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NUNAVUT
On July 10, two federal ministers met in Iqaluit to discuss Nunavut's infrastructure needs and priorities with territorial government officials and the private sector.

Leona Aglukkaq, Nunavut MP and minister for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, left, and Denis Lebel, federal minister of the Department of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, discuss territorial infrastructure needs and priorities past 2014 in Iqaluit on July - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

Leona Aglukkaq, Nunavut MP and minister for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, along with Denis Lebel, federal minister of the Department of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, took part in a series of summer roundtable meetings last week.

At the meetings were representatives of the municipal sector and community and business leaders from the territory such as presidents of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Kivalliq Inuit Association and the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, and the general manager of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

The Building Canada plan, a seven-year, $33-billion federal initiative which contributes to projects enhancing economic growth and sustainable communities, is reaching its end date in 2014 and the Canadian government is developing a long-term infrastructure plan for the future.

Monies from the Building Canada plan have helped immensely in Nunavut, assisting to finance projects across the territory such as the Arctic Bay community hall, the Sanikiluaq municipal garage and the Pond Inlet arena.

Aglukkaq said the consensus from the discussions was every community has an infrastructure need and the key is to be strategic and work with partners on the ground.

"The feedback we received from the territorial government, NTI, the lead organization, included ports, it included airstrips, terminals, a number of projects that are important to the North," she said. "It was very constructive feedback and it was very useful for the groups to present their case to the minister directly."

Lebel said they discussed needs for the whole region and came out with "good subject and good vision of the future."

The two federal ministers also met with Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak. She stated the meeting was a "good start" and raised the need to close what she called the "infrastructure gap" between Nunavut and the rest of the country.

"The financial transfer from the federal government allows us to run our territory; it does not allow us to build our territory," stated Aariak via e-mail.

"In order to complete the map of Canada, a sustained investment is needed. Without such, the high cost of living and doing business in Nunavut will remain unreasonably high."

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