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OTTAWA — Experts say two cases coming before the Supreme Court this week could become landmarks in defining how Canada regulates industrial activity on indigenous lands.

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But for Jerry Natanine of Clyde River, Nunavut — one of two aboriginal communities that will ask the top court to overturn National Energy Board permits — the issue is a lot more visceral.

“The animals that we live off are in danger and, because of that, we feel our lives are at stake.”

Clyde River is to ask the court Wednesday to overturn a permit for a Norwegian consortium to do seismic testing in Baffin Bay.

The tests involve a five-year program of 230-decibel sound blasts every 13 to 15 seconds, 24 hours a day, during operating periods. Locals say that would kill or drive away the animals they depend on, a position widely shared across Nunavut.

Lawyer Nader Hasan said the federal government ignored its duty to consult and left that completely — and wrongly — to the board.