuit knowledge related to ice entrapment.

12· · · · So my question is:· Can Baffinland explain Slide 8

13· ·in greater detail on their incorporation of Inuit

14· ·Qaujimajatuqangit and further explain how Baffinland

15· ·will further incorporate Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit into

16· ·project management decision-making related to the

17· ·marine environment for Phase 2?· Thank you, Madam

18· ·Chair.



21· · · · I'm going to ask Lou Kamermans to provide a

22· ·response first, and then Phil Rouget to speak to his

23· ·assessment and the work he's conducted.· Thank you.




·1· · · · So just building on what is in Slide 8 and

·2· ·Slide 9, IQ has been critical to this assessment since

·3· ·the EIS or the environmental impact statement was first

·4· ·developed for the original project, so it would have

·5· ·set the environmental impact statement guidelines and

·6· ·issue scoping.· That was an undertaking by the Nunavut

·7· ·Impact Review Board through a workshop.· So from the

·8· ·outset, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit was considered in the

·9· ·instructions we had to build our environmental impact

10· ·statement.

11· · · · Through IQ studies carried out between 2006 and

12· ·2010, we built the original environmental impact

13· ·statement with an extensive record of IQ included in

14· ·Volume II and Volume III.· For Phase 2, we carried out

15· ·a series of workshops in Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay

16· ·between 2015 and 2016.· The first workshop concentrated

17· ·on contemporary Inuit land use in the Eclipse Sound and

18· ·Navy Board area; the second workshop focusing on

19· ·shipping through ice; the third workshop focusing on

20· ·open water shipping; and the fifth workshop

21· ·concentrating on Phase 2 in Arctic Bay.

22· · · · So this information collected through these

23· ·workshops was shared with our consultants, and our

24· ·consultants were able to use that information as well

25· ·as other sources of literature where this knowledge had

26· ·been collected and shared to carry out their

·1· ·assessments.

·2· · · · So to give some more practical insight into how

·3· ·the specific marine assessments were built, I'll pass

·4· ·it to Phil Rouget.· Thank you.

·5· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Phil Rouget.

·6· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Phil

·7· ·Rouget, Golder Associates for Baffinland.

·8· · · · IQ is integrated in the marine assessment from the

·9· ·early stages of the project including development of

10· ·the original final environmental impact statement in

11· ·2012 as well as in the two addendums that have since

12· ·incurred [sic].

13· · · · We used information from interviews with community

14· ·members, including Elders dating back to 2006 to inform

15· ·the marine baseline assessment as well as to help us

16· ·focus the baseline data collection program.

17· · · · This information was also used to identify key

18· ·valued ecosystem components for the marine environment.

19· ·This also included key information on marine mammal

20· ·distribution in the regional study area, timing of

21· ·movement, migratory patterns, important life stages for

22· ·different receptors in the project area, and sensitive

23· ·ecological areas for both marine mammals and fish.

24· · · · These interviews were also very beneficial in

25· ·identifying Inuit perspectives on key issues in the

26· ·marine environment as a result of the Phase 2 proposal.

·1· · · · The workshops stated by Mr. Kamermans earlier also

·2· ·were vital in providing key information on key effect

·3· ·pathways.· For example, understanding that narwhal are

·4· ·very sensitive to underwater noise, and that the

·5· ·project had potential to impact narwhal on their

·6· ·summering grounds, which are calving grounds.

·7· · · · A second example is the importance of avoiding

·8· ·adverse impacts of the ringed seal pupping season and

·9· ·mating season taking place on the ice during the spring

10· ·period.

11· · · · More recently in 2019, a number of community risk

12· ·workshops were run.· Those were specific to inform

13· ·environmental protection measures for the Phase 2

14· ·proposal.· They focused on shipping impacts on narwhal

15· ·as well as aquatic invasive species and ballast water

16· ·issues amongst other potential effects pathways.· The

17· ·mitigation and management measures that have been

18· ·developed to date have been very much shaped through

19· ·dialogue with Inuit.· For example, in direct response

20· ·from Inuit knowledge identifying Koluktoo Bay as a key

21· ·calving area for narwhal and concerns raised by the

22· ·community regarding potential shipping impacts in this

23· ·area both for impacts on narwhal as well as hunting in

24· ·the local area, this area was designated as a no-go

25· ·zone for shipping as were other areas along the west

26· ·coast of Milne Inlet.

·1· · · · In 2018, we learned from the communities that

·2· ·harvest numbers were low and narwhal were not abundant

·3· ·in the regional study area in that given year. A

·4· ·number of potential drivers of that observation were

·5· ·outlined, which included potential icebreaking effects.

·6· · · · Based on that input, Baffinland introduced

·7· ·additional mitigation measures for implementation the

·8· ·following year, which included the limited icebreaker

·9· ·transits during the shoulder season as well as the

10· ·setback area at the floe edge to avoid any noise

11· ·interference with respect to animal migration along the

12· ·floe edge.

13· · · · Those measures were implemented in 2019.· Narwhal

14· ·numbers in 2019 were measured and shown to be

15· ·consistent with previous years' pre-shipping.· This, to

16· ·us, suggests that this example of adaptive management,

17· ·based on Inuit input alone, was successfully applied.

18· · · · Finally, there has been direct involvement of

19· ·Inuit in all marine monitoring programs, including

20· ·input in design of the programs, field data collection,

21· ·data processing, data analysis and interpretation, and

22· ·reporting.

23· · · · As an example, one of our Inuit researchers that

24· ·has participated in our programs for the last four

25· ·years was invited for six weeks down south where he

26· ·engaged in months of distance analysis training, which

·1· ·is the process of learning how to process aerial survey

·2· ·results for the purpose of determining animal numbers

·3· ·for a population assessment.· Thank you, Madam Chair.

·4· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association

·5· ·Richard Paton.

·6· ·MR. PATON:· · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

·7· ·Richard Paton on behalf of the Qikiqtani Inuit

·8· ·Association.

·9· · · · In follow-up, if Inuit parties have agreed with

10· ·the accuracy of the Phase 2 impact assessment on marine

11· ·mammals, can Baffinland identify all specific

12· ·additional commitments it has made to Inuit monitoring

13· ·and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit integration into project

14· ·management decision-making related to the marine

15· ·environment for Phase 2.· Thank you, Madam Chair.



18· · · · Just for clarification, are you looking for what

19· ·commitments we've included in the commitment list

20· ·specific to marine monitoring?· Thank you.


22· ·Richard Paton.

23· ·MR. PATON:· · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair,

24· ·Richard Paton on behalf of the Qikiqtani Inuit

25· ·Association.

26· · · · Specifically I'm asking Baffinland if the Inuit

·1· ·parties have agreed with Baffinland's marine findings

·2· ·of impact.· Thank you, Madam Chair.



·5· ·I think it depends on which Inuit parties are being

·6· ·referred to here.· I also think that that's part of

·7· ·this review process is all intervenors will have the

·8· ·opportunity to provide their views to the Board on

·9· ·their acceptance of our -- or agreement with our

10· ·findings.· Thank you.


12· ·Richard Paton.

13· ·MR. PATON:· · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

14· ·Richard Paton on behalf of the Qikiqtani Inuit

15· ·Association.

16· · · · I guess I'll leave that answer as is.· I have no

17· ·follow-up questions and would ask that Bruce Stewart

18· ·continue the line of questioning for the Qikiqtani

19· ·Inuit Association.· Thank you, Madam Chair.

20· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Bruce Stewart.· Qikiqtani

21· ·Inuit Association, Bruce Stewart.

22· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair, Bruce

23· ·Stewart from Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

24· · · · Over the past year and as recently as last week,

25· ·Baffinland made important commitments on marine

26· ·environmental monitoring.· Many of these commitments

·1· ·relate to Fisheries and Oceans Technical Comments 3.6.1

·2· ·and 3.6.10, and some of these commitments have

·3· ·responded to recommendations from the Qikiqtani Inuit

·4· ·Association to fill gaps in risk assessment or

·5· ·monitoring.

·6· · · · Baffinland also made a number of commitments

·7· ·directly to Qikiqtani Inuit Association on these

·8· ·technical comments.· These commitments resolved

·9· ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association Technical Comments 43,

10· ·related to monitoring of marine sediment dispersion,

11· ·and 44, related to ballast water dispersion and its

12· ·potential physical and chemical impacts.

13· · · · Baffinland has also made important commitments

14· ·recently that partially resolve Qikiqtani Inuit

15· ·Association Technical Comment 45, related to invasive

16· ·species.

17· · · · Baffinland's detailed commitment to Fisheries and

18· ·Oceans' Technical Comment 3.6.6 on a risk-based

19· ·assessment of hull fouling is important and partially

20· ·resolves Qikiqtani Inuit Association Technical

21· ·Comment 45 on invasive species.

22· · · · However, contrary to Slide 65 of Baffinland's

23· ·presentation, Technical Comment 45 has not yet

24· ·resolved.· Baffinland's commitment to DFO 3.6.5 -- I'm

25· ·sorry, Fisheries and Oceans' Technical Comment 3.6.5 is

26· ·an important step forward but short on details.· Under

·1· ·this commitment, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will take

·2· ·the lead on designing and implementing a risk-based

·3· ·approach to biological assessment of ballast water.

·4· ·The finding of this study will then be implemented as a

·5· ·monitoring program by Baffinland.

·6· · · · At the last technical meeting, Qikiqtani Inuit

·7· ·Association requested that further information on the

·8· ·study design be provided prior to the final hearings to

·9· ·inform its decision on resolution of Technical

10· ·Comment 45.

11· · · · In particular, whether --

12· ·(AUDIO FEED LOST)

13· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Bruce Stewart, your feed froze

14· ·when you were at the word "whether".

15· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·... testing will be met.· My

16· ·question, therefore -- oh, I was at the word "whether".

17· ·Okay.· I'll repeat the last bit there.

18· · · · At the last technical meeting, QIA requested that

19· ·further information on the study design be provided

20· ·prior to the final hearings to inform its decision on

21· ·resolution of Technical Comment 45.· In particular --

22· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Bruce Stewart.

23· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·-- whether the concerns

24· ·regarding the adequacy --

25· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·If you can stop, please.

26· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Yes, Madam Chair.

·1· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·The interpretation is off.

·2· ·You'll have to repeat your question.· If you can go a

·3· ·few sentences back, please.

·4· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Okay.

·5· · · · Technical Comment 45 is not yet resolved.

·6· ·Baffinland's commitment to Fisheries and Oceans' 3.6.5

·7· ·comment is an important step forward but short of

·8· ·details.· Under this commitment, Fisheries and Oceans

·9· ·Canada will take the lead on designing and implementing

10· ·a risk-based approach to biological assessment of

11· ·ballast water.· The finding in this study will then be

12· ·implemented as a monitoring program by Baffinland.

13· · · · At the last technical meeting, Qikiqtani Inuit

14· ·Association requested that further information on the

15· ·study design be provided prior to the final hearings to

16· ·inform its decision on resolution of Technical

17· ·Comment 45, in particular, whether concerns regarding

18· ·the adequacy of biological testing will be met.

19· · · · My question, therefore, is this:· Will Baffinland

20· ·and/or the Department of Fisheries and Oceans provide a

21· ·summary of the study design, for example, basic

22· ·approach, level of sampling effort duration, during

23· ·this hearing to enable Qikiqtani Inuit Association and

24· ·other hearing parties to better assess whether and to

25· ·what extent their concerns regarding lack of biological

26· ·testing of ballast water will be met.· Thank you, Madam

·1· ·Chair.

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Before we go to a response

·3· ·from Baffinland, on the matter regarding motions, NIRB

·4· ·legal counsel.

·5· ·Directional Update by Nunavut Impact Review Board Legal

·6· ·Counsel (Summaries on Motions)

·7· ·MS. MEADOWS:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

·8· ·Teresa Meadows, legal counsel for the Nunavut Impact

·9· ·Review Board.

10· · · · Madam Chair, I recognize that I am standing

11· ·between a hungry crowd and dinner, so I will try and

12· ·keep my summaries very short.

13· · · · Madam Chair, as directed by the Panel on the first

14· ·day of this hearing, by Tuesday afternoon, four parties

15· ·had filed written notices of motion and supporting

16· ·documents for the Board's consideration.

17· · · · By Thursday at 3 PM Eastern, 17 parties had filed

18· ·written responses to one or more of the motions.· The

19· ·Board circulated the responses last night, and the

20· ·Panel met to decide last night with respect to the

21· ·motions, and while I recognize that many people would

22· ·be very interested in a long dissertation of the

23· ·Panel's reasons for decision, many people would also

24· ·not be so interested in that material, and so the Board

25· ·will be saving the written reasons for decision for

26· ·release in the Board's public hearing report and

·1· ·recommendations.· The Panel has nonetheless asked me to

·2· ·communicate the follow decisions and direction:· In

·3· ·respect of a motion by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association

·4· ·to keep the public hearing record open after the close

·5· ·of this hearing to allow all parties to file final

·6· ·written submissions on February 12th, with Baffinland

·7· ·having an opportunity to file their final response

·8· ·submissions on February 17th, 2021.

·9· · · · The Board notes that all parties who provided

10· ·comments on the motion supported this motion, although

11· ·there were some parties that requested the timeline be

12· ·extended.

13· · · · The Board has decided to grant this motion

14· ·recognizing that we may have to abridge the time

15· ·available for closing statements at the end of this

16· ·public hearing, and the Board has extended the timeline

17· ·slightly so that all parties will have until Monday,

18· ·February 15th, 2021, at 3 PM Kitikmeot time or Mountain

19· ·Time to file any final closing statements summarizing

20· ·their position, the facts on which they rely, and any

21· ·closing arguments.· Parties are reminded that the

22· ·Board's Rules 33 and 47 provide guidance regarding the

23· ·scope of acceptable submissions.

24· · · · Madam Chair, Baffinland will have until Monday,

25· ·February 22nd, 2021, at 3 PM Kitikmeot time or Mountain

26· ·Time to file their final closing statement and final

·1· ·response to the statements filed by intervenors.

·2· · · · Madam Chair, with respect to the second motion

·3· ·considered by the Panel, this was a motion by the

·4· ·Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization

·5· ·requesting the Board to remove the parts of the Inuit

·6· ·Certainty Agreement currently filed on the Board's

·7· ·public registry or, alternatively, asking the Board to

·8· ·file the Inuit Certainty Agreement in its entirety.

·9· · · · The Board notes that parties commenting on the

10· ·motion generally opposed removing the aspects of the

11· ·Inuit Certainty Agreement from the registry and

12· ·supported the alternative of allowing the filing of the

13· ·Inuit Certainty Agreement in its entirety on the

14· ·Board's registry.

15· · · · The Board has determined that as the Inuit

16· ·Certainty Agreement is not confidential and parties may

17· ·wish to see the context surrounding the relevant

18· ·provisions already filed, the Board will be following

19· ·up with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association to file the

20· ·whole Inuit Certainty Agreement on the Board's public

21· ·registry.

22· · · · The Panel notes, however, that although the Board

23· ·has agreed to file the Inuit Certainty Agreement on the

24· ·Board's public registry as outlined in Rule 33 of the

25· ·Board's Rules of Procedure, when the Board admits a

26· ·document for filing on the registry, it is not making a

·1· ·decision regarding the relevance of that document to

·2· ·the Board's proceedings.· As Madam Chair indicated on

·3· ·Monday, the focus of the Board's consideration of the

·4· ·Inuit Certainty Agreement is on those provisions that

·5· ·may affect the management, monitoring, and mitigation

·6· ·of the potential environmental or socio-economic

·7· ·effects of the Phase 2 development project.

·8· · · · Issues such as the negotiation and consultation

·9· ·associated with the development of the Inuit Certainty

10· ·Agreement or general economic benefits are outside the

11· ·scope of the NIRB's assessment.

12· · · · With respect to the third motion considered by the

13· ·Board, this was a motion by Oceans North requesting the

14· ·Board to subpoena testimony from a witness, Ms. Valerie

15· ·Moulton, on the basis that Oceans North anticipates the

16· ·oral evidence she can provide will confirm the

17· ·existence of a revised version of the draft LGL report

18· ·as well as evidence of the context in which that

19· ·revised version was created and how it was ultimately

20· ·received by the proponent.

21· · · · The draft LGL report referenced in the motion was

22· ·provided to the Nunavut Impact Review Board in

23· ·March 2016.· The draft report and comments about the

24· ·report by other professionals has also been filed with

25· ·the Board.

26· · · · Madam Chair, as you know, to issue a subpoena, the

·1· ·Panel must determine that the evidence of a witness is

·2· ·relevant, material, and necessary for the purposes of

·3· ·the Board's assessment.· Reviewing the motion and the

·4· ·supporting materials provided, the Board has denied the

·5· ·request of Oceans North on the basis that the evidence

·6· ·of Ms. Moulton is not necessary in these proceedings.

·7· ·The content of the draft LGL report she co-authored is

·8· ·available on the Board's website.· There are extensive

·9· ·comments on the report, which have also been filed on

10· ·the Board's registry, and the Panel is not convinced

11· ·that seeking to subpoena the testimony of a witness as

12· ·to the internal circumstances surrounding the revision

13· ·and finalization of a technical report authored by

14· ·professionals and commissioned by Baffinland is

15· ·unnecessary.

16· · · · And finally, Madam Chair, the fourth motion is the

17· ·motion of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation objecting

18· ·to the filing of two documents:· The OpenOil report

19· ·entitled "Financial Analysis, Mary River Iron Ore Mine,

20· ·The Viability of Current Base Operations Versus

21· ·Possible Expansion Stages" as well as a spreadsheet

22· ·that was filed along with the report with the Board on

23· ·January 18th, 2021, by Oceans North.

24· · · · Subsequently, on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, so

25· ·three days ago, Oceans North also filed a video

26· ·presentation providing an overview of the OpenOil

·1· ·report by one of its authors, and as the admissibility

·2· ·of this presentation is directly linked to the OpenOil

·3· ·report, this was also added to the scope of

·4· ·Baffinland's objection.

·5· · · · Madam Chair, the responses received in respect of

·6· ·Baffinland's motion, Oceans North opposed the motion,

·7· ·World Wildlife Fund also opposed the motion, the Hamlet

·8· ·of Pond Inlet and the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers

·9· ·Organization opposed the motion.

10· · · · Madam Chair, as you'll recall, a central feature

11· ·of Baffinland's objection to the filing of this

12· ·material was that these reports were based on a

13· ·preliminary information circular that was put forward

14· ·to the Board for consideration in November 2019 and

15· ·that the Board determined they would not review because

16· ·it was bound by confidentiality.

17· · · · Madam Chair, it is our understanding that this

18· ·material in the preliminary information circular has

19· ·since been made public and is no longer confidential.

20· · · · Also in support of the motion by Baffinland Iron

21· ·Mines to prevent the materials from being filed,

22· ·Baffinland filed a memo that outlined a number of

23· ·errors and -- stated to be inaccuracies in the report,

24· ·and those materials are also on the public record for

25· ·the Board.

26· · · · Madam Chair, the Board -- the Panel's decision in

·1· ·this regard is to allow for the filing of the OpenOil

·2· ·report and the Excel spreadsheet recognizing that

·3· ·Baffinland will be able to question Oceans North with

·4· ·respect to the stated position of Baffinland that there

·5· ·are inaccuracies in the report.· However, recognizing

·6· ·that presentation materials were required to be filed

·7· ·by the Board on or before January 18th, and that these

·8· ·materials -- a presentation was filed or purported to

·9· ·be filed on January 26th while the parties are in

10· ·session, and that this is a substantive presentation.

11· ·It's not merely one or two slides.· It's a 30-minute

12· ·presentation that many parties here within the hearing

13· ·venue are not even able to download or look at in

14· ·advance.· The Panel has directed that the Oceans North

15· ·video will not -- by OpenOil will not be filed or form

16· ·part of the public hearing record.

17· · · · And with that, Madam Chair, those conclude the

18· ·Panel's directions with respect to the motions.

19· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Right now it's just after

20· ·5:00.· We're going to break for supper and reconvene at

21· ·6:30 with a response from Baffinland to Qikiqtani Inuit

22· ·Association's question.

23· ·_______________________________________________________

24· ·PROCEEDINGS ADJOURNED UNTIL 6:30 PM

25· ·_______________________________________________________

26· ·(PROCEEDINGS COMMENCED AT 6:36)

·1· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Welcome back, everyone.

·2· · · · Continuing with questions to the proponent in

·3· ·response to Qikiqtani Inuit Association Bruce Stewart's

·4· ·question.

·5· · · · Baffinland, Megan Lord-Hoyle.


·7· · · · I'm going to ask Lou Kamermans to respond.· Thank

·8· ·you.




12· · · · We appreciate confirmation of the resolution of

13· ·QIA 43 and 44.· As for the partial resolution of

14· ·QIA 45, it's Baffinland's position that we are fully

15· ·confident in Fisheries and Oceans' ability to develop a

16· ·sampling design that meets the requirements of the

17· ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and the strength of that

18· ·commitment between Fisheries and Oceans Canada as well

19· ·as Transport Canada resolving DFO 3.6.5 and Transport

20· ·Canada 02 should be sufficient to resolve QIA 45.

21· · · · I will leave any further discussion on the

22· ·sampling design for Fisheries and Oceans to speak to in

23· ·their presentation.· Thank you.


25· ·Bruce Stewart.

26· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.· Can

·1· ·you hear me?

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Yes, you may proceed.

·3· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Lou, for that

·4· ·response.· We will -- Qikiqtani Inuit Association will

·5· ·be following up with a similar question to Fisheries

·6· ·and Oceans Canada.

·7· · · · To -- so to clarify the record, based on

·8· ·Baffinland's response, many of the commitments and

·9· ·Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Qikiqtani Inuit

10· ·Association technical comments just mentioned relate

11· ·directly to the Nunavut Impact Review Board Project

12· ·Certificate 005, Conditions 86 to 89, and these

13· ·conditions do not meet the objective of preventing

14· ·invasive species introductions, nor do they consider

15· ·the transition to treatment of ballast water.

16· · · · Qikiqtani Inuit Association will respond further

17· ·in its final submissions regarding the appropriate

18· ·project certificate conditions to address this concern.

19· ·Madam Chair, if I may continue on with my next

20· ·question?

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Yes, you can proceed.

22· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

23· · · · Baffinland's waterdrop and bathtub illustration on

24· ·Slide 25 is a simple way to compare the volume of

25· ·ballast water released by shipping to the volume of

26· ·water in Milne Inlet south of Ragged Island.· This

·1· ·comparison makes the amount of ballast water dispersed

·2· ·seem very small.· What this analogy does not capture

·3· ·are several key facts.

·4· · · · First, the fact that some of the largest -- the

·5· ·fact that the real amount of ballast water is

·6· ·equivalent to the amount that is discharged into some

·7· ·of the largest ports in southern Canada.· Second, that

·8· ·these discharges are concentrated at the head of Milne

·9· ·Inlet, and, third, that there will be nearly continuous

10· ·discharges through the open-water period.

11· · · · My question, therefore, is this:· Can Baffinland

12· ·please explain whether the bathtub analogy also applies

13· ·to non-indigenous species released with the ballast

14· ·water, and, if not, why not?· Thank you.



17· · · · I'd like to ask Marina Winterbottom to respond who

18· ·is with Melanie Austin on the Zoom chat.· Thank you.

19· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Marina Winterbottom.

20· ·MS. WINTERBOTTOM:· · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

21· ·Marina Winterbottom with Golder Associates for

22· ·Baffinland.

23· · · · Baffinland has implemented world-class mitigation

24· ·and monitoring for invasive species.· It far exceeds

25· ·existing regulatory requirements and far exceeds what

26· ·other ports in Canada are doing to monitor and manage

·1· ·invasive species.· Baffinland has committed to

·2· ·mitigation such as open-ocean ballast exchange far away

·3· ·from coastal areas and treatment of ballast water which

·4· ·greatly reduce the potential for introduction.· In

·5· ·fact, Baffinland requires both treatments and exchange

·6· ·for vessels able to do so, which is above Transport

·7· ·Canada requirements.

·8· · · · We know from the extensive ballast water modelling

·9· ·that discharges will dissipate within a few metres of a

10· ·ship, and so our monitoring in the receiving

11· ·environment appropriately focuses on areas where

12· ·invasion is most likely.· Our surveillance monitoring

13· ·in the marine environment is incredibly comprehensive

14· ·and occurs across multiple atrophic levels in the food

15· ·web, and so plankton to benthic invertebrates to fish.

16· · · · To date, we've demonstrated that our level of

17· ·sampling is functioning as intended and able to detect

18· ·potential non-indigenous species that warrant further

19· ·investigation.· But to be clear, no invasive species as

20· ·a result of project activities has yet been documented

21· ·or confirmed.· Moving forward, Baffinland has committed

22· ·to working with DFO to expand monitoring efforts and

23· ·develop rapid response plans for species identified as

24· ·high risk.· Thank you.



·1· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Sorry, Madam Chair.

·2· · · · Marina, thank you for your response.· It didn't

·3· ·answer my question, unfortunately.· Unlike the water,

·4· ·in -- in some of the -- some of the biota discharged

·5· ·with the ballast water will settle out on the bottom or

·6· ·swim in search of suitable habitat.· The head of Milne

·7· ·Inlet offers a wide variety of habitats.· These factors

·8· ·make it more likely for individuals to find other

·9· ·members of their own species for mating, and together

10· ·they increase the likelihood that non-indigenous

11· ·species will establish, reproducing populations, and

12· ·populations of some species may increase and colonize

13· ·other areas.

14· · · · Would not these -- my question, therefore, is

15· ·this:· Would these not -- would not these factors

16· ·affect dispersal and possible establishment of the

17· ·non-indigenous species?· Thank you.



20· · · · I would, again, like to ask Marina Winterbottom to

21· ·respond.· Thank you.



24· ·Marina Winterbottom for Baffinland.

25· · · · I think that this comes down to -- to risk

26· ·assessment.· We understand that the volume and

·1· ·discharge of ballast water creates risk of invasion.

·2· ·However, as I outlined, exchange and treatment mitigate

·3· ·for that.· Further, the temperature and salinity

·4· ·monitoring will confirm that the discharge will not

·5· ·change the biophysical properties of Milne Inlet.

·6· · · · And to -- to circle back to your question about

·7· ·the bathtub, it was intended to describe the scale of

·8· ·what -- of -- of the discharge to just help frame the

·9· ·conversation.· Thank you.



12· ·MR. STEWART:· · · · · · ·Sorry, Madam Chair.· I missed

13· ·the mute again.

14· · · · Thank you, Marina, for -- for addressing the

15· ·differences between -- sorry.· Thank you for -- for --

16· ·sorry.· It's important to clarify the distinction

17· ·between what happens to the ballast water and what

18· ·happens to species in the ballast water after it's

19· ·discharged.· I think we've done that in this

20· ·discussion.

21· · · · And thank you, Madam Chair.· I will pass it on to

22· ·Jeff Higdon who has more questions from the Qikiqtani

23· ·Inuit Association.

24· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Jeff Higdon.

25· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Jeff

26· ·Higdon with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

·1· · · · The Qikiqtani Inuit Association has reviewed the

·2· ·two recent submissions on passive acoustic monitoring,

·3· ·one prepared by JASCO on behalf of the proponent and

·4· ·one prepared by Oceans North and Scripps Institute of

·5· ·Oceanography.· I have some questions about the -- how

·6· ·the acoustic monitoring results can inform adaptive

·7· ·management and mitigation and how they can be

·8· ·integrated with the results of other programs.

·9· · · · Both reports provide data that can inform

10· ·mitigation.· For example, general cargo vessels and

11· ·fuel and chemical tankers are often noisier than the

12· ·work carriers and certain vessels in each class tend to

13· ·be noisier than other vessels in that class.

14· · · · The fuel tankers, the Sarah Desgagnes, as an

15· ·example, is a noisier vessel than others in that class.

16· ·The JASCO study suggests that this is due to its larger

17· ·size compared to the tankers.· The Oceans North report

18· ·suggested that this vessel could be a good candidate

19· ·for mitigation measures to address some of the excess

20· ·noise sound-generating characteristics.

21· · · · In addition, there is high variability in noise

22· ·output from different vessels in each vessel class and

23· ·even for different transits of the same vessel.· The

24· ·JASCO technical memo does a good job of highlighting

25· ·some of these factors that will contribute to its

26· ·variability, including transit speeds, vessel -- vessel

·1· ·draft, vessel length, vessel load, vessel engine power,

·2· ·and weather conditions.

·3· · · · So my questions are:· Will the proponent commit to

·4· ·analyzing the noise output data it has collected to

·5· ·determine how the above-noted factors influence

·6· ·variability and vessel noise outputs and how those

·7· ·results can then inform mitigation strategies?· And,

·8· ·furthermore, will the proponent commit to implementing

·9· ·vessel-specific mitigation strategies for individual

10· ·vessels that are particularly noisy?· Thank you.



13· · · · I'd like to ask Lou Kamermans to respond.· Thank

14· ·you.




18· · · · I believe this is something that we can

19· ·investigate through the development of our adaptive

20· ·management plans related to the marine monitoring

21· ·program as well as the shipping and marine wildlife

22· ·management plan.· We have previously reviewed -- I

23· ·think the -- the Inuktitut is not coming through in

24· ·Iqaluit.

25· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Can you hear now in Iqaluit

26· ·Inuktitut?

·1· ·UNKNOWN SPEAKER:· · · · ·It's good.


·3· ·MR. KAMERMANS:· · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.· I'll

·4· ·begin again.

·5· · · · So I do believe vessel-specific management is an

·6· ·option we can explore to the development of the

·7· ·adaptive management plan as a potential response to

·8· ·observing or to monitoring demonstrating that the --

·9· ·the acoustic sounds of vessels are louder than

10· ·expected.

11· · · · There is a program run under Green Marine that

12· ·looks at different certification levels.· That could be

13· ·explored further.· That -- that's becoming more

14· ·standard around ports in the industry.· That would, of

15· ·course, have to be weighed against the availability of

16· ·vessels to us to -- to work with us each season.· Sarah

17· ·Desgagnes, for example, a vessel that operates in the

18· ·north regardless of whether we contract them or not,

19· ·and there are only so many vessels that are available

20· ·to us each year.

21· · · · So certainly something we can pursue as -- as a

22· ·management tool to implement in an adaptive management

23· ·scenario, and we can consider that further through both

24· ·the marine monitoring program and the shipping and

25· ·marine wildlife management plan.· Thank you.


·1· ·Jeff Higdon.

·2· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Jeff

·3· ·Higdon for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

·4· · · · The whole passive acoustic monitoring reports show

·5· ·that there's more energy radiating from the stern of

·6· ·vessels than from the bow aspect.· This is in agreement

·7· ·with the findings of numerous other studies.· This

·8· ·means there are longer periods with elevated noise

·9· ·levels following a ship transit than preceding it.

10· · · · How will data from this analysis be integrated

11· ·with other monitoring programs?· For example, the

12· ·Bruce Head shore-based observation program.

13· ·Specifically, as an example, how can findings from the

14· ·passive acoustic assessment inform the analysis of data

15· ·on southbound versus northbound transits past the Bruce

16· ·Head study site?· Will the proponent commit to using

17· ·existing passive acoustic data collected for the

18· ·project in a retrospective analysis of noise output and

19· ·behavioural observations from the Bruce Head program?


21· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · And will the proponent commit

22· ·to --


24· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · Yes, Madam Chair.

25· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·If you can please slow down

26· ·for the interpreter and pause --

·1· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · I will.

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·-- between sentences.

·3· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · My apologies.

·4· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Please continue.

·5· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

·6· · · · How will data from this analysis be integrated

·7· ·with other monitoring programs?· For example, the

·8· ·shore-based observation program at Bruce Head.

·9· ·Specifically, how can findings from the passive

10· ·acoustic assessment inform the analysis of data on

11· ·southbound versus northbound transits past the Bruce

12· ·Head study site?

13· · · · Will the proponent commit to using existive --

14· ·existing, sorry, passive acoustic data in a

15· ·retrospective analysis of noise and behavioural

16· ·observations from Bruce Head program, and will the

17· ·proponent commit to including such integrated analyses

18· ·in future monitoring of project shipping?· Thank you.



21· · · · Yes.· And I believe that we could work on the

22· ·language between us and report back.· Thank you.


24· ·Jeff Higdon.


26· ·Higdon for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.· Thank you,

·1· ·Ms. Lord-Hoyle.

·2· · · · The Scripps report on passive acoustics provides

·3· ·information on the noise signatures the icebreaker,

·4· ·IMV [sic] Botnica.· That study notes that this vessel

·5· ·has a higher potential for biologically relevant

·6· ·impacts because of its acoustics characteristics,

·7· ·characteristics that may result from design or

·8· ·operational parameters.

·9· · · · The report from Oceans North and Scripps Institute

10· ·recommends that the acoustics characteristics for this

11· ·particular vessel will be further investigated to

12· ·potential mitigation or noise abatement measures.· My

13· ·question is:· Will Baffinland commit to investigating

14· ·the icebreaker IMV Botnica in greater detail to

15· ·identify potential mitigation or noise abatement

16· ·measures?· Thank you.



19· · · · Yes.· We will agree to investigate that.· Thank

20· ·you.


22· ·Jeff Higdon.



25· ·Ms. Lord-Hoyle.

26· · · · I have a follow-up related to that question.· The

·1· ·recent JASCO report states that additional analysis of

·2· ·sounds from the icebreaker will be included in a

·3· ·forthcoming monitoring report based on data collected

·4· ·near Ragged Island and Bylot Island during the 2019

·5· ·early and late shoulder seasons and the 2020 early

·6· ·shoulder season.· My question is:· Are these analyses

·7· ·ongoing, and will the proponent commit to providing

·8· ·this report within 30 days of the Board issuing their

·9· ·decision report?· Thank you.



12· · · · Yes.· Thank you.


14· ·Jeff Higdon.




18· · · · I have some questions about acoustic masting --

19· ·masking, sorry, of marine mammal vocalizations.· This

20· ·will be my last series of questions for Round 1.

21· · · · Both passive acoustic monitoring reports report on

22· ·acoustic masking.· The -- the proponent's presentation

23· ·today also reported on acoustic masking.· Different

24· ·reports have reported on two different measures.· One

25· ·term listening space reduction, the other term

26· ·listening range reduction.· I have a few questions on

·1· ·this, which I will just -- I will go through them in

·2· ·sequence.

·3· · · · So I'd like more information on what are the

·4· ·primary differences and conversely similarities in

·5· ·these two measurements?· Which metric is better and

·6· ·why?· This will help us, you know, determine which is a

·7· ·better metric to use.· So, for example, is -- is one

·8· ·more informative or more understandable for laypersons

·9· ·who myself is a layperson in -- in this question?

10· ·Which of the two metrics is more easily reported from a

11· ·monitoring perspective, and which of these two metrics

12· ·is best and easiest to describe through the context of

13· ·Inuit observations of narwhal responses to vessel

14· ·traffic?· Thank you, Madam Chair.



17· ·I'll ask Melanie Austin to respond.· Thank you.

18· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Melanie Austin.


20· · · · The two metrics that are being asked about, one is

21· ·listening space reduction, which describes the

22· ·reduction in the volume of space over which a marine

23· ·mammal is able to communicate with other marine mammals

24· ·within that same volume of space.· The other metric is

25· ·the listening range reduction, which describes a

26· ·reduction of the distance over which two animals --

·1· ·marine mammals could communicate with each other.

·2· · · · JASCO has provided calculations of the listening

·3· ·range reduction because it is more intuitive, is more

·4· ·the question that we're trying to understand of how far

·5· ·away animals can communicate with and without the

·6· ·presence of noise like vessel noise.

·7· · · · Particularly, in this environment, where we have

·8· ·narrow channels and the range is restricted by the

·9· ·shoreline and the geography, the listening range gives

10· ·a more meaningful understanding of where animals are

11· ·able to communicate with each other.

12· · · · The calculations are based on the same principles

13· ·in the same general approach.· The question is just

14· ·around understanding a total area within which animals

15· ·can communicate with each other or the distance over

16· ·which they can communicate relative to a condition when

17· ·there is no noise present.· Thank you.


19· ·Jeff Higdon.



22· ·Ms. Austin.

23· · · · That was a very helpful summary and description

24· ·and -- and definitely helped me gain a better

25· ·understanding of what these two metrics are, how

26· ·they're similar, and how they're different.· So I

·1· ·greatly appreciate that.· I have no further questions

·2· ·for Round 1 for the marine question.· I will return the

·3· ·microphone to Mr. Ottenhof at QIA in case somebody else

·4· ·does.· Thank you, Madam Chair.

·5· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Qikiqtani Inuit Association,

·6· ·Chris Spencer.

·7· · · · Jared Ottenhof.

·8· ·MR. OTTENHOF:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Jared

·9· ·Ottenhof for Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

10· · · · I believe we still have questions left.· There may

11· ·have been a slight misunderstanding.· Is there only one

12· ·round of questions for the marine section right now?

13· ·Thank you.

14· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Yes.· If you have more

15· ·questions, ask.


17· ·Ottenhof, Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

18· · · · I'd like to turn it to back to Jeff Higdon.· Thank

19· ·you.


21· ·Jeff Higdon.


23· ·Higdon for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.· I have a

24· ·series of questions about -- with respect to ringed

25· ·seals.

26· · · · Baffinland has made a commitment to the Qikiqtani

·1· ·Inuit Association at the November 2019 public hearing

·2· ·which states that:· (as read)

·3· · · · Baffinland commits to developing a ringed

·4· · · · seal monitoring plan that incorporates Inuit

·5· · · · perspectives into the design, planning, and

·6· · · · implementation phases.

·7· ·My question is this:· Is Baffinland committed to

·8· ·integrating Inuit-defined indicators, thresholds, and

·9· ·responses into its adaptive management plan, and, if

10· ·so, through what mechanism is this plan to occur, and

11· ·does the proponent support a project certificate

12· ·condition ensuring that this structure is adhered to?

13· ·Thank you.



16· · · · I believe this was confirmed yesterday.

17· ·Baffinland's already put forward proposed commitment

18· ·language as Commitment 186 in the commitment list.· So

19· ·I -- I suggest that we can continue refining that

20· ·language if that's needed, but, yes.· Thank you.


22· ·Jeff Higdon.

23· ·MR. HIGDON:· · · · · · · Is Baffinland committed to

24· ·identifying tiered thresholds -- by which I mean low,

25· ·moderate, and high thresholds for ringed seals as

26· ·framed in this draft management plan -- adaptive

·1· ·management plan?· Sorry.· Thank you.



·4· · · · I'll ask Lou Kamermans to respond.· Thank you.




·8· · · · Yes.· Baffinland is committed to developing low,

·9· ·moderate, and high thresholds in relation to seal

10· ·monitoring.· Because that program is -- is yet to be

11· ·developed and the Inuit focus that it is meant to have,

12· ·it is -- I think it would be beneficial for the timing

13· ·of -- of the development of these to be assisted by the

14· ·development of the Inuit committee.

15· · · · So through the development of -- of both the

16· ·committee and -- and developing that program, I think

17· ·that it's the natural place where we will develop those

18· ·triggers as well as through the implementation of that

19· ·program.· Thank you.


21· ·Jeff Higdon.



24· ·Mr. Kamermans.

25· · · · I have one last question in regards to ringed seal

26· ·monitoring.· The proponent is looking at aerial surveys

·1· ·for ringed seal density as one component for monitoring

·2· ·ringed seals via the adaptive management plan.· I would

·3· ·like to know what other opportunities for ringed seal

·4· ·monitoring besides aerial surveys of ringed seal

·5· ·density can be considered.

·6· · · · Will the proponent commit to more detailed

·7· ·monitoring of ringed seals through the shipboard

·8· ·observer program by collecting and reporting

·9· ·behavioural response data for ringed seals exposed to

10· ·vessel traffic in the spring and fall shoulder seasons?

11· ·Thank you.



14· · · · Yes.· Thank you.


16· ·Jeff Higdon.




20· · · · I have no further questions.· Thank you.


22· ·Chris Spencer.

23· · · · Jared Ottenhof.


25· ·Ottenhof for Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

26· · · · I believe that's all of our questions on marine

·1· ·environment.· Thank you.

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Nunavut Tunngavik

·3· ·Incorporated, James Eetoolook.

·4· ·Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated Questions Baffinland

·5· ·Iron Mines Corporation

·6· ·MR. EETOOLOOK:· · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.· James

·7· ·Eetoolook from Nunavut Tunngavik.

·8· · · · I have two questions, and after I'm done, Paul

·9· ·Irngaut from the wildlife and environment will be

10· ·asking from Nunavut Tunngavik, and also David Lee, a

11· ·biologist for Nunavut Tunngavik, will be asking

12· ·questions as well.· Thank you.

13· · · · If you look at Slide 30, it says here that in the

14· ·stockpiling of the Milne Port, that the iron

15· ·concentration would be increased in the marine

16· ·environment in the salt water.

17· · · · So my question is:· So the road that is being

18· ·currently used, the tote road, does it have more dust,

19· ·or does the mine itself, the blasting, have more dust?

20· ·Which one has more dust?

21· · · · So in terms of the dust, is it from the blasting

22· ·when it increases the dust there if the Project 2 was

23· ·to increase in their mining and more dust from the

24· ·mine?· And I'll ask -- have an additional question

25· ·related to that.· Thank you.



·2· · · · I'll ask Lou Kamermans to respond.




·6· · · · So looking at Slide 30, the focus there is on

·7· ·Milne Port, and so the sources of dust from Milne Port

·8· ·would be from either the movement of ore or from the

·9· ·stockpiling and -- and the weathering, so when wind is

10· ·hitting it while it's -- it's there throughout the

11· ·year.· In our modelling, I do not believe that blasting

12· ·at the quarry that is at Milne Port is a significant

13· ·source of dust, and that quarry will not be used for

14· ·the life of the mine.· It will mostly be used during

15· ·construction.

16· · · · So we tried to manage dust at Milne Port in a few

17· ·different ways.· One of those ways is -- is when we're

18· ·moving the ore around, we -- we have the shoots and the

19· ·shrouds on the equipment.· So whenever it's being

20· ·transferred from one piece to another, it's -- we're

21· ·minimizing how much dust can escape.· And with Phase 2,

22· ·even though we're moving crushing to Milne Port,

23· ·because it will all happen in an enclosed facility, all

24· ·the dust from that activity will be captured.· So it

25· ·won't be like the outdoor crushing that happens right

26· ·now at the mine site.

·1· · · · And the other thing we're -- we're actively

·2· ·managing right now are the stockpiles, and that would

·3· ·continue for Phase 2, and so this year, we're -- we're

·4· ·experimenting with a new product called "DusTreat".

·5· ·We've seen positive results from applying a product

·6· ·called Dust Stop to our road which helps control the

·7· ·dust when -- when the trucks are driving on it.· This

·8· ·product, DusTreat, that we're putting on the stockpile,

·9· ·essentially, it -- it covers and encloses the stockpile

10· ·where it is, and it can stop the wind from blowing the

11· ·dust around.· So that's ongoing, and we don't have the

12· ·monitoring yet to show how effective it's been.· But

13· ·it's something we know has been used elsewhere.

14· · · · The stockpiles that our ore can go to in Europe

15· ·have used that product, and we're hopeful that it'll be

16· ·successful at our -- at the Milne Port as well, and it

17· ·will help control dust.· So those are -- those are the

18· ·sources that we see being at Milne Port, and those are

19· ·the ways we're trying to control all of them.· Thank

20· ·you.

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Nunavut Tunngavik

22· ·Incorporated, James Eetoolook.

23· ·MR. EETOOLOOK:· · · · · ·Thank you, Chairperson.· If

24· ·you look at Slide 31, it says here in 2015 to 2019 that

25· ·this iron ore is not increasing to the bottom of the

26· ·ocean.· So there's little concentration in fish in

·1· ·regards to metal concentration, and it's the same

·2· ·statement for 2010 to 2019, but can you tell over time

·3· ·in a cumulative method whether that iron will be

·4· ·increased into the fish?· And Charlie Inuarak was

·5· ·saying earlier there's hardly any fish and that the sea

·6· ·mammals and narwhals and seals are hard to be visual in

·7· ·that particular area.

·8· · · · We know that if there's a contamination and it

·9· ·flows on top of the water, it has to sink to the

10· ·bottom, and it's impossible, then, to clean it from the

11· ·bottom of the ocean, especially when it's in the water,

12· ·and there would be contaminants going into the ocean.

13· ·So you need to have meticulate monitoring to ensure

14· ·that they're -- the level of iron from Mary River.



17· · · · Thank you for the question.· I'll ask Marina

18· ·Winterbottom to respond.· Thank you.



21· ·Marina Winterbottom, Golder Associates for Baffinland.

22· · · · Before I answer the meat of your question, I'd

23· ·like to note that we've heard from Inuit that iron

24· ·entering the marine environment is a major concern,

25· ·which is why we've put effort into tracking it via

26· ·multiple receptors, so not just marine sediment but

·1· ·also in water quality sampling and sampling of fish and

·2· ·shell fish tissues as well.· So because we're taking

·3· ·this multiple lines of evidence approach, we're not

·4· ·just relying on a single indicator, so we're confident

·5· ·in our ability to identify any changes.

·6· · · · I'd also like to point out that iron is

·7· ·naturally -- that iron is natural abundant in the

·8· ·marine environment.· Okay.· I'll stop.· I believe

·9· ·the -- that I'm not being heard in Iqaluit, so I'll

10· ·just wait until I can confirm that I can be heard.

11· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·NIRB staff.

12· ·MS. COSTELLO:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Karen

13· ·Costello for the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

14· · · · I understand we have currently lost the connection

15· ·to Iqaluit, so if we could just allow technicians to

16· ·check.· Thank you, Madam Chair.

17· ·MR. MORRISON:· · · · · · Madam Chair, this is Keith

18· ·Morrison from Iqaluit.

19· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Go ahead, Keith.

20· ·MR. MORRISON:· · · · · · There was no loss of

21· ·connection here at all.· Oh, sorry.· Correction.· There

22· ·was a minor one.

23· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Marina Winterbottom, please

24· ·continue with your response.


26· · · · In addition to monitoring iron via multiple

·1· ·receptors, I'd also like to point out that iron

·2· ·concentrations in the marine environment are naturally

·3· ·abundant.· To answer the specific question, iron

·4· ·concentrations have been monitored in sediment since

·5· ·2014, since before project operations began.

·6· · · · Results through time indicate that there have been

·7· ·some localized changes at individual locations, but no

·8· ·evidence to suggest that overall concentrations have

·9· ·increased over time.· Similarly, with Arctic char,

10· ·specifically, we look at iron in the muscle, and

11· ·concentrations in -- of iron in char muscle have

12· ·decreased relative to -- to 2010.

13· · · · This is aligned with assessment predictions, and

14· ·moving forward and to address any uncertainty,

15· ·Baffinland has committed to ongoing follow-up

16· ·monitoring to verify this prediction.· Thank you, Madam

17· ·Chair.


19· ·Incorporated, James Eetoolook.

20· ·MR. EETOOLOOK:· · · · · ·Qujannamiik, Madam Chair. I

21· ·have no further questions.· I'm giving it to Paul

22· ·Irngaut.

23· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Paul Irngaut.

24· ·MR. IRNGAUT:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Chairperson.· This

25· ·is Paul Irngaut from Nunavut Tunngavik.

26· · · · In addition to that question, in Slide 22, there

·1· ·would be a bigger development in the Milne Port just to

·2· ·say at first, as an Inuk, not knowing -- well, we don't

·3· ·have access to technology sometimes or computers, and

·4· ·some of the things that are mentioned here, that they

·5· ·are available at a certain website, we don't have

·6· ·ability to look at those pieces of paper or documents.

·7· ·So we have this -- we have to ask these questions

·8· ·verbally even though they are written.

·9· · · · We know that from Pond Inlet and hearing from Pond

10· ·Inlet that fish are affected and seals are affected and

11· ·narwhals are affected.· It says in Tab 22 that there

12· ·would be monitoring and research.· From the

13· ·environment, there would be some monitoring on the

14· ·noise levels.· So if there's construction and expansion

15· ·at the Milne Port, would there be a big increase to the

16· ·noise?



19· · · · I'll ask Lou Kamermans to respond, thank you.




23· · · · So Slide 22 speaks to our plans during port

24· ·construction.· So before we are able to move forward

25· ·with construction of the second ore dock, we will need

26· ·a Fisheries Act authorization, and so that process will

·1· ·only be allowed to begin should Phase 2 be approved by

·2· ·the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

·3· · · · That process and that application will look at how

·4· ·we plan to -- to build the ore dock at a very detailed

·5· ·level, and then if it's approved, we will get a permit

·6· ·that gives us very specific mitigations that we have to

·7· ·implement to avoid impacts to wildlife.

·8· · · · So some of those were spoken about in the

·9· ·presentation.· This would include the use of bubble

10· ·curtains.· So that's something that goes in the water

11· ·that dampens the noise.· So it reduces how far it can

12· ·travel, how loud it is, and that would be to manage the

13· ·short bursts of sound that happen when you're building

14· ·the dock, whether you're installing the piles,

15· ·dredging, and other of those construction activities.

16· · · · When we built the freight dock and the first ore

17· ·dock, we gained a lot of experience in this.· This is

18· ·also something that is quite common.· So there's lots

19· ·of lessons learned from all over Canada.

20· · · · Another thing we'll do is have wildlife monitors

21· ·present the entire time, and we'll have setbacks so

22· ·that we can't do any of the work that creates the noise

23· ·if wildlife were in a certain distance of the

24· ·construction area.

25· · · · So, overall, this is -- because it's construction,

26· ·it's not meant to last very long.· We're thinking about

·1· ·a year to a year and a half for the construction, and

·2· ·the point that would create the noise would be much

·3· ·shorter than that, and it would be tightly regulated by

·4· ·Fisheries and Oceans Canada.· Thank you.

·5· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Before we continue with

·6· ·questions to the proponent, we're going to take a

·7· ·15-minute break.

·8· ·(ADJOURNMENT)

·9· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · · · · Welcome back, everyone.

10· ·Continuing with questions to Baffinland.· Nunavut

11· ·Tunngavik Incorporated, Paul Irngaut.

12· ·Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated Questions Baffinland


14· ·MR. IRNGAUT:· · · · · · ·Thank you.· Paul Irngaut from

15· ·Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

16· · · · The person who responded, three ladies and two

17· ·gentlemen replied.· Under Slide 31, they monitor about

18· ·the metal concentrations on fish tissue.· That was

19· ·explained and also the iron is already not -- is not in

20· ·the water already.· We're referring to marine

21· ·environment, but I want -- like, fish migrate through

22· ·the rivers to the lakes near the tote road, and I

23· ·want -- and then we have heard, like, the lakes near

24· ·the tote road, the dust has already gathered at the

25· ·lakes, and it's quite thick in some area.· And the

26· ·people who were trying to fetch water cannot because of

·1· ·all the dust accumulating in the lakes.

·2· · · · And then we have also heard that -- well,

·3· ·discussing amongst ourselves, like, during the spring,

·4· ·like, the dust should be quite heavy, so in the

·5· ·springtime it just sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

·6· ·It seems apparent -- like, it affects -- it has

·7· ·negative effects on fish, and also the people of Pond

·8· ·Inlet have repeatedly said there is hardly any fish in

·9· ·that area.

10· · · · And this morning there was a presenter --

11· ·Charlie Inuarak was making a comment that cod and the

12· ·smaller fish, he was concerned that they may have been

13· ·negatively impacted by the dust because it can

14· ·impact -- the dust can impact anything.

15· · · · The woman who was explaining said metal

16· ·concentrations in fish have recently decreased -- that

17· ·was my understanding -- and if that lady can respond.

18· ·Like, the people of Pond Inlet continually say that

19· ·there are hardly any fish, hardly any seal, or hardly

20· ·any narwhal, and I want -- while people really -- like,

21· ·char and cod are on the food chain.· I wonder where --

22· ·do you know where the fish went and the metal

23· ·concentration -- iron concentrations tend to decrease

24· ·in Arctic char, and where are the -- where did the char

25· ·all go?



·2· · · · I'm going to ask Marina Winterbottom to respond.

·3· ·Thank you.

·4· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Marina Winterbottom.

·5· ·MS. WINTERBOTTOM:· · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

·6· ·Marina Winterbottom, Golder Associates.

·7· · · · Thank you for the issues that you raised and the

·8· ·concerns you've brought forward.· You're right that we

·9· ·have been assessing iron in the environment through

10· ·multiple receptors because we've heard what an

11· ·important concern it is for Inuit.· Our fish sampling

12· ·focuses on three species, including Arctic char, and

13· ·the levels that we've seen in Arctic char in recent

14· ·years have actually declined relative to pre-project

15· ·conditions.· So the amount of iron in char is going

16· ·down.

17· · · · We will continue to monitor iron levels in marine

18· ·sediments and in fish tissues going forward.· Thank

19· ·you.


21· ·Incorporated, Paul Irngaut.

22· ·MR.· IRNGAUT:· · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Paul

23· ·Irngaut from Nunavut Tunngavik.

24· · · · I don't have any more questions.· David Lee has

25· ·some questions, and he will ask some questions.· Thank

26· ·you.

·1· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·David Lee.

·2· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.· David

·3· ·Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

·4· · · · On Slide 45, Baffinland provided an animation that

·5· ·narwhals can and do react to ships, at least in the

·6· ·short term.· My first question is:· The animation

·7· ·showed three tagged narwhal out of, I believe, 20.

·8· ·Could you please describe the behaviour of the other

·9· ·tagged narwhal.· Thank you.



12· · · · I'll ask Phil Rouget to respond.· Thank you.




16· · · · The question is around -- we're requested to

17· ·describe the behaviour of narwhal that were tagged

18· ·other than the three shown in the animation on

19· ·Slide 40?

20· · · · We prepared animations as well as dive plots for

21· ·all vessel-narwhal interaction, so it was interesting

22· ·to us to look at the variable range of response of

23· ·narwhal to ships both in a two-dimensional sense like

24· ·we saw in the video, but also more importantly in three

25· ·dimensions so that we could understand how narwhal were

26· ·diving around the vessels as well.

·1· · · · As I had mentioned in the presentation, the

·2· ·example provided represents one of the more obvious

·3· ·responses by narwhal.· It would be accurate to say the

·4· ·other animations that we have looked at are similar as

·5· ·the one that was shown today, and perhaps it would be

·6· ·fair to say not as obvious.

·7· · · · We put more confidence in looking at the dive

·8· ·profiles because the resolution of the data is higher

·9· ·both for the vessel positions as well as for the animal

10· ·position, which is recorded every one second throughout

11· ·its dive, whereas the horizontal motion of the animal

12· ·is limited by the number of transmissions we'd get on

13· ·the GPS, which is about maximum four an hour.

14· · · · As part of our tagging report, the Golder 2019,

15· ·2017, 2018, integrated narwhal tagging report, plots

16· ·are provided in the appendix for every single one of

17· ·those interaction in order to be transparent with all

18· ·parties reviewing the report and see for themselves the

19· ·degree of response by all the animals.

20· · · · Furthermore, this is a shared program with DFO.

21· ·We both co-own the data, and they have full access to

22· ·the data, and I believe they're working that data up or

23· ·will be working that data up shortly.· Thank you.


25· ·Incorporated, David Lee.

26· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair, and

·1· ·thank you, Phil, for the response.

·2· · · · I'll comment that I look forward to that

·3· ·information, and I assume that the reason they're not

·4· ·showing as much reaction is because they could

·5· ·potentially not be near the ships or avoiding the ships

·6· ·completely.· However, I realize that hasn't been

·7· ·created yet, and I'll look forward to the report.

·8· · · · My next question is:· On the same slide, based on

·9· ·Courtenay et al., 2021, which was just published, in

10· ·which cortisol levels indicated increased stress of

11· ·narwhal in Eclipse Sound.· And Williams et al.,

12· ·2017, showed that narwhals were highly susceptible to

13· ·disturbance because they have a low resting heart rate,

14· ·and being jolted into an escape response with fast

15· ·swimming and activity resulted in energetic -- caused

16· ·three to six times the resting rate, rapidly depleting

17· ·on-board oxygen stores.· Could Baffinland provide how

18· ·many escape responses narwhal might experience during

19· ·the shipping period for Phase 2?· Thank you.






25· ·for Baffinland.· Thank you for that comment, David.

26· · · · Two references are provided by NTI.· I'll start

·1· ·with the Williams et al. reference talking about escape

·2· ·response in narwhal.

·3· · · · I do agree with -- or I'm aware of that paper and

·4· ·I agree with the findings of that paper, but the

·5· ·context is very different, and I'll tell you why.

·6· · · · The Williams et al. paper characterizes an acute

·7· ·dive response demonstrated by narwhal after they're

·8· ·live captured and then stranded on the shore so that

·9· ·tags can be attached to record their heart rate and the

10· ·physiology of their dive after they're released.

11· · · · There seems to be sort of some suggestion that a

12· ·narwhal dive response after a very stressful live

13· ·capture and stranding event would be similar to its

14· ·dive response when it's in the vicinity of ships.· It

15· ·should be noted that live capture is probably one of

16· ·the most stressful experiences any animal could ever be

17· ·exposed to.

18· · · · The two responses are not the same in any form.

19· ·We know from our tagging work as well as from

20· ·historical tagging studies that extreme dive responses

21· ·that -- like that described from Williams et al. and

22· ·those exhibited by narwhal in proximity to ships are

23· ·different.· The ones close to ships express localized,

24· ·temporary, and reversible responses that would not best

25· ·be described as escape responses but rather localized

26· ·avoidance.

·1· · · · The second reference mentioned was Watt et al.,

·2· ·2021, which discusses stress response -- or stress

·3· ·cortisol levels, which is an index for stress in

·4· ·narwhal and how it increases over time and how it's

·5· ·correlated with an increase in shipping over a similar

·6· ·time period.

·7· · · · The paper itself acknowledges that there are a

·8· ·number of drivers that could be -- that correlate

·9· ·equally well with the increase in cortisol, which

10· ·include predation from an increased number of killer

11· ·whale coming into the Eclipse Sound area earlier in the

12· ·season, decreased sea ice due to climate change,

13· ·changing prey availability, increased harvesting and

14· ·shipping and other vessel activity.

15· · · · These are all correlations.· There has been no

16· ·causal link determined for any of those drivers.· It's

17· ·quite a complex topic for which we acknowledge and we

18· ·consider in our assessment.· We've been asked to look

19· ·at stress -- stress indexes such as cortisol as an

20· ·indicator, and there's challenges with that because

21· ·it's hard to tease apart the real source of that stress

22· ·particularly if it's a combined contributor of

23· ·different stressors.

24· · · · That's my comments on that paper for now.· Thank

25· ·you.


·1· ·Incorporated, David Lee.

·2· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

·3· ·David Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

·4· · · · Thank you, Phil, for your response.

·5· · · · I also agree that tagging is probably one of the

·6· ·most stressful events that can occur, but these results

·7· ·along with the Watt et al. paper, which you've

·8· ·described many other factors, seem to indicate that

·9· ·there is a high degree of uncertainty with the

10· ·potential for chronic effects on narwhal to which

11· ·shipping activity could contribute.· How did you then

12· ·determine that these would not be significant with

13· ·increased shipping levels given what you've just

14· ·responded to for both papers.· Thank you.





19· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Phil

20· ·Rouget, Golder Associates.

21· · · · We are in agreement that the effects of stress

22· ·have not been well studied in narwhal to any extent.

23· ·As stated before, it's a complex process involving all

24· ·the stress drivers we've talked about.· However, it is

25· ·not our belief that project shipping will result in

26· ·decreased fitness at the individual or stock level

·1· ·given the level and nature of the types of responses we

·2· ·have observed to date, which are limited to temporary,

·3· ·localized, and reversible responsiveness -- responses.

·4· · · · And also taking into account the proportion of

·5· ·time that a narwhal would be exposed to disturbance,

·6· ·which has been modelled and measured or forecasted to

·7· ·be less than two hours a day under a worst-case

·8· ·scenario during the shipping season and five hours a

·9· ·day during the early shoulder season.

10· · · · We fully acknowledge the uncertainty, but we do

11· ·flag the conservative assumptions that have been built

12· ·into the assessment and the modelling.· Recognized

13· ·mitigation measures have been developed specifically

14· ·for managing noise effects on narwhal, and these exceed

15· ·industry and regulatory standards.

16· · · · And, further, to address the uncertainty, our plan

17· ·is to continue and expand on the extensive monitoring

18· ·programs to validate the impact predictions and trust

19· ·the adaptive management system if results show we are

20· ·seeing impacts beyond those predicted.

21· · · · I think the one thing that seems to get overlooked

22· ·by many of the intervenors is that narwhal are able to

23· ·habituate or get used to underwater noise if they learn

24· ·it's not a threat.· There's numerous examples in the

25· ·literature where Arctic animals have been studied under

26· ·different exposure scenarios, including shipping noise.

·1· · · · And what the studies show is that marine mammals

·2· ·exposed to a new sound for the first time often show an

·3· ·obvious and strong behavioural response such as

·4· ·avoidance, but if those animals learn that the specific

·5· ·noise is not a threat that would put themselves or

·6· ·their calves at risk or prevent them from undertaking

·7· ·their normal day-to-day activities like foraging, then

·8· ·following repeated exposure to that same noise source,

·9· ·that response becomes less acute over time, often

10· ·resulting in only a low-level response or even a lack

11· ·of a response unless in very close proximity to the

12· ·source.

13· · · · This is particularly true if the source of the

14· ·ship -- source of noise is predictable, which is

15· ·typical with shipping in this context, given ships

16· ·follow the same shipping route and travel at the same

17· ·speed over the same months of the year.

18· · · · This is also why our mitigation includes ships

19· ·having instructions not to suddenly change their speed

20· ·or direction while in transit along the established

21· ·shipping route.

22· · · · The ability of narwhal to habituate is consistent

23· ·with many of the observations shared by Inuit monitors

24· ·involved in our long-term monitoring program.· We've

25· ·heard that numerous times.· It's also well documented

26· ·in available IQ sources, including Technical Support

·1· ·Document Number 3.· Thank you.



·4· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.· David

·5· ·Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and thank you,

·6· ·again, Phil and Megan, for your responses.

·7· · · · I'll move on to Slide 53.· In your presentation

·8· ·you stated that the population size of the Eclipse

·9· ·Sound summering stock was measured and was shown to be

10· ·consistent within the range of previous population

11· ·estimates, including shipping.

12· · · · 2013 is used as the reference point; however, the

13· ·2013 Bruce Head study observed 26 vessel occurrences of

14· ·which there were six Baffin Island -- Baffin Iron

15· ·Mining Corporation vessels.· Could you please confirm

16· ·that when you state "pre-shipping", you mean prior to

17· ·ore carrying vessels?· Thank you.



20· · · · Yes, that's correct.· Thank you.



23· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.· David

24· ·Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.· Thank you,


26· · · · Could you confirm that there are no scientific

·1· ·studies that have investigated the impacts of

·2· ·increasing vessel traffic that has occurred in this

·3· ·area with respect to population trends, narwhal

·4· ·population trends, or dynamics during this period?

·5· ·Thank you.



·8· · · · I would suggest that that is what our scientific

·9· ·studies are doing, but perhaps I misunderstood the

10· ·question.· Thank you.




14· ·Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

15· · · · The period that I'm referring to is from 2004 to

16· ·2013, but rather than repeat that question, I'll follow

17· ·up with another question, and that is:· It was stated

18· ·that the Eclipse Sound stock has appeared to decrease

19· ·between 2004 and 2013 prior to shipping, although this

20· ·change was not shown to be statistically significant.

21· · · · Could you indicate if you or any other party have

22· ·analyzed whether the aerial estimate from 2004 of

23· ·20,225 animals with a CV of 36 percent is significantly

24· ·different from the aerial estimate survey of 2019,

25· ·which is 9,000 animals approximately with a

26· ·co-efficient of variation of 5 percent.· Thank you.



·3· ·Thank you.· I'll ask Phil Rouget to respond.

·4· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Phil Rouget.

·5· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.

·6· ·Phil Rouget, Golder Associates for Baffinland.

·7· · · · We have -- we have compared our 2019 results to

·8· ·the 2016 results thus far.· That's based on feedback

·9· ·from Fisheries and Oceans that that's the most reliable

10· ·estimate to be used moving forward.· We recognize the

11· ·high -- basically the high degree of variability or the

12· ·low accuracy with some of these earlier estimates, and

13· ·so we're challenged with the functionality of using

14· ·those as effective baselines because we don't really

15· ·know where those numbers are.· This is an ongoing

16· ·discussion with members of the marine environmental

17· ·working group.· To assist in that discussion, we have

18· ·provided a power analysis based on our 2019 data, and

19· ·we will be presenting on our 2020 data shortly, which

20· ·will include a power analysis as well where that will

21· ·be discussed further.· Thank you.




25· ·thank you, Phil, for that response.

26· · · · I'm going to move on to the next slide, Slide 55,

·1· ·"Recorded Harvest Data".· I have a few questions here

·2· ·only to make sure that our understanding is consistent

·3· ·with each other.· Prior to 1999, quotas were

·4· ·established by the Government of Canada based on

·5· ·historic local catch records, which you've labelled in

·6· ·the white boxes, and that was established at 100.

·7· ·Those are not based on any biological value of the care

·8· ·and capacity of the population or stock.

·9· · · · Is it also your understanding that the increase

10· ·you've noted since 2013 actually reflects the

11· ·implementation of the Nunavut Agreement in which a

12· ·total allowable harvest that is based on the stock size

13· ·was required and implemented through a Nunavut wildlife

14· ·management board decision and an integrated fisheries

15· ·management plan?· Thank you.



18· · · · I'll ask Lou Kamermans to respond.· Thank you.




22· · · · So just noting the point made by the intervenor,

23· ·that is why that graph has the allocated tags outlined

24· ·on it to show harvesting not just in its absolute

25· ·levels, but also in relation to the tags available each

26· ·year.· So this slide is also just meant to complement

·1· ·what was shown on the previous slide and expand the

·2· ·available data set that we have around not just narwhal

·3· ·abundance in the area, but to also demonstrate what's

·4· ·been recorded in terms of harvesting.

·5· · · · Moving forward, we think this type of data will be

·6· ·helpful in our monitoring programs, especially as we

·7· ·move into having the formalized culture, resource, and

·8· ·land-use monitoring program running parallel with our

·9· ·environmental monitoring programs.· Thank you.



12· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

13· · · · David Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.· And

14· ·thank you, Lou, for that response.

15· · · · Another -- I think our understanding is consistent

16· ·and just to clarify the figure so that it isn't

17· ·misinterpreted.· The red line was shown to be not the

18· ·TH, but the allocation, and I just would like

19· ·Baffinland to confirm that they are aware that the

20· ·allocation has been increasing since 2013 and

21· ·significantly as a result of a carryover system

22· ·implemented through the fisheries management plan and

23· ·the Nunavut wildlife management board.

24· · · · So, in fact, one of the reasons for the increase

25· ·in the red line is due to the amount of narwhal that

26· ·are being carried over from previous years that have

·1· ·not been harvested by the community.· Thank you.



·4· · · · Yes.· We acknowledge that that is why the red line

·5· ·is increasing on that slide, but isn't -- isn't the

·6· ·purpose of why we were showing this graph.

·7· · · · Instead, we were using this to demonstrate

·8· ·harvesting data from the local community and that this

·9· ·has remained relatively stable over the last number of

10· ·years.· Thank you.




14· ·Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and thank you,

15· ·Megan, for your response.

16· · · · Yes.· This -- I think we have a common

17· ·understanding that this was to demonstrate that

18· ·harvesting is continuing by Inuit in Pond Inlet.

19· ·However, the -- as was noted, the harvest levels are

20· ·fluctuating dramatically since 2015.· My next question

21· ·related to that is:· Is Baffinland aware that DFO

22· ·science in 2020 has recommended that the total

23· ·allowable landed catch for the Eclipse Sound stock be

24· ·reduced from 230 to approximately 117?· Thank you.



·1· · · · Madam Chair, I believe this is something for

·2· ·Fisheries and Oceans to speak to more appropriately.

·3· ·However, we are aware that a similar recommendation was

·4· ·made in 2016 that was ultimately deferred.· Thank you.



·7· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

·8· · · · David Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

·9· ·Thank you for that response.· I agree.· So I will defer

10· ·that question to Fisheries and Oceans.

11· · · · And one follow-up correction, it is not 230.

12· ·It's, in fact, 242.

13· · · · Moving on to my next question.· This relates to

14· ·acoustics.· Could you please describe some of the

15· ·uncertainty that is associated with a lack of an

16· ·empirically-based hearing threshold for narwhal, that

17· ·is, an audiogram?· For example, how would differences

18· ·of a few decibels in hearing threshold affect the

19· ·predictions in the models such as masking and

20· ·communication of narwhal in terms of listening space as

21· ·you had eloquently described previously?· Thank you.



24· · · · I'll ask Melanie Austin to respond.· Thank you.



·1· ·Melanie Austin from JASCO for Baffinland.

·2· · · · The question is around the hearing threshold for

·3· ·narwhal and uncertainty around that.· Hearing threshold

·4· ·information, also referred to as audiogram information,

·5· ·is collected experimentally normally from -- it's not

·6· ·captured, but animals that are available to be tested

·7· ·in an aquarium.· So there are no tests specifically on

·8· ·narwhal.· There has been testing done on beluga, which

·9· ·would be the most similar representative species.

10· · · · Within the same hearing group of mid-frequency

11· ·cetaceans, it would include animals like killer whales

12· ·that have also been tested for their hearing

13· ·thresholds.· So we estimate what we think narwhal

14· ·hearing thresholds are, based on these other animals.

15· · · · In the calculations of listening range reduction,

16· ·we compare the vessel noise either to the background

17· ·noise in the water or to the hearing threshold for the

18· ·animal, whichever of those two numbers is the highest.

19· · · · In JASCO's analysis, we compare vessel noise to a

20· ·representative hearing threshold from multiple

21· ·measurements of multiple different types of

22· ·mid-frequency cetaceans.· We believe this is the most

23· ·representative comparison for narwhal, and provides the

24· ·most conservative estimation of the listening range

25· ·reduction.

26· · · · By comparison, the analysis provided by Scripps

·1· ·Institute of Oceanography considers the hearing

·2· ·threshold only for beluga, but this is based on a very

·3· ·small sample of animals and results in a lower

·4· ·threshold that is -- we don't believe as representative

·5· ·of what we expect for narwhal.

·6· · · · We do have some additional slides prepared that

·7· ·show an image of an audiogram if that would be

·8· ·instructive at this point.· Thank you.




12· ·David Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and thank

13· ·you, Melanie, for your response.

14· · · · Not to belabour the point or repeat my question --

15· ·perhaps I can rephrase it.· I understand you've used

16· ·the best modelling available and standard models for

17· ·the modelling exercise.· I was curious how you captured

18· ·the uncertainty of not having an audiogram for

19· ·species --

20· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·David Lee, if you can please

21· ·slow down for the interpreters.

22· ·MR. LEE:· · · · · · · · ·My apologies.

23· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Oh, you're cutting off a

24· ·little bit.· You're cutting off a little bit.· If you

25· ·could just back up.


·1· · · · If I can just rephrase or follow up, I would like

·2· ·to know or could you please describe the uncertainty

·3· ·associated with not having an audiogram for narwhal,

·4· ·which you've already mentioned is usually captured in

·5· ·an experimental situation, given that the two species

·6· ·diverged about five to six million years ago and

·7· ·narwhal occupy an environment that may overlap with

·8· ·beluga in some areas, but is certainly different in

·9· ·others.· Thank you.



12· · · · I'll ask Melanie Austin to provide the response.

13· ·Thank you.


15· ·MS. AUSTIN:· · · · · · · Thank you.· Melanie Austin

16· ·from JASCO for Baffinland.

17· · · · A couple of things to note.· One is that Beluga

18· ·and narwhal belong to the same family of animals.· We

19· ·expect they have similar physiology, morphology, ear

20· ·structures, and similar hearing ranges due to their

21· ·close evolutionary relationship.· Their vocalizations

22· ·also occur in similar frequency bands.

23· · · · As mentioned, to address this uncertainty in the

24· ·modelling, we make conservative assumptions where we

25· ·have uncertainties, but ultimately these calculations

26· ·of listening range reduction are to help provide a

·1· ·better understanding of the potential for masking, but

·2· ·these details do not change our effects assessment as

·3· ·masking is assessed qualitatively because of this

·4· ·uncertainty.

·5· · · · Additionally, there are no current thresholds to

·6· ·understand where the listening range reduction becomes

·7· ·biologically significant.· Thank you.




11· · · · David Lee for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and

12· ·thank you, Melanie and Megan, for your responses.

13· ·That's greatly appreciated.· No further questions from

14· ·me.

15· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet, Joshua

16· ·Arreak.

17· ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet Questions Baffinland Iron Mines

18· ·Corporation

19· ·MR. ARREAK:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair. I

20· ·will have two questions; Moses will have a question;

21· ·Frank Tester also will have a question.

22· · · · Just to mention, I (NO ENGLISH FEED) a commitment,

23· ·and leaving tomorrow, and I'm sure our deputy mayor,

24· ·Moses, will represent the hamlet, and we had delegated

25· ·another person, but he's been sick over a week, and I

26· ·hope that he'll get better. (INUKTITUT SPOKEN - NO

·1· ·TRANSLATION)

·2· ·THE INTERPRETER:· · · · ·Sorry.

·3· ·MR. ARREAK:· · · · · · · In 24 -- I hoped that he would

·4· ·get better.· I may be leaving tomorrow.

·5· · · · Perhaps in Slide 24 that we're talking about, it's

·6· ·talking about warming or a change in temperature or

·7· ·salinity -- change in salinity, so maybe people don't

·8· ·really consider if there's not -- not much salt, but

·9· ·there's a concern because we have -- these are our

10· ·wildlife.· Our seals are our food, so when they are not

11· ·in salt water, they tend to sink easily.· Less salt,

12· ·they sink easily more, and sometimes we lose them

13· ·because they sink.· If we shoot them, if they're not in

14· ·salt water, and they cannot be replaced.· Perhaps they

15· ·should be replaced if -- not having enough salt also

16· ·changes the ice.· The ice conditions change because

17· ·there is less salt in the ice, and it breaks easily.

18· ·So because of climate change and the salinity in the

19· ·ocean, does that -- are you -- is it known that these

20· ·things are the result of climate change?· That's my

21· ·first question.



24· · · · I'll ask Lou Kamermans to respond.· Thank you.




·2· · · · Thanks for bringing up that question.· I think

·3· ·it's a really important one because we're having a lot

·4· ·of conversations here about a project, but we're

·5· ·talking about a project that's taking place in a

·6· ·dynamic environment where there's a lot happening, and

·7· ·climate change is one of them.· So some of the changes

·8· ·people are seeing are not always related to the

·9· ·project, they're related to larger things that are

10· ·happening that the project is happening within.

11· · · · So the simple answer to your question is, yes, we

12· ·do take that into consideration in our monitoring

13· ·programs and in our modelling that we've done for

14· ·Phase 2.· In our annual reports, you'll often see us

15· ·talk about our monitoring program results, and then

16· ·we'll also include discussions of how these relate to

17· ·climate change.

18· · · · But as far as our project goes and changing the

19· ·salinity of the water around the project, that's why we

20· ·provided the images on Slides 25 and 26 because we want

21· ·to address that concern some people may have and show

22· ·how little ballast water our vessels are releasing

23· ·compared to the area they're releasing it in.· And then

24· ·showing the coffee mug as an example of all of the

25· ·freshwater that's coming in naturally every year from

26· ·the land around it.

·1· · · · And it's also important that all of our vessels

·2· ·conduct ballast water exchanges on their way to Milne

·3· ·Port, and we conduct compliance testing on every vessel

·4· ·that comes to Milne Port to ensure they've done this

·5· ·and to make certain that the salinity in the ballast

·6· ·water tanks matches closely with that of Milne Port.

·7· ·Thank you.

·8· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet, Joshua

·9· ·Arreak.

10· ·MR. ARREAK:· · · · · · · Thank you, Chairperson.

11· ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet, Joshua Arreak.

12· · · · So in terms of not having enough salt or less

13· ·salinity, so sometimes the ballast water is returned

14· ·when it doesn't have enough salt?· I believe that's

15· ·true.· So when there was a meeting also this fall, it

16· ·was indicated that there are invasive species in the

17· ·area, and there's a concern for us there, that it may

18· ·be touching the wildlife that we have here.· Perhaps

19· ·we're not sure how many years.· For those that -- we

20· ·don't know how many times in the previous years people

21· ·have travelled up here from outside of the Arctic, and

22· ·is it known in terms of invasive species if they are

23· ·increasing?· Where are they coming from?· Are they

24· ·coming from the ballast water?· Are they coming from

25· ·the bottom of the ship?· How are they carried into and

26· ·out?· That's the end of my questions.· I'll turn it

·1· ·over to Moses.

·2· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Fisheries and Oceans Canada

·3· ·should also take that as a deferred question to them as

·4· ·well.

·5· · · · Baffinland, Megan Lord-Hoyle.


·7· · · · I'll ask Marina Winterbottom to provide an answer.

·8· ·Thank you.

·9· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Marina Winterbottom.


11· ·Marina Winterbottom with Golder Associates for

12· ·Baffinland.

13· · · · To answer your question, there are typically two

14· ·main ways invasive species get introduced via shipping.

15· ·One is ballast water and the other is ship hulls.· So

16· ·they're sticking to the bottom or hull of the ship.

17· ·That said, I want to make clear that there has been no

18· ·confirmation of an invasive species at Milne Port to

19· ·date.

20· · · · What we have seen is one species of worm that

21· ·lives in the mud flagged as potentially non-indigenous.

22· · · · I say possibly because marine organisms of the

23· ·Canadian Arctic, especially microscopic ones like worms

24· ·that live in the sediment are poorly described.· There

25· ·are several documented historical occurrences of this

26· ·worm in the Canadian Arctic and Baffin Island dating

·1· ·back to 1970s or '80s, so it may have always lived in

·2· ·Arctic waters and just not been noticed before.

·3· · · · In the last few weeks, our team has sent a

·4· ·specimen of this worm to an expert for further

·5· ·analysis.· Nonetheless, this confirms that our

·6· ·monitoring programs are functioning as intended and

·7· ·will continue under a Phase 2 scenario and, in fact, be

·8· ·expanded to include developing a trigger list and rapid

·9· ·response plans for high-risk species in collaboration

10· ·with DFO.· Thank you, Madam Chair.

11· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet, Moses

12· ·Koonark.

13· ·MR. KOONARK:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair, from

14· ·the Hamlet of Pond Inlet.

15· · · · On page 13 of the presentation, I want to comment

16· ·about -- like, you see a picture of a narwhal, and I

17· ·will explain a bit about what I've seen.

18· · · · In 1992, the department -- I was working for the

19· ·Department of Fisheries and Oceans as a narwhal

20· ·monitor, and my supervisor was from DFO, and he came

21· ·from Winnipeg, and I had to measure the length of the

22· ·fat and the size of the fluke and the size of the

23· ·narwhal.

24· · · · I used to measure narwhals, and also I used to

25· ·measure the thickness of the blubber and also the

26· ·stomach area.· According to the -- according to the

·1· ·measurements, if the thickness was 5, then that was

·2· ·very healthy, and I had to document them all.

·3· · · · And the guy from Department of Fisheries and

·4· ·Oceans also recorded the measurements as well, so that

·5· ·is how we used to do research on narwhal when they were

·6· ·harvested, and I can say that they are physically

·7· ·different.

·8· · · · And I will also be making an additional comment.

·9· ·Right now I want to ask a question first.· Thank you,

10· ·Madam Chair.



13· · · · May I ask for a clarification on the question. I

14· ·believe I just heard a comment.· I don't know what the

15· ·question was.· Thank you.

16· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet.

17· ·MR. KOONARK:· · · · · · ·Madam Chair, thank you.

18· · · · Yes.· I can elaborate on that.· As I mentioned

19· ·earlier, like, it's totally different -- the physical

20· ·appearance of the narwhal are totally different now.

21· ·Narwhals, we noticed the narwhals observed last year,

22· ·like, the blubber was very thin.· It's about -- less

23· ·than 4 inches thick.· The narwhal's blubber was less

24· ·than 4 inches thick, and one can assume that they are

25· ·hungry and also sick in the waters.

26· · · · Baffinland always says they have no significant

·1· ·impact on narwhal, but it's apparent that narwhals are

·2· ·impacted in our waters.· And if the thickness of the

·3· ·blubber is 3 inches, then you include the skin, so the

·4· ·thickness was about 3-and-a-half inches.· So can I get

·5· ·a response, Madam Chair?· Thank you.


·7· ·MS. LORD-HOYLE:· · · · · Megan Lord-Hoyle.

·8· · · · Thank you for providing that extra context.· I'll

·9· ·ask Phil Rouget to respond to this.· Thank you.


11· ·MR. ROUGET:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Phil

12· ·Rouget, Golder Associates for Baffinland.· Thank you

13· ·for sharing this information.

14· · · · We do acknowledge and we have heard from the

15· ·community that skinny narwhal have been observed and

16· ·reported by different community members over the last

17· ·several years.· It's quite possible that narwhal do

18· ·have less fat reserves and are showing up on the

19· ·summering grounds in poor body condition, and this

20· ·could lead to animals being observed sinking after

21· ·being shot, which is what we've heard from the

22· ·community.

23· · · · Given what we know about narwhal diet and foraging

24· ·behavior, observations of skinnier narwhal are likely

25· ·reflective of what is happening during winter and

26· ·during spring more so than what's happening on their

·1· ·summer calving ground, animals we do believe in the

·2· ·Eclipse Sound area, but the historical data does

·3· ·indicate that animals get the large portion of their

·4· ·food energy during the winter and during the spring on

·5· ·their winter feeding grounds in Baffin Bay and

·6· ·Davis Strait where they prey heavily on Greenland

·7· ·halibut each year.

·8· · · · This area is well documented to be going through a

·9· ·rapidly changing environment due to climate change and

10· ·impacts on sea ice, which, in turn, is predicted to

11· ·have implications on the Arctic food web, including

12· ·Greenland halibut.

13· · · · There is also additional pressure on halibut and

14· ·other fisheries in this area because of expanded

15· ·fisheries in these areas that compete with narwhal food

16· ·prey.

17· · · · A similar thing is occurring with Arctic cod,

18· ·another component of narwhal diet also thought to be

19· ·declining in numbers due to the increased length of the

20· ·open water season tied to climate change.

21· · · · The scientific community does not understand how

22· ·narwhal are coping with this change in foraging

23· ·behaviour and how that might be affecting their

24· ·energetic requirement.

25· · · · As part of Baffinland program, we do not currently

26· ·measure blubber thickness or body condition as an

·1· ·indicator on the project because we do not believe

·2· ·there is a direct pathway between shipping and other

·3· ·project activities and potential for those activities

·4· ·to affect fitness to the level of blubber reduction.

·5· · · · We don't deny there's a possible cumulative effect

·6· ·of shipping along with other stressors on these animals

·7· ·such as those I've explained, but also predation,

·8· ·hunting, and sea ice changes.

·9· · · · We see this being an important indicator for the

10· ·animal as a whole so we can understand what's happening

11· ·to narwhal, but we view this as a regional initiative

12· ·led by the responsible resource manager, in this case

13· ·Fisheries and Oceans, largely because skinnier narwhal

14· ·are likely a source of prey reductions, which is under

15· ·the mandate of Fisheries and Ocean.· Baffinland is

16· ·willing to work with other parties to help solve this

17· ·mystery, and this may be done in a number of different

18· ·manners, which can be discussed with the other parties

19· ·in future.· Thank you.

20· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet, Moses

21· ·Koonark.

22· ·MR. KOONARK:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

23· · · · I don't agree with part of the answers, and my

24· ·reason is, like, you -- Slide 59 and 60 and 61 and 62,

25· ·the narwhal you see there apparently are swimming away

26· ·from something.· We, as Inuit, understand that they're

·1· ·apparently swimming away from something.· They appear

·2· ·to be scared, and, therefore, narwhal are swimming away

·3· ·from whatever.

·4· · · · Like, I can say if Phase 2 were to proceed,

·5· ·narwhals -- that more narwhals will be swimming away

·6· ·from -- when there are too many ships traversing

·7· ·through our waters.· Maybe you want to respond to that?

·8· ·To my question, like, the fact that the picture

·9· ·indicates that narwhal is swimming away from something.

10· ·Thank you.



13· · · · Thank you for pointing that out in regards to the

14· ·photo.· I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for you

15· ·as I don't know where or when that photo was taken, so

16· ·I don't know what it is that the narwhal are

17· ·specifically doing in that photo or would have been

18· ·close to at the time, but perhaps that's something that

19· ·we can look into for future use of this photo.· Thank

20· ·you.

21· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet.

22· ·MR. KOONARK:· · · · · · ·Thank you, Madam Chair.

23· · · · Like I mentioned, like, that -- looking at the

24· ·picture, I told the Panel that narwhal are swimming

25· ·away from something.

26· · · · If Phase 2 were to proceed, if you -- like,

·1· ·looking at the condition of the blubber last summer,

·2· ·some of them were about 3 inches thick, and if you're

·3· ·going to increase the number of the ships, then you --

·4· ·the thickness will become 2 and a half.· That is a

·5· ·likely scenario.· So these are dire -- the narwhal

·6· ·would be in a dire situation when a lot of ships will

·7· ·be traversing if Phase 2 were to be approved.· That is

·8· ·all for now, Madam Chair.· Thank you.



11· ·Again, thank you for sharing, and I do, I suppose, want

12· ·to add that it's not the first time that we've heard

13· ·around narwhal being skinnier, so we are -- or less

14· ·fat.· So this is something that we are very interested

15· ·in supporting more research on.

16· · · · I think Phil went into some of the more scientific

17· ·reasons why we don't feel that this is a direct cause

18· ·related to shipping.· There may be climate change

19· ·reasons that are changing some of the food source --

20· ·food sources for narwhal in other areas that may be

21· ·causing this to occur, but we would be happy to support

22· ·community -- or Fisheries and Oceans based programming

23· ·to help better understand why this is occurring.· Thank

24· ·you.

25· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Hamlet of Pond Inlet, Frank

26· ·Tester.

·1· ·MR. TESTER:· · · · · · · Thank you.· Madam Chair, Frank

·2· ·Tester, technical advisor, Hamlet of Pond Inlet.

·3· · · · Can I ask a quick question?· What time are we

·4· ·adjourning this evening?· I notice we're heading for --

·5· ·I think your time is 9:30.· Am I being heard?

·6· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·Sorry.· We'll rest for tonight

·7· ·at 9:30, so if you wanted to pose your question.

·8· ·MR. TESTER:· · · · · · · Thank you, Madam Chair.· Frank

·9· ·Tester, technical advisor, Hamlet of Pond Inlet.

10· · · · I think it fair to say, based on the discussion

11· ·that we've just had -- and I -- I want to thank Moses

12· ·for walking into a topic that the hamlet also feels is

13· ·quite important.· But I think it's fair to say that

14· ·we're in muddy waters.· There is, as Phil has

15· ·acknowledged -- as Baffinland has acknowledged, a lot

16· ·of things that interact -- that are cumulative.· Things

17· ·that we don't know, and sometimes the best that we can

18· ·do is as Phil has done, we can say, Well, we do not

19· ·believe but, of course, it follows from that we also

20· ·don't know.

21· · · · That being the case, it occurs to me that what

22· ·we're talking about really points to the precautionary

23· ·principle that's associated with adaptive management,

24· ·which Baffinland is committed to.

25· · · · So in light of all this, I'm wondering why it is

26· ·that elements related to impact of shipping on marine

·1· ·mammals are given the rating that they are in the

·2· ·environmental impact assessment document?· Would it not

·3· ·be more honest to say that in this case, things are

·4· ·indeterminant?

·5· ·THE CHAIR:· · · · · · · ·It is now evening.

·6· · · · (NO ENGLISH FEED) tonight and we'll go to a

·7· ·response from Baffinland to Hamlet of Pond Inlet's

·8· ·question tomorrow morning at 9.

·9· · · · Have a nice evening.

10· ·______________________________________________________

11· ·PROCEEDINGS ADJOURNED UNTIL 9:00 AM, JANUARY 30, 2021

12· ·______________________________________________________

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·2· ·CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIPT:

·3

·4· · · · We, Sandra Burns and Andres Vidal, certify that

·5· ·the foregoing pages are a complete and accurate

·6· ·transcript of the proceedings taken down by us in

·7· ·shorthand and transcribed from our shorthand notes to

·8· ·the best of our skill and ability.

·9· · · · Dated at the City of Edmonton, Province of

10· ·Alberta, this 17th day of February 2021.

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14· ·________________________________

15· ·Sandra Burns, CSR(A), RPR, CRR

16· ·Official Court Reporter

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22· ·Andres Vidal, CSR(A)

23· ·Official Court Reporter

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PHASE 2 DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL - MARY RIVER IRON

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Transcript of PHASE 2 DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROPOSAL - MARY RIVER IRON