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THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

EVIDENCE

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OTTAWA, Wednesday, November 22, 2023

The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications met with videoconference this day at 6:47 p.m. [ET] for a study on the impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure in the transportation and communications sectors and the consequential impacts on their interdependencies.

Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne (Deputy Chair) in the chair.

[Translation]

The Deputy Chair: Welcome to this meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications.

My name is Julie Miville-Dechêne. I’m a senator from Quebec and deputy chair of this committee.

[English]

I would like to invite my colleagues to introduce themselves, starting on my left.

Senator Simons: I’m Paula Simons from Treaty 6 territory, Alberta.

Senator Klyne: Good evening, welcome. Marty Klyne, Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 territory.

Senator Cardozo: Andrew Cardozo, senator from Ontario.

The Deputy Chair: This evening, we continue our study of the impact of climate change on critical infrastructure in the transportation sector and our study on the issues facing Northern Canada.

For our first panel, we are pleased to welcome Paul Irngaut, Vice-President, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, accompanied by Taqialuk Peter, Executive Assistant to the Vice-President, and Rachel Olson, President and Director of The Firelight Group.

[Translation]

Welcome and thank you for joining us.

[English]

We will begin with opening remarks of five minutes from Mr. Irngaut, followed by Ms. Olson. We will then proceed to questions from senators. Mr. Irngaut, the floor is yours when you are ready.

Paul Irngaut, Vice-President, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated: Thank you, senator. Unnukkut.

Honourable chairperson and members, I am the Vice-President of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, commonly known as NTI. NTI represents Nunavut Inuit under the Nunavut Agreement. Our mandate is to ensure the constitutionally protected rights of Nunavut Inuit are respected and that governments live up to their responsibilities in the agreement.

NTI’s mission is to advance the economic, social and cultural well-being of Nunavut Inuit through the full implementation of the Nunavut Agreement. The Nunavut Agreement is the largest treaty in Canada covering one fifth of Canada’s land mass.

In October 2020, NTI released a report on the infrastructure gap in Nunavut. In all 18 of the infrastructure priority areas measured, Nunavut faces a significant and measurable infrastructure gap with the rest of Canada. This gap represents a real barrier to economic, health and educational opportunities for Nunavut Inuit. Together, these indicators calculate an equity gap that is substantial, that compounds and that is reinforced across many types of infrastructure. If unaddressed, it will continue to grow.

A unique context in Nunavut, or a cross-cutting factor, is climate change. The report articulated that climate change impacts the effectiveness and lifespan of buildings, air transportation and marine infrastructure. Similarly, a 2018 report from the Auditor General of Canada found that Nunavut was not adequately prepared to respond to climate change. Interviews with elders and community members highlight new difficulties in travelling by boat, by sea and by ice and the fact that hunting and camping are now more dangerous on the land.

Nunavut’s reliance on air travel places transportation networks at greater risk from storm disruptions. A storm can isolate communities entirely. Permafrost changes have already affected air infrastructure in Nunavut, for example, leading to degradation in the runways at the Iqaluit airport, a major factor in the decision to carry out a $300-million renovation project at the airport. The renewed infrastructure has been built with a unique set of cooling pipes to adapt to the shifting permafrost conditions.

The rapid changes to conditions in the Arctic Ocean create new pressures and demands on port and harbour infrastructure. Melting sea ice creates greater passageways and could create greater demand for port infrastructure.

Yet much of our communities’ marine infrastructure consists of undersized public breakwater piers, which are only accessible at high tide, with no infrastructure for sealift operations or for protecting vessels or the community. Kinngait, for example, is experiencing climate change impacts, including coastline degradation and storm surges that now sees swells breaching the breakwater pier and a main community road. A September 2023 storm highlighted the need for improved marine infrastructure built to withstand climate change impacts.

Unfortunately, the significant backlog of infrastructure needs and limited financial and planning capacity make it more difficult to secure climate-resilient infrastructure, even if that investment could save money in the long term through lowered maintenance costs and extended asset life.

Nunavut Inuit want to pursue infrastructure projects that will have a positive impact and benefit for Inuit. We expect to participate as full partners in the development of Nunavut in the Canadian Confederation, and that includes addressing climate change impacts on critical infrastructure.

Qujannamiik. Thank you.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you very much for your words.

Rachel Olson, President and Director, The Firelight Group: Good evening. I am a citizen of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation from Dawson City, Yukon, and I am also the President of The Firelight Group.

The report I am here to address is entitled The Impacts of Permafrost Thaw on Northern Indigenous Communities, which was published in 2022 by the Canadian Climate Institute, or CCI. The Firelight Group was retained to provide the institute with a report detailing the northern Indigenous experience of permafrost thaw, including how this impacted life in the community and out on the land. We did a qualitative research project designed to sit alongside the CCI report Due North: Facing the Costs of Climate Change for Northern Infrastructure.

One of the drivers of the study was that northern Indigenous observations and knowledge are largely absent from Canadian permafrost literature. Policy responses to permafrost thaw have centred on the instability of current infrastructure, and we believed that this approach didn’t recognize infrastructure as part of the community, resulting in inadequate support for the social structures and networks that provide critical climate adaptation capacity.

In order to address these gaps, the report is based on interviews with Indigenous participants from communities across the North. Regional differences in both permafrost impact and in adaptive responsiveness to permafrost thaw are really important, and any future work in this area should recognize those regional differences and be informed by them.

Based on the research conducted, Indigenous communities face impacts related to hunting, trapping and fishing; impacts to trails, travel and access; as well as impacts on cultural continuity, food sovereignty and household and community infrastructure.

In relation to hunting, fishing and trapping on the land, participants observe changes to the environment and access to it in a number of ways, including changes to the habitat itself, changes to vegetation and forage of key species. These changes may lead to decreased harvests — so people are hunting fewer animals — and, along with that, an increased effort required to successfully harvest country food or foods that are gathered and harvested from the land.

Permafrost thaw has impacted the mobility of northern Indigenous communities as well. Increased difficulty in travelling on trails due to thawed ground that may slump, slide or become boggy increases travel time, safety risks and the cost of travel, which may in turn decrease the use of critical areas for continues use. Participants also described the need for stable telecommunications in order to facilitate information sharing around local conditions and travel routes.

In some regions, reliance on all-season or winter roads is key to accessing resources necessary to maintain the livelihoods of the community. Winter and ice-road seasons are becoming shorter, and the challenges of travelling on all-season roads that are prone to warping and cracking from the effects of permafrost thaw impact Indigenous communities’ ability to access parts of their territory.

Spending time on the land was emphasized by all participants as being central to maintaining cultural identity and knowledge transfer. Increased difficulties and risks associated with travel and time result in less opportunity to participate in place-based learning, which is essential to the transfer of Indigenous knowledge, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and cultural continuity.

Our study showed that both country and store-bought food systems are also vulnerable to the effects of permafrost thaw. Across the North, food storage on the land for both caching and fermentation is still widely used, and these permafrost storage areas have become less effective due to thawing and may result in food spoilage and lost harvests. Participants noted that store-bought food is also impacted. Grocery storage and transportation, as well as rising food costs are affected by permafrost thaw due to degrading essential infrastructure. Impacts to building integrity in communities may also have repercussions for food storage.

Permafrost thaw impacts on infrastructure affect community food security, safety, transportation in and out of the community, the health of community members, education and employment. The report shows that these impacts also pose a significant challenge to the traditional land use activities and cultural continuity of northern Indigenous communities. These impacts must be considered as part of a constellation of climate-related impacts and within an even broader context of impacts on Indigenous communities. Mahsi’cho. Thank you.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you very much. We will start the question period.

Senator Klyne: Welcome again to our guests here. My question is for Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Climate change is bringing critical weather events, and that includes accelerated change to the weather and hence to cold, sea ice and the land. I’m wondering what concerns you most with critical infrastructure when you think about the way of life and the accelerated changes to the land, water, weather system and wildlife? How does that impact the culture, the transportation, safety and health?

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you, senator, for that question. If you look at Nunavut, the communities are all coastal communities, except for one, which is Baker Lake. Even at that, with the permafrost melting, we have seen instances where infrastructure in the communities has been impacted, especially the higher mountainous communities. When the permafrost melts, it erodes, and you can have a landslide. And that happened in one of our communities, in Pang.

If you look at the communities, they are very close to the shore, and that’s how we live. We’re coastal communities. The rising of the water erodes the shoreline, and that can impact where people store their equipment. Also, if the houses are too close to the shoreline, that can impact the houses themselves.

The melting of the permafrost impacts our airports and runways too. We have seen this in Kitikmeot, in a community called Cambridge Bay. It impacts air transport because we don’t have any roads, as you know, and we are all connected through the air. That can really impact Inuit as well.

Senator Klyne: Thank you. I guess it affects everything. Are there any strategic plans in place to prepare for some of these things?

Mr. Irngaut: We have done a needs assessment and we have started developing strategic plans for infrastructure due to climate change. That’s in the process right now.

We have to analyze everything first before we can really say that this is impacting. It is impacting Inuit for sure, but we need a clear understanding of what is really happening. You have to understand that we feel the impacts of climate change first, especially in the North. We need to do more assessments and do proper strategic planning to get those infrastructure needs.

Senator Klyne: Do you share the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s National Inuit Climate Change Strategy?

Mr. Irngaut: We do.

Senator Klyne: That was published in 2021, and it was noted that even under a low-emission scenario where human-caused greenhouse gas emissions immediately and substantively decline, in little more than 10 years, the mean annual temperature in Inuit Nunangat is projected to reach close to 2 °C, and if those human-caused emissions continue to rise at current rates, by the time today’s preteen children reach their mid-seventies, the mean annual temperature in the Inuit homeland will potentially rise to close to 8 °C.

One of the priorities in that strategy is the need for increased investment in hazard mapping and vulnerability assessments. Can you elaborate on that?

Mr. Irngaut: I would have to look at the report again, but we have noticed that it’s not only warming from the air; it’s the sea that’s warming too. It is eroding the bottom of the ice, and we’re seeing that more and more in Nunavut. I don’t know if I answered your question properly. If not, I can definitely send a follow-up written answer.

Senator Klyne: Sure, and maybe if you don’t have the answer, what is hazard mapping?

Mr. Irngaut: Hazard mapping is trying to find out exactly what is happening. In order to get a clear idea of what’s happening to our environment, our seabed has to be mapped too. We are starting to see more and more shoals coming up, which we have never seen before, and those need to be mapped. Those are hazards to infrastructure in terms of marine shipping and all that.

Senator Klyne: You have a baseline of where things are, but are you tracking the movement of soil in mountainous areas and looking for shifts?

Mr. Irngaut: The infrastructure gap is so huge. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what we need to look at.

We’re more reactive at times because if something happens, like I mentioned in Pang, when the permafrost melted and there was a landslide, things like that we have to react to right away.

Because the gap is so wide, it’s really hard to pinpoint what needs to be done.

Senator Klyne: Is your port under any threats?

Mr. Irngaut: Iqaluit is the only one that has a deep-sea port but it can only be used at high tide because we’re finding that the tides are shifting quite a bit, too, and because of erosion of the coastline, we are seeing that more and more too.

Senator Simons: You paint a rather grim picture. You rely on air transportation, but the runways are heaving because of the permafrost melt. You rely on ice roads, but the ice roads and the winter roads are unstable because it’s not cold enough long enough, and what permanent, all-weather roads you have are also subject to permafrost heave. Although you have opening waterways, you don’t have the port facilities. And you are saying there are shoals that are coming up as things melt, so now there are rock formations that no one has mapped on which a ship can run aground.

Let’s start with the Iqaluit runway because that’s your major airport. I’ve had the pleasure of landing on that runway. It’s a real runway, it’s not gravel. I mean, it’s a proper commercial-grade runway.

Did I understand you to say that they are putting in cold water pipes to keep the permafrost frozen? How does that work?

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you for that question, senator.

The more modern buildings built today all have cold air pipes very close to them to keep the permafrost frozen. I am not an engineer, but I do believe it is to keep all the permafrost the way it is, to keep it from melting.

Senator Simons: That is amazing.

Mr. Irngaut: Depending on the building, there are six or seven long pipes right next to the building.

Senator Simons: You can do that for a building or a runway, but you cannot do it for a road.

Mr. Irngaut: No, not to my understanding.

As you know, the Iqaluit runway was built way back by the Americans during the war. We had done numerous upgrades on the runway. Because of the permafrost melting, sometimes the asphalt cracks. It has to constantly be repaired. That is why we have this $300-million upgrade on the runway, because of those.

The Deputy Chair: So there is the asphalt and then the permafrost over it?

Mr. Irngaut: No, under it.

The Deputy Chair: Please continue.

Senator Simons: The real challenge is that if you spend $300 million to improve the runway, if the permafrost melt continues, it may not be a sustainable project.

I could talk to Mr. Irngaut forever, but I want Ms. Olson and Ms. Peter to have an opportunity to speak as well. Let’s talk about what this means in terms of supply chains, because you have to fly in a lot of goods — food but also all kinds of necessities of life that are flown in.

What does it mean in terms of rising food costs, reliability of supply chains if you cannot always land a plane and if you cannot rely on the roads? Ms. Olson, Ms. Peter, would you like to tackle that question? What has it meant for the people of Nunavut for having access to food, medicine, furniture, toilet paper, sheets?

Ms. Olson: It obviously really impacts the ability to have those things in a stable, affordable and ongoing way. When there is no other way but landing a plane, and you cannot land the plane, then you do not get what you need to get. You do not get your people who need to be medevaced out, medevaced out. The impacts just grow and grow.

Senator Simons: Ms. Peter, I know that you have not spoken. Do you want to add anything in terms of food security?

Taqialuk Peter, Executive Assistant to the Vice-President: I apologize, I’m assisting the vice-president.

Senator Simons: You are the silent partner, okay.

If we cannot rely on all-weather roads because of permafrost melt, we can no longer sustain the season for ice roads because the season is shrinking. I assume it is more gravel-top runways in smaller communities.

Since everything but Baker Lake is on the coast, what is the capacity to supply those communities by water? Could the investment be made in better harbours so that people could at least get supplies by marine shipping?

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you, senator, for that. As I indicated, we are coastal communities, but the infrastructure is not there in terms of ports and small craft harbours.

We cannot really rely on shipping in the late fall or even winter. That only happens in the summertime. With the climate changing, we’re seeing more and more late shipping happening in Nunavut. To some extent, it is good because we are getting more and more ships coming in.

Senator Simons: The shipping season is longer.

Mr. Irngaut: Yes, the season is longer, but how can I explain it? It is longer, but it’s getting more difficult because of the weather. What I’m finding is there is more severe weather happening.

Senator Simons: Yes, more storms.

Mr. Irngaut: That affects air travel; it affects the transportation of goods from the ships. Sometimes they have to stop transporting it to the shoreline completely until the weather clears out a bit.

Senator Simons: The Northwest Passage is not some kind of a magical answer to things?

Mr. Irngaut: Maybe way in the future it might happen, yes, but not in the near future.

Senator Simons: Thank you.

Senator Cardozo: Welcome and thank you for joining us today.

First, if I could get more information on the kind of infrastructure that exists, on the organizations and the kind of work you do. Mr. Irngaut, perhaps I could get more information about Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. You are a land-claim organization. I’m just looking at your website here. There is the Nunavut Trust, and if you could talk about the Regional Inuit Associations and the Inuit Regional Development Corporations — how they work together — and then also your connection or association with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, or ITK.

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you, senator, for that question. If you look at the land claims agreement, it was designed to look at all Inuit rights under the claim, the constitutionally protected rights. Then we have all these regional Inuit organizations. There are three: Kitikmeot Inuit Association in the west, Kivalliq Inuit Association in the middle and Qikiqtani Inuit Association on Baffin Island.

Senator Cardozo: This is beyond Nunavut, right?

Mr. Irngaut: Sorry?

Senator Cardozo: Is it more than Nunavut, or are you just covering Nunavut?

Mr. Irngaut: Just covering Nunavut.

Senator Cardozo: Okay.

Mr. Irngaut: Those organizations have their own development corporations that look after their regional needs. They do infrastructure, and they do projects that affect their region.

NTI, being the parent organization, has the president and vice-president as part of the board. Our president, Aluki Kotierk is a member of the ITK board.

Senator Cardozo: Okay.

Mr. Irngaut: That is how we are connected.

Senator Cardozo: Thank you.

Dr. Olson, with regard to The Firelight Group — you are a major consulting firm — can you tell us more about the kind of work you do, especially in relation to what we are talking about today in terms of infrastructure?

Ms. Olson: The Firelight Group is an Indigenous-owned research consultancy. We provide services to Indigenous nations and organizations, mainly in the areas of research and technical support in a number of different areas, including Indigenous knowledge research, socio-economic research, impact assessment, impact benefit agreement, Indigenous health research and land use planning. I’m sorry if I missed one.

Senator Cardozo: Your clients would be who?

Ms. Olson: Our clients would be Indigenous nations, First Nations and Inuit organizations across the board. They are the majority of our clients.

Senator Cardozo: Do you work with other corporations who want to work with Inuit?

Ms. Olson: We get hired directly by Inuit organizations to conduct research or provide technical support working with them as our clients.

Senator Cardozo: So you would not be working for mining companies or oil and gas.

Ms. Olson: No.

Senator Cardozo: I have one more question, if we have time. I was at the wonderful event that Senator Patterson organized today. A couple of people whom I met there work with ports throughout Nunavut. I understand that there are some 25 ports. I was intrigued about the point that you made, Mr. Irngaut, about the ports being more useful in high tide. That is just amazing that you have to work with that.

They are not deep enough to use just any time you want to. Does that mean that a ship has to come in during high tide, do its thing and then get out before the tide goes out, or can it stay there until the next high tide comes in?

Mr. Irngaut: Some of the ships can be docked even at low tide. There is only one, in Iqaluit. That is the only deep-sea port.

Senator Cardozo: One, okay.

Mr. Irngaut: Recently, they stopped doing that because what they call buoys, which sit between the dock and the ship, were taken off. Even when the ships came late in the season, they had to be anchored out at sea and then have barges bring goods to the shoreline.

Senator Cardozo: So the barges can make it back and forth and work during low tide.

Mr. Irngaut: Yes. Well, up to near where the Iqaluit deep-sea port is. Before that deep-sea port was made, they had to wait for high tide because they had to bring everything close to the community.

Senator Cardozo: And all of the other ports have to work with the tides, yes?

Mr. Irngaut: Exactly. In fact, there are hardly any ports in any other communities. It is all done by barge.

Senator Cardozo: Is that new or has that always been the case?

Mr. Irngaut: It has always been the case.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you. We’ll turn to Senator Patterson.

Senator D. Patterson: That is very kind of you, Madam Chair, and I do apologize for being late.

The Deputy Chair: I understand. Thank you for joining us. No apologies are needed. Do you want to listen for a little bit before asking a question, or are you okay?

Senator D. Patterson: I am sure that Mr. Irngaut presented on the infrastructure study that NTI did.

The Deputy Chair: Yes, about 18 infrastructure pieces that have been considered at risk in 2020. We have talked a little bit about the airport. There seems to be a number of difficulties. I do not know what the priorities are. Maybe you can help us along.

Senator D. Patterson: The challenge with our air transportation, which is our main vehicle for getting fresh produce into the communities, not to mention urgently needed parts and supplies, is the length and the stability of runways. Could you tell us about the challenges with the length of runways? I know we have two paved strips in Nunavut out of the 25 communities — in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet. All the rest are gravel strips. NTI’s study would have looked at airport infrastructure as well. It’s a vital lifeline for us. Would you comment on that for us, please?

Mr. Irngaut: Yes. Thank you, Senator Patterson, for that question. If you look at the smaller communities like Grise Fiord and Kimmirut, most aircraft that are used are Twin Otters, which are quite small compared to the ATRs that are used. It is very difficult for these smaller communities to get goods in a continual, sustainable way — fresh produce, for instance — because if there is bad weather, which is happening more and more often in Nunavut, they don’t get the service and they don’t get the goods, maybe for days. This becomes a problem.

If there are medical issues or medevacs that have to go in, it becomes a life-and-death situation for some of these communities. It is very hard for these communities to keep the goods coming, and they are having safety issues. It becomes a problem. Thank you.

Senator D. Patterson: Mr. Irngaut, I know that you are a hunter, and I know that you are a man of the land. I have actually been out on the land and have seen you fishing and hunting. This committee is studying the impacts of climate change. I wonder if you could tell us, from the point of view of a hunter who relies on the sea ice and the land to travel, what changes you have seen in recent years in the climate?

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you for that question. What we have seen, especially in the wintertime or early fall, is the season is starting late more and more, and the formation of the ice is happening later in the season. What we are finding is that the currents are getting stronger, too. The strong currents are eroding the ice from the bottom, and it is making the ice much thinner. In the past, we would have been able to travel on it.

That is becoming a concern for hunters. In the wintertime, the ice is our highway. We need to go to certain points where we used to go, or if we have cabins we need to go through the ice to get to the cabins. These hunting spots where we used to hunt, we cannot access them anymore, and that creates food insecurity in our communities. The erosion of ice is coming from the sea, because we know that the sea is getting warmer. It is not only the sun that is creating climate change; it is the sea, too. It becomes more dangerous for hunters to hunt in the wintertime.

Senator D. Patterson: Thank you.

The Deputy Chair: We’ll go to second round now, but please be shorter because we have a few more senators now. Let’s be pointed in our questions.

Senator Klyne: I have a quick question for Ms. Olson. In your report on cultural investments published in 2019, you examine how industrial projects are shown to impact rights, culture and way of life in Indigenous communities. The report notes that recent research has shown functional infrastructure to be an important element of Indigenous communities, resilience and health in the face of the complex impacts of climate change. As we know, most Indigenous people have an intimate understanding of how climate change is impacting the physical environment, the wildlife and the ecosystems that sustain their communities.

Can you elaborate on how enabling community-owned and ‑designed functional infrastructure can be an integral part of ensuring community resilience and health in the face of challenges presented by climate change?

Ms. Olson: Thank you. That’s a very good question. I think that people who live there and are facing the impacts every day are the most knowledgeable people on how to mitigate those impacts. That’s what it means to be strength-based in the work we do. If initiatives meaningfully include and are led by Indigenous communities, including anything from infrastructure to designing a health clinic — all of those things — ultimately, those services and that infrastructure will better serve those Indigenous communities.

Senator Klyne: I agree with you on that. Thank you.

Senator Simons: We’ve spoken about the impact of this change on the individuals who live in Nunavut. For a moment, let’s talk about what it means for industry. What does this mean for the mine operations that rely on ice roads to move heavy trucks? What are the threats to the economic future of Nunavut if this infrastructure starts to be so unstable?

Mr. Irngaut: From my understanding, it’s only N.W.T. that has ice roads. I can’t really answer your question.

Senator Simons: For you it is a question of all-weather roads?

Mr. Irngaut: Yes. As I indicated, if the permafrost is melting, it does impact the roads. There has to be constant maintenance on them, which adds to the cost of doing business in Nunavut.

At the same time, with the seasons of open water being longer, it can benefit them too. We only have one operating mine, as far as I know, in Qikiqtaaluk. There are some other operating mines in Kivalliq too, but we’re talking about Qikiqtaaluk right now, where shipping is happening. That can benefit some of the mines, but at the same time it impacts the wildlife. That’s the thing.

Senator Simons: I think it was Ms. Olson who was talking about ice roads. You are working in both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Ms. Olson: Yes.

Senator Simons: This is where I was confused. Let me ask you the question. You talked about the social and the cultural consequences. What are the economic consequences if ice roads in the North, on the Northwest Territories side, can’t be sustained?

Ms. Olson: There would definitely be economic impacts. My work didn’t go into detail about what the economic impacts would be from either ice roads or all-season roads. I imagine if there are impacts to the local communities using the roads, then there would be impacts to any vehicles or transportation along those corridors.

Senator Simons: And the bigger and heavier the vehicle, possibly, the greater challenge.

If airplanes can’t land in smaller communities, are helicopters a viable alternative? Is anybody using helicopters, or are they cost-prohibitive and less stable?

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you for the question. As far as I know, only the mines use helicopters.

If there is search and rescue, the communities will use helicopters.

Senator Simons: And for medevac at all?

Mr. Irngaut: No, they are not used for medevac.

Senator Simons: We had a witness earlier who was very enthusiastic about the idea of airships. Is anybody talking about airships as a possible way to serve, or is that more futuristic?

Mr. Irngaut: We haven’t looked into that. I only see it in newspapers.

Senator Simons: He was an expert and he made a very passionate case that airships would be the answer because they were more stable and didn’t need runways, but so far there is not a viable airship industry. As I’m listening to you, I’m thinking that, as fanciful as it seemed when he testified, it might be technology that could work for your unique problems.

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you for that question. As I indicated earlier, we are seeing more and more stronger winds happening as the climate is changing. The predominant winds are the northwest winds. Since they are becoming stronger, I don’t know if it would be feasible to have airships. I don’t know how long it would take for them to go up there, but even coming here yesterday, you could feel it. Our whole plane was moving the whole time we were coming here. I don’t foresee airships happening any time soon.

Senator Simons: I want to thank you again for coming here. It has been invaluable for you to be here in person to tell us your stories.

Senator Klyne: Has anybody ever talked about harnessing that wind for energy?

Mr. Irngaut: Some of the mines have discussed putting in a wind farm, but we were opposed to it because of the location of those wind farms. They were on caribou camping grounds.

The Deputy Chair: If I could ask you a more general question, you talked about different problems that are worrisome. What is the priority? What is the main problem? Is it the main airport? If you had to draw a list of where you would need some investment, what would it be? I know you’re trying to do a strategic plan, but you may have an idea of the priority list.

Mr. Irngaut: Thank you for that question. I don’t know about priority lists, but we definitely need to work with both the federal government and our territorial government to look at the assessment that is needed because we can’t do it alone. We need our partners to make these assessments and to have a strategic plan in place.

We are trying to do our part. We’re trying to come up with this assessment and the strategy, but we need our government as partners to get clearer ideas of what is needed and the impacts climate change is having in our communities.

The Deputy Chair: Have you asked for help? Is it forthcoming? Where are you in that?

Mr. Irngaut: As I indicated, we are starting to look at it. We haven’t said, “This is what we need.” We haven’t even looked at the dollar amount involved. We’re in the initial stage. Thank you.

Senator Cardozo: I hope this is not an indelicate question, but I understand there are 25 ports, so 25 communities have ports. Do you know how many communities there are in Nunavut?

Mr. Irngaut: There are 25 communities, I do believe, but not all of them have ports.

Senator Cardozo: Is it possible that with climate change, some communities will become inaccessible or accessibility will become so difficult that people might desert a community?

Mr. Irngaut: Well, a lot of these communities, for instance, if there is bad weather, especially in the wintertime, are not accessible. We don’t have any roads. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly if they are going to become inaccessible because they are already to some degree inaccessible sometimes in the wintertime.

The Deputy Chair: Do you already have some plans? Those communities can be isolated for some days, and I suppose you have some planning. They probably have food reserves. How does it work if they are inaccessible?

Mr. Irngaut: We get seasonal shipping, so the stores have to basically order supplies. But it’s more of the day-to-day things that we rely on, like fresh milk or fresh produce; those are the things that would be impacted.

Senator Cardozo: Is there a possibility down the road where some communities will become unlivable as much as getting produce or whatever to them is so difficult?

Mr. Irngaut: I don’t think they will be unlivable because a lot of these communities are hunter-gatherers, and most likely 75% of the food these communities are getting, or maybe 50%, is country food. A lot of these families rely on country food that they can get from land and sea.

Senator D. Patterson: You were talking about the impact of climate change on you as a hunter. I know you hunt; you are originally from Igloolik, but you have been hunting in Frobisher Bay near Iqaluit. Can you give us an idea of how long you used to be able to travel on the sea ice — which, as you said, is the highway — in years past? How has the season changed to this day and perhaps the same for on-the-land activities? There might have been some snow in Iqaluit since I was there last weekend, but this is November, and people are still not able to go on the land because there is no snow. There is not enough snow. Can you give us an idea of how things have changed in recent years?

Mr. Irngaut: Yes. Thank you, senator, for that question. When I first moved to Iqaluit, that was in the late 1980s, we could go on the ice at the end of October.

Senator D. Patterson: On sea ice, safely?

Mr. Irngaut: Safely, and we could hunt. We had to go way out down to the bay to forage; that’s how much ice there was back then. And we could go there with no problem, no fear of falling through the ice.

Today, there is no ice even as we speak right now. It’s the end of November, almost December, and there is no ice, still open water. As for the land, we had some snow, but one of the things that happens sometimes is rain, even in the wintertime. We never used to see that. We see rain now, and that erodes the snow. So that impacts hunters, yes.

Senator D. Patterson: What about the end of the season? You said ice used to form and be safe in October. How long did it last then, in the 1980s, that you could safely travel on the sea ice? How long does it last now?

Mr. Irngaut: When I first moved to Iqaluit, you could go on the ice up to almost June. Now you can’t. It’s like May, end of May, sometimes, or early May that you can’t go on the ice any more. That’s how much it has changed.

Senator D. Patterson: Thank you.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you so much for your testimonies and your generosity. That brings our first panel to an end. Thank you for taking the time to be with us this evening, to answer our questions and try to educate us — in my case, in particular — and share your expertise.

[Translation]

Honourable senators, we are continuing our study of the impact of climate change on transportation infrastructure in northern Canada.

[English]

For our second panel this evening, we are pleased to welcome, from Canadian North, Shelly De Caria, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, and Captain Aaron Speer, Vice President of Flight Operations; and from West Kitikmeot Gold Corp, Brendan Bell, Chief Executive Officer.

Welcome to you all and thank you for joining us. We will begin with opening remarks of five minutes each from Ms. De Caria, followed by Mr. Bell. We will then proceed to questions from senators.

[Translation]

Ms. De Caria, the floor is yours when you are ready.

[English]

Shelly De Caria, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian North: Captain Speer will be doing the presentation.

The Deputy Chair: Sorry, Captain Speer, the floor is yours.

Aaron Speer, Vice President, Flight Operations, Canadian North: Good evening, honourable senators. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am Captain Aaron Speer, Canadian North’s Vice President of Flight Operations. As you mentioned, joining me this evening is Shelly De Caria, our Interim President and CEO.

Canadian North is a 100% Inuit-owned airline with over 75 years of experience providing essential air service to 25 communities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. We also provide a critical link to the South for those communities. Twenty-one of the communities that we serve are remote and isolated from the rest of the country and do not have road access. Air transportation is the only reliable year-round access those communities have to food, critical supplies, as well as access to medical and other vital services. Access to safe and reliable air transportation services is literally the lifeline for those communities. In order for us to provide those vital services, we depend on the infrastructure available at the remote airports in those isolated communities.

The three territories of Canada account for approximately 40% of Canada’s land mass. Looking at the 2021 census, the total population of the 75 communities that make up all three territories is 118,160. That is just slightly smaller than the population of the city of Waterloo in Ontario.

The airports that serve those communities were also all largely established during the Cold War and have seen little development since then. The need for increased investment and upgrades to northern airport infrastructure has been studied and confirmed repeatedly since 2005, most notably in Report 6 of the 2017 Spring Reports of the Auditor General of Canada to the Parliament of Canada.

Much of that required infrastructure continues to be needed, and it is further needed and required as a function of climate change. The vast majority of northern airports are single gravel runways that are ultimately built on permafrost. As the permafrost thaws and melts, the ground structure underlying those runways is weakened. This can cause issues ranging from the overall softening of the runway over time to failed portions of the runway surface and even, in some cases, complete closure of the runway and an inability to access that airport. As an example, significant operational disruptions occurred in 2012 in Qikiqtarjuaq when a large portion of the runway was washed out through extensive flooding.

Climate change has been linked to more dramatic weather events. We’re seeing an increased need for the use of aircraft de-icing fluid resulting from longer icing seasons during the year. Likewise, more adverse weather is driving the increased need for flight cancellations and an aircraft’s inability to land at the airport.

We are currently averaging over the year 175 weather-related flight cancellations each month. Without further investment and improved approach lighting, approach aids and infrastructure, that number is only going to climb as weather becomes more extreme.

The impacts of the wildfires this past summer were significant. The efforts to evacuate Yellowknife took nearly a week. While I do acknowledge that Yellowknife is the largest city in N.W.T., it is also important to note that it still took a week, and they maintained road access for the duration of that time on top of the week of air evacuation efforts.

That said, it wasn’t just the community and the city of Yellowknife that was impacted. Yellowknife is a major hub for our western cargo operations and is a major hub for passenger travel as well. Because of the closure of the Yellowknife operation, there were seven other communities totally unaffected by the fire that still felt a significant decrease in their access to critical and essential services and supplies.

All of these events are a snapshot of the results of climate change and the effects they are having on our operation through both the impacts on the airport infrastructure and the overall lack of the needs in those communities that we serve.

Just as we can’t understate the importance of the service that we provide to those communities, so, too, we can’t understate the impacts that climate change has on that infrastructure and our ability to provide that critical service.

Thank you.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you, Mr. Speer. Mr. Brendan Bell, please.

Brendan Bell, Chief Executive Officer, West Kitikmeot Gold: Madam Chair and committee members, thank you for the kind invitation to appear here tonight, and particularly to Senator Patterson.

Senator Patterson, with your upcoming retirement, on behalf of our company and the whole northern industry, we want to thank you for your service and your commitment to the North. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Let me first introduce our company and myself. I grew up in the North, in Iqaluit first and then Yellowknife. I entered politics at an early age and was a minister in the Government of the Northwest Territories. After leaving politics, I joined Dominion Diamond and later became the CEO.

In my time running Dominion, I had the pleasure of working closely with the Kitikmeot Inuit, one of Ekati diamond mine’s Indigenous partners. After I left Dominion, I reconnected with them through their business arm and was inspired by their desire to build an Inuit-owned mining company, West Kitikmeot Gold, or WKG.

Since then, together we have brought in new investment, developed a technical team and begun work on a number of mineral properties in the western Kitikmeot. Unfortunately — and I know many of my colleagues at other northern companies will second this — it is very difficult to raise funding for projects that are isolated and without the transportation and communications infrastructure that we tend to take for granted in Southern Canada.

For the western Kitikmeot, the key transportation and communications link that will transform the regional economy is called the Grays Bay Road and Port Project, a proposed deepwater port with a road connection that will link the west Kitikmeot to the Northwest Territories and, eventually, to the North American road network near Yellowknife.

The Grays Bay project has been led by the Kitikmeot Inuit for a number of years, and that has always made sense to me. It is on a route that was chosen by their elders and community leaders and that goes through their backyard.

Earlier this year, we heard from the Inuit that they were stepping back as the project proponent. WKG stepped up and agreed to take on this role. I am happy to confirm that Canada, the Kitikmeot Inuit and WKG have tonight signed an agreement making WKG the new project proponent, with Canada’s ongoing financial support through the National Trade Corridors Fund.

Building any large infrastructure project in the North comes with a host of environmental and cultural sensitivities, and the Grays Bay project will be no different. We will need to carefully assess how the project will coexist with the wildlife that our Inuit owners harvest and rely on, such as caribou and marine mammals, and all the flora and fauna of their backyard. We will also need to make these assessments in the context of a changing climate, when caribou migration routes and other patterns may be impacted.

To speak directly to the committee’s mandate, climate change is impacting our existing infrastructure, as you heard from the last panel, and needs to be deeply considered in how we build new infrastructure in the North.

In terms of our existing infrastructure, the winter roads that are crucial to suppliers to the northern mines and communities are under threat as resupply seasons become shorter and shorter. These impacts need to be mitigated by upgrading winter roads to all-season roads wherever possible. Our coastal infrastructure, which has been built for a short ice-free season with limited barge traffic, is clearly outdated. Canada’s Arctic waters now have a much longer navigable season, and rapidly increasing numbers of vessels are transiting these waters for tourism, bulk shipping and security purposes.

In this context, new infrastructure will be required that responds to these changing circumstances. WKG envisions Grays Bay Port as the most capable port between Alaska and Greenland. It will be a multi-user, multi-purpose asset that will further assert Inuit and Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, responding to a longer ice-free season and increases in vessel traffic. WKG sees the Grays Bay road corridor as a vital infrastructure corridor between Southern Canada and the Kitikmeot. When combined with the Slave Geological Province Corridor project in development by the Government of the Northwest Territories, the project will provide all-season road access from Southern Canada to the Kitikmeot.

As I have said before, WKG will only design and permit the Grays Bay project with the support of our Inuit shareholders and landowner. They understand the challenges of climate change in their backyard, and they need to confirm that this project is the right response. WKG does believe that the project is the key to unlocking the critical minerals wealth of the Kitikmeot and, therefore, a driver of new opportunities for Kitikmeot beneficiaries in a way that respects their lands and waters.

Thank you for this opportunity. I would be happy to answer any questions that the committee may have.

The Deputy Chair: We have put up a map to try to help us.

Mr. Bell: I see that.

The Deputy Chair: Where is the — do you see it? Can you indicate?

Mr. Bell: Coming out of COVID —

Senator D. Patterson: The Kitikmeot Region within Nunavut.

Mr. Bell: We would have to zoom out. The bigger challenge is that, coming out of COVID, I realized that my suits don’t fit anymore, and, worse than that, I need a new eye prescription.

I see the Grays Bay Road and Port corridor, which goes up on that yellow line through a number of important deposits. You can see Grays Bay. Twenty kilometres to the east along the coast is where we have a project called Arcadia Bay, a gold deposit we are currently exploring. If you were to zoom out, you are looking at western Nunavut. That border that you see at the bottom and the Ekati mine sit in the Northwest Territories. To orient yourself, that is the dividing line between Nunavut to the north and the Northwest Territories to the south.

Senator D. Patterson: Roughly north of Edmonton.

Mr. Bell: Yes, Edmonton, up to Yellowknife and further north from there to the Ekati mine.

Senator Simons: That’s a lot north of Edmonton.

Mr. Bell: Yes. It’s a 14-hour drive if you are keeping track and going to speed limit just to get to Yellowknife.

Senator Simons: And from Yellowknife to Grays Bay would take how long if you had a road?

Mr. Bell: That is a great question I had not contemplated, but as much time again, easily. The aviation folks would probably correct me on that, but it’s somewhere in that ballpark.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you for helping us here.

Senator Simons: I had a meeting this week with a delegation from the Canadian Airports Council. I met with people from Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria, Vancouver and Fort McMurray. They talked about their problems. They are airport authorities and they have the capacity to raise funds through fees and by having restaurant concessions in their airports.

In Nunavut, who is responsible for raising money for airport improvements? I’m not asking a rhetorical question. I literally do not know who pays for the airport, not just in Iqaluit but in Baker Lake. Is it the federal government or the Nunavut government? Is it the two governments together? Do the municipalities kick in anything?

Mr. Speer: Much as you would talk about an airport authority, every airport has an owner. In the territories, both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, the airport operator is the territorial government. The Government of the Northwest Territories or the Government of Nunavut is the agency responsible for all of the airports within that territory. They will need to access the funds and invest in whatever the costs are, both for upgrades and for regular maintenance.

Senator Simons: The previous panel said that they are spending $300 million to upgrade the runway in Iqaluit. What does that mean for your airline? Will that runway be out of operation temporarily, and what does that mean for you?

Mr. Speer: That is probably one of the biggest challenges that we face in terms of how to actually upgrade the airport infrastructure. I will use Iqaluit as a good example. The work that they are doing now is largely runway edge lighting and things that are outside, like you would see in road construction off to the side. A couple of years ago, they did need to repave that runway. It is a single runway. We cannot close the airport for three to six weeks. What they actually did in Iqaluit — the runway is 200 feet wide — they literally worked on the eastern half for a couple of years, made the runway 100 feet wide, and we landed on the east side for one season, and then the next season we turned around and landed on the west side for the other season. That does work in airports like Iqaluit. It is not ideal, but it is manageable. That works because the runway is 200 feet wide.

If we look to the communities north of Iqaluit, those runways range from 98 feet to 100 feet. There is no way that we can safely operate on a 50-foot-wide runway anymore. That option is not there, which is why it becomes an even bigger challenge to carry out those repairs and do that work. It needs to be strategically planned so that we do not shut down a runway for weeks or months.

Senator Simons: In Nunavut, is there any airport apart from Iqaluit that can take a Boeing 737 — a larger jet — or is it all small turboprops?

Mr. Speer: The only two paved runways that would be used for larger jets would be in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet. Those are the only ones that we service with our aircraft. If you look at Sanirajak or Resolute Bay, those runways are sufficiently long, but they are gravel. They are serviceable by aircraft like the Boeing 737-200, which is an aircraft that we have since retired because it is extremely old and a challenge for us to reliably maintain. Beyond that, in our case, the operations are all on ATRs — 42s and 72s — and propeller-powered aircraft.

Senator Simons: So that is your fleet; it is a mix of jets and props.

Mr. Speer: For argument’s sake, half of our fleet is jet aircraft, and the other half is ATR-driven propeller-powered aircraft.

Senator Simons: Tell me what the risks are as a pilot landing if you have wind, a blizzard, a runway that maybe you don’t know the solidity of when you land. You cancelled 175 flights a month.

Mr. Speer: On average, yes.

Senator Simons: How often are you cancelling because it is actually impossible to fly versus it is just too big of a gamble to fly?

Mr. Speer: Those 175 events per month are flights that we cancelled simply because of weather. I don’t want to say that it is weather because flying in that weather was unsafe; it was weather that made it unsuitable for us to be able to land at the airport. Fundamentally, we’ll operate; we’ll fly an instrument approach down as low as we can safely. There is a different altitude depending upon various things, including the quality of the approach angle and, importantly, the lighting installed at the airport in order to see. Then we are able to look up and see and can actually land visually.

Senator Simons: In the winter it is dark.

Mr. Speer: It is. Ironically, it is easier in the winter than in the summertime. The lights stand out. One of the other beauties, and the biggest thing that causes weather, is moisture in the air. What we really enjoy is the dead of winter, when all of the water is frozen over, and there is very little moisture in the air. Ironically, our worst seasons are the spring and fall, when there is lots of moisture being pumped in from the oceans and the rivers, et cetera. In the wintertime, when it all freezes over, there is less moisture.

What we are seeing now, because of the change in climate, is that those shoulder seasons are getting longer and longer, and the freeze is not as deep, so those periods of really good weather are not there. Ironically, some of the most enjoyable time that I have flying is in the dead of winter. It is quite nice.

Senator Simons: Is NAV Canada controlling that space from Edmonton?

Mr. Speer: A limited portion of the airspace is controlled, and we spend a large portion of the time flying in airspace that is not controlled by anybody. We communicate with other pilots. Any time that we work with somebody controlling us, most of the time it is through Edmonton. There is a little airspace outside of Iqaluit that is actually run through Montreal.

Senator Simons: So you are relying on an air traffic controller who is thousands of miles away and has no idea what the runway conditions are on any given Tuesday.

Mr. Speer: Yes. I mean, there are reports provided by the airport when somebody is there. Again, if you look at the Ottawa airport, it is manned 24-7. There are limited hours when we get that information. We receive a report. Sometimes it is several days, and there is only one person in many cases who provides it. If they are away sick or on vacation, we don’t get that information, and we’re relying on the pilots to use their judgment to make an inspection before they land and rely on what they see to make that decision.

The Deputy Chair: Are there any studies on the number of airports you land at? How many are in a state that is okay, and how many need repair?

Mr. Speer: I think there are a large number of studies. One of my frustrations is we keep studying it and identifying there are deficiencies, and yet we do not act on those improvements.

Again, I will point back to the Auditor General’s report from 2017. It identified a large number of airport infrastructure in the North that was found to be in need of repair. I would argue that six years after that report was issued, there is still a big need for it.

The Deputy Chair: It is still an issue.

Mr. Speer: Some work has been done. Airports have degraded since then as well. There were a large number of airports. If you address two or three, there are still many in need of work.

Senator Klyne: I have a quick question for Canadian North and, if time permits, also West Kitikmeot Gold.

Flying is the only way to get to many communities in Canada’s Far North. Canadian North is the lifeline, so it goes to a lot of these communities. I believe that. I have flown that airline.

If I understand correctly, some unique training is required for flying in the North, such as compensating for the fact that the magnetic compass does not work anymore as you get close to the North Pole. Another example is having to deal with northern lights interfering with radio equipment.

Can you tell us whether the effects of climate change also impact the safety of flying on top of the world?

Mr. Speer: I would struggle to say it impacts the act of flying. But it exposes us, potentially, to more extreme weather, so we have longer times operating in icy conditions, which aren’t in and of themselves dangerous, but there are tools and techniques we need to use to address and manage that risk.

It will generate longer times of icy, slippery runways. It is not so much the climate change itself that is bringing the risk, but it is increasing the exposure to the other weather events that increase the risk or generate challenges that need to be managed.

Senator Klyne: With respect to the effects of climate change and critical weather events occurring more often, how are pilots being trained to mitigate the changing landing conditions, pollution effects and unusual weather? At the expense of being repetitive, as critical weather events continue and occur more frequently, how does this impact your current fleet needs, unique pilots’ training and being able to continue to serve your clients effectively?

Mr. Speer: In terms of the special changes, the reality is there is not a great deal of special changes that are required. We are trained and specialize in dealing with slippery runways and the adverse weather events.

One of the mitigation measures that result from that, depending on the weather, is we are potentially required to carry less weight on the aircraft or we cannot take off with so much weight on the aircraft because we need to be able to deal with some weather events, perhaps stop on the runway. If we cannot complete the takeoff because of an event or have to be able to, after landing, come to a stop, which obviously will be more challenging on an icy runway than a dry runway, that is where it really ends up making its impact. We are not able to carry as much weight, which means that we cannot carry as many people, as much food or as many supplies, so we need to add additional flying. With fixed resources, we simply cannot carry on that service, and then there is a decrease in the delivery of goods and services.

Senator Klyne: This is for West Kitikmeot Gold and Mr. Bell: In your opinion, what are the biggest barriers when it comes to the development of the Arctic’s abundant mineral resources, including critical minerals crucial for the decarbonized economy of the future?

Mr. Bell: Senator, a good question. The answer, from my perspective, without a doubt, is the high cost of being in the region. That is a result of a lack of infrastructure, the weather. My experience with Dominion Diamond is there were probably 130 kimberlite pipes on the property in the Northwest Territories, and only a handful of them became operating mines. I dare say that twice or three times as many of those pipes would have been mines in Southern Africa, where the costs are much lower.

The cost of being in business at the mine site was between $300 million and $400 million a year, a lot of that fixed overheads. Before you moved any ore, it was feeding people, heating the place. So just the overall overheads and costs of being in business are the biggest impediment.

For base metals, critical minerals, unless you are on tidewater, you are out of business. There are world-class deposits on the map that you had up that would be mines anywhere close to tidewater. Until there is infrastructure there, they will not get out of the ground.

Senator Klyne: As a follow-up, what do you rely on for critical infrastructure like energy, utilities, information communication technologies, transportation, potable water? Do you have a strategy and plans for dealing with continued critical weather events, which are going to occur more frequently?

Mr. Bell: Yes. That is a pretty comprehensive list that you have just rattled off there. Transportation of people to and from the site; in many cases, these are remote, fly-in, fly-out workplaces if you’re talking about the mines in Nunavut that Agnico Eagle or Baffinland are operating.

As weather impacts change, I can go back to 2006 with the experience at the Northwest Territories diamond mines. We had a very warm winter, which meant a short resupply season, which caught us off guard, and we ended up, collectively as an industry, spending $100 million to fly in provisions for the year, including fuel in bladders in planes. It is not how you would want to do it.

Fortunately, we are adapting. Technology is better at building the winter roads, but with the changing weather patterns, this is just going to be a continual challenge for us as an industry.

Senator Klyne: And difficult to forecast, not to make a pun there. Do you have a medium- to long-term plan about how you are going to deal with critical events occurring more frequently?

Mr. Bell: Our best plan is resilient infrastructure.

Senator Klyne: Good answer, yes.

Mr. Bell: If I think of deepwater ports that in past years would have been open six weeks — that would be the season — maybe we have three months at best if we are able to do some ice breaking. But these are going to need to be resilient, well‑built pieces of infrastructure that can deal with the impacts of varying weather and climate change.

Senator Klyne: Now that Mr. Bell has brought up the water, I will have a question about that if you’d like me to wait.

Senator Dasko: Thank you for being here today. We are studying the effects of climate change on transportation, but I do have questions that are not about climate change. I hope I can ask those.

Mr. Speer, I’m very interested in the viability of your business because, as you mentioned, the population that you serve is very small. The area you serve is very large. I don’t know how you actually make a go of it in your business. Can you tell me the proportion of passengers versus supplies? Is it mainly supplying the communities, or is passenger business a dominant part of it? Can you tell me anything about that?

Mr. Speer: They are both a very big part. I will defer to Shelly De Caria on that, as it’s more her wheelhouse, and let her give a far better answer than I will be able to.

Ms. De Caria: We are an essential service for cargo and passenger traffic. We have mostly combi aircraft, which is half passenger and half cargo going in the front. We have full freighters on both the Boeing 737 and ATRs that can do both, but mostly freighters, and then some are all-passenger aircraft. The example that he brought up with weather cancellations, we had 238 for September. That is a lot of medical patients.

Senator Dasko: Medical patients?

Ms. De Caria: Yes, on the Baffin Island. The trickle ends up growing; our flights are constantly full because of it. Pilot shortage impacts the flights. The duty regulations impact our flights. Typically, in the past we used to be able to do two, three flights per day. Sometimes we can only do one because of the duty regulations. Captain Speer can speak more to that.

Mr. Speer: There are all kinds of risks that you manage in aviation, one being pilot fatigue. There was a regulation change for us back in December of 2020 that adjusted those rules. A pilot can work a limited number of hours, which is what she is talking about.

Ms. De Caria: One weather cancellation in a day trickles us, and it takes up to seven days to get that back to normal. For example, we had 19 weather cancellations on Baffin Island just yesterday alone. It is a hard business, yes.

Senator Dasko: What percentage of your revenue comes from people versus goods?

Ms. De Caria: People is probably around 70%, including our charters out west; the rest would be cargo.

Senator Dasko: We have heard often about increasing tourism in the North for whatever reason, socio-economic change and so on. Is tourism for your business growing, or is it pretty stable?

Ms. De Caria: It is pretty stable, yes.

Senator Dasko: Do you have any competition in the North? Are any other airlines operating in the Northwest Territories?

Ms. De Caria: That’s a great question. There are other airlines that operate, mostly on the freighter side. No one has come up with the passenger side yet. It is a pretty important business for us. We merged the two airlines because it wasn’t viable for both.

Senator Dasko: You had a merger?

Ms. De Caria: Yes, First Air and Canadian North. We would have two planes, for example, going into Pang that were both half empty. Both businesses were going down, so we merged back in 2020.

Senator Dasko: Do you rely on any government subsidies as a basis for operation? I don’t know what the term would be, but is there a subsidy of any kind?

Ms. De Caria: Throughout the pandemic, we were being subsidized because we would have a Boeing 737 from Iqaluit come down with 100 seats available but only medical patients were allowed to come down, so 19 seats were filled. We weren’t able to accommodate that, so all three governments came in: federal, N.W.T. and the Government of Nunavut.

Right now we don’t receive any subsidies, but the airline gives back to the communities we serve. We created beneficiary fares for the Inuit population because they don’t have a means of travelling. They don’t get travel subsidies. We do cargo benefits for Inuit beneficiaries. We have implemented some community investments within our airline to give back. Right now, Nunavik, in northern Quebec, has a subsidy in place for $500 travel, but that’s because they are trying to increase tourism.

Senator Dasko: Thank you.

Senator D. Patterson: Thank you to our witnesses for being here. I think that I am one of the best customers on Canadian North. I have been for many years.

Captain Speer, both of you have spoken about the weather-related cancellations. There is technology available to improve navigation into our isolated airstrips. What is the technology that you would like to see employed? Do you have a recommendation for this committee on that subject?

Mr. Speer: That’s an excellent question and one that is near and dear to my heart. I am still actively flying and I actively fly in Nunavut.

Senator D. Patterson: I have been on your flights, I’m sure.

Mr. Speer: As much as you say that you are one of the best customers, I am probably one of the best pilots.

In terms of technology, we can look at several opportunities, some of which are on the aircraft side, such as enhanced vision technology. That is actually a big challenge. We are looking at some brand new airplanes with that technology included, but it doesn’t work when connected to navigation tools that operate based on true north. Regarding the earlier question, that is a challenge we face in the North. We cannot use the compass. The system is brilliant to allow me to see through the clouds, but it does not work in a true north environment.

In terms of approaches, we have the ability to enhance, improve and leverage advanced GPS approaches. They are being designed. We have some satellite coverage issues managed by the U.S. government.

The biggest thing that we can do is to make two big changes to the airports. First, I’m looking at improved airport lighting. Many of the airports have literally just lights down the side of the runway and very little to guide us into the runway. As I mentioned earlier, when we get down low, we see what is in front of us. We need those lights to see the airport. Right now, in many cases I need to be two to three miles back from the airport. If I cannot see for two or three miles, I can’t land. In Ottawa, I can do it from about half a mile because of the lights. In Toronto, I can do it at a quarter mile because of those lights. Part of that comes down to the runway infrastructure and the area around it.

In terms of technology that’s immediately available, I would leverage the development of higher-quality instrument approaches through GPS. But the biggest and most valuable investment would be in runway surfaces and in approach lighting at the airport.

Senator D. Patterson: Is the higher-quality GPS on the ground at the airport? Is that equipment that could be installed by Canada?

Mr. Speer: It is not really on the ground. It ties into the GPS satellite constellation that is around the globe, but there is a bit of a correction factor that needs to be applied. A small number of devices are required for that. Most of the territories are just on the fringes. They have rolled out a bunch of those approaches recently, but the U.S. government has relocated a couple of their satellites to improve coverage over Alaska, which has left us just outside of the coverage range. It is really an investment in that infrastructure that we need to lean on our friends to the south to help leverage it in terms of big technology.

There are abilities to install a bunch of ground-based instrumentation, but there is great cost to that, and those would have to occur at every single airport individually.

Senator D. Patterson: I was in Cambridge Bay recently. I know that you have been up there as well. Canadian North had to retire its aged fleet of 737-200 series jet aircraft that could land on gravel with a so-called gravel kit. As a result, Cambridge Bay lost its jet service. Cambridge Bay is a regional hub, just like Rankin Inlet in the central region and Iqaluit in the eastern Qikiqtaaluk Region, or Baffin Region. There is great concern about the loss of economies of scale from not being able to provide jet service there.

What would be needed to reinstate jet service in Cambridge Bay and, perhaps, in Resolute Bay or Hall Beach, where the 737-200 series were able to land?

Mr. Speer: That’s an excellent question. A lot of work is being devoted to that. I have been involved with several groups in ongoing discussions about it. The main concern there is the ingestion of gravel into the jet engines. That is the real risk. We have to find some way to keep the gravel from impacting the engines. Some chemical products are being used to secure and hold the gravel down. That is one area they are looking at. However, it may be a challenge for aircraft the size of a jet and large aircraft.

Another opportunity that is being heavily investigated is finding an alternate surface for the runway. Paving would be an option, but it’s a challenge in some of these communities to maintain pavement. There are options like aluminum panels that would be laid down. Other companies are looking at plastic-type compounds. The military has been using that in some areas for a while. Ultimately, it is finding an alternate surface for that runway to totally contain the gravel or cover it with something that would be load-bearing enough to support the weight of a jet-sized aircraft.

Senator D. Patterson: Thank you.

Senator Cardozo: This is extremely educational. Thank you for being here.

As I recall it, during COVID, your company was facing considerable financial problems, as did the airline industry. You made it through that and you got some federal assistance over that period.

Mr. Speer: Really, I think that is why we were able to get through it. The large struggle we had is many airlines were able to roll back their service to slow their travel, but we’re looking at moving food, groceries and individuals needing medical treatment or moving in medication. Those are all time-limited events. We needed to keep operating with a reasonably regular schedule despite the fact that the airplanes were fairly empty. That impacted the revenue. That was what Shelly was speaking to.

We did receive support from both the Government of Nunavut and the Government of the Northwest Territories, largely to subsidize the fact we were flying empty airplanes while any business would otherwise cancel the flight and not operate because of the cost.

Senator Cardozo: Looking at your map, and there is a better map than that one on your website, that suggests you have 24 airports in the N.W.T., Nunavut and one in Nunavik. Of those, how many are in critical trouble, and how many will be okay for a while?

Mr. Speer: It’s hard to quantify. I don’t want to sound alarmist, but my concern — if I go back to one of the earlier questions about how long we take and how we do this repair — is it will take a long time to repair a lot of the airports. We will need to plan.

We have a relatively short season that we can either ship goods in or we can carry out those repairs. While I am hesitant to say how many are critical today, my concern is if we don’t start doing something right now, it will be too late for many of them.

My concern is once one runway washes away or is not useable, that community is cut off. To rebuild a runway will take weeks, months, years. The community won’t be able to survive for that period.

I would really caution us, if we’re looking at which ones are critical and which are not, that we need to think and recognize that, because of the timelines, if we don’t act now, they will all be critical.

Senator Cardozo: I would like to ask both of you about your success in terms of hiring Indigenous people in your companies. I note, with pride, Ms. De Caria, you’re the first Inuk woman to head Canadian North and probably one of the leading businesswomen across the country of Inuit background. Congratulations. I want you to tell us how you go about hiring more Inuit and First Nations people in your companies.

Ms. De Caria: A great question. I can answer that for Canadian North.

To go to school away from home, the post-secondary education is down south. When I say “down south,” it’s Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton. We recently hired an Inuit coordinator to be able to go to these schools to recruit.

Currently, we have over 200 employees who are Inuit. A huge goal of mine is to get it higher, obviously. We go into schools. We bring the professionals with us to give them options. It’s not just pilots or maintenance. The world is your oyster, really.

We have a whole department that emphasizes and goes to all the schools, mostly in Nunavut, N.W.T. as well as Nunavik to do the recruitment for and education on the aviation industry.

We recently also had the aviation museum here highlighting Inuit employees within Canadian North and Air Inuit, which has been very popular and gaining a lot of traction in the high schools.

Senator Cardozo: Are you seeing your numbers grow?

Ms. De Caria: Yes. As I said, for the last three years it has been a goal of hours to emphasize getting Inuit. Many of the jobs that we want to push don’t need post-secondary education to the level that’s intimidating for Inuit communities. We are trying to empower and mentor Inuit students from a lower level to bring them up.

Senator Cardozo: A quick comment from Mr. Bell?

Mr. Bell: Sure. I will rely on my past experience in the mining and diamond industries in the Northwest Territories to tell you that I think we did an excellent job of getting Indigenous people into entry-level positions. Our numbers reflected that. We’re pretty good.

Where we were challenged and needed to find a better way to do a better job was in getting people up through the ranks. Mentorship is a part of that, increased access to a STEM education, starting with young people who want to be involved and learning about the jobs of the future.

There is no one magic bullet. It is a combination of solutions. I would say many northern companies have done a good job of employing local people and probably not as good at getting people into the roles at our level where people work their way up through the organizations and ultimately run them.

That is the goal of the future. In our new company, West Kitikmeot Gold, the largest shareholder are the Kitikmeot Inuit with two Inuit members on the board. Our hope is that alignment will attract young people who will want to come and work and feel pride in an organization they own. This is our plan: to employ more local people because they own the business.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you very much.

Senator Simons: I want to come back to Mr. Bell.

To build this road project, who are you looking to for funding, and what will you do about the issue of permafrost melt to stabilize a road like this?

Mr. Bell: We’re at the stage of designing and permitting this road. Ultimately, we have money from the federal government and will raise private funds to get this thing to a shovel-ready state.

Four years down the road, logically, the Government of Canada will probably be somewhere in the neighbourhood of being a 75% funder for this sort of critical infrastructure; that’s pretty much the way it has worked in the northern territories, that sort of level. Often, the province or the territory will come in for the last 25%. We think, in this case, that’s too high a hill. We think we will have to go out and find private-sector investment. We’re prepared to do that.

In the design, we talked about resilient infrastructure. We will need to work with the latest technology to make sure that our roads are capable. We will not pave these roads. These will be all-season roads, not paved.

As to permafrost, if you have driven around Yellowknife recently, you will have seen what permafrost does to paved roads with the heaving. We want to be able to grade the roads and use gravel, an all-season surface, to mitigate that.

Senator Klyne: Mr. Bell, now that you have drawn my attention to the Arctic Ocean, the Beaufort Sea, all the inlets, navigable waters down into the bay, is there any concern regarding foreign companies considering staking claims to develop the Arctic’s abundant mineral resources? Is Canada doing enough to solidify Canada’s claims to sovereignty?

Mr. Bell: In my opinion, there has not been a rush by anybody to stake a lot of this ground because of the cost of operating.

These deposits that were up on the map, if I look at Izok Lake or Hackett, these have been known for 50 years. These have been world-class deposits, but it’s simply impossible to get them out of the ground and develop them.

If you are imagining that we build this infrastructure and suddenly there is a rush of foreign nations looking to come, stake ground and extract our mineral resources, I don’t think that’s a real risk.

I think there is increased traffic in the waters, whether it is tourist-related or potentially military traffic that we’re aware or unaware of. I think we need to be there and monitoring. That challenge only grows with climate change. The Alaskans and Americans do a wonderful job. We need to pull up our socks and have more of a presence in that part of the world on our coast.

Senator Klyne: I fully agree with you. China might say they are just plotting some tourist tracks for where they might want to sail one day. They are doing other things there.

Russia, although it is distracted with Ukraine, is still pumping money into their developments there.

Mr. Bell: I think we all have a new sense of urgency that we didn’t have maybe five or seven years ago, when this project was first really talked about.

Yes, southern or Arctic nations or those with Arctic ambitions — we need to be aware of that. It is important that we work with local communities to make the investments in infrastructure. If we don’t, somebody else will.

Senator D. Patterson: Mr. Bell, you have run a diamond company that relied on winter roads for annual resupply. You talked about the challenge the industry faced in 2006.

Could you talk about how the winter roads have been financed, what they cost, and how the season is shortening? And could you relate that to your proposed Grays Bay Road and Port Project and how that all-weather road will respond to the climate impacts on ice roads in that region?

Mr. Bell: Sure. To an outsider, the winter roads we built to access the diamond mines cost probably $20 million a year to construct, to allow us to do resupply, and, of course, the road melts every year. I think southerners would think you were crazy investing $20 million in melting infrastructure and do it every year, but that was our only real option and lifeline.

Permanent road infrastructure, all-season road infrastructure, clearly is the answer. We need to make those investments. What we’re talking about with Grays Bay Road and Port will be exactly that. There will be upkeep and maintenance costs every year to maintain this infrastructure, but at least we won’t be dealing with these melting roads.

The other thing I would like to say with respect to critical minerals, if we move beyond gold and certainly beyond diamonds, we flew the product out on a daily or weekly basis, and they were small parcels of diamonds that needed to leave. That was the entire value proposition — they were leaving to be sold.

With critical minerals and base metals, that is clearly impossible. We need access to tidewater if we are going to develop the resources. Diamonds and gold are a much different game. If we are serious in this country about the development of critical minerals, it will come only after we invest in critical infrastructure and access to tidewater, so deepwater ports. This Grays Bay Port, in my opinion, will be the most capable port between Alaska and Greenland, and we desperately need it.

Senator D. Patterson: Are there any other ports in Canada’s Northwest Passage, and could you talk about the services or benefits of that port roughly in the central Arctic region? Who would be the users of that port?

Mr. Bell: There’s not a lot. If you want me to go through the list of other ports in the Northwest Passage, it’s pretty thin. We have the Nanisivik, and you are aware of the challenges of Nanisivik with refuelling, five weeks of accessibility a year and infrastructure that’s challenged.

Senator D. Patterson: Some would say it’s not on the Northwest Passage.

Mr. Bell: Well, there you go.

Senator D. Patterson: This is Nanisivik, at the north end of Baffin Island. It’s not the traditional route of vessels that traverse the Northwest Passage. We could pull up the map —

The Deputy Chair: That’s good. We need maps to follow. I think it’s very important.

Mr. Bell: Other northern ports are also not on the Northwest Passage; we spoke of Iqaluit earlier, or the previous panel did, and the Baffinland port on Baffin Island. That’s really the list of infrastructure in Nunavut in terms of ports, and the Northwest Passage has almost none.

In terms of future users, the owners of these base metal deposits and critical minerals inland in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut will access this port. It will have berths for Panamax-sized vessels. The security function this port can perform for the Canadian military, for Coast Guard, for other users is another critical component. This will be a multi-user piece of infrastructure, and that’s the way to make the economic argument and case for financing something of this nature. The third important users are small communities and hunters who will be able to access small port harbours who will also make use of this.

The Deputy Chair: Thank you so much, and if you want to see, Nanisivik is where the star is. That’s what we’re talking about. We have learned a lot tonight and, because of the hour, that brings our second panel to an end.

[Translation]

Please join me in thanking our witnesses for joining us and taking the time to answer our questions and share their perspectives with us today.

[English]

You were good in your explanations. We learned a lot, and thank you for coming to us.

[Translation]

Thank you, honourable senators. The meeting is adjourned.

(The committee adjourned.)