NTI dumps on GN budget

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. says the Nunavut government’s 2003-04 budget fails “to address key Inuit priorities.”

Cathy Towtongie, the president of NTI, said in a news release last week that the budget, tabled in the legislative assembly last week by Finance Minister Kelvin Ng, demonstrates that Ottawa isn’t transferring enough money to Nunavut under the formula financing agreement for things like housing, education, training, health care, and economic development.

She also criticized some of the GN’s own policy choices, such as a decision to cut the sustainable development department’s budget by more than 20 per cent.