Environmental Impact Screening Committee (EISC)
The Environmental Impact Screening Committee (EISC) has a Chair and six members. Three of the members are appointed by the Inuvialuit Game Council. The governments of Canada, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories each designate one member and Canada appoints the designated members. The Chair is appointed by the Government of Canada with the consent of the Inuvialuit Game Council.
The primary responsibility of the Screening Committee is to determine if proposed developments could have a significant negative environmental impact on the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, or a significant negative impact on present or future Inuvialuit wildlife harvesting. Each developer has to submit a project description to the Screening Committee for screening.
If the Screening Committee determines that a development could have a significant negative environmental impact it can recommend terms and conditions to mitigate the potential impact. Where the EISC determines that the development could have a significant negative impact it may be subject to a further assessment and review by the Environmental Impact Review Board. No government licenses or approvals may be issued before the Screening Committee has completed its review.
Since the Committee was established in 1986, over 700 hundred development proposals have been screened. These projects have ranged from oil and gas seismic and drilling programs to commercial river trips. A standardized system for screening, developed by the Committee, has led to prompt and consistent decision-making. Through the efforts of the Screening Committee, a positive relationship between the Inuvialuit, industry, government and the EISC, has emerged.
EISC Members and Staff
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David Livingstone
Chair, Canada
Home Community: Yellowknife, NT
Term Expiry: October 5, 2023
David Livingstone was appointed chair of the Environmental Impact Screening Committee in August 2017. David has worked in the north for over forty years and has made Yellowknife his home since 1987. Since his retirement from the federal government in 2009, David has independently engaged in a wide range of environmental stewardship projects in the NWT, Nunavut and internationally. In addition to his role on the EISC, David chairs the Wilfrid Laurier University-ENR Science Committee, is a director of the Giant Mine Oversight Board, and continues to provide strategic and policy advice to a range of partners and clients.
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Ray Ruben Sr.
Inuvialuit Member
Home Community: Paulatuk, NT
Term Expiry: September 30, 2022
Ray Ruben Sr. is an Inuvialuit member appointed by the Inuvialuit Game Council to the EISC. As a family harvester and provider, Ray has always been very much involved with the local organizations and activities of his community. His interests also extend to the rest of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Ray is currently the Mayor of Paulatuk but is also the president of the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers Committee, a director on the Anguniaqvia Niqiqyuam Marine Protected Area (ANMPA) working group and the Tuktut Nogait National Park Management Board (TNNPMB).
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Shannon O’Hara-Nadeau
Inuvialuit Member
Home Community: Inuvik, NT
Term Expiry: September 30, 2022
Shannon was appointed as an EISC Inuvialuit member in 2016 and is currently serving in her second term. Shannon’s experience includes over 12 years as an Inuit Research Advisor at Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, where she advised researchers on proper communication and engagement with communities, conducted capacity building and training projects and participated on various regional, territorial and national Committee’s on behalf of Inuvialuit. In the current term, Shannon looks forward to learning more about aspects of national and international environmental impact reviews.
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Ron Wallace, Ph.D.
GNWT Member
Home Community: Calgary, AB
Term Expiry: March 21, 2022
In 2019 Dr. Ronald Wallace was appointed as the Government of the Northwest Territories Member to the Environmental Impact Screening Committee. He previously served as the Executive Director of the NWT Water Board (2008) and the Inuvialuit Water Board (2012) where he coordinated the licensing process for the Inuvik - Tuktoyaktuk Highway Project. In 2013 was appointed as Permanent Member to the National Energy Board (NEB). He is also extensively published in scientific and public policy journals and the national press.
Ron currently resides in Calgary with wife, sons and grandkids
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Bengt Pettersson, BSc MA EP(Em)
Yukon Member
Home Community: Whitehorse, YT
Term Expiry: August 4, 2022
Bengt Pettersson has resided in Whitehorse, Yukon for more than 30 years. He is the Yukon member on the EISC and was nominated by the Government of Yukon.
Bengt has more than 35 years’ experience in environmental and resource management, and in environmental and socio-economic assessments. Of those years, he has more than 20 years in senior management positions. He has worked in governments, crown corporations and boards, and in private sector consulting firms.
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Todd Slack
Canada Member
Home Community: Yellowknife, NT
Term Expiry: August 22, 2022
Todd Slack was appointed as the EISC Canada member in August 2019. Though he currently resides in Yellowknife, it was the Joint Secretariat hired him for his first real job. In 2000, after finishing University in Thunder Bay and advanced diploma in Nova Scotia, he moved north on a 6-month contract to make maps for EISC, EIRB and whomever else needed it. After a few years he went on to work at RWED/ENR and DFO. From Inuvik he then moved to Yellowknife in 2005 where he currently resides and became the Territorial GIS specialist for a couple of years before moving over to the Yellowknife Dene First Nation’s where he handled regulatory, legislative, and permitting files in addition to GIS work. Todd has continued to work in the natural resources field, with a focus on environmental and regulatory work related to mining. In 2015, Todd opened his own business, and he currently splits his time 60/40 between work and raising his young son.
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Michel Lindsay
Coordinator
Home Community: Inuvik, NT
Michel Lindsay is an Inuvialuit beneficiary born and raised in Inuvik, NT. Michel obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with a minor in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Alberta. After University, Michel returned to Inuvik where she was employed with the Government of the Northwest Territories. In 2017, Michel was hired by the Joint Secretariat to fill the role of Coordinator for the Environmental Impact Screening Committee (EISC). Outside of work, Michel spends as much time as she possibly can going out to her cabin where she usually has multiple projects on the go to keep her busy!