Nunavut likes a winner

When political leaders and senior bureaucrats across Nunavut woke up May 3 to contemplate the previous night’s election result, it’s a fair bet that most were smiling from ear to ear.

Given Nunavut’s utter dependence on the federal government, stability and predictability are crucial. The Conservative party’s majority in the House of Commons means Nunavut leaders now know whom they will deal with for the next four and a half years.

And if you’re a Nunavut leader, Leona Aglukkaq’s convincing re-election as Nunavut MP is even better news. That’s because the territory will continue to enjoy representation on the federal cabinet and at least some access to federal decision-making.

Nunavut likes a winner. When you’re weak and dependent, it’s the winner who offers the greatest degree of security and the greatest opportunity to gain what you need.

It may therefore be worthwhile for Nunavut’s political leaders, especially those in the territorial government, to take a close look at their relationship with the federal government.

Take infrastructure, for example. Towards the end of the election campaign, Aglukkaq cited a list of expensive projects for which various interests in Nunavut have lobbied for years, such as a hydroelectric dam for Iqaluit and a road and power-line connection between Manitoba and the Kivalliq.

She was careful, of course, not to promise that these things would arrive immediately. She only said she’s “committed to working on pushing those files forward.” And Iqaluit’s longstanding seaport demand has now been downgraded to a “deep water anchorage,” a concept that’s likely more realistic.

But in Nunavut, as in the other northern territories, Canada does not act alone. If these schemes ever materialize, the federal government will be required to trust Nunavut with the use of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of direct transfers and loan guarantees. To get things done on behalf of northern residents, Canada must rely on the competence of northern governments.

But as we’ve all learned from the Nunavut Housing Corp. cost-overrun fiasco, Nunavut doesn’t always make good use of Ottawa’s money.

There’s a clear message here for the Government of Nunavut and for the Nunavut legislative assembly: to take advantage of the stability offered by a Conservative majority government, Nunavut must get its act together. To improve the quality of life in Nunavut, the territorial government must make dramatic improvements in the quality of its administration.

This applies equally to Nunavut’s long list of health and social problems: suicide, the sexual abuse of children, family violence, high rates of tuberculosis, poor housing, and so on.

The federal government is criticized frequently, with justification, for tolerating these social ills. But as with the construction of new infrastructure, Ottawa must rely on the competence of the Nunavut government to reduce them.

Nunavut’s social issues, as they always do, emerged during the election campaign. Jack Hicks, the NDP candidate, based most of his platform on social issues.

But in a highly unusual gesture, Hicks saved his most scathing remarks, not for the other three candidates, but for the Government of Nunavut and the Nunavut legislative assembly. Here’s what he had to say, in a letter to this newspaper, about Nunavut MLAs: “[W]hen it comes to social issues, their backbones seem to turn to jelly.”

Though these remarks likely cost Hicks at least 17 votes, they help to underscore Ottawa’s dilemma. How can Nunavut be trusted to manage Ottawa’s money well?

By 2014, the federal government will negotiate new formula financing deals with territorial governments as well as new health transfer agreements. To justify any new demands they may make at the negotiating table, Nunavut officials must be prepared to demonstrate that Ottawa’s money won’t be mismanaged within a dysfunctional Nunavut bureaucracy.

To accomplish this, the federal government should tie its contributions to measurable targets, especially in health care, and demand regular reports from Nunavut on how well those targets have been met. The federal government’s relationship with its newest territory requires this kind of close attention.

The people of Nunavut may be inclined to back a winner. But to become winners themselves, they must also insist their territorial government raise its game. @Ed-by:JB