“nation-building” projects<\/a> he’s recommending for quicker approval by the government’s Major Projects Office. NNC is eyeing a possible site 60 kilometres northwest of Iqaluit by the Kuugaaluk River.\u00a0<\/p>\nBut Pangnirtung MLA Johnny Mike says there\u2019s misinformation surrounding what support Pangnirtung\u2019s hamlet, hunters and trappers organization (HTO) and Panniqtuurmiut at large have given the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mike says he has many environmental concerns about the project and its effects on the\u00a0 commercial fishery businesses who rely on the river.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe depend on the fish like char for recreational and commercial [use],\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s abundance of wildlife in that area that will be negatively impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike says he also has concerns about the impact survey being done. He says the Qikiqtani Inuit Association supported Kuugaaluk as the location for a survey without consulting Panniqtuurmiut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pang people at the meeting last year never supported the survey. I also did not support it to a point where I thought that survey wasn’t going on,\u201d Mike said. \u201cBut it happened in Kuugaaluk this past summer and it was kind of mind blowing.”<\/p>\n
WATCH | Pangnirtung MLA voices concerns over proposed NNC hydro project:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769806395_868_default.jpg\")
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Pangnirtung MLA voices concerns over proposed NNC hydro project<\/p>\n
Pangnirtung’s MLA says there\u2019s misinformation surrounding what support Pangnirtung’s hamlet, hunters and trappers organization, and residents have given Nunavut Nukkiksautit Corporation\u2019s proposed hydro project. CBC’s Bianca McKeown reports. NNC says it’s listening to concerns <\/p>\n
The manager of strategy and engagement at NNC, Jess Puddester, said NNC met with the hamlet and HTO last May and received \u201cgood feedback\u201d for doing data collection studies at Kuugaaluk. <\/p>\n
She said all the studies that took place at Kuugaaluk in 2025 were permitted and approved by the required regulatory bodies, including the Nunavut Planning Commission and Nunavut Impact Review Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Puddester said NNC is listening to Panniqtuurmiut concerns about the changes to the river and land at the river\u2019s outlet and impacts to fish. She also defended the site selection process, which included public consultation in Iqaluit, but not Pangnirtung.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s many years before we come to a decision point around if this project proceeds. It’s early in the process,\u201d she said. \u201cWe’re only studying and we can’t be in a position to even ask Inuit if it makes sense to proceed with this project until we’ve brought together all those very valid concerns and we’ve studied them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Puddester said NNC is still working to see what the impacts of the project could be before going to Inuit leadership at QIA and Qikiqtaaluk Corporation for direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mike says he does support the clean energy project, he just wants the Kuugaaluk location to be changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the survey can be reposition[ed] to another location in the perimeter of [the] City of Iqaluit,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Puddester said studies started in September 2024 looking at the river flow at Kuugaaluk and the data from these impact studies will be released during public information sessions in early March.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are still two more phases that need to be passed and approved by Inuit leadership before any construction will be considered, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-443761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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