Nunavut municipalities. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Government of Nunavut is eyeing a 2029 completion date for a community harbour in Grise Fiord, shown here, which some locals say will make boating safer.

A proposed harbour in Grise Fiord is expected to be completed by 2029 if it is approved.

“We look forward to our long-awaited and much-needed harbour and the many benefits this project will bring to our community,” Mayor Meeka Kiguktak wrote in a letter to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, which is screening the project.

The harbour would include floating docks, a boat ramp and a breakwater, according to a project summary posted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board website. It would be located on the west side of Nunavut’s northernmost hamlet, which has a population of just over 140.

“Floating docks will be able to accommodate all the boats that are currently in the community docked at one time,” said Greg Belanger, spokesperson for Transportation and Infrastructure Nunavut, in early May in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

“It will also accommodate additional boats in the event more are added.”

A preliminary design concept sketch appears to show room for 36 boats. Belanger said the project is in the “design phase,” but did not provide a cost estimate.

“The department doesn’t share cost estimates prior to tender as it would interfere with the procurement process,” he said.

Belanger said the harbour project is expected to be completed by 2029. It will be paid for by Transport Canada, through a federal program that funds High Arctic harbour infrastructure.

On the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s website, the project is listed as being in “active screening,” and said a “public comment period” started April 30. The board’s webpage for the project includes submissions from federal agencies including Environment Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

There are also letters of support from the community.

Amon Akeeagok, chairperson of the Iviq Hunters’ and Trappers Association, wrote in a letter that the HTA was consulted on several occasions, and that “Grise Fiord urgently needs a harbour” for “safety and efficiency” around boating.

The hunters and trappers association didn’t express any concerns about the project impacting fish, wildlife and community members’ ability to harvest.

Hamlet Coun. Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko pointed to safety as a key benefit of the harbour, especially as summer boating water conditions can quickly change.

“If we had that harbour, then you’re arriving into calmer waters because it is sheltered in,” she said in an interview in April.

“We could be out in the day, it’ll be calm, and then midway before we return it got wavy.”

Source: Nunatsiaq