45 Nunavut schools to get improved air quality through joint project
Federal, GN funding aims to reduce COVID-19 spread in schools, governments say
Federal infrastructure minister Dominic LeBlanc (left) and territorial education minister Pamela Gross announced a partnership between the Governments of Canada and Nunavut to improve air ventilation in Nunavut schools. (File photos by Jeff Pelletier and David Venn)
More than $6 million will be spent to improve air quality in 45 Nunavut schools, using funding from both the federal and territorial governments, Infrastructure Canada announced Tuesday.
The federal government had promised earlier this year to help improve ventilation in Nunavut schools to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to provide a safer learning environment.
The federal government is providing $4.5 million in funding while the Government of Nunavut is contributing $2.1 million, a government news release said.
That money will go toward cleaning more than 130 air handling units and ducts and replacing more than 900 filters, the release said.
“By funding the cleaning and balancing of the ventilation systems in schools across the territory, we are creating healthier and safer learning environments for children in Nunavut,” federal Infrastructure Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in the release.
Pamela Gross, Nunavut’s education minister, said in the release that better ventilation will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in schools by providing better ventilation and air circulation.
“Effective air circulation and filtering inside classrooms will help keep students and staff healthy,” she said in the release.
To all mla please don’t send contractors from else where and find locals business to have better future economic
“Effective air circulation and filtering inside classrooms will help keep students and staff healthy,” she said in the release.
Very insightful.
This Minister is clearly in a League of her own.
Something that is supposed to be regular maintenance, and she asked for help from the Feds? She’s delusional! Anything for good press I guess? LMAO
It is easier to ask children to wear a mask, than to clean airducks… ?♀️
Does this mean the filters have never been changed, or units cleaned? Why are we happy about general routine maintenance? Perhaps the money should be used for air purification and new ways to clean the air, not general ordinary maintenance?
I guess PJ and gang are trying to show that they are doing ‘something’
Why is cleaning air ducts and changing filters in the news? Shouldn’t it be part of the regular maintenance? Expensive cleaning bill
Is it not just part of annual maintenance to have water tanks cleaned and HRV’s serviced? This is pretty routine stuff.
How is it that the Territory with the most vacant teaching positions per student capita every single year does not have money to change a few filters in each school? I understand that positions are funded as filled, yada, yada, yada, but you’re telling me coming up with money to change a filter is news?
This in itself reflects how sad the school system is. We can’t coordinate changing filters annually without it being a big thing, how on earth can we expect current leadership to actually staff or implement and deliver curriculum to children.
This is typical of most buildings. They are constructed with a lot of fanfare and back slapping congratulations but then the not so glorified work starts or is supposed to: MAINTENANCE. This issue is not the sole domain of schools. Maintenance is not carried out to the desired level in the majority of GN and NHC buildings even though there are over 400 community based staff who are assigned to carry out schedule maintenance. Filter changes and air handling cleaning is part of the regular planned maintenance along with dozens of other preventative maintenance items that also go ignored. This not only jeopardizes occupant health and safety but also shortens the life cycle of buildings. But that’s OK because there is another couple of hundred million just begging to be spent. Oops forgot, new construction is getting too expensive. So we can’t build new and no one is maintaining existing. I would say you have yourself in quite a little tangle.
I had to ask to confirm, but I already knew the answer.
Schools are on a schedule and air ducts are cleaned every 3 years by maintenance staff. It’s routine and part of the job.
I can’t believe Nunavut needed Federal help. Wow, just WOW.
Oops
Schools in the division I presently work in.