Quebec budget allocates millions toward Nunavik justice, housing

Provincial spending includes $43M for housing, $7.5M for court services

Quebec’s 2023 budget is promising Nunavik millions of dollars to go toward housing, justice and government services. (File photo by Cedric Gallant, special to Nunatsiaq News)

By Jeff Pelletier - Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Quebec’s budget is promising Nunavik millions of dollars to go toward housing, justice and other government services.

Eric Girard, the province’s Coalition Avenir Québec finance minister, tabled the budget in the National Assembly Tuesday.

Nunavik’s travelling court system will be getting $7.5 million over five years. This money follows a 2022 report calling on the province to improve Nunavik’s justice system and reduce barriers in the system faced by Nunavimmiut.

Quebec is also planning to spend $13 million over five years to provide government services adapted to Nunavik. The report outlines that the funding is directed toward overcoming language and technology barriers.

The budget includes $43 million to address Nunavik’s housing crisis. Line items include money to build a warehouse to store the materials needed to maintain social housing, rebuild damaged social housing and support the private housing market in Nunavik.

Other aspects of the budget include $121 million for Indigenous services over the next six years for housing, education, and economic, social and cultural development.

Quebec is allocating $4.5 million over five years in supports for the families of Indigenous children who went missing through Quebec’s health-care system between the 1950s and 1980s. That money is meant to be used to provide information to families about their loved ones and help with healing.

Another $16.8 million will be allocated over the next six years to police services in Indigenous communities.

“We are committed to strengthening our government’s support for First Nations and Inuit,” Girard said in his budget speech.

“Our goal is to better tailor our support to the realities of Indigenous people.”

The Liberal opposition said the budget doesn’t do enough for people in Quebec, specifically saying it does not address justice system delays in the province.

“In this fifth budget, nothing today guarantees that all Quebecers will receive basic services, particularly in health, justice, and childcare services,” said opposition leader Marc Tanguay in a statement.

“This budget is insufficient and short-sighted.”

 

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(7) Comments:

  1. Posted by Mr.Miyagi on

    Is it for more inuktitut teachers? Upto grade 5 I’m guessing? It’s bad enough that the local teachers upto grade 3 don’t even attend school.

    Why spend money on a failing education system?

    Didn’t they recently waste a ton of money just on a name change?

    I’ve been saying it for years and KI (ksb) still needs an overhaul. It’s going downhill since I can remember.

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    • Posted by Mr.Miyagi on

      For all the downvoters. Here are some stats to back it up. Midterms have 90 school days. Out of those 90 school days, my older child missed 20 and my other child missed 22. That’s more than 1 school day a week. They have no principal since the beginning of the school year.

      This means that me or my wife have missed work during these days and makes us look pretty bad to our employers. Sometimes calling in over kids not being in school is okay.. but to have to call in at least twice a week because one or the other isn’t in school is just ridiculous. Also takes a chunk out of the household income because of the irresponsible staff KI has.

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      • Posted by Downvoted on

        The Down voters are the very teachers, or wannabe teachers still in bed clutching their phone and reading about their situation.

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    • Posted by Blind lead the blind as usual on

      What are kids learning anyway up to grade three. There’s useless uneducated young woman, (show me at least one man), yes 99 percent woman for sure. No education in higher level education and teaching the vulnerable. This is not going well for Nunavik future.

      • Posted by Mr.Miyagi on

        I was learning to read novels in grade 2, and wrote book reports. I graduated very young.

        My boys learned to read English without the help of KI.

        I have taught them myself in less time than KI has. KI isn’t challenging in these grades where a child’s brain is soaking up information like a sponge. That’s where it is in the wrong. It has nothing to do with anyone’s sex. It has all to do with the early years and the brains development. My kid spent 3 years in inuktitut class and never even learned how to read in inuktitut. Think about that. I ask kids who speak inuktitut daily to read to me and all they have is a blank stare.

  2. Posted by Deplorable and pathetic on

    What jokes continue. Waste after waste. Yes, the schools are dysfunctional with the amount of days that kids are missing. Its deplorable and pathetic. No wonder the crime rate continues thereby leading to getting wasted justice funds, it’s low education among the population, days missed at school contributes to that. I think it’s a crisis, the whole of Nunavik. I mean does the Quebec government acknowledge this what’s happening? Or they know and don’t care,p. If they don’t know and not a bit aware , it’s scary. Maybe the federal government would help out more. Any documentary film crews out there, reading this third world state of affairs, get it on a documentary show, it might do more than what’s being done none. Useless situation right now.

  3. Posted by This week with Mr.Miyagi on

    Here’s my update for the week. Monday and Tuesday were marked for PED days. Wednesday there was school. Thursday no school. Let’s just hope that there is.

    KI made us miss 3 days of work (in four days) staying with our two children who are in grade 2 and Kindergarten.

    Yep, let’s throw more money for their cargo benefits, free trips, housing, salary, etc.. *eye roll*

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