Hamlets need more control over economic directions
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Arviat (May 09/01) - Nunavut Finance Minister Kelvin Ng's appearance at the Nunavut Association of Municipalities' annual general meeting didn't do much to change Darren Flynn's mind about capital planning.
Arviat's senior administrative officer says many issues covered at the meeting are community-specific and would be better served at regional meetings.
Flynn says the consultation aspect of capital planning still isn't evident.
He says the last time the territorial government held any meaningful consultations with Kivalliq hamlets was a year ago this October.
"Obviously, there always has to be minimal standards of criteria," says Flynn.
"A health centre will always take precedence over something of a lesser priority because you always have to have the basic infrastructure looked after, such as transportation, water and sanitation."
Flynn has long been a vocal supporter of the GN assessing a community's five-year capital plan and block-funding it in 60 equal payments.
He says a community can then decide whether to borrow against the income flow to develop projects contained in the capital plan, or bank the money in accordance with the government's model.
"Providing capital funding in equal payments would allow communities to smooth out the economic highs and lows created from megaprojects.
"Too often, you get one year of economic boom and then four or five years of much slower activity in your community."
Flynn says in order for the equal-payment plan to be effective, the government would have to assess a hamlet's capacity for handling such funding, but, he quickly adds, there are communities ready, willing and able to take on that responsibility now.
"If we're going to work together as partners, we have to sit down and work these issues out between us, rather than having them unilaterally imposed.
"A community has an acute awareness of the shortfalls in its infrastructure because we have to make do with that on a day-to-day basis.
"Basically, that's where priorities come from."
