Admin hiccups jeopardize public internet sites in Nunavut

Education Minister Paul Quassa, in answer to questions in the legislature from Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes March 2, said Community Access Program funding was not provided because the CAP board is not in “good standing.” (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

With money running out, a vanished Government of Nunavut administrator and a lot of confusion over what constitutes “good standing” for a board of directors, free, public internet access across Nunavut might be in jeopardy.

The funding, provided under the Community Access Program since 2012 by the GN and by the federal government prior to that, pays for new computers and internet service at public locations across the territory such as libraries and community centres.

Education minister Paul Quassa confirmed that there are issues obstructing the release of that money March 2 during question period in the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

“The Community Access Program is a program that is run by a board, and at this time … the board is not in good standing,” Quassa said in response to a question from Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes.

This lack of “good standing” means his department cannot provide any funding to the board, Quassa added.

But Catherine Hoyt, chairperson of the Friends of the Iqaluit Centennial Library since 2006, told Nunatsiaq News that there must be a mix-up between the education department and the Nunavut Community Access Program (or N-CAP) board.

Hoyt’s organization operates the library CAP site — the only public internet access in Iqaluit.

“Whether or not the N-CAP board is in good standing, I have no idea. But we’ve never dealt with the board at all. We’ve only dealt with GN employees who administered the N-CAP program. That’s who we’ve always submitted our proposals to, our receipts and our invoices to, at the end of the year,” Hoyt said March 2.

In a letter to Quassa dated Feb. 22, shared with Nunatsiaq News, Hoyt wrote that she feared the consequences of this mix-up would cause hardship for some of Iqaluit’s most vulnerable, impoverished people.

“Approximately 95 per cent of our CAP site users are Inuit who do not have home computers or any other access to computing services or the internet,” Hoyt wrote.

“Any cut to our funding could have devastating effects on accessibility to the internet and technology for the Nunavummiut who need it the most.”

Hoyt said that she received regular assurance from an education department administrator that the roughly $6,000 in annual funding her society receives was still coming.

Usually the money arrives anywhere between September and December, Hoyt said, so she didn’t start worrying until Christmas rolled around and the department still hadn’t offered a contribution agreement.

And then in January, her emails to the usual administrator suddenly went unanswered.

“Finally an answer came: ‘oh, that administrator doesn’t work here anymore. If you have any questions you have to contact Ron Elliott, the chair of the board’,” Hoyt said.

“And I thought, ‘who’s he? Why should I have to contact him?’ I would’ve contacted him a long time ago, but I didn’t realize he had anything to do with the whole process.”

According to Hoyt, Elliott gave a different story from what she had been told by the education department.

Elliott informed Hoyt that no money had been released to the N-CAP board by the education department and that even if there was money, there was no longer a GN administrator to facilitate that release.

We tried to reach Elliott for an interview, but he did not respond by our press time.

Quassa explained in the house that his department couldn’t provide N-CAP with any funds because of the board’s “poor standing,” but did not mention anything about the lack of an administrator.

Hoyt finds all of this contradictory information confusing, and worrying.

“If there was some kind of problem, I don’t understand why, instead of telling CAP site operators ‘everything’s fine, that the money’s coming,’ why didn’t the department say, ‘we’re having an issue this year, don’t spend any money.’ Cautioning us instead of saying ‘go ahead, it’s business as usual,’” Hoyt said.

Instead, Hoyt said CAP site operators have had to dip into their own pockets assuming they would be reimbursed.

In response to Hickes’ questions about the confusion — it’s the second time Hickes has raised the issue during the current sitting — Quassa repeated that his department supports N-CAP and agreed that it is increasingly valuable across Nunavut, especially in the smaller communities.

But it is those smaller communities that worry Hoyt the most.

Iqaluit’s CAP site at the library, which had more than 13,000 visitors in 2014, has the personnel to raise money to provide a financial cushion if funding is delayed.

“But other CAP sites don’t have that little cushion to draw on. For them it’s going to be really tough. Some communities will be really hurt by this,” Hoyt said.

When questioned by Hickes in the assembly on Feb. 24, Quassa encouraged local library societies to apply for funding.

“If their society status is in order, then they are able to get some funds through proposals,” Quassa said.

Hoyt said she sent an email to the GN immediately after hearing Quassa’s remarks.

“We are in good standing, so how can I go about getting these funds before the end of the fiscal year?” Hoyt said she asked in her email. “But I’ve received no response.”