Per capita funding doesn’t help us, northern premiers say

A 2013 road paving project in Iqaluit. Canada’s three territorial premiers worry that the distribution of federal infrastructure funds via population-based per capita methods won’t help northern Canadian communities, which badly need more infrastructure. (FILE PHOTO)

The distribution of federal infrastructure funds via population-based per capita methods won’t help northern Canada, the three northern premiers said in a communiqué at the end of their meeting in Yukon last week.

“Funding programs in the North must recognize that strict per capita funding does not work and that a base-plus funding model is essential,” the premier’s statement said.

That appears to be a response to infrastructure announcements in Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s March 23 budget, in which he promised to spend $11.9 billion more across Canada over the next five years on infrastructure.

Those funds are in addition to the $6 billion-plus per year that the previous Conservative government had already pledged through the New Building Canada Fund and the Gas Tax Fund.

But there are still big question marks hanging over the issue of how those funds will be distributed within the thinly-populated northern territories.

Under the Tory infrastructure schemes, Nunavut could expect only about $42 million a year from the Building Canada Fund and Gas Tax Fund combined.

The Tories also handed out much of that money on a cost-shared basis. For example, on municipal projects, Ottawa would normally pay only one-third of the cost, with the territorial government and the municipality putting in one-third each.

Those kinds of contribution methods mean badly needed infrastructure projects can’t happen unless small territorial governments can find the cash within their own budgets

So the three premiers want the Trudeau government to do that less often.

“Cost-sharing should be minimized in recognition of our small economies,” their statement said.

They also said they prefer what’s called a “base-plus” funding model, rather than a per capita method.

But the federal government has yet to state how its new infrastructure funds would be divided up across the country.

Northern premiers also said:

• the federal government should look at installing northern search and rescue bases to improve response times, and also called for more federal support for northern search and rescue operations;

• the federal government should do more to improve Nutrition North Canada, though they welcome Ottawa’s announcement last March to increase its budget;

• the federal government should implement the recent review report on the Canada Transportation Act, which calls for immediate upgrades to northern airports and the creation of three transportation corridors in the North;

• a carbon tax is a bad idea that would raise the cost-of-living in the North and that Ottawa should work with the territories on climate change adaptation;

• science is good for the North, but it should be done in a way that benefits northern residents and governments and recognizes the value of traditional knowledge; and,

• they’re still worried about the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s slow withdrawal from contributing to the operation and maintenance of social housing in the North, because by 2038, the territories must pay the full cost of operating social housing on their own.

The three northern premiers will hold next year’s annual meeting in the Northwest Territories, but have not announced which community they’ll meet in.