Fall Migrations and the National Energy Board Meeting in Inuvik

co-authored by Dan Slavik and Rob Powell
The NEB Roundtable was launched following BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout and record-breaking spill into the Gulf of Mexico in the 2010. Since then, it seems like oil spills seem to be a lot more common than we remember (in Alberta, Michigan, the North Sea, and the NWT to name a few).
There are two main questions roundtable participants wanted answers to:

  1. How great a risk would offshore petroleum development pose to the Arctic environment?
  2. Can that risk be managed to ensure that a big blowout never happens here?

 
Along with our colleagues and counsel at Ecojustice, we have been trying to answer these questions since the roundtable was announced early in 2010 (if you’re really keen, you can check out our November, April and September submissions to the NEB).  We participated in the roundtable to share what we had learned, and to hear from the wide range of other presenters.

Will Amos (EcoJustice), Dan Slavik (WWF-Inuvik), Rob Powell (WWF-St.Albert), and Dave Burkhart (WWF- St. Albert, not pictured) on the shores of Campbell Lake, NWT. © Dan Slavik
It was an incredibly privilege to hear from the people who live on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.  The best moments of the roundtable were when we heard from these communities.  With humbling eloquence, they spoke of how grateful they are to live in the north, to be part of the north.  From high school students to community leaders and elders, everyone explained quietly, firmly and passionately that protecting their ocean and their animals isn’t an option for them; it’s a cultural imperative.  For them, the sea is the source of their food, their livelihood and their cultural identity.   Frank Pokiak, chair of the Inuvialuit Game Council put it this way: “Without the Beaufort Sea, there are no Inuvialuit.”
People also spoke about the urgent need for economic development in the North.  They want to participate fully in the wage economy.  They want their kids to have opportunities that will make their communities strong.   They want what we all want.  This too is an important message – one we hear and respect at WWF.   The Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Resource Development Principles in Inuit Nunaat declares that “Healthy communities and households require both a healthy environment and a healthy economy.”  Amen to that!

In the next month, snow will come and freeze-up will begin (although a lot later than it would happen in the past). The “experts” and “industrialists” have returned to their homes in the south, while the Inuit and Inuvialuit will continue their lives in the North, balancing a need for economic development with maintaining their cultural and subsistence livelihoods amidst a landscape that is changing.  WWF has heard this message and through our work in both “the south” and our new office in the Arctic, we hope to continue to work with the people of the North to develop a future that balances their priorities for a healthy environment, strong culture, and sustainable economic development.