Rankin Inlet is preparing to host two major events: the Kivalliq Energy Forum on Sept. 19-21 and the Northern Perspectives Trade Show from Feb 7-9.
Kivalliq Chamber of Conference president Tara Tootoo Fotheringham said this year's events have some exciting presenters. And, she said, there's a lot of interest across Canada in tapping into the Kivalliq region's natural resources, such as liquid natural gas.
"We've actually been able to acquire the First Peoples (Energy) LNG Group to be a keynote speaker and sponsor of the event," said Fotheringham. "They're a pretty exciting group, where they're presenting an actual share model to First Nations and Inuit to be a part of their whole company structure.
"The percentages haven't been completely decided, but it is confirmed that 90 per cent is going to be shares between First Nations, Inuit and Metis.
"So we're really excited to see what liquid natural gas will provide for solutions, and perhaps energy solutions, into Nunavut. Right now, they're more interested in selling to Germany through the Port of Churchill. So, the impact for the building of the pipeline, the impact for the working on the floating liquid natural gas, and just, overall, the opportunity of being so adjacent to Nunavut and our waters, gives people the opportunity for another place of employment."
Fotheringham said Rankin Inlet is really lucky that organizers are even able to get First People's (Energy) LNG Group to be a sponsor, considering that the engagement hasn't necessarily taken place within Nunavut right now, but that they still consider the territory a key partner.
She said through herself and the Kivalliq Chamber of Commerce, she's been passing along the message of how businesses in the region are viable, and how they definitely want to participate in any opportunities.
"We have a really good economic force within the Kivalliq region, and we have people who really think outside the box, so the fact that this is another potential 'mining' without having to actually disturb our land or any of our natural resources is pretty exciting, I think.
"I've been in business for many years and I look at this opportunity and it truly is a no-brainer. We have a floating LNG out on the west coast and there's several of them around the world. Their environmental risk is far less than some of the other methods. And, when you're talking about natural liquid gas, their goal right now is to bring it up from Manitoba. They want to follow the route between the hydro lines and then, potentially, the Arctic Gateway lines.
"So the beauty of this is that they're not having to disturb any other lands or routes in order to make sure this actually happens. So, when do you ever see an opportunity where there's little to no disruption to any existing lands?"
Fotheringham said Churchill, Man., is at the height of a lot of conversations because of the potential for there being a 12-month shipping route. Floating LNG could offer the opportunity for freight movement between Churchill and other communities in the Kivalliq region, she added.
"It probably won't be all of the communities, just due to the distance that it would be from the open shipping lanes, but there's still an opportunity," she said. "So to know we could get to the future where our cost for goods could significantly decline, that's also one of the beauty things of this; is that just by its infrastructure it could lead to future opportunities for us and better lives in the future for us."
