Language, economy top government’s new agenda

SARA MINOGUE

The Nunavut government’s second term will offer more of the same, according to the Throne Speech, read at the opening of the second session of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday by the Commissioner of Nunavut, Peter Irniq.

The speech made few new promises. Rather, it described a continuation of the Bathurst Mandate, with a new emphasis on economic development, getting more Inuit into the workforce, and strengthening Inuit culture.

Economic growth will be pivotal, as the speech made plain that funding is short, and “the government cannot afford to address all the urgent needs immediately.”

In May of this year, the GN projected a $13.4 million deficit for the 2004-05 fiscal year. The previous year’s deficit was $29.2 million.

And of the $850.7 million the GN planned to spend this year, only $74 million came from taxes and other local sources.

To increase the amount of wealth, and tax revenue, generated in Nunavut, the GN has reiterated its goal to stimulate growth in the private sector.

The speech identified mining, fishing, commercial processing of country foods and arts and crafts as industries with the potential to bring money and jobs into the territory. It gave a special nod to tourism, pointing out that “getting tourists to stay even one extra day can have a positive impact on local economies.”

But, the speech noted, these industries will not take off if Nunavut does not have educated people to fill new jobs, or if Nunavut does not get the critical infrastructure it needs, such as housing and ports, to support development.

Inuit, who represent 85 per cent of the people in Nunavut, make up only 46 per cent of the work force, the speech said. The government is committed to improving that number.

To do that, the government committed to opening a trades school by 2009. It also promised to complete the made-in-Nunavut Education Act in the same time frame, and to continue to work on an Adult Learning Strategy.

Health care has also been hailed as an economic driver, particularly the three new heath centres that will soon make more health care available within Nunavut, but the speech offered no details on how Inuit would be prepared for the new jobs the health centres will create.

“Planning is underway to ensure that training and education opportunities are available so that the centres will hire as many Nunavummiut as possible,” Irniq read.

The government will continue to support the nursing program at Nunavut Arctic College, and has committed to establishing a scholarship that will send one beneficiary south to study medicine.

Following the economy and Inuit employment, language and culture is the second biggest item on the government’s agenda.

The government committed to start planning a Nunavut Cultural School, where high school graduates can learn academic and traditional skills before entering the workforce. Planning will begin for a territorial Heritage Centre, to be filled with cultural treasures retrieved from other jurisdictions.

The speech got its first round of applause when Irniq read out the government’s commitments of making laws, government policies, documents and forms available in Inuktitut.

By 2009, Nunavut will have language legislative that recognizes Inuktitut as the majority language.

The Education Act will make sure that high school graduates are bilingual.

In addition to setting out its top priorities, the government also made several concrete commitments:

• Telehealth will be in every community by the end of this year.

• One 24-hour elder care facility will open in one community each year throughout the second term, starting in 2005.

• Nunavut’s first psychiatric facility will open in Iqaluit.

• Midwifery programs will be expanded so that mothers can have their children in or closer to their communities.

• New legislation introduced this session will protect and assist victims of domestic violence.

• One more correctional healing facility, like the Kugluktuk Ilavut Centre, will open by 2009.

The government also committed to making the environment a higher priority this term.

It has directed all departments and the Qulliq Energy Corporation to start energy saving measures, and launch a public energy conservation campaign “as soon as possible.”

The speech also says, “we will find alternatives to diesel fuel for electricity generation.”

The government will also work with municipalities to find better ways of dealing with old vehicles than leaving them to rust at dump sites, including “repatriation” to the South.