The relationship between Kanngiqtugaapik/Clyde River and Greenpeace:An Interview with Mayor Jerry Natanine
For six years the Town of Kanngiqtugaapik/Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada battled Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) about its approval for seismic testing near the community (Tasker, 2017). The NEB regulates “pipelines, energy development and trade in the Canadian public interest” (National Energy B...
| Published in: | ARCTIC |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/8406c1ff-84c5-4a54-a803-4aca98e4312c https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic72299 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/issue/view/5255 |
| Summary: | For six years the Town of Kanngiqtugaapik/Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada battled Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) about its approval for seismic testing near the community (Tasker, 2017). The NEB regulates “pipelines, energy development and trade in the Canadian public interest” (National Energy Board, 2018) but in this case the NEB stood accused of circumventing the public interest of the community and failing to do proper, and mandatory, consultation with the community and its Inuit land claim beneficiary residents. In a landmark series of events, the people of Kanngiqtugaapik/Clyde River partnered with Greenpeace to challenge the NEB in the Supreme Court of Canada. On the 26 July 2017 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the community’s argument that the “proposed testing could negatively affect the treaty rights of the Inuit of Clyde River, who opposed the seismic testing, alleging that the duty to consult had not been fulfilled in relation to it” would be upheld (Supreme Court Judgments, 2017). On the 19th December 2018, I had an opportunity to talk by telephone with Mr. Jerry Natanine, Mayor of Kanngiqtugaapik /Clyde River. Mr. Natanine led the effort to protect his community and have Inuit treaty rights respected by the NEB. The following is a transcript of our conversation and his insights into the working relationship with Greenpeace, how it developed, and what role it played in assisting the efforts of Kanngiqtugaapik/Clyde River to have its rights respected. |
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