December 16, 2011

National

NEB set to allow alternative for relief-well rule in Arctic (December 15, 2011): The federal energy regulator is easing a controversial regulation that oil companies say would prevent exploration in the ice-plagued Arctic offshore, but is promising to impose a high bar for environmental protection before it permits drilling. After an 18-month review the National Energy Board said it would maintain its controversial relief-well regulation, but would give companies a de facto exemption if they can demonstrate they have alternative methods to quickly kill a blowout.

Ottawa sinks Norwegian plan to raise the Maud (December 16, 2011): Canadian authorities have stymied an ambitious Norwegian scheme to salvage the Maud, a decaying Arctic ship once commanded by the legendary polar explorer, Roald Amundsen. Maud Returns Home, the Norwegian group in charge of the multimillion-dollar operation, said Thursday it had been denied an export permit. It is “surprising,” the group’s leader, Jan Wanggaard told the Norwegian newspaper Budstikka. “Ever since we sent in the application … we did not think it would be a big problem.”

Filing Requirements for Arctic Offshore Drilling Respond to Northern Input (December 15, 2011): The National Energy Board (NEB or the Board) released filing requirements today for future applications to drill in the Canadian Arctic Offshore. The Filing Requirements, a companion document to The Past is Always Present, Review of Offshore Drilling in the Canadian Arctic report, Preparing for the Future, follows several months of extensive consultation carried out across the North during the NEB's Arctic Review.  During the Arctic Review, many Northern residents stated that if drilling is to be authorized in the unique Arctic environment, it must be done right.

Regional

Grise Fiord finally gets food shipment (December 15, 2011): Community struggling to feed its people For weeks, the people of Grise Fiord, Nunavut, have been confronted with a desperate reality – empty coolers at the local Co-op store. Hamlet officials say meat, milk and dairy products have been left behind over the past four to six weeks because First Air gives priority to other cargo and passengers who travel as far as Resolute, Nunavut. As of Thursday afternoon, one small shipment of food – about 100 kilograms – arrived in the community. The food was bought up by residents before the Co-op store could even unpack it.

Overcrowded housing crippling the North's future: Report (December 15, 2011): While the Attawapiskat crisis has grabbed the nations' attention, a new report says overcrowded housing across communities of the North is one of the biggest barriers to Inuit health and well-being. Released Wednesday, the report "If Not Now . . . When? Addressing the Ongoing Inuit Housing Crisis in Canada" was produced by Inuit Tuttarvingat of the National Aboriginal Health Organization.

Overcrowded housing crippling the North’s future: report (December 15, 2011): "Why has this well-documented crisis continued unresolved over many decades?" Overcrowded housing across the Inuit Nunangat is one of the biggest barriers to Inuit health and well-being, says a new report. Released Dec. 14, the report If Not Now…When? Addressing the Ongoing Inuit Housing Crisis in Canada was produced by Inuit Tuttarvingat of the National Aboriginal Health Organization.

NAM back on track, says new interim president (December 16, 2011): A special meeting of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities has helped rally support for an organization that lost its way, say its members. NAM’s board of directors came together for a special meeting in Iqaluit Dec. 6 to re-group, reviews by-laws and chart a course for 2012.

MLAs talk poverty at Legislative Assembly (December 15, 2011): Poverty was the overwhelming theme at the Legislative Assembly Wednesday afternoon. Several MLAs questioned cabinet members about how they plan to deal with the problem. Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro questioned Premier Bob McLeod about an anti-poverty strategy for the NWT. She said it is extremely important to have many voices help draft the long-term plan, not just bureaucrats.

Nitrogen from human activity has polluted remote lakes (December 15, 2011): If you ever wanted to visit a pristine Arctic lake, you're probably about 100 years too late. A study involving 13 universities and research institutes, including two from Canada, has found nitrogen resulting from human activities has polluted remote lakes throughout the northern hemisphere for more than a century. Simply put, burning fossil fuels and using agricultural fertilizers increases the amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere. The gas finds its way into lakes through rain or snow.

Quebec’s Laval university gets a new research position (December 15, 2011): Makivik, AccelorMittal and ArcticNet give $1.1 million over five years for research on the sustainable development of the North Laval university in Quebec City has a new research position, called a “chair,” devoted to northern studies, this time for a researcher to study northern sustainable development. Makivik Corp., ArcelorMittal Mines Canada and ArcticNet chipped in $1.1 million over five years to the create the position, which will be held by researcher Thierry Rodon, said a Dec. 15 Laval news release.

New Weather Forecasting System for Labrador (December 15, 2011): Environment Canada has made a change to how they make their regional forecasts in Labrador. Rodney Barney is a Meteorologist with Environment Canada in Gander. He says a new weather forecasting service for Labrador came into effect on Tuesday. Previously the forecasts would be made for the areas of Goose Bay and vicinity, Nain to Hopedale and Postville to Cartwright.

Climate Change

Nunavut youth take an eye-opening trip to a southern African village (December 15, 2011): "Climate change is going to affect aboriginal people all over the world" A world of difference lies between a global climate change conference in a modern coastal South African city and life in an impoverished, rural state. That’s what Jordan Konek and Curtis Kuunaq of the Nanisiniq Arviat history project say since travelling to the state of Lesotho after the United Nations climate change conference in Durban wrapped up Dec. 9.

Higher temps in northern Quebec increase “greening,”  scientists show (December 16, 2011): "Changes in vegetation have been subtle" Scientists using a series of images from NASA satellites, have confirmed that warming temperatures in northern Quebec have increased the amount and extent of shrubs and grasses there — a an impact of warming which is visible to people who also live on the ground in Nunavik.

Climate change could alter polar bear behaviour: expert (December 15, 2011): They're etched onto our coins, are part of our national identity and lure tourists to the Arctic every year, but the majestic Canadian polar bear could pose a significant risk to northern communities if climate change continues to wreak havoc on its natural habitat. "It's potentially quite serious in terms of human-bear interactions," says Ian Stirling, an Edmonton-based scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service who has studied polar bears for 41 years.

Other

Canada has its head in the tar sands if it thinks embracing oil won’t destroy its fragile lands (December 16, 2011): It was nowhere near Durban — or Ottawa, for that matter — but in London that I heard this message from indigenous peoples. Patricia Cochran is a former chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which speaks for communities from Canada through Alaska to Siberia. “I have seen the benefits that come from [oil] royalties. Schools are better. There are swimming pools, gymnasiums, cars and jobs — all the result of billions of [oil] dollars,” she says. “But then in Barrow [Alaska’s oil capital] there are high rates of suicide and depression, while offshore drilling is a threat to subsistence whaling and the hunting of seals and walrus.

Governments must take the lead on roads, says report (December 15, 2011): A new report by the Conference Board of Canada says governments need to take the lead in building more all-season roads in the North. In Northern Assets: Transportation Infrastructure in Remote Communities, the organisation's Centre for the North uses a proposed 1,200 kilometre route between northern Manitoba and Rankin Inlet, that would cost an estimated $1.2 billion, as an example.

Icebreaker requested to save 100 whales trapped in Russia's Arctic (December 15, 2011): Off the east coast of the Russian Chukotka peninsula, winter has come hard and fast, freezing parts of the Bering Strait. Fifteen miles south of the village of Yanrakynnot in the Sinyavinsky Strait, 100 beluga whales are trapped in the ice. Hunters have reported that they are in two polynyas and are currently able to breathe freely. However, food and clean water will soon run out, and the whales will likely die of exhaustion or starvation if the ice is not soon broken up.

Manitoba woos China to invest in Churchill (December 15, 2011): The Manitoba government is wooing the world's second-largest economy in an effort to save the Port of Churchill on Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba. The consul general from the Chinese consulate in Toronto as well as his wife, and another consular official toured the port and the town of Churchill on Tuesday, showing interest in possibly investing to help keep the port alive.

Astronomers set to observe stars from Arctic (December 15, 2011): Researchers from the University of Toronto are heading to the High Arctic to set up an astronomical observatory near Eureka, Nunavut, on Ellesmere Island. The researchers, who will be the first to set up an observatory in the remote region, say the area has the best sky-gazing conditions in the world. The skies are clear, there’s little pollution or cloud cover and it’s constantly dark during the winter months. All these combine to make the spot an astronomer’s dream.

Prospects for Alaska gas line project not encouraging says speaker (December 15, 2011): The speaker of the State House does not have encouraging news on prospects for an Alaska gas pipeline. In an address to the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Speaker Mike Chenault of Kenai said the state is bound by the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) contract with Trans Canada and Exxon Mobil and cannot pursue another large diameter gas line without facing triple damages.