The president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Okalik Eegeesiak, is attending the Olympic Games in London – on ArcelorMittal’s tab.

The global steel company is the majority owner of the Baffinland Mary River project in Nunavut. That project proposes to build a massive iron ore mine in Nunavut.

Okalik Eegeesiak, the president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, has been invited to London for the Olympics, courtesy of ArcelorMittal, the majority owner of Baffinland Iron Mines, which is proposing to build a massive mine in the Baffin region of Nunavut. (CBC)

The QIA represents the interests of Inuit in the Baffin region of Nunavut. Eegeesiak's organization is still negotiating a final impact and benefit agreement with the company.

"Arcelor chose to become one of the sponsors of the Olympic Games this year and, as a sponsor, had the ability to invite a number of guests from various parts of the world to come and attend as part of business development for them – and also as an opportunity for Arcelor to get to meet some of the people that they deal with as well," said Greg Missal, Baffinland’s vice-president of corporate affairs.

Missal said he did not have details on the invitation to Eegeesiak, or information about which days she will be there or which events she will attend. But he did say any meetings between Eegeesiak and ArcelorMittal management would be on an informal basis.

Missal said it is not QIA, but rather the Nunavut Impact Review Board, that will decide if the project goes ahead and there is no conflict of interest.

"I think the important thing to remember there is that QIA has a negotiating team, Baffinland has a negotiating team that deals on it with the details of the IIBA,” he said.

“Okalik Eegeesiak is not part of the [QIA] negotiating team, ArcelorMittal is not part of the Baffinland negotiating team. So, it is a completely separate affair in that matter."

Missal says ArcelorMittal's invitation to Eegeesiak to attend the Olympics is part of the steel company's business-development strategy.

Final regulatory hearings into the project just wrapped up in the territory and a decision is expected soon.