Iqaluit may get out of garbage collection

DENISE RIDEOUT

IQALUIT — The City of Iqaluit may turn garbage pick-up over to local contractors.

The city runs the garbage service, paying for everything from maintenance of the garbage trucks to the workers’ salaries.

Now it’s considering privatizing the service.

To that end, the city will do some comparative shopping.

“Council wants to find out if contractors are able to run the service at less cost than what it takes for us to do it,” explained Matthew Hough, the city’s director of public works.

This week the city put out a call asking businesses interested in collecting garbage to submit proposals, including estimates of what the service would cost.

Hough said that would allow city council to find out if privatization would be cheaper.

Hough said he doesn’t know how much, exactly, the city now pays to provide garbage pick-up. His staff will calculate that number in the next few weeks.

“Council wants to find out if contractors are able to run the service at less a cost than what it takes for us to do it.”
— Matthew Hough,
Public Works director

Hough said privatization wouldn’t result in the current garbage truck workers losing their jobs. The workers’ collective agreement stipulates that they must have the first shot at any jobs that are contracted out.

The agreement also requires that the contractors pay them at their current rates.
Hough said the city has been looking at other municipalities which have taken the privatization route.

“There are many communities all across Canada that contract our their garbage collection and we’ve looked at a few. One key one is the municipality of Clarenville in Newfoundland,” Hough said.

With a population of 5,000, Clarenville, located in eastern Newfoundland, is similar in size to Iqaluit.

Dave Strong, Clarenville’s chief administrative officer, said the town has always let local companies handle garbage pick-up.

In fact, all the town’s waste-disposal services are contracted out.

“It’s been working great,” Strong said in a telephone interview this week. “It’s very cheap for us.”

Private garbage collection runs Clarenville only about $100,000 a year.
Other northern communities have also turned to privatization.

In the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, Tuktoyaktuk and several other municipalities pay contractors to do the work.

In Tuk, a community of approximately 1,000, a local company with one garbage truck picks up residents’ garbage six days a week.

Debbie Raddi, the hamlet’s SAO, estimates the service costs the hamlet $56,000 a year. Residents pay $15 a month per household to have their garbage collected.
Raddi said privatization saves the hamlet money.

“When you think of the operating and maintenance costs, purchasing a vehicle and keeping staff full-time, plus salaries and benefits, it’s cheaper in the long run for the hamlet to contract it out.”