Forty staff units vacant

Of the Government of Nunavut’s 1,100 staff housing units, 30 were vacant as of Sept. 23, Kelvin Ng, the minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corp., told the assembly last week.

“Why are they vacant?” asked Hunter Tootoo, MLA for Iqaluit Centre. “We don’t have staff to put in them, or what?”

For more than a year, the GN has been posting job ads with the tag line “Housing is not available with this position.” But Ng said it is rare to have 100 per cent occupancy.

Tootoo asked how many staff housing units are unlivable. “Some communities have units no one wants to live in. Are any of the units vacant because they can’t be lived in?

Ng said 10 out of 1,100 are under repair.