Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment

Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment

Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Draft Canada-wide Strategy for the Management of Municipal Wastewater Effluent

Nunavut Regional Impact Analysis

Prepared for Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

© 2008 Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Prepared by Brent Wootton, Agata Durkalec, Susanna Ashley Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment, Fleming College, Lindsay, Ontario

January 28, 2008

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 4

2 Regional Response to the Strategy 4

2.1 CONSULTATION PROCESS 4

2.2 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE STRATEGY 5

3 Regional context 6

3.1 REGULATORY CONTEXT OF REGION 6

3.1.1 Brief summary of relevant wastewater legislation 10

3.2 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTEXT OF REGION 11

3.2.1 Federal 11

3.2.2 Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated 11

3.2.3 Government of Nunavut 12

3.2.4 Institutions of Public Government 13

3.2.5 Municipal 17

3.3 FINANCIAL CONTEXT OF REGION 17

3.3.1 General financial context 17

3.3.2 Source of infrastructure and wastewater operation funds 20

4 Region and Communities 22

4.1 CURRENT COMMUNITY POPULATIONS AND GROWTH 22

4.2 MAP OF NUNAVUT SHOWING LOCATION OF COMMUNITIES 24

4.3 NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF REGION 25

4.4 SOCIO-ECONOMICS OF REGION 26

4.5 TRANSPORTATION 27

5 Existing Infrastructure 27

5.1 EXISTING WASTEWATER TECHNOLOGIES 27

6 Operations 27

6.1 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE COSTS 27

6.2 DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES AND CHALLENGES 31

6.3 DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT MONITORING AND REPORTING ACTIVITIES AND

CHALLENGES 34

7 Performance and Compliance 35

7.1 PERFORMANCE AND COMPLIANCE OF EXISTING WASTEWATER PROCESSES 35

8 Resource Needs and Availability 35

8.1 DESCRIPTION OF TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES 36

8.1.1 Nunavut Municipal Training Organization 36

8.1.2 Nunavut Arctic College 37

8.2 COMMUNITY CAPACITY AND TRAINING CHALLENGES 38

9 Analysis of Draft Strategy and Impacts on Nunavut 39

10 Analysis of Technical Supplement 1 and Implications for Nunavut 44

11 Analysis of Technical Supplement 2 and Impacts on Nunavut 48

12 Analysis of Technical Supplement 3 and Impacts on Nunavut 53

13 Overview of Implications of Draft Strategy for Region 56

13.1 RECOMMENDATIONS 57

14 References 58

15 Appendix 1: Estimated total and per capita water use in Nunavut communities 70

16 Appendix 2: Wastewater treatment facilities and licensing data per community 71

17 Appendix 3: Water and sewage expenditures and revenue by community 94

1 Introduction

Nunavut—our land in Inuktitut—is the homeland of Inuit in the eastern regions of the Canadian Arctic. The Territory of Nunavut was established on April 1, 1999 as a result of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA). The NLCA was signed in 1993, after decades of negotiations between Inuit and the Governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories. The Agreement is based on the following objectives, as stated in the preamble:

1. 
   to provide for certainty and clarity of rights to ownership and use of lands and resources and of rights for Inuit to participate in decision-making concerning the use, management and conservation of land, water and resources, including the offshore,
   
2. 
   to provide Inuit with wildlife harvesting rights and rights to participate in decision-making concerning wildlife harvesting,
   
3. 
   to provide Inuit with financial compensation and means of participating in economic opportunities,
   
4. 
   to encourage self-reliance and the cultural and social well-being of Inuit.
   

The Territory spans the two million square kilometers of Canada, extending north and west of Hudson’s Bay. Comprising one-fifth of Canada’s overall area, Nunavut is comparable in size to all of Western Europe. The territory is divided into three regions: Qikiqtaaluk, Kitikmeot and Kivalliq. Approximately 84% of Nunavut residents are Inuit.

2 Regional Response to the Strategy

2.1 CONSULTATION PROCESS

Representatives from Nunavut were invited by Environment Canada to an Iqaluit consultation on the Strategy on Nov. 20, 2007, and a Nunavut-specific consultation session was held in Iqaluit after this. Participation by Nunavut representatives at the meeting was considered adequate; participants included representatives from Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the Government of Nunavut (GN), the Nunavut Water Board (NWB), and community members.

ITK and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) are providing feedback on the Strategy to the best of their ability given the limited funding and an extremely short time period provided by EC. However, the short timeframe prevented ITK and NTI from meeting internal consultation requirements, and precluded direct consultation with the three regional Inuit organizations in Nunavut and Nunavut communities—the owners and operators of wastewater treatment facilities. Therefore, ITK, NTI, the regional Inuit organizations, and Nunavut municipalities reserve the right to change conclusions at any time, particularly after the draft regulations have been made public.

Under the NLCA, the federal government is required to consult in a meaningful way with the Inuit of Nunavut when making decisions that affect them. The insufficient consultation timeframe illustrates a lack of consideration for the constraints in the Northern context and the consultation requirements that the regional and national Inuit organizations must abide by. From an Inuit perspective, this consultation process has been inadequate and has not fulfilled the Crown's duty to consult.