NunatuKavut Community Council installs high-efficiency wood stoves in Black Tickle

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, LABRADOR, November 25, 2022 – The NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) today announced the implementation of a high-efficiency wood stove pilot project in Black Tickle, NunatuKavut. This project involves the installation of 13 high-efficiency wood stoves that significantly reduces wood consumption and lowers airborne pollutants.

The community of Black Tickle faces challenges in accessing sources for home heating and the cost of electric heat is prohibitive for most households. The high-efficiency wood stove pilot project helps address immediate concerns of access to clean, affordable and reliable heat. Eligible applicants included NunatuKavut members who live in the community year-round. NCC will monitor the impacts of the wood stove installations, including wood consumption, and report findings back to the community. The project is part of a series of clean energy initiatives that NCC’s Research, Education and Culture (REC) department is leading with funding provided by the Government of Canada’s Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative (IODI). NCC plans to expand this work into other NunatuKavut Inuit communities if funding can be secured.

The high-efficiency wood stove pilot project is the result of past community energy planning research and a research partnership between the REC department and researchers from Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies. The research partnership was funded primarily through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) post-doctoral fellowship that is being held by Dr. Nick Mercer. It was supplemented with funding through the multi-year Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Environment and Health Signature Initiative entitled A SHARED Future.

NCC seeks to advance and model community-led sustainable energy initiatives that are reflective of Inuit values and culture. This will be instrumental in building a strategic energy plan for NunatuKavut.

Quick Facts

  • NCC is the representative governing body for approximately 6,000 Inuit who reside primarily in south and central Labrador.
  • NunatuKavut means “Our Ancient Land” in Inuttitut and is the traditional territory of the Inuit who belong to this territory.
  • In July 2018, NCC entered into talks with the Government of Canada on the Recognition of its Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination (RIRSD). In September 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed.

Quotes

“The NunatuKavut Community Council is so pleased to work with residents and the local service district to provide high-efficiency wood stoves for eligible households in Black Tickle, especially in time for cold winter temperatures. This project is a great example of using community-based research to respond to very real and tangible energy and heat security needs across our territory. Energy security is a vital component of the well-being of NunatuKavut Inuit and our communities and we are looking forward to developing an energy plan that is reflective of their needs.”
— Todd Russell, President of NCC

“Thank you to the NunatuKavut Community Council for your continuous support in countless ways. It was a very professional installation done in record time and I’m so proud to finally have wood heat again.”
— Laura Keefe, Black Tickle resident

Associated Links

Media Contact

Kelly Broomfield
Chief Communications Officer
T. 709-280-5965
E. communications@nunatukavut.ca

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