Supporting the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan

Early in 2012, Aarluk Consulting Inc., in association with ESSA Technologies, provided assistance to the Secretariat of the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan in the implementation of their general monitoring responsibilities for Nunavut. This assistance involved the preparation of two reports:

1. A Summary of Knowledge Report on Valued Ecosystemic and Socio-economic Components and Valued Uses of Land and Water in Nunavut; and
2. Socio-economic Monitoring Operational Frameworks 

 

The establishment of the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan (NGMP) is required under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in order to monitor both the current and cumulative long-term environmental and socio-economic impacts of major development projects in Nunavut. The NGMP provides for the participation of Inuit, along with a wide range of government and non-governmental partner organizations, in evaluating and monitoring the environmental impacts of development. The Summary of Knowledge Report prepared by Aarluk and ESSA provided consolidated baseline information on 42 Valued Ecosystemic Components (for example, caribou, seals, marine water quality, etc), 11 Valued Socio-economic Components (for example health and well-being, Inuit language, employment, etc), and Existing and Future Valued Uses of Land and Water. This detailed baseline information supports decision-making by federal and territorial regulators, the Nunavut Planning Commission, Nunavut Impact Review Board, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Regional Inuit Organizations, the private sector and the public.

The development of Operational Frameworks for Socio-economic Monitoring is an important step towards the coordination and integration of socio-economic data collection done for specific projects, with more general socio-economic data (collected by various agencies, including Statistics Canada, Nunavut Bureau of Statistics, GN Departments, AANDC and other Federal Departments, NTI and regional Inuit organizations, among others). The frameworks ensure the compatibility (and therefore the usefulness) of socio-economic information that is collected for specific development projects, with the critical socio-economic elements monitored at the regional and territorial levels under the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan.

Members of the Aarluk project team included Fred Weihs, Joan Freeman, Glen Packman, Alastair Franke, Heidi Klein, Galin Kora, Christian Cloutier, Geoff Rigby, and Terry Rudden, while members of the project team from ESSA Technologies included Lorne Greig, Samantha Boardley and Diana Abraham.