Caribou, taxes and dust: day six roundup at the Nunavut legislature

MLAs agreed to extend question period for an extra half hour June 6 to accommodate all MLA questions for government ministers. (FILE PHOTO)

Members of Nunavut’s legislative assembly met until 6 p.m. after an extended question period and Committee of the Whole meetings June 6 in an effort to tie up loose ends and get questions answered before the session ends June 9.

Here is a summary of some of the matters discussed on day 6 of the spring session.

Property tax arrears

Nunavummiut currently owe $4.8 million in property tax arrears, up from $3.3 million reported in June 2015.

Finance Minister Keith Peterson revealed those numbers in the legislature June 6 in response to questions from Tununiq MLA Joe Enook.

Enook began by asking why people can’t pay their property taxes at hamlet offices where it is convenient, since they might not have credit cards to pay online and cheque books to pay through other means.

Enook suggested that making it easier to pay might help diminish those tax arrears.

Peterson said setting up hamlet offices to take property tax payments is not simple. Some hamlets might not want to do it and might not have the capacity and if they do, they may charge the Government of Nunavut to provide that service.

Peterson said 1,300 letters have been sent out this year to collect those millions of dollars in back taxes.

He added that of that $4.8 million owed to the GN, about $1.6 million is owed by the now defunct Shear Minerals, the company that ran the Jericho diamond mine for a while and then went bankrupt.

Peterson also said that this year’s mill rate — the rate at which people are taxed on their property — will remain the same as last year, at 4.25. However, when property values increase, so do taxes.

Kugaaruk learning centre

Kugaaruk will get a new Nunavut Arctic College adult learning centre in 2017.

That’s according to Paul Quassa, minister for the NAC, who confirmed that in legislature June 6 in response to questions from Netsilik MLA Emiliano Qirngnuq.

“We know that those community learning centres are aging and I’m very pleased to inform my colleague that the community learning centre is under review at this time,” Quassa said.

“We are currently doing a feasibility study. We will be building a community learning centre [in Kugaaruk] in 2017.”

Baffin Island caribou

Of the 250 tags offered this year for Baffin Island’s dwindling caribou herd under the government’s strict harvesting quota, only 183 were used, according to Nunavut’s Environment Minister Johnny Mike.

Mike was responding to questions in the legislature June 6 from Uqqurmiut MLA Pauloosie Keyootak.

Mike said of those 183 caribou that had been legally harvested, 14 were females, which goes against the current government regulation of allowing only males to be taken by hunters.

Keyootak asked what would happen to individuals who harvested females because some may be young or otherwise inexperienced and unable to tell the difference between male and female caribou. In other words, taking a female caribou might be an honest mistake, not a criminal act.

Mike said local conservation officers would deal with each instance on a case-by-case basis with input from members of the local hunters and trappers organization.

Dust control

One of the most popular topics raised during most spring and fall sittings of the legislature: how to control dust from dirt roads in the communities.

Baker Lake MLA Simeon Mikkungwak said his community, Nunavut’s only inland town, is drier than most and the constant dust, created from the busy road to the airport, causes respiratory problems for his constituents.

He directed his questions to Joe Savikataaq, community and government services minister.

Savikataaq said just today, June 6, he was briefed about a new option for dust suppression and he’s thinking of trying it out as a pilot project in one community.

Right now, a chemical calcium solution is used in most communities but can’t be used near airports because it is potentially corrosive to aircraft.

Mikkungwak asked if the CGS could commit to studying options for his community to use, but Savikataaq said every community has the same problem and it wouldn’t be right to study only one community. He also encouraged people to drive slower to mitigate the amount of dust created.

Human Resources

Keith Peterson, the minister responsible for Nunavut human resources, endured day three of Committee of the Whole questions regarding Nunavut hiring, training, retention and workplace wellness.

Many MLAs, including Pat Angnakak, Isaac Shooyook and Alexander Sammurtok, asked numerous questions about the department’s hiring practices including how those jobs are advertised and why more Inuit don’t get those jobs.

Angnakak asked Peterson detailed questions about how the GN deals with harassment on the job and workplace grievances.

Look to Nunatsiaq News later for a summary of that heated debate.