Small communities’ crying need for infrastructure

Hudson Bay MLA Peter Kattuk told the legislature last week that he’s dismayed that there is no mention of his community in the GN’s 2006-2007 budget.

“It seems like my constituency doesn’t even exist. So I’m quite frustrated about that,” he said. “Our community is viewed as a non-existent community… I find the government is neglecting my community.”

A major focus of frustration for Kattuk and Quttiktuq MLA Levi Barnabas is the poor condition and insufficient size of their community halls.

“The multi-purpose hall in my community of Arctic Bay was built 35 years ago,” Barnabas said. “The school uses this facility by day, the public uses it every night.”

Levinia Brown, the minister of Community and Government Services, admitted that “the majority of communities in Nunavut are growing in population and the community halls are filled to capacity and some community halls are deteriorating due to age.”

But Brown was unable to say when or if any expansion was planned for either Sanikiluaq or Arctic Bay.

As for Grise Fiord’s GN offices, which were condemned but are still in use, Brown only said that she would “urge the government to give adequate consideration to the needs of the residents in Nunavut’s non-decentralized communities.”

The GN plans to spend “an amount of money” on property upgrades this year, but Brown couldn’t say if Grise Fiord’s “very old” facility would be on the list.

During the session, Barnabas has continued to ask Brown for information about what upgrades and new construction of community facilities the GN will be able to afford. Barnabas spoke about the need for a youth and elders’ facility in Grise Fiord and for renovations to the site of a youth centre in Resolute.

Brown told Barnabas that bringing old buildings up to today’s safety codes is very costly — no surprise to the member from Quttiktuq who tabled a proposal his community had made to improve the Arctic Bay community hall. Only half of this proposal was approved by the GN, Barnabas said, “enough for some new chairs, plywood, and paint.”