IQALUIT – February 24, 2011
Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit (Makita) today applauded the
announcement by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) President Cathy Towtongie
that the organization will conduct a “territorial-wide consultation
process on uranium.”
“We are very happy and relieved that the newly-elected leadership at
NTI has decided to review the Uranium Policy that the previous NTI
Board adopted,” said Makita Chairperson Sandra Inutiq.
“NTI’s existing Uranium Policy was developed and adopted on the basis
of one-sided information presented behind closed doors. The review of
the Uranium Policy should be a completely different kind of process,”
Ms. Inutiq said.
Makita hopes that NTI’s policy review process will be open and
transparent, with the full spectrum of information and opinion made
available to the Board and to the beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land
Claims Agreement.
NTI may also want to consider asking Nunavut Inuit to vote on the
question of whether or not to open the territory to the nuclear
industry. There has only been one public vote on the question of
uranium mining in Nunavut, a municipal plebiscite held in Baker Lake
twenty years ago. On March 26, 1990, 90.2% of the voters in Baker Lake
said NO to the proposed Kiggavik uranium mine.