Herewith, the plug: http://www.nunanet.com/~nunat
Nunavut, for those of you who haven't yet heard of it, is the name of the
new territory which will be created in Canada's Eastern Arctic on April 1,
1999.
The website of the Nunavut Implementation Commission can be found at:
http://www.nunanet.com/~nic
Cheers,
Jack Hicks
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At last! Ottawa moves on Nunavut
Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin announced this week that Ottawa will
spend $149.9 million on the creation of Nunavut over the next four years --
including nearly $40 million for training.
JIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT -- Ron Irwin has come up with the answers.
Canada's northern affairs minister says Ottawa is now ready to get on with
the job of creating Nunavut -- for which they'll spend $149.9 million
between now and the year 2000 to build Nunavut's infrastructure, train
Nunavut residents, and set up an interim commissioner's office.
"I'm here and we're committed and we're ready to go," Irwin said at a news
conference in Ottawa April 30. "I have faith in the leadership and the
people of the North that it can be done."
He also confirmed that Iqaluit will be the capital of Nunavut.
Irwin also implied that Ottawa prefers making deals with the people of
Nunavut than with people in other parts of the country.
"I like the way they negotiate," Irwin said. "We argue a lot -- we really
do, we've had some horrendous arguments with the Inuit people and the
northerners -- but at the end, when we reach consensus, they stick to
consensus, which is great. That's the way it should be done."
More money for training
As well, $39.8 million will be spent on training-an increase from the $27.5
million estimated last year in the Nunavut Implementation Commission's
Footprints in New Snow report.
"We actually upped some of the costs," Irwin said, saying that Ottawa is
putting a lot of emphasis on training.
And Irwin said the people of Nunavut have no choice but to make do with
what Ottawa is now willing to give for the creation of the new territory.
"We think the budget is realistic and fair," Irwin said. "This is as far as
we will go at this stage-$150 million is a lot of money, quite frankly."
Nunatsiaq MP Jack Anawak, who also attended the news conference, said
Nunavut residents must use all their resourcefulness to make the money
stretch.
"We will somehow make do with the $150 million," Anawak said.
$120 million in private capital
Of the $150 million announced, only $50 million has been set aside for the
construction of infrastructure-which looks like a lot less than the nearly
$200 million estimated last year by the Nunavut Implementation Commission.
But that number only covers those assets that the government will actually
build and own-the rest of Nunavut's infrastructure is expected to be built
by private companies who will lease facilities back to the Nunavut
government.
Judith Tanguay of the Nunavut Secretariat in Ottawa said that of that $50
million, about $30 million will be spent on roads and sewers and other
community infrastructure, another $13 million will be spent on Crown
construction of federal facilities, and about $9 million on site
development.
But she said Ottawa is expecting that a total of $171 million worth of
infrastructure will be built by a combination of Crown construction,
private sector investment and long-term leases.
"What we're saying is that the remainder will come from the private sector,
and that the private sector will become involved in infrastructure
development as owners and investors for office facilities and possibly even
staff housing and that the government will guarantee lease arrangements,"
Tanguay said.
Public Works Canada will work with NTI
John Rayner, DIAND's assistant deputy minister of northern affairs, says
Ottawa is now negotiating with Nunavut Tunngavik on exactly how to manage
the infrastructure construction.
"The capital budget will be administered through an arrangement between
Public Works Canada and NTI, and through joint ventures encouraging private
sector Inuit capital from the Nunavut region and because of that, and
because we're going to do it in lease-back type arrangements, we are able
to keep, in the early years, the yearly cost of the capital infrastructure
down to a reasonable amount," Rayner said.
Rayner also said negotiators are looking at the idea of having a consortium
of Nunavut's four Inuit birthright development corporations play a major
role in constructing, owning and leasing Nunavut's infrastructure.
NIC report followed
Rayner also confirmed that Ottawa has endorsed the Nunavut government
structure set out in the NIC's Footprints in New Snow report last year.
That report set out a lean, efficient, decentralized type of government for
Nunavut.
"The structure of the government that is contained within the $150 million
is as it was set out in the Nunavut Implementation Commission report, and
we have taken that and we have costed that out," Rayner said.
Ongoing costs left to the future
As for the ongoing costs of running two new territories in the place of one
after 1999, Irwin said that will be dealt with in negotiations between
territorial finance ministers and Ottawa.
"We met with [NWT Finance Minister] John Todd last night, and Jose Kusugak
from the Inuit leadership, and Premier Morin, and these were questions that
were asked and they seemed satisfied that this system will work -- finance
minister to finance minister," Irwin said.
No delays
Irwin also said Ottawa had considered delaying the April 1, 1999 start-up
date for Nunavut, but rejected the idea.
"I think there's adequate time to do it by April 1, 1999," Irwin said. "If
we put it off into the next century, then the decisions that will have to
be made won't be made, and it will probably be more expensive, with more
consultants and more meetings and we won't be doing the decisions that are
necessary to set up a democratic new territory."
And he also said he will appoint Nunavut's interim commissioner by next
fall, after consultations with NTI and the GNWT.
"The arrangement is that over the next few months, they will be setting up
the terms of reference for the interim commissioner," Irwin said. "All
three groups will be putting names forward, and no one will be chosen
unless all parties agree on the person."
And he said that the interim commissioner, who legally must report directly
to the minister of northern affairs, must work closely with the GNWT and
NTI.
"The role of the interim commissioner will be much like a deputy minister.
He or she will take his or her instructions from the two governments and
the Inuit," Irwin said.
Judith Tanguay said one of the interim commissioner's tasks will be to work
out a budget for the Nunavut government's first fiscal year.
This week's news is also good news for Canada, Irwin said.
"It is a statement for our country, because there are very few countries on
this planet who would be doing what we're doing -- a territory that is
one-fifth the size of Canada," he said. It [Nunavut] has a very distinct
and old culture, and it says a lot about our country that these things are
important, that this recognition is important."
West must get act together
Irwin, along with Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrews also said Ottawa
will spend no more money on constitutional development in the western NWT.
Blondin-Andrews said western NWT residents must first show that they can
reach consensus on what kind of territory they want after division.
"We really need to get the direction, get the consensus building, and those
are some of things that money can't buy," she said.
And Irwin even said that the West, with its developed infrastructure, which
includes a lavish $25 million legislative assembly building, should help
the east.
"I'm thinking more of the western Arctic helping the eastern Arctic," Irwin
said.
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Good news for Nunavut
JIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT -- Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin's Nunavut announcements this
week represents good news for Nunavut.
Here's why:
* There will be at least $171 million available to build Nunavut's
infrastructure -- made up of $50 million in Crown construction, with the
rest made up of private sector investments and long-term leases;
* Nunavut will likely be built by Inuit-owned Nunavut companies -- Public
Works Canada and Nunavut Tunngavik are now working out an arrangement
to manage the construction of Nunavut's infrastructure;
* Infrastructure development is expected to create about 1,400
construction jobs over the next four years in Nunavut;
* About 200 private sector spin-off jobs are also expected to be created
by infrastructure development in Nunavut;
* Nearly $40 million in new money will be available to train Nunavut
residents -- Ottawa, NTI and the GNWT will soon put into place a
four-year training strategy;
* Nunavut's interim commissioner will be appointed by this fall -- an
advisory committee, with one member each from Nunavut Tunngavik, the
federal government and the GNWT will be set up to conduct an "executive
search" for a candidate who will be recommended to Irwin;
* The Nunavut Implementation Commission's model for a decentralized
government has been preserved;
* Nunavut will be created on time, on April 1, 1999;
* Iqaluit has been officially confirmed as Nunavut's capital.
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What Ottawa will spend on Nunavut
JIM BELL
Nunatsiaq News
IQALUIT -- Here's what Ottawa has agreed to spend on Nunavut between now
and the year 2000:
* $13.2 million on transitional O&M expenses -- including Office of the
Interim Commissioner, statute revisions, preparation for first Nunavut
election, and electoral boundaries revision;
* $46.9 million on other O&M -- includes salaries and and other costs
associated with recruitment of 150 new territorial government
employees;
* $50 million in capital construction -- of this, about $30 million will be
for Crown construction of community infrastructure like roads, sewers,
and water lines, about $13 million will be for constructing new federal
facilities, and about $6 million will be spent on site development (The
remaining $120 million is expected to come from the private sector);
* $39.8 million for training Nunavut residents -- this will be managed
through a Nunavut human resources plan espected to be produced soon;
Total: 149.9 million over four years.