Chamber of Mines News Briefs – December 8 - 10, 2012 [Note: News headlines are hyperlinked to their stories in this document.] Nunavut News ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Park one step closer to reality .................................................................................................................. 1 Environmental tech program at 25 ........................................................................................................... 2 NWT News..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Some old costly mistakes .......................................................................................................................... 3 Time for youth to take training is now...................................................................................................... 4 Resource Development and Energy News .................................................................................................... 5 Uranium lobby group dumps on Nunavut board over spring meetings ................................................... 5 Western Arctic Keeping Close Eye on Diamond Valuation ....................................................................... 6 A Miner’s Best Friend ................................................................................................................................ 7 Harry Winston swings to Q3 profit, cites growth in bridal jewelry sales .................................................. 7 Harry Winston to keep luxury business - for now ..................................................................................... 9 We’re Number One! ............................................................................................................................... 10 Ottawa approves Mary River .................................................................................................................. 11 Anticipation builds for Mary River project .............................................................................................. 12 Navigable Waters Act changes could spark court battles ....................................................................... 14 Federal fisheries officials stalling on talks to protect water ................................................................... 15 NUNAVUT NEWS Park one step closer to reality Community consultations held in Resolute and Iqaluit Nunavut News/North – December 10, 2012 Jeanne Gagnon A national park proposed for Nunavut has reached another milestone as two community consultations were held last month. The proposed Qausuittuq National Park, located on Bathurst Island, would encompass a good portion of the northwestern area of the island as well as four neighbouring islands. The park, a former home of the North magnetic pole, would protect the endangered Peary caribou, according to Parks Canada. It would be the territory's fifth national park. The proposed national park is also located north of the existing Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area, a protected area the Canadian Wildlife Service manages. The idea for the park was first proposed to the Resolute Hunters and Trappers Organization in 1994. The process then moved along with feasibility studies and other regulatory requirements. Parks Canada then held an information session on the proposed national park in Resolute two years ago, with some residents participating in a field trip to Bathurst Island. Parks Canada and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association are now finalizing the Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement, a necessary document for such endeavours under the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement. As the proposed park enters the final approval process, Parks Canada held community consultations on Nov. 27 in Iqaluit and Nov. 29 in Resolute. Chamber News Briefs 1 Resolute Mayor Tabitha Mullin attended the information session in the High Arctic community as well as about 15 other residents. The main points raised were the park's boundaries and how far along the project is, she said. "The community is in support of that park on Bathurst Island. I thought it went very well," said Mullin, adding the national park could bring employment to Resolute. Mullin had visited Bathurst Island many times and said it was very different from Resolute. "There is a lot more vegetation. It's also rolling hills but it's (a) very different landscape," she said. "We find it very beautiful, especially in the summer, when there is a lot more vegetation growth and animals to see." Parks Canada, in an e-mail, stated both public meetings "went well," but would not comment further. Environmental tech program at 25 'We didn't just study the environment; We invented the environment.' Nunavut News/North – December 6, 2012 Peter Worden Students in Arctic College's Environmental Technology Program have had their share of amazing, harrowing and downright nasty learning experiences over the past quarter-century. From learning to change a spark plug with just a rock and Swiss Army knife to learning which caribou tracks to follow, and from taking soil samples in a sewage lagoon to weighing down the back of an aircraft to get its nose up on a short runway, the program has carved out a colourful history since its startup. The program marks 25 years this semester. At an open house and alumni dinner Nov. 30, students and instructors, past and present, rose to recall memories of the program. "Money, there was no money," said Bruce Rigby, one of the first program co-ordinators, recounting how students had no snowmobiles, so one of the ETP's first courses was 'small engines' and the first field-trip was to the local dump to salvage parts. "We had no equipment. The facility today, we would have just died for something like that." Today, the students who make their way through its doors are the Arctic's conservation officers, park wardens, fisheries and oceans personnel, consultants, scientists, RCMP and instructors of tomorrow. Joe Tigullaraq, a decades-long wildlife officer and hunter, was one of the first students in the ETP program back in 1987. Tigullaraq is now with Baffinland. Iron Mines Corp. and said one of the truest measures of competence is knowing how to improvise, like his first ETP assignment to scour the Iqaluit dump for snowmobile parts. "It's the same idea (on the land). A hunter who can improvise will always get home safely," he said. Yes, a lot has changed in the past 25 years: Nunavut wasn't yet a territory; Iqaluit was Frobisher Bay; houses were still on honey-bag service -- a term with which many students today aren't even familiar. Indeed, many of the students today weren't yet born when ETP first began. High school had only recently become available in the town of about 2,000 when Bruce Rigby, Wayne Merry and Mary Tapsell began the ETP. It was modified from similar programs in the Western Arctic -- albeit less relevant to Eastern Arctic -- which often focused on forestry and forest firefighting. The anniversary evening heard anecdotal stories from students and instructors. One alumnus whose graduand letterman jacket read: "Environmental Technology,' explained, "We were mental for the environment." One day, from the back of the class, a student called out a completely made-up flower during a lesson on Arctic flora and fauna. Chamber News Briefs 2 "We didn't just study the environment. We invented it," the former student announced proudly. Pranks abounded in the program, from solid rock walls constructed quietly outside someone's tent door to guides taking students to their actual camp location after spending four hours building an igloo. Students joke now about moments that were no joke then. Stories about a mother polar bear and her cubs pawing around camp at 4 a.m. made former Arctic College dean Bert Rose, who oversaw the program when it began in 1987, wonder if the program was too risky to undertake. "They came very close to never doing another field camp again," he joked. For all the jokes, pranks and life-or-death instances over its first quarter-century, what made the most impact on students in ETP were the career opportunities. Students spoke emphatically about turning their lives around by enrolling in the program. One female alumnus said when she started the ETP, there were three career choices for women -- become teacher, nurse or housewife. This year, for the first time ever, ETP had more women than men enrolled. Current student Candice Sudlovenick, who grew up in Iqaluit, said she has seen ice going away earlier and earlier in the year. "You hear lots about global warming, and I feel like I can make a difference," said Sudlovenick. "I will probably get a degree in paleontology or archaeology -- something in the field. I had a desk job and I found it boring." Bruce Rigby said students are pretty much guaranteed a job after the two-year program. "So many things are tied to environmental stewardship -- virtually everything you hear about," he said. "You need good research and good analysis. As we get more technologically advanced in the next 25 years, good interpreters will be critical. Back in the '50s and '60s, we'd say, 'There's a good place for a road; build it.' Today, interpretation and decision-making is more important and it's just going to increase as development picks up." NWT NEWS Some old costly mistakes NWT News/North – December