{"id":285973,"date":"2025-11-16T03:12:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T03:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/285973\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T03:12:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T03:12:29","slug":"iqaluit-hydroelectric-proposal-warrants-major-project-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/285973\/","title":{"rendered":"Iqaluit hydroelectric proposal warrants \u2018major project\u2019 status"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who cares whether building a hydroelectricity generator in Iqaluit is truly a nation-building project?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a project whose time has come. And since Prime Minister Mark Carney is eager to \u201cturbocharge\u201d the Canadian economy by fast-tracking approval for infrastructure projects, Iqaluit and Nunavut might as well get in line for whatever support comes with that.<\/p>\n

Last week, Heather Shilton, the executive director of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp.,\u00a0said in a speech that building a hydro plant in Iqaluit would help make it a \u201cmodern Arctic capital<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her company is behind the plan to build a dam along the Kuugaluk River, about 60 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit, and a generator that would produce enough electricity to replace Iqaluit\u2019s diesel-burning electricity generator.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, both the Globe and Mail and CBC \u2014 citing unnamed sources \u2014 reported Carney was set to include the Iqaluit hydro project on a list of at least six so-called \u201cnation-building<\/a>\u201d projects he was to announce Thursday.<\/p>\n

(The reliance of some national media on unnamed sources has been the topic of a previous editorial<\/a>. It\u2019s one of the things that, unfortunately, fuels the public\u2019s distrust in media.)<\/p>\n

Carney has been pushing nation-building projects since he became prime minister in the spring. It\u2019s partly his Liberal government\u2019s response to the economic uncertainty created by some of the trade policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The thinking is that fast-tracking projects that will strengthen Canada\u2019s economy in the future will help offset any downturn caused by Trump\u2019s protectionist tariffs.<\/p>\n

In some cases, what Carney\u2019s Liberals refer to as \u201cmajor projects\u201d will get federal government funding to help get them done. In other cases, the government\u2019s role will be simply to help them move quickly through regulatory processes by streamlining environmental assessments and other red tape that typically slows progress.<\/p>\n

Plans for an Iqaluit hydro project, however, have long called for direct federal government funding to build it. Ottawa has already kicked in $26 million for studies. Hopefully, that\u2019s a signal it\u2019s willing to chip in on construction.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not known how much the Iqaluit hydro project will cost. Back in 2017, when Qulliq Energy Corp. was considering it, the price tag stood at $500 million \u2014 and the cost of everything has only gone up since then.<\/p>\n

But the federal government\u2019s definition of what makes something a \u201cnation-building\u201d project has been a little bit loose.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not perfectly clear how a hydro plant that would serve one remote city that\u2019s not connected by a grid to any other community would contribute to the building up of the Canadian economy.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

However, Nunavut leaders, including Premier P.J. Akeeagok and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Jeremy Tunraluk, have linked the Iqlauit hydro project to Arctic sovereignty and security.<\/p>\n

The hydro project is one of four proposals they have promoted as the ones Nunavut can contribute toward Ottawa\u2019s nation-building plan.<\/p>\n

For Canada to assert its sovereignty in the Arctic, it needs to have people living in the North. And those people need electricity.<\/p>\n

That feels like a bit of a stretch, when the government is aggressively pushing new infrastructure. But there appears to be a low bar for what Ottawa considers \u201cnation-building.\u201d<\/p>\n

A strong enough case has been made for the hydro project that it deserves to be on Carney\u2019s major projects list.<\/p>\n

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