GN’s $3B budget focuses on community infrastructure, family services
Kusugak says ‘comfortable’ budget runs with ‘modest’ $21M deficit
Nunavut Finance Minister Lorne Kusugak announced there will be an increase to the GN Household allowance from $400 to $1000 dollars a month. (Photo by Jeff Pellitier)
Nunavut’s 2024-25 budget unveiled Monday calls for nearly $3 billion in spending, including several big-ticket items such as improvements to infrastructure, housing and family services.
Finance Minister Lorne Kusugak presented his budget in the legislative assembly, saying the financial plan includes a “modest” $21 million deficit he attributed to higher spending and lower federal government transfers.
“I think it’s a comfortable budget,” Kusugak told reporters before delivering the speech.
“I think there’s a lot on this budget, it’s maintaining what we’ve started, and I think it’s one that gives everybody a bit of comfort.”
Some of the largest spending numbers include $157 million for community infrastructure and $82.7 million to build new public and staff housing and support home ownership and repairs.
There’s also $7.7 million allocated to local housing authorities to cover the costs of additional housing and $7.5 million to support Nunavummiut in need of safe housing.
Kusugak said this spending will help the government advance its Nunavut 3000 goal of building 3,000 new homes across the territory by the end of the decade.
The infrastructure money will help with development of land needed to build new housing, he said.
“We’ve got over 500 houses up to now and we’re doing a couple hundred more in 2024 and another couple hundred more in 2025,” Kusugak said.
“As the lot availabilities increase and things start to get streamlined, we could begin to do even more but we have to get that motion rolling.”
Part of the budget addresses last year’s report by Canada’s auditor general that accused the GN’s Department of Family Services of failing children and youth.
That report said the Nunavut government didn’t properly monitor children and youth who were under its care and often placed them in vulnerable situations.
In Monday’s budget, the GN plans to spend $3.1 million to hire 31 new family services employees, with child protection as the top priority.
Another $1.1 million is allocated to Nunavut Arctic College to expand its social worker program and train more Nunavummiut for careers in that field.
“Our government’s response to last year’s report by the Office of the Auditor General on child and family services was swift and unequivocal,” Kusugak said in his speech.
“We fully accept the contents of the performance audit and are deeply committed to change.”
Kusugak also highlighted the government’s plan to spend $2.2 million to help families facing uncertain access to sufficient food.
The budget highlights several other key spending areas:
- $3.6M for municipal governments to hire more public works staff;
- $3 million for improving security at health centres; and
- $1.4 million to hire more RCMP officers.
“In an increasingly polarized world spurred on by contentious politics, our territory can be a beacon of good governance for leaders from around the globe who are searching for ways of making life better for the people they serve,” Kusugak said in his closing remarks.
“With this budget, our government is demonstrating its commitment to leading the way.”
They think all Inuit want to live in one and two bedroom apartments. And the staff has a pick of house or apartment. Not one or two bedroom. The 4 to 5 bedroom for themselves.
We need more one bedrooms for GN staff housing in Rankin, there are not enough. Not everyone has big families or are with a spouse. Us single people should have more options for one bedroom apartments. There are only run down old places like Old Ila and the 33 Plex. The new 16 Plex has the tiniest parking lot and only has outdoor access with lots of stairs to get in, and nowhere to put Starlink dishes.
Forget about trying to buy a house on a single income, with houses going for 500k to 650k. And the public housing has like a 10 year waiting list.
Forget buying a house when you have family to feed. If I was single, I’d isumaliuq with my cash and build. People have children.
Health Department would be more fiscally prudent ,if the travel specialists showed up for work and less smoke breaks.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed a deal in Kyiv on Saturday committing Canada to a $3.02-billion security assistance package for Ukraine, a milestone event to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Feels good knowing that we have rampant housing insecurity, food insecurity, huge teacher vacancy rates (offer more money), poor infrastructure if any at all in most cases, nothing for kids to do in the majority of our communities.
Just think of that, the total annual budget for our Territory is also given away to Ukraine, awesome.
Good to know that, just like Trump, you’re hoping for Putin to obliterate the Ukraine.
I do not live in Ukraine, it is not even in my neighborhood. Why is my tax dollars going there?
I miss Canada of the 1980s and 1990s where Canadians was respected for its peace keeping missions. how canada provided humanitarian aid to people who really needed it, How Canada provided security to people in war torn countries.
Today I feel like an accessory to war as my tax dollars are being sent to purchase weapons that kill and meme people. Today I am embarrassed to call myself Canadian because of our so called Prime Minister wanting to wage war on a country that has really done nothing to Canada.
What has Russia ever done to Canada? Why is Canada getting involved in a fist fight?
We should be preparing our country to help Ukraine rebuild, we should only be providing humanitarian aid at this time, we should be planning on providing security to areas of the country that need it when the war is finally over.
Doi we hate Russia because we are a brainwashed society that believes everything that comes out of the USA?
What about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Julian Asanga for exposing all these lies? The Millions of dead over lies. This is who you will believe.
I guess if you see a community member getting beat up but it is not on your lot or at your house you just wait and watch until it is done then you might go help them off the ground.
We are all part of the world and even in our small communities there are a few people that when they are in jail it is noticeably more peaceful in town.
Do i think we need more help here YES, do i also think we should be doing more with what we have also yes. there should not be so many people between 20-50 on Income support.
These sorts of deals are usually for credit to buy goods from Canadian manufacturers. The thinking is that they pay for themselves and stimulate the Canadian economy.
So how much of that $90 million committed for the F16 fighter training program Canada committed is coming back to Canada? Zero dollars
Of the $3 million how much is coming back to Canada? We must be sending them a years worth of maple syrup and beaver tails, winter boots coats and EV batteries.
Are you forgetting by the time Canadian tax payers paid this $ 3 billuon debt off in 10 years at the current interest rate it will have cost Canadian tax payers $4.5 Billion all the while grocery, housing and heating fuel prices continue to rise across the country and will continue to do so with this kind of spending.
it is a security agreement, Canadian tax payers will be sending snowballs and toboggans to Ukraine so they can defend themselves. Last time I checked Canada cannot even produce the 155 mm artillery round used in combat,
The Liberals are way past their best before date..
International security is worth $3b to me. I hate the Trudeau Liberals like anyone, but they have given Nunavut way more funding that the Harper Conservatives. Your message is very American, they have the benefit of isolationism to explain the logic, along with millions in nuclear weapons, but Canada is on the doorstep of Russia and China and we can’t even spend 2% on defence.
Canada? On China and russias doorstep? Who taught you geography? Lithuania, Latvia,Norway,finland, Poland,Georgia, and Ukraine are borderlining with Russia. Not Canada. Canada is right in USAs backyard.
Explain how the liberals ever gave more to Nunavut than the conservatives
Easier to make unsubstantiated comments?
In 2021. Newfoundland topped all Canadian provinces with a per capita program spending at just under $16,000. Ontario spent the least per capita on provincial program areas at $11,800 per person. Nunavut’s budget works out to program spending at $75,000 per person.
In terms of federal transfers, PEI got the most of any province in 2021 with around $6,000 per person. Ontario got the least per person at $2,400. Again, given that almost every cent GN spends comes from Ottawa, our federal transfers are north of $70K per person, per year now.
This is the thing. When we want to argue equity in terms of government program spending, we should appreciate we already get at least 4x more government spending what other Canadians get. When it comes to federal funds, we already get over 10x what other Canadians get.
It could be that Canada should take care of Canadians more than they do Ukrainians or other foreign policy initiatives, However, if that is really true, what Ottawa should then do with this freed up $3BN is to provide each and every Province more money to bridge the program and transfer gap between Nunavut and them.
Hold on , hold on you just described all of Canada, and the Canadian taxpayer send us 3 billion a year, to spend with very few strings attached, and we complain there are not enough free housing units, in the south thousands of people live on the streets, and depend on food banks also, how can we expect more. When the gn just grows in Iqaluit .
Next thing we know, you single people start getting shacked up, engaged and have children. And beg for bigger units. I thought i would need one bedroom. I applied for one bedroom apartment. Waited ten+ years to get apartment with 4 kids. Now I’m on the wait list for a bigger unit. My estimate wait time for one house is probably 10 + years. And as far as the “rundown” 33 plex? It was built in 2012? Already rundown? I know one bedroom units in rankin are old. But, housing does allow some renters to do small renovations. They just gotta ask for the replacements from housing office.
What about the people who don’t want to get shacked up or have children? (some people actually use condoms and birth control, aka those not brainwashed by the catholic church) Or who already have grown child(ren) that have moved out? Shouldn’t those grown children have a chance to get their own place to alleviate the overcrowding? Some are older, (either single or widowed), past the childbearing years, but not at retirement age yet. Not everyone has the same situation as you “Northerner”.
Yes the 33 Plex is rundown, it’s poorly maintained, dogs crap on the carpeted hallways and in the elevator, kids vandalize the building and run amok without adult supervision, people smoke weed and cigarettes in their apartments, stinking up the whole building. It’s disgusting! All the landlords do is put notices about those issues in the doors without real enforcement.
This week on nunatsiaq news, child’s play 3. 3 bn budget with 21 million deficit. Who will walk around mad with the violin playing behind them?
GN staff itself needs to start paying up. They don’t pay rent. They don’t pay power. They don’t even pay for their groceries. They get paid to come up here. They get paid to show up. If they start paying than maybe they’ll start taking high cost of living seriously? Only GN employees get handouts 100 % .
I work for the GN, I pay rent, power, and pay for groceries. Everyone I know that works for the GN also pays for rent, pay their power bills, and buys their own groceries. Where did you get your information from? You obviously don’t work for the GN to be spreading this rumor
I don’t know what GN staff you are talking about, of course we pay rent (though subsidized), and pay for our own power and groceries. Now the Nurses and such, they pay peanuts for rent, which is very unfair for those that live here permanently. You need to be specific.
A fairly unique and completely ignored aspect of budget time in Nunavut remains the almost utter lack of cutbacks.
Cutbacks are normal parts of Provincial affairs where elected officials make the best choices they can between what could be done versus what should and must be done, based on a hierarchy of needs.
What we see in Nunavut instead is an attitude of doing what was always done before, plus a few new things because the Auditor General told us so.
How are we meant to believe, amongst all the things that the GN pays for now, they are as important as housing or food? The answer is we cannot and should not believe this.
Really? Less than 10% of the budget on new housing and less than 0.1% for more food? Take a look around at the worsening situation now, especially in the non-decentralized communities.
How could it be any clearer that GN needs to cut somewhere and spend more in these areas instead of kicking the can down the road? Take a look at the GN jobs section of this newspaper. How many of those positions help with these basic things?
The only reason we are asked to believe this is that the leaders we elect, and ultimately we ourselves, lack the maturity, conviction and vision to make hard choices.
It always amazes me how much the GN spends each year, now just over 3 BILLION! I find it difficult to justify even with the higher cost of living and doing anything in Nunavut 3 BILLION per year for such a small population is a huge budget,
Is there too much contracting that goes on at the GN? Too much over inflation contracts?
All the Inuit organizations put together don’t come close to this annual budget to put that into some perspective. It’s a crazy amount, I think our GN can do much better with less wastage.
Perhaps you should go online and read the budget
3B is nothing compared to the needs
Housing, health and transportation needs are ludicrously high
I hope they pull through with houses. Apartments are being built right now. Some 3 bedroom. Maybe some 2 bed rooms and 1 bed rooms. Let’s see if housing will shuffle people to different places.
I see this Minister doesnt live in iqaluit….like the rest. With a big portfolio such as that he should be stationed in iqaluit