Fisheries committee  Close enough.

Fisheries committee  Two of us.

Fisheries committee  Give or take.

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much, and thank you, committee members, for inviting us here today. I am the executive director of the Nunavut Planning Commission. I've been with the commission for 12 years. Jonathan Savoy, you've met. Our legal counsel, Shane Hopkins-Utter, is with us as well.

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question, Ken. Nunavut wants sustainable development that respects the culture and the wildlife and the need for protection so that the harvesting can be sustained. So they're looking for a balance.

Fisheries committee  It is “EH-ha-lo-ak”—but it's easier to say “EL-oh-ak”.

Fisheries committee  Yes, Mr. Doherty.

Fisheries committee  That's a difficult question to answer. Consultation has a varying threshold in the north. The commission takes consultation very seriously. I believe that the departments have made good efforts to work with the commission, and Canada has given the commission good submissions. Th

Fisheries committee  I have no comment on that. The commission has a mandate for land use plans, and while the government is a signatory—

Fisheries committee  From a commission perspective—and not speaking for B.C., but for the Nunavut territory—yes, I agree that this plan is essential to have in place if Canada is going to meet its targets.

Fisheries committee  Everything in the Arctic is pristine. We're one-fifth of Canada's land mass. We have critical habitat. We have to have a balance between job security, food security, our high costs, and our demographics. So from a commission perspective, achieving the balance, listening to the co

Fisheries committee  There a number of threats. We know, for example, that ice is land-like eight months of year. There are recognized transportation routes between communities for harvesting and the ability to get out on the land to do harvesting, going from community to community. For important are

Fisheries committee  From the commission's perspective, I don't think we can comment on the portions or the balance. I can tell you that climate change is having an adverse effect. It's changing the ice conditions. As we all know, there are open waters. We have a significant amount of traffic now com

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Arnold. It's a balance. Our demographic cost to be living in Nunavut, where Inuit have lived for thousands and thousands of years, in terms of food security, jobs, and economic opportunities, means that achieving that balance is of the utmost importance to Nunavum