Enabling community well-being monitoring: Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach (Quebec)

The Naskapi Nation is a small, isolated Aboriginal community located in northern Quebec. Accessible only by air and rail, the community has been affected by significant mineral development to date. Do to the rich mineral area surrounding the community extractive companies have implemented plans for further development. This has raised local concerns regarding the range of environmental and socio-economic impacts that may be caused by development. Given the scale of proposed mining activity in this region, there is a need to develop a process to track community well-being over time, using community personnel and indicators that are meaningful to community members. Beyond offering an accurate picture of community change in light of mineral development, such time series evidence also provides a basis for community leadership to revisit past decisions and make corrective action if need be. The first step in such a process is to establish a baseline of well-being.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Ben Bradshaw

Student:

Robert Klinck

Partner:

Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

University of Guelph