Iqaluit MLA’s study recommends Nunavut capital commission

MICHAELA RODRIGUE
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — The capital of Nunavut needs a new organization to guide its future development, says a study released this week by Iqaluit East MLA Ed Picco.

The study, by Yellowknife-based Treeline Planning Services Ltd., recommends that a Nunavut capital commission be set up as soon as possible to guide the development of Iqaluit as a capital city. Picco financed the study out of his MLA’s constituency budget.

Capital commissions exist in several other capital cities in Canada. Ottawa’s National Capital Commission owns large tracts of land in the National Capital Region and helps plan long-term development of the Ottawa area.

A capital commission for Nunavut would decide what the capital of Nunavut should look like, what monuments it should have, and how it should be developed.

The commission, as described in the report, would have the power to set aside land and real estate for future monuments, historical sites and a new legislative assembly.

It would also protect Iqaluit’s surrounding environment and help develop trade and tourism.The report says the commission would cost about $100,000 a year.

Picco says a capital commission would turn Iqaluit into an “Iqaluit for all of Nunavut,” the slogan used during the 1995 campaign promoting Iqaluit as capital of Nunavut.

“A goal without a strategy is just a slogan,” Picco said.

Picco said Iqaluit needs to make itself more “user friendly” to outside visitors and he said a capital commission would find ways of making Iqaluit more representative of Nunavut.

Some of the study’s suggestions for improving Iqaluit include:

Setting aside a 200-acre site, known as the “Capital Area,” at the eastern end of Iqaluit to be used for a museum, a science centre, a theatre and a new site for Arctic College. The study says a new Nunavut legislative building could also be built there.
The shapes, styles and colours of other buildings should complement the legislative assembly building.
Parking lots and access roads should be kept to a minimum and placed unobtrusively.
Standardized signs should be created.
Land should be set aside for monuments.
The commission could also organize annual Nunavut Day celebrations, a caribou festival, a summer sea mammal festival, and the annual town clean-up, the report suggests.

The study recommends that the Nunavut capital commission be made up of three representatives from the Nunavut government, two representatives from the municipality of Iqaluit and one representative from each of the institutions within the capital area.

Representatives from the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay could also be chosen.

The report says the Nunavut government should give the commission $100,000 a year to operate. Cost-sharing agreements would have to be reached for major commission projects.

Picco thinks, however, that it could cost less than $100,000 to run such a commission.

Picco has forwarded a copy of the report to the Town of Iqaluit. The Town could accept the report and tell the government it wants such a body created, Picco said.

The Iqaluit Trade and Promotional Office would also help start up the body.