The Current - How reliable hydro will help build Arctic sovereignty

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

A hydroelectric power plant underway in Nunavut is on Prime Minister Carney's nation-building project list. We speak to people living in Iqaluit about how this will transform the community and why there can be no Arctic security without Inuit sovereignty.

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This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. This is a breakthrough. This is a breakthrough for Arctic sovereignty and sustainability. It will be a 100% Inuit-owned hydro energy project. It will save $1.9 billion in diesel costs over the next 50 years, while providing affordable, reliable, emissions-free power in the Arctic. Last week, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced that a hydroelectric power plant

outside of Icaloet is on the latest list of the federal government's nation-building projects. None of it relies on imported diesel fuel to generate all of its electricity. It's expensive, and the infrastructure is old and unreliable, making communities in that territory prone to frequent power outages. This summer, when the current was in Iqalit, there was one of these outages. the power just went out all across the city. And people just expect that to happen. Curtis Messer is an inuk lawyer, Inakhaluit.

He says these outages are so frequent, they're almost impossible to count. It's definitely a common facet of life when living here in a county to have power outages, as is in other communities with diesel generation in Nunavut. So, you know, it really does put everything on hold. It really does affect every kind of business. I wouldn't even know how to estimate

the amount of power outages we've had in the last 30 days, let alone since I've been here, they're that frequent. Right now, he says outages are so frequent and diesel costs are so high that it is hard to run things like schools, businesses, and other necessary infrastructure on a day-to-day basis. It will make a massive difference for the community, maybe even for Nunavut as a whole. This whole territory can't even power a single bakery just because of the cost that comes with electricity from diesel generation. I think it's incredibly important.

This project will also be a fully Inuit-owned hydroelectric electricity project based in Akalewit. This is something that is being led by us with the hope that we can control what comes from it. We can influence the decisions around its construction and ultimately pass along those benefits that come from owning our own energy source. We are doing our own decisions for our own economic self-debt. determination rather than this being imposed upon us and affecting us without a real say in the project. Heather Schulton is executive director of the Nunavit Newkik-Sautit Corporation. It is the company that is leading the Ikhaluit-Nukk-Soutit hydroelectric project. She is in Akhalo this morning.

Heather, good morning. We just heard Curtis Messer talking about what life is like in Akhala right now. How do you think this project will change the lives of people in that community? I think one of the main things that Curtis mentioned was sort of the cost of living. Electricity rates in Nakhari have increased about 22% in the last six years alone, all because of the cost of fuel. You mentioned we're reliant on it 100%. It's shipped in from down south. And we subsidize electricity rates because of that cost of fuel in the order of tens of millions of dollars every year.

And that money should be going to other critical infrastructure in the territory. We know housing insecurity and food insecurity are pressing priorities. We should be putting that money that is currently spent on fossil fuels towards those priorities. And we hope that that's what this project will enable. You have said that Echaluit importing diesel from the South to generate electricity is a reliance that is, in your words, not reflective of security or Arctic sovereignty. What do you mean by that? When we're reliant on fuel that is shipped in from the South, we're, also then vulnerable to economic volatility of the cost of fuel. The electricity rates in

a cloud rate that have increased so much because of that cost of fuel, it's only going to get worse. It's going to get harder to get. It's going to get more expensive to get. So if there's opportunities for us to be able to use our own resources in the territory through wind, water, sun, we should be able to do that. And using those resources that we have in the territory, that's going to enable that resilience that we need to enable Arctic security. And so where will this hydroelectric project be based? And at what point in time do you think this is going to be up and running? The project is located in the Kugalu area,

which is about 60 kilometers northeast of Al-Harit. And I think one of the unique things about this project is that we did not select the site as a company. We selected that site as a community. So we wanted to look at all of the different opportunities around Nakhari that could potentially enable a renewable energy project. And we did a techno-economic study. We did an environmental and regulatory study, and we did a Tisakdivut study with our Inuit Association, which interviewed about 60 Akhanimut to understand land, water, and resource use in the area. And then we sort of overlayed all of the results of those studies on a map to identify areas that had limited land use

and limited sort of environmental and regulatory constraints. And then we presented the results of that to Akanuu and held a vote to understand what made sense from their perspective to continue to investigate. And we got about a 76% consensus from Aqadoumu who participated in that vote to continue the development of that site. So I think that's one of the unique things that has led to continued support to investigate where we're looking at now. And so people have been talking about this project for what, 20 years now,

It's now ostensibly going to be fast-tracked on this list of nation-building projects. When do you think the power could flow from it? We're looking at sort of earliest shovels in the ground would be 2008, and that would be earliest commissioning around 2030. But I do want to emphasize that that requires continued free prior and informed consent for the next few years as we move through the development of this project. It is very important for us that enumet voices are centered in every phase of development. of this project, and we will continue to make sure that that happens as we move

through this project. So while we are certainly excited about some opportunities to potentially accelerate, it is of the utmost importance that F-PIC, free prior informed consent, remains centered in the process. What does that mean? I mean, in terms of the development of it, what will that shape, that free prior and informed consent? It will enable innate priorities to be built into the project. So whether that's through construction practices, operational practices, if there's other opportunities for us to continue to build up community through housing opportunities or job opportunities, those kinds of things, it's about building in Iwi values, any way to Kangi, into the work that we do.

So there's more than just sort of a say. There's more than participation in decision making, but it's also making sure that the project is actually reflective of Inuit values. How, from your perspective, does that speak to the idea of Arctic sovereignty? This is a phrase that is tossed around and particularly applied to projects like this. I think Canada exists as an Arctic nation because of Inuit, who have lived here for generations. And I don't think that there is any Arctic security without Inuit sovereignty. So I think governments, they need to invest in people. and communities to enable that sovereignty.

And I do think the inclusion of the Afarit No Kaksouti Project on the nation-building project's list signals that this federal government understands that and acknowledges that investments in critical infrastructure, that's what's going to enable thriving communities and sustainable growth in the Arctic. And that is what is going to lead to Arctic security. Just before I let you go, I mean, we heard from Curtis Messer. They're talking about the impact of an unreliable energy source. And we saw that firsthand when we were there,

in the territory and in Akalwood in particular earlier the summer. What does that mean if you have a more stable, reliable source of hydroelectricity? What does that mean

for people's hope for the future in the community, do you think? I think it can enable that sustainable growth that Akadu is so looking forward to doing. We are constrained right now

in our ability to grow because of that lack of critical infrastructure, foundational infrastructure. that we need. We need more housing. We need more health facilities. We need more educational facilities. And all of that is going to need power. So I think having that access to clean, affordable and reliable power is going to enable the opportunity to grow in the way that we need to grow. And it can open the door to new opportunities, new industry, new economic opportunities

for Enuit. So I think it is around that sort of holistic system thinking when we're looking at what a thriving community can be, and that access to clean, affordable and reliable power through the Akhaluit-Nuk-Zouti project can enable that type of growth. Heather, thank you very much for this. Klan to me, thank you. Heather Shulton is the executive director of the Nunavit-Nukkissot-Katit Corporation. That group is leading the Akhalo-Wat-Nuk-Souti-Hydroelectric project, and she was in Enkaluit. I've covered a lot of K-pop stories in my time as a Korean journalist, but this one is different.

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the national organization representing Inuit across this country. Natan Obed, good morning to you. Good morning, Matt. Good to have you back on the program. I want to talk about the big picture in a moment, but you have family in Akalwa. We've heard about what an unstable power supply means to people broadly. What does it mean for people day to day from your experience? Well, the costs of living in a Calvade is much higher.

than in southern Canada. And that means that if you want to open a business, if you are looking to rent a home, if you're looking to buy a home, if you're looking to heat your home with diesel fuel, all of these things cost, you know, sometimes three to five times what they make more than they cost in the south. And a lot of that is driven by, you know, the cost of diesel power generation within our community. The other part is an environmental part. We want to be leaders in the fight against climate change and transitioning away from dirty fossil fuels to clean hydro. It's not just, you know, something that you say as a slogan. We see the ships come in, the ships come in that offload diesel. You know, we see the clouds of diesel smoke over our communities if there isn't a steady wind. it would be a really positive transformation for the community once this hydro project is online. When you and I spoke there in August, you said that the decisions that the prime minister and his government make on these nation building projects could be a turning point for the north. So tell me what you think, when you take a look at the budget that passed yesterday, have you seen enough from Ottawa to create that turning point?

I would say that we still have optimism that we can work with this government on a transformational change in the way in which Inuit Nunangat is considered by the government of Canada and by all Canadians. We've talked about bringing Inuit Nunningat into Canada. Canada mostly thinks of the Arctic as a frontier. That is a place that almost nobody goes and visits, a wild place. we see it as their homeland and we see it as an essential part of the construction of Canada as a nation state. What we're missing, as we've heard already in your interviews, is infrastructure and also partnership and consideration within decision-making at the highest levels. This is a really positive start. There are many other major projects that Inuit Hope will

be invested in by the government of Canada, whether through the implementation of Bill C5 or through other means. But in the budget, we saw a billion dollars for dual-use infrastructure in the Arctic. We look forward to talking with the government of Canada about how to implement that and what that actually means. We saw investment in the New England University by the government of Canada, and that will be an essential building block to self-determination and increased prosperity for innate. So we're very pleased to see that. But within the major projects and the implementation of the major projects, we still are hoping for more clarity and just a shared perspective on how to approach this. The other thing the Prime Minister has said

is that our land claim agreements and the mechanisms under our land claim agreements are still going to be paramount. And that all takes coordination. That all takes at the very highest level from political to senior technical staff a real conscious effort.

And I think we just need more spaces to discuss these essential building blocks for the Arctic. This is, as we've said, that going to be, particularly the hydroelectric project, is going to be owned and led by Inuit. One of the things, and we heard this when we were up north, from people in the community, is that there is a long history of transitory work in northern communities, jobs going to people from elsewhere, particularly from down south. The money doesn't always stay in the local

communities. How are you looking at these big projects with that in mind to ensure that they that they truly build, not just infrastructure, but build the community that is around that infrastructure? Yeah, from the very start to finish, from procurement and how you draft requests for proposals and how you adjudicate who gets to build projects, the terms and conditions you put in contracts for the type of work environment that each site will be under, and then ultimately in steady state, how you create training for people to be able to run these projects once they're ready to go. All of these steps have very calculated considerations to depart from the status quo

because the knee-jerk reaction from a lot of proponents in any major initiative that happens in the new union is to say we have a remote workforce, we have a particular way of doing things, we have this set budget, and it needs to be done in this timeline, and it can only be done in this timeline if we use our workforce, if we import all of our skill sets, and we will perhaps provide some training opportunities, but don't expect much more. We need to shake that status quo and ensure that Inuit are part of the considerations on how the projects all unfold and build steady capacity. We know that our people want jobs. We know we want to be leaders in our communities.

It's that bridge of how do you get from the intent and the excitement that this project brings to practically being able to give people skill sets to allow them to participate in a way that they haven't before on projects that have never been built in our communities. Are you seeing that as a priority already from Ottawa and from your industry partners? And if it's not, what's at stake? Well, the government of Canada, yes, has, I think part of their investment in the New England University

was imagining that that university would help prepare the workforce for whatever is to come across the Newtunate on a more focused level. each project will have its own training plans and the government of Canada has talked at different departments of the government of Canada have talked to us about training dollars or opportunities in relation to major projects

but this is where the coordination is so important through our Ineerate Crown Partnership table we've worked with the government of Canada on identifying 79 infrastructure projects that we want to build in the next 10 years we've also worked with the government of Canada on identifying the needs for housing those are scopes of work that took a year to two years to plan and organize and each has its own imagination of human resources within a project

if the government of Canada starts deciding that there are other projects that it is more interested in or it fast-track certain projects that weren't in the interest of Inuit that's where we might run into challenges. So we hope to use the Inuit Crown Partnership table to work through some of the challenges we have within the implementation of the major projects office, but we also hope to have good relations with the office itself and ongoing with the Prime Minister's Office

and ministers like Dominic LeBlanc because talking our way through this and having a clear head in mind about who the your partner, are is going to be essential for this government to get it right. And what's on the line? Well, the inclusion of Unite-in-Nation building projects over the next generation, and especially with the defense funding and the military funding that it's been announced in this budget, we know there will be many dual-use infrastructure projects built across the north.

We also understand that there may be military projects that are explicit to military. We have to play a partnership role in our homeland on these projects to divorce ourselves from previous generations of military focus and control from the government of Canada on the Arctic. This is exciting. It will be really, really interesting to see how this plays out and what it means for the community and the people in the community. It's good to talk to you, as always, Natan Obed.

Thank you very much. Great to talk to you, too much. Natan Obid. is president of Inuit Taparit Kanatami, that is the national organization representing Inuit across Canada. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.