Ottawa must spend on infrastructure to spur Nunavut development: QIA boss

Okalik Eegeesiak, the president of QIA, said Ottawa should spend more money on infrastructure to help Nunavut develop its economy. (FILE PHOTO)

Okalik Eegeesiak admitted Nunavut faces many challenges delivering healthcare and education, but the Qikiqtani Inuit Association president focused on infrastructure development in a recent online video profile.

“If you want Inuit and Aboriginal Canadians to take full advantage and be better prepared for mining and exploration, you have to invest in basic infrastructure first,” Eegeesiak said in the five-minute video.

And the scaled-down port facility in Nanisivik doesn’t count, she added, because that’s intended for use by National Defence and the Canadian Coast Guard, not for private companies.

She said the current government of Stephen Harper has made northern exploration, mining and resource development a priority.

But you can’t develop that sector of the economy without basic infrastructure, especially ports, she said.

In the short profile, Eegeesiak cites other challenges the QIA has, including the influx of Inuit into Iqaluit from smaller Baffin communities.

“In some of the communities, their numbers are declining in population, because there are more opportunities in Iqaluit and in the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay,” she said.

That also goes for a steady migration to Yellowknife and even Ottawa, where they can find housing, better education and better services.

She said the QIA struggles to “keep our young Inuit in their communities and taking advantage of opportunities that might be there, so that our communities develop.”

The website, Aboriginal Entrepreneurship, calls itself an “online community and resource circle for Aboriginal entrepreneurs to build capacity, share experiences and success stories, identify opportunities, ask questions and team up with mentoring parters.”

The site regularly features interviews with Aboriginal leaders across Canada on the topics of business, economic development and entrepreneurship.