The Mary River Mine also provides a good example of the relationships between NIRB and other organizations. In 2015 the Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC) ruled that Baffinland’s proposal to increase the shipping season from five months to ten months was too disruptive to wildlife habitat, and thus did not conform to the North Baffin Regional Land Use Plan. (In short, NPC rejected the Baffinland proposal.) But Baffinland then applied for and received an exemption from the federal Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Minister, and the proposal proceeded to NIRB for environmental assessment.

This is where it gets interesting. As a result of community feedback, Baffinland then changed its proposal, decreasing the shipping season at Mary River from 10 months to six months, and introducing a new 110 km railway to be constructed alongside an existing road. After reviewing the altered proposal and receiving advice from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and other interested parties, NIRB decided it had changed so significantly from its original version it was necessary to send it back to NPC. This significant amendment to the proposal voided the ministerial exemption Baffinland had received, requiring the NPC to consider the amended proposal with inclusion of a railway and reduced shipping window.

In this way, NIRB and the other organizations charged with protecting Nunavut’s environment for future generations work with corporations, communities, regional organizations, and the territorial and federal governments to minimize the environmental impacts of mines and other projects.