Iqaluit council accepts funding boost from GN for infrastructure
Municipal Capital Block Funding rises from $5M to $9M annually
Iqaluit city council approved a project to pave Mivvik Street during its Tuesday meeting. The work is scheduled to start in August. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
Iqaluit city council voted unanimously Tuesday night to accept more money through a Government of Nunavut policy that provides municipal infrastructure funding.
The agreement will increase the amount of money the city gets from the territory annually from $5 million to $9 million.
The city’s only obligation, according to Tuesday’s city council agenda, is that it will not use the money for anything other than what’s detailed in the agreement, which is tangible assets.
“I am absolutely excited for the funding,” said Deputy Mayor Kim Smith. “I think we are going to put it to great use. It’s very flexible and there are a lot of things that could be done with this in the city.”
The money comes from the Department of Community and Government Services’ Municipal Capital Block Funding Policy.
The pot of funding was created in 2020 to support Nunavut’s municipalities so they can “deliver on municipal capital infrastructure priorities,” the agenda said.
That includes water systems, roads, disaster mitigation, tourism infrastructure or cultural infrastructure.
For instance, the City of Iqaluit is using some capital block funding to pave Mivvik Street. The project was unanimously approved Tuesday and will cost about $1.7 million.
The work is set to start in August.
Nunatsiaq News contacted the Department of Community of Government Services to ask for more details about when and why it increased the amount of money available through the block funding policy, but hasn’t received an answer.
I agree with our deputy mayor. I am sure this funding an be putto great use here in the city. Might I recommend focusing on roads first.
The roads in Iqaluit are horrible. Adding dirt in them does not accomplish anything. IT simply washes away within the same day or two.
How about we use asphalt and actually fix the roads. While we are at it, how about a turn land at the bottom of the plateau?
Maybe it is time for some street lights in Iqaluit as well. 4 corners for sure.
Iqaluit is the capital city of Nunavut. It would be nice if we could share our pride, and invite more people to visit or live here. We want to be proud.
I also agree with our Deputy Mayor’s insightful comment that free money is good.
Capital Block funding is available to all municipalities, but let’s prioritize Iqaluit as it is the capital of Nunavut. We wouldn’t want the next Prime Minister of Canada to see never-ending potholes! Did anyone forget that there are still no street lights or traffic lights near the hospital or the four-way stop?
And the rich get richer. The only tax-based municipality in Nunavut gets their municipal capital infrastructure budget almost doubled and the other 24 communities, which have no ability to tax, are having their projects denied because of budget issues.