Harbouring apathy

There's been plenty of talk about the need for a deep-water port in Canada's Arctic, and the movement forward on that front is certainly a plus. But a new report points out the need for multiple harbours to enable economic development across Nunavut:

A federal report has recommended a series of small-craft harbours across Nunavut, saying they could cut unemployment in some of the poorest communities in the country by more than a quarter.

But no money has been budgeted for the project and there’s no guarantee the territory will get facilities other Canadians take for granted.

“There’s no money set aside for it,” said Alan Kathan, who commissioned the report for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

“It’s not funded.”

Nearly all of Nunavut’s 26 communities lie on the coast.

But in contrast to the 1,240 government-owned harbours used from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, the only way Nunavummiut have to dock their boats is to run them up on the shore.

Even in the capital of Iqaluit, supplies shipped in from the south must be loaded from ships onto barges and hauled up onto the only Coast Guard-administered beach in Canada.

Tourists on cruise ships must cross sometimes choppy waters on tiny inflatable boats if they want to visit the communities they pass. Fishermen must offload their catch onto small boats.

“It’s limiting their economic activities, it’s limiting their subsistence fishery, it’s limiting their tourism,” says Kathan...

Kathan’s report, just delivered to the federal cabinet, recommends seven small-craft harbours in Nunavut, costing Ottawa $41 million over five years.

It's hard to see how it wouldn't be worth the relatively modest cost to enable access to multiple points in Nunavut - particularly compared to the Cons' plan to spend over $5 billion for military reinforcements in the Arctic generally. But it looks like PMS and company will need some convincing that it's worth investing both in the current population of Nunavut, and the potential for future expansion once a reasonable level of infrastructure is in place.