Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Oct 22/01) - Kelvin Ng will be the bearer of good news during November's sitting of the legislative assembly.

Nunavut's finance minister is expected to announce at least $55 million in new funding from the federal government.

Harry Adams, director of public affairs for the federal Department of Finance, said last week that the additional payments should be made within the next couple of months. "All three territories will see an increase," he said.

"Although the final numbers aren't in yet, Nunavut's will be in the neighbourhood of 55 to 60 million dollars."

Ottawa will supply the money through the Territorial Formula Financing agreement, which uses the difference between the territory's gross expenditures and its revenue capacity to calculate how much the territory should get each year.

The gross-expenditure base is adjusted each year using Statistics Canada survey's of government spending habits across the country.

Finance Canada uses a three-year average of growth. Revisions to that data led to the increased funding heading to Nunavut.

Ng confirmed the revisions when contacted last week by News/North.

"There have been some technical adjustments that may prove fairly positive to the government of Nunavut's fiscal situation," said Ng.

"We're waiting to confirm the numbers with Finance Canada before making a public announcement. I am anticipating a fall fiscal update for my colleagues in the House in about a month's time."

The update will include those adjustments and the amount will be in the ball park of $55 million to $60 million, he added. That amounts to a 10 per cent increase in federal support.

Ng declined to specify spending targets for his federal windfall.

He said Nunavut's Financial Management Board will have to weigh the options put forth from various government departments before any spending decisions are made.

However, the finance minister did say there is a strong possibility some of the money will be used to cover development costs on health facility projects.

The move would lessen future financial impacts on the government of Nunavut.

"This is a significant amount of revenue for the government," said Ng.

"I would not like to commit in advance of any of my colleagues finalizing a decision," he added.