Premier of Nunavut wants more control over resource development

The projected upcoming job boom in Canada’s mining industry has Nunavut asking for more control over development.

CBC News reports, that Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak is pushing Ottawa to relinquish some power and allow the territory more control over resource development.

Nunavut currently has one mine in operation. The Agnico-Eagles Meadowbank gold mine has a 30 per-cent contribution to the territory’s yearly GDP. Four more mines are currently being developed.

There is some opposition in the form of the watchdog which tracks environmental and sustainability issues around mining.

They have said that the premier should diversify instead of relying mainly on mining.

The Nunavut territory created in 1999 is the only jurisdiction where major decisions about land and resources are made in Ottawa.

140 000 jobs are forecast to be created in the territory’s mining sector within the next few years.

Flickr Photo by: ines saraiva