Welcome to Drumbeats, the must -listen -to podcast
which explains why Indigenous partnerships are
the key to securing successful outcomes in natural
resource and infrastructure investment in Canada.
I'm Mark McNack and my co -host Robert Brandt
and I are joined today by Brendan Bell, Chief
Executive Officer of West Kitikmiat Resources
Corporation. Brendan is here to discuss one of
the most strategically significant infrastructures
in development in northern Canada. the Grays
Bay Road and Port Project located in Nunavut.
This project spans 230 kilometers and includes
the construction of a deepwater port on the Arctic
coastline. With an estimated cost exceeding $1
billion, it represents a major advancement for
Arctic security, Canadian sovereignty, and regional
economic resilience. Brendan highlights how this
initiative is not merely about infrastructure.
It's about transforming the high cost of living
in the North, generating long -term employment,
and opening up economic opportunities for remote
communities. It also aligns with NATO priorities
and the broader federal interest in securing
Canada's Arctic frontier. Brendan Bell, the CEO
of West Katikmiut Resources Corp. Welcome to
Drumbeats. Thanks for taking the time to join
us. Yeah, thanks, Rob. Mark, thanks for having
me. Welcome. Pleasure to have you on, Brendan.
So perhaps, Brendan, for our listeners, why don't
you tell everyone where you're from, how you
end up in the place you are now, and you can
also share where you are. Sure. I'm a Canadian,
of course. I've spent most of my life in northern
Canada. And so for your listeners and viewers,
a place called the Northwest Territories, the
capital of the Northwest Territories is Yellowknife.
A little bit of notoriety and fame because diamonds
were discovered, Not so long ago in the Northwest
Territories, it became quite a producer on the
international scene. Most of my life spent in
northern Canada. I'm in British Columbia today,
but our project is focused on the Arctic coast.
So for listeners between Alaska in the west and
Greenland, which we all well know where Greenland
is these days, in the east, we're almost smack
dab in the middle, in the Katikmit region of
Notavut. Nunavut in the Northwest Territories
used to be one territory. We're divided not so
long ago, several decades ago. And now we've
got effectively Northwest Territories in the
West and Nunavut in the East. Really interesting
background. Imagine growing up in the North.
Do you have an Indigenous background or you just
had the benefit of growing up in the North? I
don't. I'm non -Indigenous, but my family moved
north first to the Eastern Arctic, to Iqaluit,
which was in those days called Probisher Bay,
and then west to Yellowknife, where I grew up.
I went to university in southern Canada, but
my life and my career has been in northern Canada.
So, you know, a northerner. For sure. What a
special perspective you have that, you know,
most Canadians do not. Well, look, it's a wonderful
place in our country, which is, you know. Needs
more eyeballs, needs more attention, needs more
investment. But look, the people are the best.
They're hardy people. They're resilient people.
And look, they're proudly Canadian and want to
do their part to defend this nation and make
sure that we protect our sovereignty. So it's
a wonderful part of the country to be from. And
to try and put some of that in perspective, Brendan,
Nunavut is... combine the area is about the size
of Mexico, as I understand it, but with a population
of 40 ,000 or so. Yeah, that's about right. You
know, not a lot of infrastructure, a number of
communities, but smaller communities. A capital
in Iqaluit used to be called Frobisher Bay on
Baffin Island. I'm going to probably make a mistake,
but I would say it's somewhere in the neighborhood
of, you know, 9 ,000 people these days. I lived
there as a youngster before moving west to the
Northwest Territory, so I was in Iqaluit between
1980 and 1983. It was much smaller in those days,
but after division, it became the seat of government
for the east, and it's grown immensely since
then. And the Grays Bay Road and Port Project
that we'll get into discussing a bit later is
on the... Tongue of the prime minister, it seems,
and everybody else these days because of Arctic
security issues and other issues. But to step
back a bit, your own, how did you end up at West
Katikmia Resources? Yeah, it's a bit of a long
and winding story. I'll give you a bit the abridged
version. But, you know, I got into politics as
a youngster after university in southern Canada.
I came home. Started a business, got the political
bug and ran for the territorial legislature.
Eventually became Mines and Energy Minister at
a time when the McKenzie Gas Project, some listeners
will maybe be aware and remember the dueling
pipeline debate in Canada and Alaska between
Enbridge and TransCanada, who both had projects
to get gas to the lower 48. I was the energy
minister charged with trying to work with our
groups in the Northwest Territories to advance
our project. Ultimately, economics ruled, as
they often do, and both projects were shelved.
But it was a chance for me to really get out
and get some exposure, some attention, be immersed
in some of these larger resource issues. Ultimately,
when I left politics, I got back into or got
into mining. And after a number of years, became
the CEO of a company called Dominion Diamonds.
It had been the co -discoverer of the Dyvec diamond
mine. We were a publicly traded company, NYSE
and TSX listed, a number of our shareholders
in London. And we were non -operating partner
of the Dyvec mine, which was operated by Rio
Tinto. And we purchased the Acadie mine from
BHP Billiton. For several years, I was the CEO.
Ultimately, it was taken private by the Washington
family. I stayed on as an independent board director
for a while, but later found was approached by
the Inuit of Nunavut, Western Nunavut, and some
folks in the Northwest Territories about helping
them assemble some capital and a management team
that would pick up some of their very interesting
gold properties that just happened to be along
this future infrastructure corridor. It was an
opportunity I wasn't going to pass up. And so
we started life as a junior explorer looking
to advance some of our gold projects, which I
think your listeners will be aware don't particularly
need a lot of infrastructure. And that's why
gold mines and diamond mines in this part of
the world have been developed. Base metal mines,
for the most part, haven't. So we had gold projects
in this infrastructure corridor. But, you know,
within very early days, the federal government
and the community had asked us if we would become.
the proponent for the infrastructure project,
take over effectively the federal funding, bring
some of our own and advance through permitting
and design this infrastructure corridor that
sees a port at Grays Bay and a road that ultimately
connects to the, crosses the border into the
Northwest Territories and down into the national
highway system. A couple of things. When did
this Grays Bay project first start when you said
the federal government asked you to? your organization
to kind of pull it all together? We're only a
couple of years in into the role of proponent,
but this is not a new idea, a new project. It's
been on the books for decades. It's had several
different routings. The last proposed approach
or the initial proposed approach would go to
a place called Bathurst Inlet, which is more
inland in Nunavut, so not on the Northwest Passage.
But ultimately, that was considered for a number
of years. local people were concerned about its
proximity to caribou calving uh grounds so that
the the preferred rooting was shifted to the
west and it is the route that we're currently
permitting which ends up at at gray's bay on
the northwest passage so uh two years for me
uh two and a half years involved in in the infrastructure
project but this is something that was uh was
first talked about in the in the 70s and 80s
and in this part of the world has had various
different iterations but really now finally has
What we feel is some wind and sails and a good
a good push now to get get to to completion and
get this thing built. So wind in the sails. What's
happened? I mean, a lot's happened. But what
what are some of the instigators to, you know,
raise Gray's Bay project back up to the priority
list? Well, look, a number of not so good things.
Maybe I'll take one step back and say that, you
know, a number of us have been talking about
these NATO commitments. And Canada coming up
short and suggesting that really this lack of
northern infrastructure was an opportunity if
Canada would focus on investing in the north.
Most of these projects have multi -user dual
purpose at least, typically mining or energy
and defense or security function. So we've been
making the case and trying to convince people
that this would be a good objective to invest
in infrastructure in this part of the world.
By the way, check that NATO 2 % box. You know,
in many respects, we've been overtaken by events
on that front. But I would say about a year ago,
this became pretty interesting. Obviously, the
attention now on Greenland and a recognition
that, you know, Canadians, if we're serious about
being a northern country, are certainly going
to need to pull our weight and do more in this
part of the world. So, you know, probably the
last six months and certainly with the recent
election. This was a key issue through the three
main parties in Canada all had Grays Bay in their
platform, recognizing that this checked a number
of boxes, including, you know, Indigenous ownership
and leadership, ultimately security and sovereignty
function in a place that's very, very important
and increasingly important with warming and climate
change and the opening up of the Northwest Passage.
So, yeah, we are on the move now. You know, we
talked to our small employee team. You know,
it's every day a new opportunity seems to pop
up and we've got a bit of a tiger by the tail.
But, you know, as the farmers say, you make hay
when it's sunny. And so that's what we're attempting
to do here, get as far down the track as we can
and ultimately see this project built. Tell us
a little bit about the Indigenous ownership angle
to this project. And who is Wes? Take me up.
Yeah. Yeah, well, maybe let's start with the
philosophy. I think early days in development
in Canada and certainly in northern Canada, there
was a recognition that indigenous involvement
would be important. But if this is on a spectrum,
it was off on the one end where we were talking
about maybe jobs and benefits and some cash flow
streams, you know, quite far away from the notion
of ownership. But in the last number of years,
I think it's been recognized that if you really
want to align shareholders, stakeholders, ownership
is the key. And so you see this debate playing
out in southern Canada with respect to pipelines
that cross a number of different First Nations
traditional territories. I think everybody can
now understand and recognize that without ownership,
these projects just won't proceed. And we felt
the same way in the north for probably longer.
We tend to lead on these issues, you know, probably
for reasons, you know, ranging from the fact
that indigenous people in Nunavut are more than
certainly almost 80 percent. I think of the population
in the Northwest Territories, it's more like
50%. But certainly they have a lot of influence.
They have a lot of influence politically. And
it's long been recognized that they are the owners
of the land and should be the owners of these
and developers of these projects. So it's not
as if this had to occur to us in the last several
years as it's become a topic of lots of discussion.
We've understood this for an awfully long time.
So when I was CEO of Dominion Diamonds, We had
a number of relationships with impacted groups
in the region, one of which were the Kitikmeet
Inuit, who are up north of the mine and on the
coast. They provided a number of employees, saw
a revenue stream, saw their businesses put to
use and to work at the mine. But always I had
the belief that if we were going to take this
to the next step, Indigenous ownership was the
requirement. And that was sort of the deal that
got me back involved in mineral exploration.
I wasn't sure that... that I would come back
to that. But the fact that the Katicma and Inuit
wanted to advance their own vehicle, recognized
that they'd missed out on a number of opportunities
over the years, wanted to maintain a healthy
ownership, recognized in raising money there
would be some dilution, but a healthy, chunky
ownership in this project is key for moving it
forward. And that's what we've set out to do
and achieve. So back to that question, I probably
should let viewers know there's a public government
in Nunavut. And in the legislature in Iqaluit,
most of the members of the legislative assembly
are Inuit. But there's also an Inuit level of
governance that stems out of the land claim.
There are regional Inuit authorities, three of
them in Nunavut, and we belong to the westernmost
group, the Kitikmiit. So, west -east, it goes
Kitikmiit, Kivalik, and then into the Baffin
for the easternmost people in the territory.
The Katikmead Inuit are effectively our largest
shareholder through a vehicle that they've created.
So the regional Inuit authority or the people
of the Katikmead region own the largest chunk
of West Katikmead resources. What sort of investment
to bring Grays Bay Road and Port Project to fruition
are you looking at? Yeah, so that's a great question
with probably still more questions than answers
at this point. As you know, we're in the middle
of permitting and design, doing a lot of scoping
work. And so I can tell you that in the past,
there has been a scope and a budget put to this
project with probably at that point $2018. If
we take our project, which again is just a port
on the Northwest Passage and a road 230 kilometers
to a place called Jericho Station, it would then
be connected into the Northwest Territory. So
let's call this the Northern Phase. We believe
that's north of a billion dollars Canadian. And
depending on the scope and the requirements that
the military or the Coast Guard might have, could
be more than that. But at a minimum, we're talking
about a billion dollar Canadian investment for
the northern portion and several billion to get
all the way to the national highway system down
connecting to the capital of the Northwest Territories
in Yellowknife. This is an awfully long and large
part of the world, as you pointed out at the
outset. hundreds of kilometers to get from grays
bay to uh to the national highway system and
uh you know the cost to build in terms of a kilometer
of construction for an all an all -season road
uh you know with with the kind of grade where
caribou are able to cross effortlessly you know
it's probably these days three million dollars
canadian a kilometer um on fairly flat terrain
but it's an expensive part of the world a remote
part of the world to to construct and build so
the numbers get get uh you know a little striking
and incredible, really, when you think about
it. But that's the cost of doing business in
this part of the world. The engineering challenges
of building in that part of the world, Brendan,
are those... Yeah. I mean, for your listeners
and viewers who are familiar with seeing the
footage of pipelines going west in Canada through
the Rockies or through these mountain ranges
out to the West Coast, we don't have those same
sorts of challenges. going north to south. We're
not crossing mountain ranges, but we certainly
deal with a shifting permafrost regime and sensitivity
around caribou migration. And so the roads need
to be built relatively flat without steep embankments.
We need to use relatively small crush so that
the caribou are able to cross without injuring
themselves. And so there are a number of design
considerations that raise the cost, but this
is just absolutely a must do for us. So I would
say that the larger consideration is permafrost.
Lots of water crossings as well to get on the
most direct route to the Arctic coast. And then
at the port, different considerations, but it
is naturally a deepwater harbour, which is why
Grays Bay was chosen. There are very few of them,
ironically, on the Arctic coast in this part
of the world. Some are attached and on islands
that don't attach to the mainland, so they're
not as desirable. So, you know, it's one of a
few naturally endowed deepwater harbors would
not really require dredging to be able to accommodate
the wharf design that we proposed that would
be able to receive the largest ships in the Canadian
Navy, for instance, and, you know, large size
post Panamax bulkers that would move or concentrate.
So the natural endowment is really the key in
terms of deepwater and the ability to put ports
here. But it doesn't mean that it's not expensive.
It will certainly be. Right. And just coming
back to the description of the deep water port,
you talked about the Canadian Navy, which at
the end of World War II was third or fourth largest
in the world. Today, obviously not so much. What
other type of, you know, can it become a significant
defense outpost in terms of, you know, the North
American defense? NATO, would it be seen as an
important deep water port for that or not so
much? Well, no, certainly it could be. I mean,
as I say, there really aren't, you know, naval
installations in this part of the world, for
one thing. There certainly aren't any that connect
to the national highway system. So it's got all
kinds of potential. It will really depend on
D &D, on the prime minister, on security users
to design exactly what they think the functionality
should be. We're anticipating, you know, look,
it's well known that Canada intends to purchase
12 submarines, diesel electric subs, which would
need to be able to tuck in here, one would presume.
There's nowhere else on the Arctic coast that
they would visit. So it's an awfully long way
in Canada from Esquimalt on the west coast all
the way up around Alaska down to Halifax. Somewhere
in the middle seems like a logical place to tuck
into. And we think that's Gray's Bay. But the
only thing that you might not be able to bring
in for ice reasons, even without the ice, for
reasons of being able to park because they're
too big, would be large aircraft carriers. Everything
else could be accommodated. So I think it'd be
an awfully long time before there's enough of
an ice -free season that you'd bring aircraft
carriers into this part of the world. But everything
short of that can dock here. And then you talk
about security. What are other Arctic countries
doing? in this area? Are others building ports,
whether friends or foes? Yeah, well, look, that's
a great question. The people who've really driven
this bulking up of infrastructure are, of course,
the Russians. And to look at a circumpolar map
and to see the dots of assets, a number of these
assets are being dusted off and refurbished post
-Cold War here where they were closed down. So
the real activity... And, you know, the development
of things like ice breaking LNG ships, that's
all been on the Russian side. We're seeing it
now in Scandinavia. There's a bit of a scramble.
Expect more activity, I believe, in Greenland.
And so, you know, there's a bit of a race going
on here. But certainly the Russians have been
in the lead. And these these near Arctic states
are so so -called or, you know, aspirational
near near Arctic states like like China certainly
have developed ships that can make it through
the Northwest Passage. And they're keen to. to
get them out on tests. So yeah. Nuclear icebreakers.
Have we seen those? That's right. Yeah. And look,
I think the other thing that's coming that nobody's
really, you know, we're starting to think about,
but the Paul Martin government in Canada a number
of years ago made the decision that we were not
going to house ICBM interception sites on Canadian
soil. I think that, you know, that was the Canadian
mood at the time, despite all the other NATO
countries accommodating that functionality. I
think probably we're going to have to revisit
that. I imagine that that will be revisited.
And these are the kinds of places that might
be able to accommodate some of those interception
sites in future. Again, look, impossible for
me to know what the government will decide makes
sense for some of these sites. But if I was in
government, I would not be looking to build greenfield
sites for that functionality if I had effectively
mines that were closing down and could be taken
over if I had ports. like Grays Bay, that were
being stood up. You'd think you would want to
make the best use of money and build some of
that functionality in, but nobody has had that
conversation with us. We don't have a crystal
ball. We're just imagining where this might go
in future. How long do you think we'll have to
wait before we get some direction from the federal
government? The new government have said they
want to identify nation -building projects to
prioritize. And we've all been waiting to see
which projects they identify. How long do you
think we'll be waiting for that? Well, there's
what we can see going on publicly with the narrative
that there's a list and it's an ever -evolving
list and projects will come on and come off.
I think that's probably right. But I've got to
believe that there's a list already that's been
approved. I think in terms of when that information
becomes public, expect, I think, this summer.
Anticipate that it probably happens before August.
We've got a bit of a 30 -day clock, as you're
well aware, between Canada and the U .S. here
in terms of a discussion and an agreement, at
least the construct for an agreement, I believe,
between Canada and the U .S. on trade and security
issues. I would not be surprised to see some
of these Arctic projects and even border projects
identified specifically in an agreement. Now,
maybe that's too ambitious or too soon. Let's
see. But I really don't think we're going to
be waiting here months. I think we're talking
weeks before we get some sort of an indication.
Wow. Wouldn't that be great? That's the way to
do infrastructure projects. Yeah. Look, and,
you know, the political intention and the designation
and the acknowledgement is one thing. You know,
moving through the permitting and the design
and in the way that it needs to be done in a
respectful manner. You know, I think that that
takes a little longer. Obviously, there's an
effort to try to streamline projects and something
that we're keenly aware of. It's not been attempted
in the north. But truly, when we talk about two
years or less to permit a project, effectively,
we really started this a year ago and we probably
have less or maybe two years left to permit this
project in any event. So then it becomes about
the financial commitments, what we refer to as
offtake. So you can imagine the security users
like D &D, or the Coast Guard providing a lease
commitment effectively to use the port. We can
take that to equity owners. We could take that
to debt providers and finance the project. So
those are the key steps for us. I'm more focused,
quite honestly, on those financial steps than
we are on the permitting, given that we've got
Indigenous ownership and this was a project conceived
of and designed by the Inuit people of the region.
We think ultimately it gets through that hurdle.
But it's the finance that is more of an issue
for us in the immediate term. Today, how far
out are you fully funded? We raised $21 million
in grant from the federal government and had
to match that. I had to provide a 25 % match.
So effectively, we've got $30 million we're working
with that will get us through this initial stage
of permitting. But we're currently applying for
additional funding to get us really effectively.
almost up to pre -construction activities. So
that would be on the current path, construction
in 2030. So there may be some things that can
be trimmed from that in terms of timeline, but
we are funded for the next year and a half at
this point and are currently applying for more
federal government to take us to the next step.
I think you've got some experience with international
finance, but can you see in... in your future
a need to reach out beyond Canada for funding
and for partners? Well, look, I absolutely believe
that we will. Certainly, you know, and these
days it feels very safe to be in Europe, to be
in the UK, having those sorts of conversations.
Maybe it's a little trickier, you know, south
of the border at the moment, and we certainly
are not looking to Asia. So, you know, it will
be Canada and a European focus. With respect
to finance on this project anyway, at this moment
in time. It's really interesting, just the change
in focus and you're from the north, right? And
most Canadians don't talk about north and south
Canada, sadly. But now all these conversations
when you're talking about, you know, in the north
versus, you know, in the south of Canada, it
reminds me a bit of being here in the UK when
they have the road M1 going north. up to Scotland.
And I think that will start to change in Canada
and just people's perspective of Canada. Because
for too long, it's been about, you know, the
90 % of the population within 100 miles of the
US border. And now there's this whole undiscovered,
unknown to outsiders opportunity that Canada
presents. And for the nature of Nunavut and Northwest
Territories and the agreements that have been
set there. It will be driven by the indigenous
people. Yeah, that's absolutely right. I think
most Canadians, if you ask them, would identify
as a polar nation. And yet most Canadians live,
as you say, within 100 miles of the U .S. border
and have probably never visited northern Canada.
Now, there are a number of very good reasons
for that. I mean, it's incredibly expensive.
I come back to the lack of infrastructure, but
flights, even from Edmonton to Yellowknife or
flights from Ottawa to the capital of Nunavut,
Iqaluit, or even out west in the Yukon. When
you talk about Vancouver to Whitehorse, these
are incredibly expensive. So if you want to take
your summer vacation, it's impossible to drive
to Nunavut. So you're talking about packing up
your family of four and spending a couple of
thousand dollars each on airfares. Look, you
can get to the UK for cheaper oftentimes from
Toronto or Vancouver than you can to the north.
And so I think that keeps a lot of Canadians
from visiting. Hopefully that's changing. And
I think Canadians now that certainly recognize
that given the discussion around NATO, the focus
has been put on Greenland, that we need to do
our share. We need to collectively as a country
put our shoulder to the wheel and get serious
about sovereignty and security in the Arctic.
And so I think that this is a genie that's out
of the bottle now. I don't think there's any
putting it back in. If we get a shift in the
South, in the U .S. in terms of tone. You know,
even after future elections, I think Canadians
now, the light has gone on. We need to do more.
We need to invest in infrastructure for the people
who live in the North, but for our Canadian sovereignty
as well. Yeah, and beyond just Arctic security
issues, Brendan, talk a little bit about what
infrastructure, what kind of change would that
mean for Inui, Hina, Nunavut and Northwest Territories?
Well, I think there are several things that people
in communities throughout the North are focused
on. Cost of living is always top of mind. It's
incredibly expensive. Again, this is about the
infrastructure gap. And so to the extent that
we develop ports that allow large ocean -going
vessels to come in, even if barges need to be
broken down from there, rather than flying some
of these things in annually, which will still
be required, you think about the ability to change
the... You know, the cost structure of just carrying
out your daily life in the north, that's very
important. This will also open up and make real,
I think, some of these base metal, critical minerals,
mines in this part of the world. There are some
world -class assets that just have no hope of
being developed until they have access to tidewater.
And so for these small communities, that's employment.
I mean, that's economic development. So I would
say cost of living, job opportunities. Those
are really the key drivers for northern people
in terms of their interests. They historically
lived traditional lifestyles on the land, were
able to provide for themselves, hunting and fishing.
They're still interested in doing that and they
still do that. But there's a recognition that
younger people are also going to want to be employed
in future and need economic and employment opportunities
closer to home. So projects like this are not
the silver bullet necessarily. check a number
of boxes and help to provide solutions for local
communities. So they are, you know, they're eagerly
awaited, I would say. Well, that is a really
upbeat assessment of everything that's going
on in the north. And I think that just demonstrates
gain the transformative opportunity that it's
in front of Canada, Canadians and foreign investors
who are looking at investing in a country that
It doesn't have political risk, right? But these
emerging marketing opportunities, some of our
past guests have talked about. Yeah. Look, I
think it's an incredible opportunity. We don't
have the same sort of risks that you would find
in other emerging markets. Now, that's not to
suggest that there aren't issues that we need
to handle very, very carefully. Principally,
environment. We spoke about that. Certainly,
when you're building a port, In a sensitive part
of the Arctic, there are marine mammals to be
considered. We are designing, there will be operational
requirements to mitigate against any impacts
on marine mammals. The same goes for, you know,
if mines are developed, copper zinc mines in
the neighborhood are developed, they will certainly
need to shut down if there are caribou migrating
through the area. So these are the kinds of challenges
that we're dealing with. Design is all important.
How you operate is important. But again, we take
our direction from our board of directors, our
largest shareholder, the Caticmate Inuit. We
don't have to ask to understand that how we design
and dealing with caribou and dealing with marine
mammals is absolutely the most important and
fundamental consideration. So as long as we get
it right on that front, I think it's an incredible
opportunity. And we are across that, aware of
that, and seized with that. So, you know, the
kinds of challenges that you have in other parts
of the world we don't have, but we have our own
challenges. And I think, Brendan, when international
investors in particular look at investment opportunities
and they think about Canada and they think about
what types of risks or challenges and question
whether there's local support or not, a project
like the one you're talking about in the north
doesn't get off the ground without local support.
You wouldn't be sitting here talking about a
project like this without the entire community
supportive and your organization owned and operated
by. Yeah. Rob, I think on a number of levels,
right? Right from the design and the aspirational
discussions decades ago about a road and port
through the Arctic, the fact that the Inuit people
of the region determined that the initial chosen
route, which was better for industry, was not
their preferred route. So it was moved. You know,
our ownership is Inuit. And I think politically,
you've had the, you know, the premier of the
Northwest, of Nunavut, working with the regional
leaders, with the president of NTI, to get the
ear of the prime minister. His first visit after
the election, as you know, was to Europe, but
then immediately after he landed in Iqaluit.
had discussion with these leaders about their
priorities, their infrastructure priorities.
And I've said before, there's very little daylight
between these leaders on their priorities, and
this is certainly top. And so that makes it a
lot easier, not easy, I won't suggest, but a
lot easier for the prime minister to advance
projects where there is that sort of unanimous
support and consensus. It really is a game changer
in terms of being able to advance these projects.
Well, I know that you're a man in demand these
days. And as I mentioned earlier, the Prime Minister,
when asked about likely or possible projects
or the types of projects that might get prioritized,
he seems to always mention Grays Bay. So we really
appreciate you taking time out to talk about
West Katikmiat and the Grays Bay project. And
we wish you all the best. And we'll be watching
closely in the coming months. Rob Mark, thanks
for giving me the time to speak to your audience.
And look, I extend the invitation. I think it's
a wonderful place to visit. Lots of daily flights,
as you know, and I think your listeners will
know, from London to Toronto and to Vancouver.
And then from there on, flights up to the northern
part of Canada. We'd love to see you. I'd love
to have you come and visit. I think there are
incredible investment opportunities around infrastructure,
around mining, around energy. And certainly,
I'd love to come back and talk about some of
those other things that are on the horizon, because
I think this is just going to be an area that's
going to really take off here in the next number
of years and provide great opportunity for investment.
Well, thank you. Can't wait to get there and
can't wait to speak with you again. Hopefully,
you'll be at next year's summit next April back
at the London Stock Exchange. It's been absolutely
wonderful to hear from a northern Canadian about
how we truly become a polar nation. So thank
you very much for your time, Brandon. My pleasure.
I hear nothing but great things about your event
in London. It sounds like it's a must attend.
And so I'll certainly be there. Thank you for
the invitation. Great. Thank you. Thanks, Brandon.
Thank you to Brendan Bell for sharing his insights
with us, and thank you for viewing and listening.
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