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Legislative Assembly briefs Deficit down dramatically Jeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, Oct 29, 2012
The 2011-2012 deficit is projected to be about $5.6 million, dramatically lower than the $50 million originally projected in September's interim financial report, Peterson said. "Prudent expenditure plans in our departments resulted in savings of about $40 million," he said. As for the surplus for this fiscal year, it is now estimated at around $50 million, $12 million higher than originally projected, said Peterson. "We are on track to return to balance this fiscal year," he said. "We have focused on addressing the pent up demand for capital funds in our plans for 2013-14 as opposed to introducing new capital initiatives." The territorial government will continue providing around $110 million per year for capital projects, not including the Iqaluit airport project, said Peterson. Ongoing projects will receive $112.4 million of the budget, he said, while smaller ones will get $23.4 million and new capital initiatives will get $17.1 million. The total capital plan for 2013-14 is $152.9 million. Curley opposes Franklin expedition Let the Queen finance the search for the lost Franklin expedition, not the Canadian government, said Rankin Inlet North MLA Tagak Curley on Oct. 24. Curley expressed his "strong opposition" to the federal government's attempt to locate the lost ships of the Sir John Franklin expedition, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Ottawa provided $275,000 to finance this year's expedition, led by Parks Canada. Both ships were lost during the British explorer's ill-fated expedition to navigate the Northwest Passage in 1845-46. They are a designated national historic site, though still lost. "Although I have a passion for Arctic history, I believe this expedition is simply wrong for the people of Nunavut," said Curley. At a time of federal government cuts, he said, better uses exist for the money spent looking for those ships. The remains of the expedition should lie undisturbed, said Curley. He later asked Culture and Heritage Minister James Arreak to justify the territorial government's co-operation to the search he called "ill-conceived, expensive and unnecessary." Arreak said the territorial government will participate for another two years with the search and will mostly provide airfare, accommodation and so forth to the project. "That's the only thing we agreed to and we don't intend to spend a lot of money on this issue," he added, saying the government has spent about $25,000 to date. Should searchers find the ships, it will be beneficial for Nunavut, which would consider creating a heritage site or park where they are found, said Arreak. She would not withdraw the territorial government's support to the project, as Curley had requested. "We have to preserve the heritage of Nunavut and protect the archaeological sites in Nunavut," said Arreak. "If we let anybody look through these types of projects, it's going to be detrimental." At the legislature on Oct. 24, Curley tabled a copy of The Lost Arctic Voyagers by Charles Dickens, saying the story will help clarify his position. "The history is more than just the hardware. History is about the whole event, what happened," said Curley during the break at the legislature. "Taxpayers shouldn't be looking for Franklin's graves. They'll never find the darn thing anyway, so it's a waste of money. And this history is not good for the Inuit people." He noted Franklin was British so that country or perhaps a private organization could finance the expedition. "There are people who have been lost out on the land that have never been found. We should be looking for them." Temporary jail to cost more Building the Baffin Correctional Centre Overcrowding Relief Structure is estimated to cost around $15 million, higher than the $8.5 million draft estimate, Justice Minister Daniel Shewchuk told the committee of the whole on Oct. 24. The structure, to be built adjacent to the Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit to alleviate overcrowding, accounts for most of the Department of Justice's 2013-14 total capital expenditure estimate of $8.97 million. Shewchuk said the original estimate to build the structure has since increased because of additional operations and maintenance costs to operate the facility. He said his department should have a more precise projection of the costs by the end of November. "It is, however, anticipated the total cost will not exceed $15 million," said Shewchuk. He later explained the original estimate was done using square footage of the building. Shewchuk said he is, at this point, seeking approval of the $8.5 million to build the structure but wanted to alert the legislative assembly that he will be requesting an additional $6 million during the winter sitting. The facility, which will house 48 prisoners, is to be under construction as of next summer.
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