Posted: Jan 27, 2021 4:00 AM CT | Last Updated: January 27
Clyde River Mayor Jerry Natanine says until Pond Inlet is comfortable with a production expansion at Mary River Mine, the other surrounding communities won't support the project. (Beth Brown/CBC)
At the outset of the final environmental hearings for an expansion at Nunavut's Mary River Mine, five communities in the territory's northern Qikiqtaaluk region are saying they can't support the project as it is being proposed.
For those communities — especially Pond Inlet, which is nearest to the mine — the primary concern is what impact a new railway and increased shipping from Milne Inlet could have on local wildlife like caribou and narwhal.