Shell leaving Lancaster Sound 'a relief' to Inuit, cynical ploy to Greenpeace

While three federal ministers, a Baffin Inuit group and WWF-Canada are extolling Shell's move to relinquish its exploration permits in Lancaster Sound, at least one conservation group views it differently.

"This is their attempt to score some brownie points and exit from the scene gracefully, rather than having the permits pried from their hands by force, which is what would have happened to them otherwise," said Greenpeace Arctic campaigner Alex Speers-Roesch in a statement.

"The company is experiencing Arctic shell shock, and slowly coming to terms with the fact that Arctic oil is simply a bad investment."

Shell announced Wednesday it was relinquishing 30 exploration permits its held in the Eastern Arctic for over 40 years. It gave the permits to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, which in turn will give them to the federal government, in a move to help marine conservation efforts in the Arctic.

• Shell relinquishes exploration permits near Lancaster Sound in Eastern Arctic

Until recently, WWF-Canada had maintained that the permits were invalid, saying there's no evidence they've been renewed since 1979. WWF-Canada filed a lawsuit making that assertion to the Federal Court earlier this year. 

• Environmental group files lawsuit over 'expired' Shell Arctic oil permits

WWF-Canada's president and CEO, David Miller, says that lawsuit is now moot.

"We are very pleased that Shell has shown this leadership. I think it speaks well of them," he said.

"A lawsuit does have a way of focusing people's attention and making things happen," he added. "If the litigation helped make this happen a bit faster, that's great, but Shell's done the right thing."

A 'very big relief' for Inuit

"This is a very big relief for us," said Olayuk Akesuk with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.

"That's a very big migration area for marine mammals that migrate up North," Akesuk said. "It's very important that we make sure we educate people in the world to make sure they understand what we harvest in that area is used to support our family and it's been there for a long time."

Catherine McKenna, minister of Environment and Climate Change, said the move marks a new moment in Canada with industry, conservation groups, governments and Indigenous groups — "unusual suspects" — working together.

She also noted $42 million in the federal budget to continue to develop new marine areas including Lancaster Sound, which she called an "ecological treasure."

No commitment on expanding conservation area

Shell's handing over of its permits paves the way for Canada to expand the borders of the proposed Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area.

The current borders skirt Shell's former permits, although a border proposed by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association does not.

At the opening of the 2016 Ocean Summit in Ottawa today, McKenna and two other federal ministers repeated their commitment to increase the amount of marine protected areas from one per cent today to 10 per cent in 2020, without specifically committing to enlarging the Lancaster Sound area.

Dominic LeBlanc, who's been fisheries minister for eight days, said he wants to speed up the process to protect oceans. The first proposal for Lancaster Sound was prepared in 1987. 

"The process as it now stands takes way too long," LeBlanc said.  

That won't mean sacrificing consultation with Inuit, said LeBlanc in a statement echoed by Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.

"The Inuit are marine people. The ice and the water sustains them," she said.

Bennett also said the government plans to preserve the "Inuit to Crown" relationship.

LeBlanc also announced that Fisheries and Oceans Canada will co-ordinate a new research network, the Oceans Research in Canada Alliance (ORCA), to promote partnerships and research-sharing in order to meet the marine protection targets more effectively.