Iqaluit nets grant to develop sustainability plan

Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik is flanked by Karen Leibovici, second vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, as they announce a $158,000 donation from FCM to Iqaluit to develop a sustainability plan. (PHOTO BY GABRIEL ZÁRATE)

Iqaluit caught a $158,000 fish in the form of a grant which will help develop a plan to manage the city’s resources and constantly increasing population.

The grant comes out of the Green Municipal Fund, a $550-million endowment from the federal government for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to provide loans and grants to municipal projects tackling environmental issues.

Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik and Karen Leibovici, second vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, made the announcement about the new money, which will allow the city to develop a “sustainable community plan,” at the Iqaluit city hall Sept. 2.

“We always want to ensure what we do today will not impact future generations,” said Sheutiapik.

Iqaluit is one of the fastest growing communities in Canada and, as a result, its demand for services like housing, energy, water and sewage treatment and garbage disposal is always increasing, according to a background document distributed to reporters.

A sustainability plan would help to address such needs, the document says.

Iqaluit’s proposal also suggests that a municipal advisory group be created. This would encompass all city departments to monitor and maintain the sustainability plan as a living document for years to come.

As for work on the plan, this should begin in the fall and should be finished in early 2012, Sheutiapik said.

“Our boundaries as a city are reaching its capacity,” Sheutiapik said, citing an example about what the sustainability plan might cover. “Are we expanding into the right area where we’ll have good resources and water?”

This summer city councillors passed a new general plan outlining the new residential developments which the city will need to accommodate a population that’s predicted to grow to 13,000 people by 2030.