Oceans North has filed an application in the Federal Court seeking review of the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s (NIRB) scoping determination for the proposed Grays Bay Road and Port Project.

Oceans North is concerned that the scope set by NIRB excludes the trucking and industrial shipping the project is designed to enable, leaving key transportation impacts outside the core assessment.

“We chose to file a judicial review now because it’s better to be proactive when it comes to issues surrounding scope,” says Chris Debicki, Oceans North’s Vice-President of Policy Development and Counsel. “If there is a problem, it can be addressed before years of analysis, consultation, and investment are built on an assessment framework that may be incomplete.”

In Canadian environmental assessments, scoping sets the boundaries of what must be studied, what information the proponent must provide, and what impacts decision-makers will ultimately be able to manage. If the scope is too narrow at the outset, critical impacts can be missed, and the process becomes harder—and more expensive—to fix later.

The Grays Bay proposal describes a controlled-access transportation corridor: a non-public toll road paired with a fee-for-service port intended to serve industrial users. In this model, trucking and shipping volumes are central to the project’s purpose and business case, yet these are not explicitly scoped into the impact assessment.

“New industrial projects in the North must be structured in a way that protects the marine and terrestrial environment,” says Hilu Tagoona, Vice-President of Partnerships and Engagement at Oceans North. “In a region with sensitive ecosystems that citizens and communities across the two territories rely on, getting the balance right depends on effectively assessing and mitigating the full suite of impacts—including trucking and shipping—from the outset.”

From a national perspective, increased industrial activity through Grays Bay is also likely to contribute to greater trans-Arctic shipping through Canadian waters. Canada’s longstanding position is that the waters of the Northwest Passage are internal waters under Canadian sovereignty. That position is strengthened when Canada demonstrates strong, transparent environmental oversight of the infrastructure and shipping activity that supports Arctic development.

“Canada’s Arctic sovereignty has always been tied to stewardship,” Debicki says. “When the USS Manhattan transited the Passage in 1969, Canada responded with the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, reflecting a duty of care for Arctic waters, wildlife, and the people who depend on them. That duty continues today.”

Maintaining healthy ecosystems that sustain harvesting and travel is consistent with Canada’s obligations under the Nunavut Agreement and its broader stewardship responsibilities in Arctic waters, adds Tagoona.

“Oceans North will continue to participate constructively in Nunavut impact assessment processes and to work with Inuit organizations, communities, and partners across the North to advance both healthy ecosystems and healthy northern economies.”

For more information, please contact:

Alex Tesar
Communications Director
Oceans North
[email protected]