In a first-of its-kind agreement, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the NWT and Yukon governments and the federal government have arranged to collectively share in decision-making in regards to offshore oil exploration.
Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal, NWT Premier Caroline Cochrane, Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai and Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) CEO and Chairman Duane Ningaqsiq Smith signed the Western Arctic – Tariuq (Offshore) Accord on Aug. 10.
“Inuvialuit have long been sidelined from participation in the management of offshore oil and gas exploration and development in the Western Arctic,” said Smith. “Today, this comes to an end. Under this Accord, Inuvialuit are now equal partners in decision-making about resource development in the offshore areas of our homeland.
“This Accord recognizes the paramountcy of our Inuvialuit rights under the Inuvialuit Final Agreement and ensures that a share of resource revenues, opportunities and benefits rightfully flow to Inuvialuit communities. This is an important step in our continuing journey toward self-determination and reconciliation.”
The deal will provide shared revenue and decision-making relating to all future oil and gas rights in the Western Arctic Ocean. Implementation of the accord will be covered by a $2.5 million allotment in the federal 2022 budget.
“Indigenous peoples and Northerners must have a voice in deciding how resource development should be permitted and managed where they live,” said Vandal. “This historic accord provides for full partnership in decision-making, which is essential as we all move forward with economic reconciliation.
“I am truly honoured today to join with partners in Inuvik to sign the Western Arctic – Tariuq (Offshore) Accord,” Vandal said.
The agreement fulfills commitments to resource devolution and completing a resource sharing agreement that Ottawa agreed to in 1993. The federal government also says the deal helps advance Canada’s implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Once this agreement has been fully implemented, the IRC will have a direct role to participate and benefit from any offshore oil and gas exploration in the region.
The last time an oil company considered an offshore oil platform near Tuktoyaktuk, the price of oil was in excess of $100 per barrel.
“Northerners need to be full partners and decision-makers in the Arctic offshore,” said Cochrane. “This accord is a positive step towards ensuring that the Northwest Territories will have direct involvement in important decisions that affect the Western Arctic – Tariuq (Offshore) alongside Canada, the Yukon and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.”
In spite of the agreement, the ongoing moratorium on oil and gas exploration remains in place. Northern Affairs press secretary Kyle Allen said the prohibition would remain in place for the foreseeable future.
“The indefinite moratorium in the Arctic offshore remains in place. The order prohibiting all other oil and gas activities in that region will also be maintained for the duration of the moratorium,” he said. ” The accord fulfills a commitment to the 1993 Yukon and 2013 Northwest Territories lands and resources devolution agreements, and provides a blueprint for clean energy cooperation in the future. We will continue to work closely with Northern and Indigenous partners as we move forward in assessing climate and marine-based conditions in the Arctic offshore and informing future decisions on the moratorium.
Read the accord in full here.