IQALUIT - Nunavut's communities are dipping into their own piggy banks to prepare for the impacts of mining.

With no resource revenue funding commitments from the federal or territorial governments at last week's Nunavut Association of Municipalities (NAM) annual general meeting, the mayors passed a motion Thursday to withdraw $10,000 each from their Community Capacity Building Fund.

Premier Paul Okalik makes his presentation to community leaders at the Nunavut Association of Municipalities annual general meeting on May 10. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

The last part of that motion reads that NAM will try to recoup those funds and reimburse the communities.

Elisapee Sheutiapik, president of NAM, said she thinks it will look bad for the territorial government that the municipalities have had to have to resort to such a measure.

"Some people say we're rocking the boat - I hope we are," she said. "I think he (Premier Paul Okalik) is realizing that this is a very important portfolio."

Speaking to delegates earlier in the day, Okalik pushed the idea of working together on resource development and forming a united front in gaining a devolution deal with Ottawa.

Okalik, whose government has faced recent public criticism from NAM, said he saw no advantage in debating hypothetical scenarios or fighting over how to slice up a future resource revenue pie.

Sheutiapik contended that municipalities need to have adequate infrastructure in place to cope with mines, which will bring new money to the territory. There's also a need for community leaders to be better educated in regards to resource development as last week she said it became apparent that some do not know the difference between prospecting and mining.

On behalf of NAM, Sheutiapik has requested a yet-to-be-determined fraction of resource revenues to be placed in a trust fund for the communities.

Lynda Gunn, NAM's chief executive officer, suggested to Okalik that communities need money to prepare and carry out strategies like the ones outlined in the Community Development Toolkit produced by the International Council on Metals and Mining and the World Bank. She also made reference to the 2006 territorial formula financing report, known as the O'Brien report, which described Nunavut as being in crisis.

Low graduation rates, high unemployment and suicide are all indicators of crises, Gunn said. Nevertheless, the federal government hasn't developed a concrete plan to involve community governments in reaching solutions, she said.

Okalik sharply replied that there's too much focus on negatives.

"It is improving," he said, citing the graduation rate.

He also said that Ottawa allotted Nunavut an additional $38 million in the 2007 federal budget.

Even so, he said the GN is still trying to get the federal government to come to the devolution table. Although he said he wants those negotiations to take place soon - as resource revenues are currently flowing entirely to Ottawa - he couldn't say how long it will take for a devolution deal to become reality. He added that Nunavut is aiming for better terms than were reached in the Yukon.

Paul Waye, Rankin Inlet's senior administrative officer, asked Okalik what is being done to streamline Nunavut's regulatory regime, which inhibits resource development.

Okalik responded that the federal government has indicated it is open to reforming the regulatory process. However, the premier acknowledged that it can't be done without cooperation from Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated because regulatory legislation is enshrined in the Nunavut Land Claims Act. Any such reforms must be made with the protection of waterways and traditional areas in mind, he added.