Policy Issues

Environmental Assessment of Diamond Mines in the Northwest Territories Last May, we asked members and supporters of CARC to write to Ron Irwin, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, seeking a public assessment of a proposed diamond mine on the tundra north of Yellowknife. Hundreds of you did so, and Mr. Irwin supported the idea as a result, in part, of your efforts. In early December, Sheila Copps, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment, announced a four-person panel to review and assess the project proposed by Broken Hill Properties Diamonds Inc. and Diamet. The environmental panel is chaired by Letha MacLachlan, a Calgary-based lawyer with extensive experience in northern issues. Letha resigned as a member of the board of CARC to take on this assignment. While applauding the minister's decision, CARC was disappointed that the assessment is to be undertaken under the 1984 Environmental Assessment and Review Guidelines Order, rather than under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which was proclaimed into law in January 1995. CARC will participate in the public hearings into the project. To this end, we are co-operating with other environmentally inclined organizations that also want to appear before the panel, including the Canadian Nature Federation, Ecology North, Sierra Legal Defence Fund, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (Canada).

The Great Whale Project—on Hold or Dead? Mr. Parizeau, Premier of Quebec, announced in November that the Great Whale hydro-development project proposed by Hydro-Quebec is not to be built. Pundits and editorialists saw in this announcement referendum politics being played. Interestingly, the proponent has not formally withdrawn the project from the environmental assessment process, leaving observers to question whether the project is dead or just on hold. Lost in the political controversy surrounding the announcement was a report by the environmental assessment panels and committees on the impact statement filed by Hydro-Quebec: It concluded that the statement was both inadequate and deficient.

Regional Study of Mining in the Slave Geological Province In 1993, the Government of the Northwest Territories suggested that Ottawa "invest" $650 million in roads, a port, and other infrastructure to stimulate mineral development in the Slave Geological Province between Yellowknife and the Arctic coast. In return, Yellowknife suggested that the four new base and precious metal mines likely to be developed would generate thousands of jobs and considerable tax and royalty revenue. In February 1994, CARC and Ecology North wrote to Mr. Irwin urging him to establish a regional process to examine the combined and cumulative effects of proposed and prospective mineral development. The minister wrote back to us in April agreeing in principle with our suggestion. In conjunction with the establishment of a panel to assess the proposed BHP diamond mine, Mr. Irwin announced a $12-million, five-year regional study of mineral development in the Slave Geological Province. Although the scope and details of the study have yet to be defined, CARC intends to participate in the process.

Arctic Circle's Last Issue Nortext; an Ottawa-based publisher, announced in late autumn that Arctic Circle magazine would be discontinued immediately. A good product, Arctic Circle dealt in depth with controversial issues shunned by other magazines, but insufficient advertising revenue and fewer than hoped for subscriptions ; made its demise inevatable. CARC is pleased to have written articles and columns for the magazine.

The Committee

Letha MacLachlan, a Calgary-based lawyer, has resigned from the committee. Letha has been appointed chair of the federal environmental assessment and review panel charged with examining the impacts of a diamond mine proposed for the Northwest Territories by Broken Hill Properties Diamonds Inc. and Diamet. Bill Nicholls, of Nicholls Radtke Ltd., Cambridge, Ontario, has joined the committee.

Staff Notes

Marsha Acott, Bachelor of Commerce, University of Ottawa 1991, and Chartered Accountant, 1993, has joined the CARC staff part-time. She brings extensive experience in the areas of accounting, finance, and business development.

Profile of CARC Board Members Eric Herbert Molson

Eric Molson is Chairman of the Board of The Molson Companies Limited, based in Montreal. Eric was educated at Princeton and McGill. He has long been interested in the Canadian North and has been a member of the board of CARC since the early 1970s. He is Chancellor of Concordia University, a director of the Bank of Montreal, and a governor of the Olympic Trust of Canada. As well, he is a director of Vie des Arts, the Selwyn House School Endowment Fund, the Montreal General Hospital Fund, and the Canadian Princeton Alumni Fund. Eric is married to Jane Mitchell. They have three sons.