If I may, I'm speaking from the Nunavut perspective, Mr. Chair. Again, just like I was talking about the partnership in managing the fishery with Inuit participation, Inuit are also at the table with our environmental review process. There is a co-management approach to environmental review in Nunavut. So when the Baffinland iron ore mine was going to ship iron ore year-round, ice-bound shipping, in a sensitive and delicate marine ecosystem, Inuit were at the table reviewing that project and placing some 200 conditions on the company relating to marine mammals, protection of the fishery, and monitoring the impact of icebreaking vessels on the fragile Arctic environment.
Yes, there's a potential for conflict and concern, but because of the collaborative approach—federal government, territorial government and Inuit—there's one table where these issues are presented and considered. The board has the independent authority to make recommendations basically as to whether a project should go ahead or not, and if so, under what conditions. I cite the Baffinland project because with the railroad on the permafrost and the marine shipping year-round—mind you, it's been scaled back since it was presented in that forum, and it's now going to be a summer shipping operation for the foreseeable future—with the full-blown proposal, the board found a way to establish conditions that would allow it to go ahead.
I think we have an effective way of balancing those sensitivities in Nunavut, and it's worth looking at.