$26 million a year not enough, NAM says

Municipal leaders say they welcome the Nunavut government’s $26-million-a-year scheme, announced last week, for spending federal government money on municipal projects, but they also say it’s not nearly enough to fix Nunavut’s yawning infrastructure deficit.

“It’s like trying to buy $100 worth of groceries with a $20 bill,” said Art Stewart, the president of the Nunavut Association of Municipal Administrators.

Other municipal leaders and organizations agree the money doesn’t come close to meeting Nunavut’s needs.

Elisapee Sheutiapik, the president of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, says her organization now estimates that Nunavut actually requires about $650 million to fix its crumbling infrastructure.

“Nunavut’s communities are in a state of dire need. They require a lot more infrastructure funding than they are currently receiving through territorial and federal funding,” Sheutiapik said.

Last week’s $26 million-a-year spending plan, which the Government of Nunavut announced as “$130 million over five years,” is put together from a two federal government handout programs, the Gas Tax Initiative and the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund , plus the GN’s own money.

Stewart, along with representatives of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, sat with GN officials on a special body called the Nunavut Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee.

In a process that started this past spring, the advisory committee figured out how to divide the money among Nunavut communities.

They did this by asking each community to list its top 10 most wanted projects and rank them by order of priority. Then they used a scoring system to decide which proposed spending items should get money first.

They were also guided by conditions that the federal government attached to its funding programs.

For example, money from Ottawa’s Gas Tax Initiative went to environmental projects like sewage lagoons and water projects, while money from the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund went to community halls, arenas and other municipal buildings.

A list of projects obtained by Nunatsiaq News shows that although spending averages $26 million a year over five years, the bulk of the money will be spent within the first three years of the plan.

Spending will peak at $34.9 million in 2009-10, then tail off to $15.4 million in 2011-12.

Sheutiapik said mayors liked the consultation process that the GN used to figure out how to prioritize projects.

But, like Stewart, she said it’s just not enough money.

“I’m not criticizing the GN, because they’re just taking the federal government’s money and turning it around,” Sheutiapik said.

As for Iqaluit, Sheutiapik says specific infrastructure projects will be identified later after a consultation process in Iqaluit.

Here’s a sampling of some projects that the new capital plan will pay for between now and 2012:

* Arctic Bay: $3.6 million for new community hall;
* Arctic Bay: $1 million for sewage lagoon;
* Arviat: $1 million for water filtration;
* Arviat: $1.5 million for solid waste improvement;
* Baker Lake: $200,000 for pumphouse upgrade;
* Cambridge Bay: $2.5 milllion for sewage lagoon;
* Cape Dorset: $300,000 for arena repairs;
* Cape Dorset: $650,000 for metal dump cleanup;
* Chesterfield Inlet: $1 million for sewage lagoon;
* Clyde River: $2.25 million for new sewage lagoon;
* Gjoa Haven: $3 million for community hall;
* Grise Fiord: $1.5 million for Qaggivik centre expansion;
* Hall Beach: $2 million for community hall expansion;
* Igloolik: $3.9 million for replacement community hall;
* Iqaluit: $13.6 million for new capital agreement (specific Iqaluit projects will be worked out later);
* Iqaluit: $4.27 million in gas tax revenue (specific Iqaluit projects will be worked out later);
* Kimmirut: $1 million to reclaim abandoned sewage lagoon and dumps;
* Kugaaruk: $750,000 for garage renovations;
* Kugluktuk: $2.9 million for water treatment plant;
* Kugluktuk: $2 million for sewage lagoon;
* Kugluktuk: $3 million for hamlet office building;
* Pangnirtung: $1.5 million for Expansion of water reservoir;
* Pond Inlet: $1.2 million for parking garage;
* Qikiqtarjuaq: $3 million for municipal office;
* Qikiqtarjuaq: $1.5 million for fire hall;
* Rankin Inlet: $8.8 million for sewage treatment plant;
* Rankin Inlet: $10.8 million for tank farm work;
* Repulse Bay: $3.5 million for community hall;
* Resolute Bay: $3.5 million for arena;
* Sanikiluaq: $700,000 for repairs to garages;
* Taloyoak: $2.5 million for water treatment plant;
* Whale Cove: $3.5 million for community hall.