Ng lobbies Ottawa for infrastructure funds

Instead of lobbying the federal government for a larger territorial budget, Nunavut is now asking Ottawa for specific amounts of money to help pay for big-ticket projects.

The high-priority projects include the construction of a new hospital in Iqaluit and two health centres in Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay, as well as a road and port that would link Bathurst Inlet to potential mining sites.

Nunavut’s finance minister, Kelvin Ng, was in Ottawa recently to pitch these projects to the new federal minister of finance, John Manley.

“I felt quite positive coming out of the meeting,” Ng said in a telephone interview from Bathurst Inlet. “You have to substantiate what you require. I think being more project-specific is more valuable.”

Ng wants $108 million for the Bathurst road and port project. This money would come from Ottawa’s $2-billion Strategic Infrastructure Fund that’s overseen by Manley.

Ng said the Bathurst road and port project meets all the fund’s criteria.

“It makes sense not just for Nunavut, but for Canada as well because it will add to the gross domestic product of the country if it comes to fruition,” Ng said.

The 200-kilometre road and port, expected to cost $250 million, would provide a transportation corridor between the Arctic coast and the Kitikmeot region’s mineral-rich interior.

The project’s backers say it would spark the development of promising mining properties in the region, including the Izok Lake lead, zinc and nickel deposit 265 kilometres southeast of Kugluktuk.

During his meeting with Manley, Ng also presented the GN’s case for a federal contribution to the hospital and two regional health centres that the GN has promised to build.

The $41 million Ng wants is about half the total cost of the three facilities.

Ng said the GN intends to go ahead with construction, in partnership with Nunavut’s three Inuit-owned regional development firms. But money from Ottawa would help cover the GN’s portion of the costs.

Since 1997, officials with the governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have told the public that the Qikiqtaaluk, Sakku and Kitikmeot development corporations would build the facilities and the government would lease them back.

Along with Nunasi Corporation, those three Inuit companies now own their own construction company — Nunavut Construction Corporation.

But after the auditor general of Canada criticized GN leasing practices last year, the GN reviewed its leases.

Ng said the new leasing policy, still in a draft stage, has guided the proposed deals for the construction of the hospital and health centres.

Ng said he is confident these leases would pass any scrutiny. He expects to hear from Ottawa by the end of the year.

Premier Paul Okalik was also to lobby for funds for the projects at the annual Canadian premiers’ meeting this week in Halifax, Nova Scotia.