Iqaluit (Aug 07/06) - A deal that could win Nunavut millions of dollars a year in new federal funding was endorsed by Canadian premiers meeting at the Council of the Federation in Newfoundland late last month.

"The federal government has the responsibility, through territorial formula financing, to ensure that territorial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of services," the council said in a news release.

The Expert Panel on Territorial Formula Financing released its final report in June, calling for changes to the tax system and the way Nunavut's revenues are calculated. That additional money would help the territory fight social and economic problems.

Premier Paul Okalik was on vacation and unavailable for comment.