Budget 2001: spending highlights

IQALUIT — The Department of Education will get $29.3 million of the Nunavut government’s $71.1 million capital budget in 2001-2002.

• Education: The Department of Education’s capital budget is increasing from its 2000-2001 level of $16.4 million to $29.3 million in 2001-2002.

This 90 per cent increase makes the education department the big winner in the capital budget sweepstakes this year.

The government of Nunavut will use the money for a variety of badly-needed school replacements, additions and renovations.

For example, they’ll spend $4.3 million in the upcoming year on an addition to the high school in Pond Inlet, $7.9 million on the Jonah Amitnaaq School in Baker Lake, and $670,000 on a headquarters office building in Arviat for Nunavut Arctic College. Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung will get new school buses at a cost of $125,000 a piece.

• Housing: The Nunavut Housing Corporation’s capital budget will shrink by $5 million this year, from $19 million in 2000-2001 to only $14 million in 2001-2002.

They’ll spend $8.93 million of that on social housing construction in 2001-2002 — about 50 units to be divided up among the Qikiqtaaluk, Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions. That’s compared to the 100 new units that they budgeted for in 2000-2001.

They’re also putting $2 million back into homeownership programs. In the last fiscal year, the housing corporation reduced homeownership programs to help pay for new social housing units.

The rest of the corporation’s capital budget will be spent on retrofits and renovations.

• Community Government: The Department of Community Government and Transportation is one of this year’s big losers. Their capital budget has shrunk from $21.3 million, its 2000-20001 level, to only $13 million in 2001-2002.

Most the department’s capital budget will go towards a variety of small municipal infrastructure projects, aimed especially at improving water and sewage services among a range of Nunavut communities.

• Justice: The Department of Justice is another capital budget loser. They’ll get only $500,000 for capital expenditures next year, most of which will be spent on renovations to the Baffin Correctional Centre and the Iqaluit young-offenders facility.

There’s no sign of any money to pay for a badly-needed new correctional centre in Nunavut, although the department will get a little bit of extra program money.