Evidence of meeting #23 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was north.
A recording is available from Parliament.
President, Icefield Instruments Inc.
Our products are primarily used in mining, and primarily in the exploration phase, early in a project when they're just trying to define subsurface resources.
To be honest, I'm not aware of the regulatory regimes they have to operate under in Alaska, so I can't comment on that.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
I appreciate that.
Mr. Mackey, I was intrigued by all the logistics relating to supplying fuel to your various locations throughout the territory. You made it very clear that if you don't get the sealift, you are really out of luck.
What actually happens if either you misjudge quantity or you don't get the lift you're looking for? Does the community literally have to abandon ship for the season? Could you shed some light on what actually happens in that case?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Qulliq Energy Corporation
I certainly can.
In terms of fuel resupply, we tend to err on the side of having extra as opposed to having less. As a utility, we haven't run short. It's a little complicated in Nunavut, because we don't have bulk storage in all of our communities, so we rely on the petroleum products division of the Government of Nunavut to store some of our fuel. We will work through them, nominate the amount of fuel we want them to purchase for us, and they'll purchase and store it for us, and pay us as they deliver it.
Certainly some communities have run out, not because they were unable to determine the correct amount but because of late resupply, because of ice breakups being late, or the resupply ship coming in late. We recognize that some communities are going to run out of fuel. An airplane with fuel bladders flies in and tides them over until the resupply ship is able to get in.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
You mentioned the construction season during one of the questions from members. If your construction season is in the later part of the season—August, September, October—wouldn't there be any way to get out ahead of that so the first lift in at the front of the season could have the materials you need on it to start, say, in June or July, and then you could lengthen the season out some? Why is it that the actual season for construction is pushed off to the later end of that season?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Qulliq Energy Corporation
That's just from the perspective that it may be the first sealift resupply ship that's going to get in.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Qulliq Energy Corporation
In Iqaluit this year our first sealift resupply ship is not going to get there until the first part of July.
Typically the first ship to hit Nunavut is in Iqaluit.
The volume of resupply in Iqaluit is such that the ship can hit probably only one or two more communities before it's heading back south to get more resupply to bring back up.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
So even though you have a planning window literally a year in advance, and you're going to get all of the articles that are in the docket, and you've planned it ahead of time, and you know what you need, it really doesn't hit the ground until late summer?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
My goodness.
Okay, that's all my time.
Ms. Ashton, do you have another question at all?
Le Bloc n'a pas une autre question.
Go ahead, Ms. Ashton.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB
Thank you.
Perhaps on a similar theme, often we talk about how the north is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to climate change and the impacts on our environment and our communities, and most importantly on industry. We know that in our north very well.
I'd like to hear perhaps from all three of you about some of the challenges you're seeing as a result of changing patterns, especially in terms of infrastructure, with regard to melting permafrost, or the changes in seasons when it comes to shipping, and overall what it means for infrastructure and the impact on the work you do.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
We have about four minutes left, so there's about a minute and a bit each.
Let's go with Mr. Mackey, then Mr. Missal, then Mr. Blake.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Qulliq Energy Corporation
The biggest effect we're noticing in terms of climate change is changes in the permafrost, which is affecting infrastructure that's already there. In places where we never saw the ground warm up sufficiently to cause us trouble with shifting, we now see that from time to time in different locations. It's something we now have to take into consideration in all the design work we do--the ground is going to warm; our permafrost is changing, and the depths are changing.
With regard to climate in general, we are seeing changes in weather patterns. In communities we knew we could reliably fly into in an emergency situation during winter months, because we weren't going to see bizarre weather patterns that wouldn't permit us to get in, we're now seeing more weather patterns and weather swings from a blizzard one week to fog the next, prohibiting access, which has never been the case in the past. All new weather patterns are developing.
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
I would agree with Peter on the weather pattern changes. We have noticed them as well. There's more fog in odd times of the season, which makes it harder to get planes in the air, and you rely on aircraft transportation for everything.
In the areas around Baffin Island, according to some of the local people, they're seeing less sea ice forming, which in our case is actually a bit of a benefit, to be honest. We don't have the thick ice pack to deal with that we potentially would otherwise. Maybe there's a slight benefit there as well.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB
Do you have a similar issue in terms of permafrost and the effect on design or construction?
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
We have to test out all the sites where any specific permanent structure is being built. We find that every site is slightly different, so we haven't specifically noticed that any sort of climate change is affecting that. Every site we find to be specifically different.
Conservative
President, Icefield Instruments Inc.
In the Yukon, I'm not directly involved, so I don't know for sure, but certainly maintenance costs for roads that move through permafrost areas would increase with a warmer climate. And I know they're having issues with the formation of ice roads across rivers that are normally served by ferries in the summertime. Sometimes it takes longer for those roads to form and there is a longer period of time when the road is cut off while they're waiting for the ice crossing to stabilize.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
You still have another minute, Ms. Ashton, if you have anything else.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB
Perhaps going back to the point around education, I certainly appreciated your thoughts. What I've seen from our region is this idea that the closer educational institutions are, the better not just for educating but also for retaining the workforce. Of course, we've heard much about the initiative to have a university of the Arctic, and I'm wondering what your thoughts are in terms of having that kind of an institution close to where you work.
Conservative
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
I think that is an absolutely valid point. Any educational institution that is closer to these communities in the north would be better for the people. It would be an overgeneralization to say that it affects everyone the same way, but I would say it affects most people. They do not want to go too far away from their home communities for school, and they'd rather do it close to home. If they have to go somewhere further away, they'd probably just as soon not go.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Thank you, Ms. Ashton.
Now we have another question from Mr. Dreeshen.
Go ahead for five minutes.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
And thank you, gentlemen.
The first question is perhaps to you, Greg. When you talk about the purity of the ore that we have, do you have calculations as to how much...? All of that has to be smelted, or should be smelted, or would be smelted otherwise. Do you have any calculations as to what the CO2 emissions are that are being saved by using the ore that you are dealing with versus what there would be in common fields?
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation
Those calculations do exist. I wouldn't even pretend to be able to tell you what they are off the top of my head. But all of the bulk sample ore went right into the blast furnaces in Europe and they ran all the metrics on it. I know that because it's so pure it's much easier for the furnaces to handle. We were told that in fact what the steel manufacturer would probably do would be to use this ore to mix with lower-grade ore from other parts of the world to actually bring it up and to help it. It would smelt the lower-grade ore actually more easily.