:
Good morning, members, witnesses, and guests.
We're delighted to be here in Iqaluit--the place of many fish, I understand. This is a great opportunity for us. We are the members of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. This is the third stop for us in a series of three stops that we have made in each of the territorial capitals in the course of our consideration for advancing the economic development of Canada's north.
This is what we call a comprehensive study. We don't expect to be finished our work until early 2010, but members felt quite strongly, and I share their sentiments, about ensuring that we include stops in each of the territories at the front end of our study. Of course, the consideration of advancing economic development is not just about advancing development for its sake, but rather so it can engender the kinds of positive outcomes in quality of life for people who are the northerners of Canada. We're delighted to be here, as I said.
I'll say a little bit about the format this morning. Some of you may have been in front of standing committees in the past. What we generally do is open with a five-minute presentation from each of the four organizations that are present. When you're presenting and when you're talking with us, since we are doing simultaneous interpretation in the course of our discussions here today, try to keep the pace of your presentation a little bit slower than you normally talk, and that will be a good pace. Don't worry too much about meeting the five minutes. We'll give you a little bit of latitude there. Then after the presentations we'll go into comments from members.
Now I understand also—I'm not sure if he's here—we do have an interpreter here who will interpret Inuktitut, so this is available. If you wish to speak in Inuktitut, we will have the translation properly done for members.
I'm going to say up front, by the way, that I'm going to do my very best to get the pronunciations of the names of all the witnesses here today. Not being proficient in Inuktitut, we'll do our best.
I'd like to lead off by welcoming the mayor of the wonderful municipality of Iqaluit, Ms. Elisapee Sheutiapik.
Mayor, I'm delighted to be here. Please lead off with the first presentation.
Mr. Chair, members of the standing committee, thank you for giving the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, NAM, the opportunity to appear before you.
I am Elisapee Sheutiapik, Mayor of Iqaluit, and I am also the president of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities.
You've asked representatives from around Nunavut to appear before you to contribute their vision of how Nunavut communities could be strengthened by identifying barriers to economic development and coming up with solutions to bring down these barriers.
NAM is a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and serves the interests of 25 municipalities of Nunavut, 24 of which are not tax-based communities.
Nunavut's population is 34,000, and approximately 85% are Inuit. People of Nunavut refer to themselves as Nunavummiut, the people of Nunavut. Nunavut's footprint makes up one-fifth of Canada's land mass, and the mining industry rates it 10th among the 64 most resource-rich regions in the world.
Today, NAM and its members are prepared to participate proactively with the rest of Canada in attaining the government's vision of prosperity. NAM has proposed a strategic sustainable development plan for community governments, which they have endorsed and have directed us to proceed with.
To proceed, however, we need some key decisions by the federal government that recognize the unique challenges facing the communities of Nunavut.
In NAM's submission to the Expert Panel on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing, we pointed out that the expenditure needs gap in the territorial formula financing is not just a measure in accounting ledgers; it can also be measured in inadequate housing, poor health, low education, and inadequate infrastructure.
The expert panel's report cited many examples of how Nunavut is even more challenged by conditions associated with poverty than are its sister territories and that an adjustment to the TFF is not sufficient to address gaps in programs, services, and infrastructure in Nunavut.
It concluded that:
Without urgent concerted action to improve housing, health, education, and quality of life for people living in Nunavut, particularly Inuit people, there is little hope that things will change for the better. The Panel urges the Government of Nunavut, the Government of Canada, Inuit leaders, and a wide range of organizations, groups and agencies to come together to address these issues before the situation gets even worse.
While Nunavut is resource-rich, its people and communities will not receive significant benefits from their resource wealth under the current federal fiscal regime. All the public resource revenues from the Northwest Territories' and Nunavut's resources flow directly to the federal government.
Canada's public accounts show that during the last five years the federal government took $830 million in resource wealth out of the north, over and above federal taxes. In 2004 and 2005 alone, it took half a billion dollars.
The expert panel spoke to this issue as well, saying:
The potential for resource developments in the territories is perhaps the best opportunity they have to achieve their dreams of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Provinces with rich natural resources are able to benefit from those resources. The same principle of net fiscal benefit should apply to the territories.
Nunavut cannot afford to let its resources be taken without fair compensation. Moreover, it is NAM's position that the communities of Nunavut need a direct and fair share of revenues. International development agencies refer to a common phenomenon called the “resource curse”. It is the paradox that natural resources can generate enormous wealth, yet communities in resource-rich regions have poor economic growth; inadequate investment in health, education, and sanitation; and poor social conditions.
The resource curse is integral to northern resource development history. Profits go to outside investors, business goes to outside service and suppliers, wages go to outside labour, public revenues go to central governments, and the vast majority of local people are barred from participation by poor education, poor infrastructure, and inadequate services.
Interestingly, one group that recognizes the curse and is proposing means to eliminate it is within the mining industry. The International Council on Mining and Metals, of which the Mining Association of Canada is a member, has taken an initiative on sustainable community development in mining regions. Its chair, who is also the chief executive officer of Newmont Mining, recently said that “central governments have failed to use tax revenues from mining companies effectively to fund basic public services and empower local governments”.
The need to strengthen local governance in mining underlines the importance of a partnership approach. The local agencies are the best means of improving the services and facilities available to affected communities, but they cannot be expected suddenly to have the capacity to plan and implement large community development programs. Host national governments must take the lead in supporting these bodies and be assisted by international donor organizations and companies. The companies can also help by planning their own projects, infrastructure, and social investment as part of the regional development plan. This can raise the chances that prosperity will flow to the whole region and also avoid a cycle of local dependency on the companies' social programs.
Some will say that Nunavut receives more in transfer payments than the federal government receives in resource revenues. It is true that the transfer payments are very large, but it is also true that despite the federal government's 40-year mandate for economic development in the north, there is not a developed economy in Nunavut. Resources and the resource wealth have both left Nunavut, leaving a depleted resource base and no public or private wealth to invest in a diversified, sustainable economy.
What the federal government transfers do provide, instead of a sustainable economy, is a standard of dependency and poverty for many and funds to employ others to provide the poor and themselves with public services.
In conclusion, NAM and its community members are prepared to participate proactively with the rest of Canada in obtaining a vision of prosperity, but the communities in Nunavut need federal financial support to reach the first rung on the ladder to prosperity. To that end, we need informed decisions on the next budget that address the critical service and facility gaps in Nunavut communities; fairly share Nunavut's resource revenues with Nunavut through its territorial and local governments; and provide financial support for ongoing community economic development plans and implementation leading to sustainable Nunavut communities.
Qujannamiik.
I'm short-winded, but as I stated, I tried to shorten it with another one-pager. Once again, thank you for allowing me to come this morning.
:
Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everybody.
Unfortunately, the minister, the Honourable Peter Taptuna, is not available. He ran into weather problems on his trip here from Yellowknife yesterday, so he hasn't arrived. Unfortunately, we didn't find that out until about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, so we have not had time to change the speech or have it retranslated. With your permission, I'll read his speech.
On behalf of the Government of Nunavut, welcome to our land and to our capital city. We're honoured by your presence here, and because you have chosen to come here, to listen and to learn, you've earned our respect and high regard. I know your time here with us, though brief, will be illuminating and will bring you new perspectives, not only on who we are here in Nunavut, about our dreams and our hopes for the future, but on who you are, as our fellow Canadians.
Today you're in one of the most exciting and dynamic parts of the country. You're in a place where the future of this country will be defined. It may feel to you that you've travelled a long way and that you're far from home, but I want to say to you that here in Nunavut you are at home. You're in a place where your future will be determined, just as it will be determined for those of us for whom this land is the home of our ancestors, and as it will be for our children and our children's children.
This is my basic message to you today. If Canadians are to fulfill their northern destiny, then Canadians must ensure that it is possible for Nunavummiut—those of us who make this part of Canada our home—to maintain a high and sustainable quality of life. If we cannot achieve this, I'm concerned not only for the future of Nunavut but for the future of this country.
I'm proud to say that Kugluktuk, the community on the Arctic Ocean on the far west of Nunavut, where I live, is where my children live, as do their children, but I fear this situation will have to change because the cost of living in our community is too high and the ability of my grandchildren to live as other Canadians do is becoming increasingly difficult. So they will make a choice between a poorer standard of living in their community here in Nunavut and a higher standard of living they can have by moving to southern Canada. When young people leave, it puts our communities at risk. This is not good for Nunavut, and it's at a time when climate change, northern sovereignty, and national security are issues for all Canadians. This is not good for Canada.
It is our people, and in particular our dynamic young people, who represent Canada's strongest claim to sovereignty in the Arctic. They cannot leave. They must be able to find a livelihood here.
So what is it that Canada can do? There's not enough time allowed to us this morning to provide even a list of what needs to be done. Let me sum it up in this way. For more than 140 years, Ottawa has built Canada from east to west. Now Ottawa must build north. It is the destiny of all Canadians to take full possession of all this land has to offer, but the old models of development will not work. This land is vast, but it's not empty. You have partners here, fellow Canadians who have shared this land for thousands of years. When we created Nunavut just 10 years ago, Inuit made a clear statement that we are ready to take responsibility for the development of the north on behalf of all Canadians. We know that if we can create here a high and sustainable quality of life for ourselves, this is also the key to securing a high and sustainable quality of life for all Canadians, whether they live in the east, the west, or the north.
How, then, should development proceed, and what is the federal government role to be? First, the old pattern of excluding Inuit from decisions that impact on our well-being and our way of life must end forever. Ottawa must come to the negotiating table and devolve control of this land and its resources to the Canadians who live here, as has been done in every province.
If you withhold this from us and continue to try to control development in the north from Ottawa, our people cannot fulfill our historic role as stewards of the land and its resources. Our purpose here is jeopardized and our ability to stand and build the Canadian north is cut off at the knees. In time, my grandchildren may lose patience and leave.
Second, we need the tools for development that all Canadians have had. I will mention two of them.
Earlier this year I visited Labrador and saw three of the excellent marine facilities in a province where there are 370 ports and small craft harbours. In Nunavut, as you see here in Iqaluit, there are none.
The federal government's commitment to the construction of a small craft harbour in Pangnirtung is a very welcome investment, but this is just one in a land where all 25 communities depend on access to the sea and its resources, and for whom marine supply is the most cost-effective link to the rest of Canada. The absence here of not only marine facilities but of adequate federal investments in roads, airports, and other basic economic infrastructure--investments that have been made in every other region of Canada--slows the growth of our economy and makes life here for some prohibitively expensive.
The other tool for development I want to highlight is education. We must improve the education outcome for our children. For this to happen, as Thomas Berger pointed out four years ago, we need a strong partnership in Ottawa.
I'm only 53 years old, but I'm able to draw on the education I received on the land where my family lived and hunted year-round until I was nine years old. Forty years ago, Inuit were moved by the Government of Canada into permanent settlements, and our vital connection to the land and the way of life that was learned on the land was forever compromised. Now, to move ahead, our children need an education system that is equal to what is available elsewhere in the country, and it must be delivered in the context provided by Inuit language and culture. We can all see the École des Trois-Soleils here in Iqaluit. We know the federal government can be an effective partner in education development.
Devolution, infrastructure development, and education: all Canadians must be partners in these vital endeavours here in Nunavut. The future of this country depends on it.
Thank you for listening. I hope your time here brings you a greater understanding of our common future.
My name is Simeonie Akpalialuk. I'm from the hamlet of Pangnirtung, representing the municipality. I've been involved in business in different capacities for well over 20 years—from fisheries, to tourism, to small business, and for the last eight years as an economic development officer.
I've seen many people come and go, many programs developed and changed. The names change, but the barriers stay the same. Number one is the lack of infrastructure for businesses in the communities. We just don't have buildings, and the economic development programs that exist don't cover capital costs for starting up a business. Most people don't have the equity to buy a building and develop a business from there. That has been the number one barrier in my community—having no buildings to work out of.
Second, we don't have a lot of education and training. One of the things any business needs to endure and survive and succeed is training, especially in accounting and bookkeeping. That's where we're lacking in these communities. Even if people have the skills, they don't usually have the time to run the business and do the books themselves.
Third, one of the biggest deterrents has been energy costs. When we looked at our community as a whole, we saw that energy costs take up 30% to 40% of the total cost of running any building or business. That's way too high with the programs we have. We're hoping to see alternative energy programs developed in the north, especially in my community where we have high tides. We also have strong winds and a lot of daylight for solar panel energy.
These are the areas that we would like to see developed for the north. Right now we know it's way too costly to pursue these areas, as they haven't been developed in the north yet.
Another concern of ours is public housing policy. Most Inuit are in public housing, and they aren't allowed to run a business out of public housing. So that's another barrier. Along with this, the rents here in Nunavut have been a real deterrent to businesses. Once they start making more money, their rents go up; they skyrocket. You pay a minimal amount of rent while you're on welfare, but if you start a business or become employed, your rent goes right up to over $1,000 a month. So that's a real deterrent.
Another problem is the lack of recognition of the traditional economy in the business development programs. The support for local fishermen is either very restricted or altogether lacking. We don't have programs for hunters, other than a lottery that's given out by Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. Anybody can go into that, and it's not necessarily hunters who access the hunter support program. And we don't have any support for harvesters or gatherers who gather things like plants, berries, clams, and sea crustaceans. We haven't seen any programs in this area, because it hasn't been recognized as a legitimate part of the economy.
Lastly, one of the things that we've really been seeing is that the policies, regulations, and law surrounding business are designed for the south. They are not designed for the north at all. We import these regulations from the south and they don't fit the economy here in the north. For example, we can't harvest seafood without inspection agencies, which are very expensive to run and we don't have the capacity up here. Nor is there continuity in files that we deal with in different agencies here in the north. Whenever there's a turnover, the file gets lost. For the people in the communities who work with different agencies, right across the board, whenever there's a turnover we have to start from the beginning again with the new person because there is no sharing of these files. That has been a real deterrent in terms of trying to progress, because every year we have to do the same thing over and over.
In this area the biggest culprit has been the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, where every time there's a turnover we just don't see any continuity in developing fisheries in that area. We've had a lot of difficulties dealing with them. Most unilingual people don't understand business concepts or the regulations. So a lot of times we spend quite a bit of time with unilingual clients, teaching them what business is and what the regulations are, when we should be concentrating more on developing new businesses and the economy.
As we look at Pangnirtung, we've only been in this community for 40 years. It's taken the rest of Canada 400 years to go from being a hunter-gatherer society to the space age technology they have today, whereas it's only taken us 40 years. So we have a long way to go to reteach a lot of local people about business and the concepts of business.
We've had a lot of studies over the last 30 years, especially in Pangnirtung, around tourism and fisheries, but it's always studies and no action. From this point on, what we would like to see is all the studies that have been done over the last 30 years put together, instead of sitting on a shelf somewhere in a university or a government agency, and put to use. The information is out there; it's just not gathered and put together.
Qujannamiik.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First I'd like to extend regrets from our president, Monica Ell. She wishes she could be here in person today; unfortunately, you're stuck with me.
I'll introduce myself. My name is Mark Morrissey, and I am vice-president of the Nunavut Economic Forum. This morning I will begin with a very short introduction of what the forum is and the role it plays in economic development here in Nunavut.
The Economic Forum, or NEF, as it's referred to, is a broad group of member organizations developed to identify and share information on economic development activity in Nunavut. Members of the NEF include community organizations, non-profit and non-government associations, members of the private sector, Inuit associations, and all levels of government. These individuals and groups all have one thing in common: a desire to see Nunavut build a solid foundation for economic development and growth.
The primary focus of the NEF is to bring members together to collaborate on the implementation of the Nunavut economic development strategy, or NEDS, to support research and data collection related to the economy of Nunavut and to report regularly on progress being made. Accordingly, the NEF produces a number of publications and discussion papers, which are circulated among members and economic stakeholders. Among these is the Nunavut Economic Outlook, a biennial report that provides informed analysis on social and economic issues and constructs a comprehensive forecast of the whole economy.
Unfortunately we don't have translated copies of the 2008 Nunavut Economic Outlook, along with the strategy, so I'm not able to provide it to you. But if you are looking for any of these documents, you can find them on our website, www.nunavuteconomicforum.ca. The website you have listed in your briefing notes is incorrect. I will add a caveat to the 2008 outlook, however. It was published in December 2008, just prior to the global recession, and some of the projections may be a little dated. It is a useful document, though, to illustrate the economic potential that exists in the territory.
The NEF, through its broad membership and mandate, is uniquely positioned as an organization to see the challenges that are apparent in many economic sectors in the territory. Many of these have already been identified in the strategy, and I will list a few here. They include these but are by no means limited to them.
The first is rapid population growth. Nunavut has one of the youngest populations in Canada, and I would encourage you to look at the population graph and compare Canada and Nunavut. There's a very stark contrast. The youth in this territory, defined as those under the age of 25, are part of the consumer society in Canada and have high expectations in terms of employment and quality of life. While many regions in Canada would see a young population as an opportunity, it provides a challenge in Nunavut as these individuals make up a significant portion of the unemployed. If more employment and better education cannot be provided to this demographic, they will prove to be a significant economic drain.
Rate of government spending is also a barrier. Government growth is currently driving the Nunavut economy. Government activities provide employment and training opportunities, but government spending cannot be counted on indefinitely. During periods of economic hardship and deficit spending, such as those being encountered now, cutbacks to programs and activities are inevitable. Efforts must be taken to ensure private sector activities are able to provide greater contributions to economic growth. However, it is important to note that until a stable local economy can be established in Nunavut, government cutbacks should not be made to northern programming, as the effect that would have would be multiplied.
There is a lack of understanding of the north, which we've already heard from several speakers. Currently in Nunavut, organizations and businesses can access a number of federal programs from various departments, which can be used to support economic activities and in many cases stimulate growth at the local level. However, these programs are often not designed to incorporate the realities of operating in the north, and those individuals tasked with managing them are not familiar with the territory and the challenges we face here. For example, many federal departments do not offer multi-year contribution agreements and often impose unrealistic reporting requirements, which impacts on what an organization can do with available funding. For example, new year funding is often withheld pending submission of activity reports and, in many cases, audited financial statements.
Realistically, at least here in Nunavut, many organizations are not able to provide audited statements until September. That being the case, organizations that are intending to use funding to purchase equipment and supplies have already missed the cutoff dates for sealift and are now forced to fly in goods at a much higher cost.
Some federal departments have programs available to organizations in the territory but have no staff in place to promote them or administer them. I hate to pick on a particular department, but a good example would be Industry Canada. Until very recently, Industry Canada had no staff here in the territory, despite having a number of programs available. Their programs are, to a large extent, virtually unknown to organizations here and are highly underutilized.
Funding is also allocated on per capita calculations, not realistic assessments of the costs of doing business. Another example, and I will pick on a department, is Foreign Affairs' ICCI funding--the Invest Canada Community Initiatives program. This program currently has only $26,660 allocated to Nunavut and the Northwest Territories combined, despite these regions having the highest cost of living and doing business in the entire country. Southern Ontario, by comparison, has over $1 million allocated to that region alone. I think there's a bit of a disparity there.
Regarding lack of capacity, it's no secret that Nunavut lags behind the rest of Canada when it comes to ability of the region to develop and implement successful economic activities. The human resources and infrastructure often do not exist to initiate and sustain growth. Efforts are currently under way to establish and improve existing capabilities of communities in terms of the physical infrastructure. However, these efforts will be futile if the knowledge and training does not exist to achieve the full potential of these improvements. This ranks as probably the most serious barrier to economic growth in Nunavut today.
What can we do to remove some of these barriers? To begin with, the lack of capacity, both in terms of human resources and infrastructure, needs to be addressed. Pushing programs designed to stimulate growth in an unprepared region is an exercise in futility, and ultimately doomed to fail. The focus must be on building capacity at the local level. Preparing the community for employment opportunities and ensuring the adequate infrastructure is available will provide a solid foundation on which growth can be built and sustained.
Priorities should be placed on economic development initiatives that incorporate an integrated approach. A successful example of this would be the housing trust, whereby the federal government has provided funding to build much needed housing in the territory, while at the same time providing local tradespeople with the hours they need to complete their apprenticeships. Both the infrastructure and skilled labour force are developed in unison and will remain in the community as a foundation for growth.
A second solution, which also addresses capacity issues, would be to focus on community economic development, or CED, rather than solely on business development. Community economic development is a bottom-up approach to development and involves the full participation and control by local community members. It recognizes that economic growth can be maintained only when people's basic needs are addressed. As such, municipal governments must receive strong regional and federal support if they are to properly develop and implement a CED agenda. This is achieved through federal organizations working in tandem with territorial and Inuit partners to develop flexible programming that can be tailored to meet the needs of communities. Collaboration between departments and various levels of government is critical.
Ongoing and sustained investments must have realistic expectations of results and be long term in nature. Currently most federal programs force communities to work within short-term fiscal cycles that limit the potential of CED. CED is a process that produces solutions over a period of years, not quarterly.
A third solution is to put key staff and decision-making authorities closer to the end users of available programs. This will ensure that information flows freely between administrators and communities and organizations, eliminating misconceptions and fostering a better understanding of the realities of operating in Nunavut. This was the position of the economic forum when asked to provide input on the creation of the new northern regional development agency. The forum strongly advocated that the headquarters be located here in Iqaluit and managed by a deputy minister capable of making decisions without having to obtain approval from department officials in Ottawa. We are pleased to see the federal government agreed with our position when announcing the creation of CanNor.
The NEF is also pleased to work with CanNor in reviewing and implementing the investment plan for the second round of SINED funding, which many of you will remember the NEF advocated strongly for renewal of. The forum also plays a key role in connecting members with the agency, bringing decision-making closer to the community level. We look forward to continuing our work with CanNor as the organization continues to grow and establish itself in Nunavut. This collaborative approach to delivering programs is successful and should be used to model future activities.
In conclusion, there are no simple solutions to address the many barriers to growth in Nunavut. Collaborative efforts between the federal government and industry stakeholders are fundamental to ensuring that sustained investments in economic growth produce long-term results. As a means to facilitate this cooperation and ensure everyone is working together to achieve a common objective, I would suggest that organizations and agencies, federal and territorial, obtain a copy of the strategy--which again is available on the website--and study its content. This document provides readers with a road map for development in Nunavut.
Thank you.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning to each of you and thank you very much for your presentations.
Mr. Taptuna was quite strong in some of his statements, and they're well appreciated, at least by me and I'm sure by some of my other colleagues, when he says:
Ottawa must come to the negotiating table and devolve control of this land and its resources to the Canadians who live here, as has been done in every province.
If you withhold this from us and continue to try to control development in the north from Ottawa, our people cannot fulfill our historic role as stewards of the land and its resources.
That's a pretty powerful statement, and I see it echoed in a lot of what the other presenters have said. Mayor Elisapee talked about the need for a share of revenue resources. We talk about policies that doesn't make sense because they're developed in the south. Mr. Morrissey's presentation was much along the same lines.
And here we are. I'm from Labrador, so I'm sort of semi-north, but a lot of us are from the south. I heard Mr. Simeonie say that you don't want another study, and here we are doing another study. I think we have to be very careful, as a committee, not to repeat some of the mistakes or fall into some of the same traps that maybe others have in the past.
I'll get to my primary question around devolution. How high a priority is this for each of you? What opportunities do you see in the process of devolution, and where is it, from your perspective? We hear about it. We understand there were some negotiations. Depending on who you talk to, they may be fast, they may be slow, they may be halted all together.
We just throw out that question to each of you. What is devolution? If you have devolution, does it uphold what Mr. Taptuna and the rest of you have said, that you can then make policy that makes sense for the people who live here? Will you get a share of the revenue resources and be able to invest the way you want to invest, maybe uphold the traditional industries more than they've been upheld? I'll just ask each of you that question.
:
Thank you, Mr. Russell. It's a very good question.
At this point, the discussions on devolution have just begun. We would like to be a “have” territory rather than a “have not” territory. Currently our government operates on $1 billion of transfer payments a year. We are at the beginning of a new age in the mining industry. A couple of years ago, our last operating mine shut down, and at this point, we have many opportunities in the mining developments that are under way. These range from a gold mine, which is currently under construction and will be in production within a year or so, to a promise in diamonds. They're a rather secretive bunch, but many people are searching, and the Peregrine property, which is between here and Pangnirtung, seems very promising.
In terms of base metals, we range from the Bathurst Inlet area, with many very well-established properties... The biggest issue there is transportation, getting that ore from the ground onto a boat and into the world markets. That is going to require a considerable amount of money. We also have a mountain of iron ore on North Baffin, which we're hoping will come into production within the next four or five years. We roll all of that together and think about the taxes and royalties that can come from that level of productivity, especially in the mining industry. We will then become a serious contributor to the Canadian economy, and our “have not” status will flip over onto the positive side.
In terms of devolution, of course, the first point is control over those resources so that the royalties and taxes come to us, and then we're able to run our own affairs, rather than being dependent on federal funding.
I'd like to thank the witnesses for coming in this morning.
I remember coming up here last year with the Indian affairs committee and touring around the communities of Pangnirtung and Iqaluit.
We're looking at economic development on this committee, specifically, here today and trying to get testimony on what would be beneficial for the territories. We've travelled to the Yukon, we've been to the Northwest Territories, and now we're here in your territory as well.
What can you recommend to this committee that would help in terms of economic development, such as the training of the Inuit for jobs?
I understand there's a project taking place, the first harbour. How is the territory looking at creating, first of all, sustained employment? How is it looking at training the Inuit? What percentage are we looking at in terms of participants from the Inuit communities to work there? Also, just in regard to trade development, what types of courses are we looking at for the training of tradespeople? This would be very beneficial in terms of future recommendations and possibly for future grants. This is what we're looking for, ideas, so that we can provide that.
I'm hoping Mr. Long can answer that question.
Also, in regard to the first harbour, what is the total expenditure going to be? What types of long-term forecasts are there, or what type of economic development or even future money is expected to come in?
We're resuming our second panel for the day in our consideration of the barriers and solutions regarding economic development of Canada's north, specifically the three territories.
For the benefit of our witnesses, Iqaluit is the third of our three stops in each of the territorial capitals. We are here to discuss specifics around the barriers and solutions related to northern economic development.
Members, we're delighted to have with us today Mr. Glenn Cousins. Glenn represents the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and he is in the section on business development and training.
We'd also like to welcome Mr. Paul Kaludjak. Mr. Kaludjak is the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
Welcome to our panel.
As members are already aware, I understand we have interpretation available in Inuktitut. We have an interpreter with us, and we'll follow the proceedings.
We'll begin with Mr. Kaludjak. Customarily we have five minutes, but you can stretch that out somewhat if you wish.
In fact we only have two presenters here today, so unless members disagree, I think we will allow 10 minutes for each of the presentations.
To our witnesses, for the purposes of interpretation, take a pace that is comfortable. If it runs a little too quickly, we'll be happy to step in and remind you.
Anyway, let's proceed with Mr. Kaludjak for 10 minutes.
Since you're in Iqaluit, you must take back something of the language. “Uplaakut” means good morning. Are you able to say uplaakut? So when you go back to Ottawa, you can say to the Prime Minister, uplaakut. But don't say it at night; it's “good morning”.
[Witness continues in Inuktitut with interpretation]
Good morning. My name is Paul Kaludjak, and I am president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to meet you again. I recall appearing before you in Ottawa last May as co-chair of the Land Claims Agreement Coalition.
NTI is the organization that represents all Nunavut Inuit. It is our responsibility to make sure that the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is wholly implemented.
[Witness continues in Inuktitut]
[Witness continues in English]
I'm pleased to welcome you to Nunavut. We ordered this grand, mild weather for you so that you won't freeze your hands or anything like that, because we still need you in Ottawa.
As you know, I wrote the chair of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development. I understand the committee is doing a study on the federal contribution to reducing poverty in Canada. It's an important topic, and I'm pleased to see that the committee is prepared to report on this subject. But to date, this same committee has no plans to visit Nunavut; hopefully, with your visit here, you can relay this information to that committee.
We know the meaning of poverty in Nunavut. About half of the householders rely on income support programs. In about 56% of Inuit households, there is at least one person who does not have enough to eat or has concerns that they do not. We have an infant mortality rate that is three times the national average and a suicide rate amongst our young men that is about 50 times the national average. The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development has travelled across the country and visited Whitehorse and Yellowknife, I understand. I would like to ask you all, when you go back to Ottawa, to speak to the members of that committee, and I would ask you to suggest that it is necessary for them to visit Nunavut and hear about our circumstances. It is astonishing that it is now that they decide not to visit. Hopefully this can be corrected, so they can get the real story in Nunavut.
I understand you are studying obstacles to northern economic development, and solutions. In the last year, we have seen the international economy receive its worst shakeup since the 1930s. Unfortunately, governments have not learned not to repeat the economic management mistakes of the last century.
There are many indicators that a recovery is under way. The full recovery has not yet occurred. The national unemployment rates are as high as they have ever been in about 25 years.
Government stimulus spending has been important in dealing with the recession. I'm concerned, however, that the need to deal with the deficit will eventually lead to cutbacks, which may come at a high price for Nunavut.
Overcrowding in Nunavut is a major concern. In 2004, NTI and Nunavut Housing Corporation developed a 10-year Inuit housing action plan. This identified the need for the renovation and the modernization of 1,000 existing units, the construction of 3,000 units, just to bring the level of overcrowding up to the national average, and the construction of a further 2,730 units to match the population growth at that time.
The Government of Nunavut housing budget at the time was leading to the construction of about 50 units per year. The Nunavut housing crisis has a long history and is beyond the fiscal capacity of the Nunavut government to deal with currently. It was reaching alarming proportions. It was timely in 2006 that the Government of Canada allocated an additional $200 million for Nunavut housing over three years. In 2009 a further $100 million was added for two more years—that is, to 2011. This spending is in an area where it is vitally required, and its continuation is required even as the government attempts to reduce the deficit.
Overcrowded housing is a barrier to economic development. Housing affects social conditions, health, and educational performance. It was back in 1993 that NTI and the Government of Canada signed the land claims agreement. This was important in establishing some of the foundations in which development could occur. Clear land title was established, removing the previous uncertainty, and a clear regulatory process was also established through that process.
We have heard concerns about the regulatory process in other jurisdictions, and this was the subject of a major report by Neil McCrank last year. McCrank did not find major problems in Nunavut's regulatory system. NTI endorsed all his recommendations with respect to Nunavut. Our land claims agreement has provided capital to Nunavut Trust. The earnings are what we use to support NTI and the regional organizations that you will hear from later on. Questions have been asked as well. This is how the trust has performed since the recession began last September: early in 2008 the trust market value was estimated at $1.2 billion; by early October of this year it was slightly above $1.1 billion, a decline of 8% to 9%. No decline is good news, but in the overall world market it could have been much worse.
Funding from the trust has been used to build the Inuit business sector. The Atuqtuarvik Corporation, for example, has been established as a loan and equity company with funding up to $70 million to support Inuit businesses. To the best of my knowledge, there has been only one loan made by the Atuqtuarvik Corporation that is not collectable. Also Atuqtuarvik has shares in the First Nations Bank, which will open its first Nunavut branch in the immediate future.
There has been joint investment between the Inuit of Nunavut and the Inuvialuit of the NWT. In particular, the airline Canadian North is jointly owned. Canadian North has been built by beneficiaries, but we are now facing competition from the southern air companies, such as Air Canada.
Our airline has invested in infrastructure and has provided roots to smaller communities. By contrast, it appears the major southern airlines are mainly interested in competing on some prime routes like Ottawa, Iqaluit, Edmonton, Yellowknife, or Calgary to Yellowknife. Competition is viewed as economically healthy, but subsidized competition is grossly unfair. We understand that Air Canada, a private company, may receive up to $300 million from the Canada account, which is managed by Export Development Canada. The Government of Canada will carry the risk on this loan. It is not export-oriented, and the northern airlines will face some of the competition.
One of the areas where the government has not met its obligations is article 24 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Article 24 deals with government contracting and requires the Government of Canada to develop procurement policies for all its contracting activities in Nunavut. These policies are required to be developed in close consultation with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., NTI.
The Government of Nunavut has met this obligation, and NTI has developed an NNI policy jointly with the Nunavut government. NNI means Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti, supporting the Nunavut new business sector. Under it, bid preferences are given to Inuit, Nunavut, and local firms. If an Inuit firm meets all applicable criteria, it will receive a bid advantage up to 21%. With the federal government, the only agreement we have in the contracting area is with the Department of National Defence for the cleanup of DEW line sites.
This agreement: minimum Inuit employment and contracting content requirements are mandatory. Usually around 70% in most cases has been achieved constantly. It is regrettable that the National Defence agreement is not seen as a model to be followed. For the rest of federal government, bid references like NNI are out and mandatory requirements like those the National Defence has established are out. This remains an unfulfilled article of the agreement.
I would like, however, to mention one area of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement where we made progress. Article 15.3.7 of our land claims agreement recognizes the principle of adjacency, allocating fishing licences to waters adjacent to Nunavut. Fully applied, Nunavut fishers would harvest 80% to 90% of the fish in adjacent waters, but up to now, in the area of OB, only 26% of turbot are taken by Nunavut fishers.
For many years we tried to persuade the fisheries minister of the need to implement the adjacency principle. A big opportunity came in June of this year, when the Scientific Council of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization recommended an increase to the turbot catch from Davis Strait to be split between Greenland and Canada. NTI, the Government of Nunavut, and other Nunavut interests met with Minister Shea, who announced on November 9 that 90% of the Canadian portion of the increase would be allocated to Nunavut. This involves about 1,500 tonnes of fish, and an important step for us, which we are pleased to acknowledge.
We look forward to further steps to enhance Nunavut's role in the fishing industry.
As you requested, Mr. Chairman, I would like to conclude by offering a few summary remarks.
Government is a major employer in Nunavut, and government spending is far more important here than in southern Canada. Housing expenditures are important to the economy, but also to health, social conditions, and educational achievements. The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement established the framework for the development of the territory. Our economic institutions are performing well, but facing challenges, including competition that receives financial support from the federal government. The contracting provisions of article 24 in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement need to be fully implemented.
The recent federal turbot allocation follows the principle of adjacency under article 15 of our Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. We look forward to building on this important step. A comprehensive approach is needed to Nunavut's development. We require infrastructure, as you have seen, institutional development, financial investment, human resources development, and full implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
With a comprehensive approach, Nunavut will develop and we'll shift from dependency to realization of our potential.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for listening to me this morning.
:
Good morning, and thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the committee for taking some time to visit Nunavut and listen to what we have to say today.
Just for clarification, I was asked to participate as a representative of the regional Inuit association, specifically the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and I'm here to do so, but primarily as a representative of their non-profit economic development organizations, which include the Kakivak Association, Kivalliq Partners in Development, the Kitikmeot Economic Development Commission, and Nunavut CEDO.
My position is with the Kakivak Association. I'm the manager of business services there and also the manager of the Nunavut CEDO.
While there are a number of topics to discuss in relation to the theme of barriers and solutions, and certainly there are reams of documentation on these topics for Nunavut, I'll focus my comments today on the aboriginal economic development programs, the delivery of those programs in Nunavut and in the rest of Inuit Nunaat, and the federal framework for aboriginal economic development.
As I'm sure you're all aware, in 2008 the federal government initiated the federal framework for aboriginal economic development process. The framework is intended to provide strategic direction and an integrated whole-of-government approach for aboriginal economic development. The Inuit community economic development organizations, or Inuit CEDOs, have been fully engaged in this process.
In Nunavut there are four Inuit CEDOs and they have joined with the Inuit CEDOs in the other three Inuit land claims regions to help establish the National Economic Development Committee for Inuit Nunaat, known as NEDCIN. This committee has also been established in partnership with INAC and other national Inuit organizations.
In Nunavut the CEDOs are integrated into the structure of the Nunavut land claims organization and provide regional service delivery for programs that support training on education, child care, youth and disabled persons, and for small and micro-business start-up and expansion. This is made possible through the aggregation of third-party delivery for HRSDC and INAC programs and funds made available through the land claims structure. So in fact, in practice, the Inuit CEDOs are achieving what the framework intends, to provide an integrated approach for economic development. So I guess from that perspective we are ahead of the game.
This approach ensures integration with land claims structures and effective use of resources, and it provides a comprehensive approach to planning and program design to benefit all communities served as opposed to an approach to planning that focuses only on a single community. This approach provides a critical mass or organizational capacity required to be effective in planning and promoting development activities, including qualified staff and professional support to clients.
The CEDOs are strategically positioned to be effective partners with other development agencies that operate at the regional level, and this in the past has been put in practice with our relationship with the economic development folks at the INAC regional office here in Nunavut. And we are seeing that now carried over into the establishment of the CanNor agency.
Through the framework process we have come to believe that the AFI, or aboriginal financial institution, model is favoured over the CEDO model, primarily because of the way the organizations function in the first nations context. This is a concern for the Inuit CEDOs in all of the Inuit land claims regions and is not reflective of the structures established for economic development within the land claims regions.
In the past, the community economic development program, CEDP, and the community support services program, CSSP, was delivered in Nunavut by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada with the advice and recommendation of the Nunavut Regional Program Management Advisory Committee, the NRPMAC. These programs are now delivered by CanNor, and we are establishing a good working relationship with CanNor and look forward to seeing this agency reach its full potential. The way these programs are used in Nunavut is to provide base funding and support funding for the Inuit CEDOs' operations and capacity development, thereby facilitating this integration-of-program-delivery approach.
Currently these programs are being considered for renovation as part of the framework process. This development represents both concerns and opportunities or barriers and solutions.
In the short term it represents a potential barrier, as these programs are currently due to expire at the end of this fiscal year. The framework and its outcomes are not expected to be concluded until well into the next fiscal year, so we anticipate or perceive that there may be a gap. It is therefore clear that an extension of the existing programs is required until the framework process and program renovation are completed; otherwise, the CEDOs will lose their institutional capacity, which will jeopardize their ability to deliver the various programs.
In the longer term, there's a need for programs such as CEDP and CSSP, or their successor programs, to be designed to effectively support the Inuit CEDOs. This represents an opportunity or a solution. From an Inuit CEDO perspective, the priority for the federal framework should be to build upon the existing regional Inuit organizational capacity to fill gaps where they exist, provide consistent program arrangements, and explore innovative approaches to meeting priority developmental needs.
The position paper prepared by the National Economic Development Committee for Inuit Nunaat includes the following key points regarding the framework: the need to consider Inuit Nunaat as one region from a federal aboriginal economic development policy perspective; the need to develop an economic development vision for Inuit Nunaat; the need for sufficient flexibility in the federal framework to allow for the implementation of program arrangements in accordance with provisions contained within the various Inuit land claim settlement agreements; the need for co-management in the area of federal AED policy and program management to reflect both the spirit and intent of the land claim settlement agreements, as well as to respect the specific obligations undertaken by the federal government; the need for the community economic development program to continue to support the development of the organizational capacity of the Inuit CEDOs; the concern that the federal framework, when it is eventually implemented, will not be clearly mandated to build upon existing Inuit and an Inuvialuit organizational capacity, as opposed to being directed to the creation of new or competing organizational program delivery structures, such as the AFIs; the concern from a program delivery point of view, which has been repeatedly and uniformly expressed by the regional Inuit organizations, that federal AED programs should be delivered through expanded external delivery arrangements with the regional Inuit associations, rather than attempt to replicate federal government departmental capacity at the regional level; the need for equitable access to programs for all regions within Inuit Nunaat; the need for equitable access to federal AED programs and services by Inuit beneficiaries living outside the settlement areas; the need for consistent, efficient, and cost-effective AED program funding arrangements between the federal government and the regional Inuit organizations responsible for delivering federal AED programs, which includes a need for multi-year flexible agreements; the need for developing jointly agreed and improved AED program tracking mechanisms and results indicators; the need for federal fiscal arrangements and AED program funding allocations that reflect the actual cost of living and doing business in Inuit Nunaat; the need to facilitate increased coordination between major project activity and CED programs and objectives; and the need for a regional approach to CED project priorities, funding allocations, and decision-making.
To sum up, the priority for the federal framework should be to build upon these initiatives and the existing regional Inuit organizational capacity to fill gaps where they exist, provide consistent program arrangements, and explore innovative approaches to meeting priority development needs through the Inuit land claims region. In part this involves the elimination of policy and program barriers that prevent these guiding principles from being full realized.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to any questions the committee may have.
Yes, very much. I'm so grateful that you were able to ask that question, because it's an unfair practice. I maintain that we do pretty good work in the Nunavut settlement area and with our Nunavut government. We're like a pretty good marriage, I suppose.
When it comes to the federal side, there's very little, if any, acknowledgment of article 24. When it comes to awarding contracts in Nunavut or otherwise, we try to maintain it. That's the rule of the land. The three parties agreed to the claim, and they signed it. They said that they were going to do whatever it took to obey the rules of the land.
When it comes to article 24, you're talking about food mail. You're talking about government contracts for buildings and things like that. We're constantly impacted by southern contractors. On many occasions, the local contractor loses out, because they failed to be recognized by the policy of the land claims agreement.
That's something we've been saying to the federal side. Look, we have the Nunavut land claims agreement, which tries to protect and develop Inuit-owned and local companies in Nunavut, and they're overlooked all the time. Nobody pays attention to that side. If you're going to do business in Nunavut, those guys have a 21% advantage over a contract review at any time in Nunavut if it pertains to Nunavut.
:
You won't need a translator. I can speak English and I will speak English for you. I'm actually fluently bilingual.
You've mentioned article 24 on a number of occasions. I get the impression that you still have a lot that you want to share with us. So I think a lot of my time I will give to you as a group to talk about this article 24.
I'd also be interested in hearing from Jeffrey, given that he's a fisheries adviser, as to some comments that haven't been made and things of importance that he says should be made.
There was mention with regard to gaps. Mr. Cousins, you mentioned the need for multi-year flexible agreements, a regional approach to priorities, and that there are gaps. I'm wondering if you could just expand on those gaps.
We talked about the infrastructure, and I did get a chance to go to a few of the areas yesterday. I went to a long-term-care facility and the seniors drop-in centre, and I also talked to the Nunavut Employees Union. My comments were that a lot of the places I had been at previously, a lot of the businesses, have a lot of white people working there as opposed to the Inuit people. I can understand where there may be some difficulties with some training and stuff.
So I would really like to hear from you with regard to article 24, the fisheries, and anything else you have to share that you think we, as a committee, should know.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
I just want to talk about this government's northern strategy paper that was released this past summer and focused on four pillars: arctic sovereignty, environmental heritage, social economic development, and improving and devolving northern governments. I'm going to focus on the fourth pillar and I'm going to direct most of my questions, I believe, to Mr. Cousins, because as we drill down on this fourth pillar, indeed, these considerations go to some important points you raised with respect to the 2008 framework, which involves HRSDC, INAC, and land claims. I would respectfully submit that it has as much to do with land use planning and management, as well, and I'm going to get your thoughts on that, Mr. Cousins.
In the context of a number of successes you highlighted, through the CEDOs that are operating in the region, can you talk to me a little bit more about how this idea of integrated economic development works here in the territories, in the context of the framework and Canada's northern strategy?
The reasons I'm asking these questions are twofold. First of all, I think it's fair to say we've heard some frustrations in some of the other territories about an inability to have all of these work together in the context of the different levels of government and some of the chambers of commerce, etc. Second of all, I understand and I want to highlight the importance of this for the record. You mentioned you felt as if you were on the right track with the fully integrated economic development model for the region. In my riding, in northwestern Ontario, we clearly understood, and moving forward most of our efforts are aimed at ensuring that more than 25 isolated first nations communities have full participation in the economic development strategies. That is not confined to the business aspects of this. It includes land use planning and management, and it draws on important traditions within the first nations communities, who have frames of reference going back thousands of years with respect to resource utilization.
So it sounds like a big question, but I want to focus on some of the positives you feel you have in the context of all these other things that impact business development and perhaps training.
:
I'll try to cover as much of that as I can. With regard to land use planning, I may have to defer on that.
As to the integrated approach or the regional approach we have to economic development, as I mentioned, we are able to bring in, through these Inuit CEDOs, the third-party delivery of HRSDC training and employment programs, youth and child care support programs, disability programs, and business support programs. We do have a one-stop shop and, for example, we might be able to take a client in the door and talk to that client and find ways we could support their initiatives, their projects, from more than one perspective at a time. We might be able to put together some combination of equity and debt financing for their business start-up and also go across the hallway and find some support in terms of some training dollars for the person's staff—that sort of thing. Right at the ground level, that's the kind of thing we can do, and that's what it boils down to.
In 2008-09, Kakivak Association, in the training and employment department, if I'm not mistaken, supported almost 700 participants through the delivery of third-party programming—close to $3 million. A lot of that is support to individuals—student financial assistance type programs—but also assistance to, say, Arctic College to purchase a program so it can be delivered through the Arctic College here in Iqaluit or at the community education centres, that sort of thing. The tentacles are out everywhere, I guess. There's close integration with the Department of Education, through the training and employment department. There's integration and a close working relationship with CanNor now, previously INAC, in terms of business development and also with Aboriginal Business Canada, because we also provide third-party delivery on that.
I'm not sure if that answers your question completely, but I think it's an example.
Good morning to each of you. It's good to see you again.
I want to concentrate on two primary areas. One is the fishing industry. I come from a coastal area, the coast of Labrador, and I know there are lots of partnerships and there is a lot of discussion and collaboration between the fishing interests in Nunavut and the fishing interests in Labrador—sometimes a little conflicting, but most of the time it's pretty cooperative. As you know, there's always a fight for quota when it comes out and everybody is going after that fish.
I'd like to get a sense of what your structure is like. When you say your fisheries are worth over $120 million and you get only 10% of it, that's not a very good return. I'm sure you want to do better than that. What's your vision for the development of the fisheries? I can only say, from a Labrador perspective on the coast, that even though we talk about mining sometimes, or in small part, forestry and tourism, without the fishery on the coast of Labrador I don't know where our communities would be.
Yes, part of it has been around the development of infrastructure such as small craft harbours and the supportive nature, and we're still looking for more to support the change in dynamics in the fishery. So I'd like to have a sense of that.
To Paul, in regard to devolution, when the land claim was originally signed and agreed to, was there a sense in the signatories' minds that something was going to change, 10 or 20 years down the road, that the territorial status might change? There could be a downloading of powers, more territorial powers, or even moving towards a provincial type of system. How does the land claim fit into that overall devolution process?
:
Thank you, Mr. Russell, for that very good question.
In terms of the fishing, you understand that we want to partner with the other regions, such as Makkovik and Nunatsiavut, with the fishing strategy that we have. We do now partner with them, but we want to expand that as well. Jeff can elaborate more on the strategy side.
If you go to the beach over here, what do you see? There's a bunch of rocks at the shore, there's a dock there with a hoist, and that's pretty much it. When we have to launch our boats, we're forced to put our trucks in the salt water. Vehicles are not immune to salt water, as you know, and they get ruined right away. I've seen guys put their trucks halfway in the water, with the doors in the water, trying to launch their boats that way because of the inadequate facilities. It's worse in the smaller communities. If we had proper infrastructure in the communities, the fishing industry would be a lot better. That's why we'd rake in, from that $120 million, a little more in volume in terms of return. That's why we've been crying foul all the way. The revenue we could make is greatly lost because of a lack of facilities, and Jeff can elaborate on that.
In terms of devolution, we did sign a protocol with Chuck Strahl back in September of last year, agreeing to negotiate devolution within our territory. It's a three-party arrangement. It's supposed to be with direction from the land claims agreement and it's with the Nunavut government, the federal government, and ourselves. It's a protocol arrangement that will negotiate devolution prospects in terms of resources and ownership. I think we call it autonomy; you have direct control over those resources and negotiate them accordingly. We do our part in terms of the crown lands jointly with Inuit-owned lands.
The devolution talks are about to begin. We currently have negotiators ready to go. I believe those with the Nunavut government will need to be identified. I know that on the federal side they have appointed someone already; I think it's Paul Mayer, but I could be wrong. They have identified somebody to talk specifically about or negotiate devolution. That's about to begin.
:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Bonjour, mesdames et messieurs.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and committee, for the invitation to appear before the committee.
Today I want to talk to you about the mining and exploration industry and the important role it can play in the economic development of Nunavut.
Nunavut has the right kind of geology to host major mineral deposits. However, it's a vast, remote territory with logistical and weather conditions that challenge even the most determined explorationist. As a result, Nunavut remains under-explored for minerals when compared with more accessible regions of Canada. Consequently, Nunavut offers great potential to make large-scale, elephant-size discoveries starting with grassroots exploration.
Three major mines, namely Nanisivik, Lupin, and Polaris, opened in what is now Nunavut between 1976 and 1982. These operations generated significant employment, training, and other economic benefits for local communities and the territory as a whole. All three of these mines are now closed.
The Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake, scheduled to commence production in the first quarter of 2010, is the first major mine to open in Nunavut since 1982. Already, the Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet, and the Kivalliq region in general are seeing significant benefits from this development.
In my opinion, mining has the greatest potential to produce significant economic development opportunities for the people of Nunavut in the near term. History tells us there are few other economic development options for Nunavut that could generate the economic and social benefits that responsible mineral development can bring.
Since 2005 my company, Peregrine, a junior diamond explorer, has managed a total of $30 million in exploration expenditures in Nunavut because of its great geologic potential. These expenditures have resulted in the discovery of two promising diamond districts: Chidliak, which is located about 120 kilometres northeast of here, and Nanuq, 250 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet. At Chidliak my company spent $9.2 million this year and in Nanuq, $1.5 million. A significant portion of that went to local goods and services and local employees.
Just for reference, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company and the operator of the Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories, is our partner at Chidliak.
While mineral development in Nunavut presents many challenges, there are four that I want to focus on this afternoon: land use planning, regulatory capacity, worker training, and geoscience funding.
Draft legislation for land use planning and impact assessment for Nunavut is expected to be introduced in the House of Commons soon. It's essential that this legislation recognize the irreplaceable role that mining can play in the responsible development of Nunavut's economy. The legislation should promote efficient and timely advancement of projects at all phases of the exploration and mining cycle. Industry should be recognized as a valuable partner in drafting and finalizing land use plans that will be developed under the legislation.
Very importantly, it's critical to include industry's input and consider potential mineral resources before establishing zones or areas where mineral exploration and development will be limited or even prohibited. If that doesn't happen, if you don't get industry's input, then important opportunities for long-term sustainable development in Nunavut could be lost.
If the regulatory regime in Nunavut is to fulfill its intended purposes, it is essential to ensure that qualified individuals are appointed to the many board positions that need to be filled and that the appointees receive appropriate training and support. There has been a lot of progress in the last 10 years, but I think we have a little way to go yet.
Government should consider the establishment of an independent body to support northern boards and commissions. This recommendation is spelled out clearly in the joint submission that the exploration and mining industry made to the northern regulatory improvement initiative in 2008. If this is done it will not only help Nunavut, it will also help the NWT, where the growing pains under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act are widely recognized.
Exploration and mining industry success in Nunavut will create a large number of both skilled and entry-level positions in the territory. As an example, even though our two projects are early-stage exploration projects, this year we employed 18 people from Pangnirtung and Iqaluit at Chidliak and a person from Repulse and a person from Rankin on our smaller Nanuq project.
Great effort should be put toward establishing training programs in the communities, ideally in collaboration with industry. That would prepare the residents of Nunavut for careers in the mining industry. There are some initiatives in this area right now, but I think it can be improved, and you heard a fair amount about that this morning. Also very critical, supporting and improving the K-to-12 and post-secondary education facilities in the communities can pay great dividends.
Finally, it's important for the exploration industry to have a good foundation of geologic information for the areas they are exploring. So it's important that the various geoscience programs active in the north continue to get funded to provide this baseline information for industry.
To summarize, mineral exploration and mining offer the possibility of significant sustainable development and capacity building for the people of Nunavut. This is clearly illustrated by the current development of the Meadowbank gold mine near Baker Lake and of course by the history of Polaris, Nanisivik, and Lupin. I urge you to keep an eye on Meadowbank and monitor for yourselves the beneficial impacts that Nunavut's latest mine will have on the Kivalliq region and the territory as a whole. Establishing a mine is a rare occurrence. It's very difficult. Exploration is expensive and a high-risk investment.
I urge the members of the committee to do everything possible to encourage and facilitate responsible mineral exploration and development throughout the north and in particular in Nunavut, where meaningful opportunities for employment are so clearly needed.
Thank you very much.
[Translation]
Thank you very much.
:
Hello. My name is Manasie Mark. I'm a Sealift Administrator here in Iqaluit for Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc., NSSI. I've been doing these this job for almost a year now.
It's a pleasure for NSSI to be here and have the opportunity to give our input and thoughts to the committee. I'm still new in the business, but with the help of my colleague, we have prepared this talk.
I will do a brief presentation discussing the key role of maritime transportation in the economic development of the Arctic, the efforts made by NSSI to facilitate and enhance our services to sealift users, the obstacles we are facing, and some ideas that could help in resolving or at least diminishing these barriers.
We shall start by discussing the importance of maritime transportation and its major role in the economic development of the north.
First, even though transportation does have a major role in economic development, transportation options are limited due to the isolation of the communities and the far distances. Second, maritime transport is a solution to the isolation, so it becomes necessary to the economic development of the Arctic. There is a constant increase in the need for maritime transportation for regular resupplies, and we must not forget the demands for transport from the mining industry and for special projects.
Next, we shall discuss the efforts NSSI has been putting forward in improving services and better contributing towards northern economic development.
Major investments in the acquisition of several new and bigger vessels have increased our transportation capacity. These vessels are brand new, with higher lifting capacity. Also, the acquisition of new lightering equipment, such as bigger tugboats and barges, has contributed to the high quality of our services.
Adequate training sessions on forklifts and loader operations, lifting gear, health and safety, first aid courses and customer service techniques for personnel have given us more efficiency and security in providing a better service.
Our association with the Arctic Co-op and the FCNQ, the Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec, which is the co-op movement in Nunavik, northern Quebec, is allowing them to progress towards a better maximization of their maritime transportation activity. This benefits all ACL and FCNQ customers.
NSSI also participates actively in different meetings, studies, and requests, such as this one, to give our opinion on how to improve the maritime transportation industry and service in the Arctic.
Now we come to the obstacles we are facing. We will mainly discuss the lack of maritime infrastructure in the northern communities. First, the lack of infrastructure brings security and efficiency questions; second, the shipping season is limited due to the climate's ice, wind, and waves. The needs in maritime transportation are constantly increasing.
There is a slight possibility that the lack of adequate maritime infrastructure and support to the industry might eventually lead the transporters to reach their limit in terms of the value of cargo transported during the season.
Lack of infrastructure contributes to raising the risk of incidents or accidents, whether major or minor. The lack of logistics for maritime transportation, lack of knowledge and understanding within the staff of the private and public sectors, and the important turnovers of personnel in the north also contribute to this factor. Logistics knowledge is the key factor here in the north, because the shipping season is very short, and pretty much all the goods must be shipped during those three to four months.
Finally, we have put together some ideas and solutions to ameloriate the sealift as transportation and have continued to work with all the stakeholders to reach a common goal in terms of the best and appropriate type of infrastructure to put in place to push forward the projects and achieve the construction of maritime infrastructure, and to provide structured courses on logistics, whether given through an already established school or through conferences or symposiums in the training season. If necessary, we will form a permanent consultation committee in order to better plan the needs and be able to participate actively in the constantly growing economic development of the north.
This is my presentation. I think these points have given you our overall view of how NNSI sees some aspects of our role in economic development.
Naqurmiik. Thank you. Merci.
:
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, members, witnesses, and guests. It's great to see you all here this afternoon.
We're resuming our fourth panel now. We're hearing witnesses on the topic of advancing economic development in Canada's north. In particular, we are identifying some of the obstacles or barriers in front of that development. Also, where possible, we are hearing our witnesses' suggestions on what some solutions might be.
All of this, of course, is part of a comprehensive report on this subject that we're continuing to work on. This is the third of three stops we're making across Canada's north. Unfortunately--I shouldn't say unfortunately--we haven't had the time or resources to get beyond visiting just the territorial capitals. Nonetheless, we've been hearing some excellent witnesses in each of the three territories, and we'll be continuing our consideration of this topic well into the new year.
We have with us representatives from three different organizations. We welcome Patsy Owlijoot and Lori Kimball from the Nunavut Housing Corporation. We also welcome Mr. Patrick Doyle, the CEO of Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation, and also Brian Zawadski, the Senior Business Advisor for Nunavut Development Corporation.
We will begin with Patsy Owlijoot. I understand, Patsy, that we're going to have some of the presentation in Inuktitut, so we welcome, again, our interpreter. Take the time you need. I should say to all witnesses that we allow about five minutes at a modest pace. You don't have to go too quickly, because we are doing simultaneous interpretation as well.
Madam Owlijoot, just take your time, and the interpreter can provide the English as she goes, and that, in turn, will be interpreted for the benefit of members.
Let's go ahead for five minutes or thereabouts. You have the floor.
(Interpretation):
Thank you for inviting the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
[Witness continues in English]
Good afternoon, honourable members of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Welcome to Nunavut.
[Witness continues in Inuktitut with interpretation]
My name is Patsy Owlijoot, and I am the acting president of the Nunavut Housing Corporation. With me today is Lori Kimball, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Nunavut Housing Corporation, which I will refer to as NHC from time to time.
[Witness continues in English]
It is a pleasure to be here today to discuss northern economic activities and barriers. Before we begin to respond to your questions, I would like to take a few minutes of your time to provide background information on the scope and span of NHC activities and initiatives.
The Nunavut Housing Corporation was created in 2000 through the Nunavut legislature by the Nunavut Housing Corporation Act. The Nunavut Housing Corporation is a stand-alone corporation. Their ability to plan, implement, and manage their resources is linked to their being at arm's length from the Government of Nunavut.
The NHC reports to the minister responsible for housing through their president. The minister reports to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, the executive council, and to Nunavummiut, the residents of Nunavut.
The mandate of the NHC is to create, coordinate, and administer housing programs to provide fair access to a range of affordable housing options to families and individuals in Nunavut. The core business of the Nunavut Housing Corporation is the delivery of targeted housing solutions in Nunavut.
Our mission is to provide opportunities for all residents of Nunavut to have homes that support a healthy, secure, independent, and dignified lifestyle through working with our communities to allow them to assume the role of providing housing to Nunavummiut.
The NHC has five offices, with a current staff of 72. They strive to include Inuit societal values in their daily business and to integrate local knowledge. The NHC is committed to delivering their programs in close cooperation with our community partners, the 25 local housing organizations, or LHOs. These community partners provide most of the day-to-day activities associated with program delivery to individuals and families.
In terms of core business, NHC business functions include management planning, client services, infrastructure development, asset management, and administrative services. In 2009 these were organized into the following key areas of responsibility: advisory administrative services, public housing, staff housing, home ownership, design and development, and homelessness.
In the current fiscal year of 2009-10, NHC has an annual operating and maintenance budget of $180 million. As well, 60% of the NHC's main estimates funding is provided to the LHOs for management and maintenance of approximately 4,200 NHC units across the 25 communities of Nunavut. Capital funding varies considerably. Sources of funding include the Government of Nunavut, Northern Housing Trust, and CMHC.
Since the topic of this meeting is northern territories economic development barriers and solutions, I would like to take a few minutes to present challenges facing housing delivery in Nunavut.
First is housing affordability. In Nunavut, each and every private dwelling unit receives some type of housing subsidy. If these subsidies were removed or factored out, all but the most affluent of Nunavummiut, Nunavut residents, would have affordability problems, and the percentage of Nunavut households in core need would rise from the current 38.7% to well over an unacceptable 90%.
Next is a growing population.
[Witness continues in Inuktitut with Interpretation]
With a growing population in addition to severe existing demand, Nunavut also faces the highest fertility rate in Canada, with 2.72 children per woman in 2005, compared to the national average of 1.54. The population continues to increase; it was at 31,762 on April 1, 2009, according to the Nunavut Bureau of Statistics, which predicted it would rise to almost 44,000 by the year 2020. As the population grows, so will the need for additional housing.
[Witness continues in English]
Dwelling types. There is an extremely limited private market in Nunavut. The cost to transport materials, obtain developed land, and construct and operate dwellings makes building on speculation very difficult for most developers. Therefore, unlike in most other parts of Canada, there is almost no private, affordable rental housing in Nunavut. Given the high cost of independent home ownership, the majority of Nunavummiut live in public housing units. Only 19% of the dwellings in the territory were purchased privately, whereas home ownership in the rest of Canada accounts for 70% of dwellings. The GN, through the NHC, currently maintains approximately 4,200 public housing units, which represent over 65% of Nunavut's total housing stock.
Costs. Nunavut's climate and geography also present unique challenges to the construction industry. The territory's 25 communities are remote, with no road or rail access. All construction materials must be transported by air or the annual summer sealift. As a result, the cost of landed goods is substantially higher than elsewhere in Canada. The NHC invests about $10 million annually in capital improvements to units, and the public housing program spends more than $102 million per year—about 60% of the operating budget. Lack of employment and economic development opportunities contribute to keeping individual and household income low; 70% of public housing tenants are either on income support or pay only minimum rent. Thus, rental receipts from the public housing program consistently offset less than 10% of that required to manage the portfolio.
Construction costs also contribute to the rapidly increasing housing costs in Nunavut. All aspects of costs for land acquisition, lot preparation, materials, shipping, and labour have increased. It is expected that this trend to rapidly increasing costs per unit will continue for Nunavut and the north in general.
Home ownership. Every new home owner either frees up a rental unit or reduces an existing home's occupancy level. Unfortunately, home ownership remains unattainable for most Nunavummiut. Income levels are low and ongoing payments for basic shelter components are very high. In 2009, on average in Nunavut, it cost $976 per month for fuel, water, garbage, power, insurance, maintenance, and land lease fees. In the territorial capital, Iqaluit, these costs come close to $1,200 a month. Recent increases in power and fuel rates will add additional costs to all types of housing and business. These factors, together with Nunavut's lack of affordable rental housing and the cost of private home ownership, mean that subsidized accommodation in the form of public housing will be an ongoing and long-term need.
Community facilities. The NHC relies on its community partners, the 25 LHOs, to provide maintenance and administrative services for housing units. At present, many of the LHOs operate out of facilities originally built to support and maintain a much smaller housing inventory. Furthermore, unprecedented construction is taking place across the territory; however, limited investments have been made to enhance the infrastructure of the community at the community level.
The condition of certain LHO warehouses and storage facilities is identified as a critical issue by both the corporation and the Office of the Auditor General. Adequate and secure storage facilities must be available to accommodate a 12-month supply of materials. In addition, the first snowfall usually occurs around the time the sealift ship arrives in many communities, complicating or impeding construction.
I will turn to trades and staffing.
Significant fluctuation in the level of housing activity works against the development of local community capacity, since many who enter the trades during times of high construction activity move on to other occupations when construction slows. This makes it difficult for communities to develop a stable base of trained tradespeople.
There are barriers to entry and a high drop-out rate from apprenticeship programs—up to 50% in the first two years. The department of education, in conjunction with NHC, needs to implement creative and innovative programs and provide opportunities that will contribute to the success of trades programs.
:
It shouldn't be difficult, as we just arrived by plane. I haven't been in the office, so I rewrote my speech on a napkin. I'm sure it will be five minutes, but I think we can cover it all.
First of all, for those who are unfamiliar, Nunavut Broadband is a not-for-profit organization that is tasked with the improvement of the quality of life of all people of Nunavut through the deployment of communications technology. We're not necessarily constrained to just broadband, but as our name implies, that has been the primary initiative up until now.
We're present in all 25 communities. There is a high-speed Internet solution in those communities. By having a QINIQ modem, you can actually access the Internet seamlessly while moving from community to community, which is a technological achievement that you don't have in the south. In that sense, we're actually more advanced, which is interesting. The idea is that the QINIQ network will be a platform for a variety of services. For example, the first solution it was providing was a banking platform.
Nunavut Broadband first began as the Nunavut Broadband Task Force, and one of the main problems it identified was the lack of banking in the territory. I think five years after that initial study, 50% to 60% of people access banking through the Internet. Using that as an example, some of the next problems to be solved would be distance education, partnering with Arctic College, and ultimately e-health services.
I'm relatively new in the position, but my understanding of it is that the key to its success has been the model of the community service providers. In each community there is either a business or an individual who administers the QINIQ account, gives out the modems, and collects the fees. So in each community there is at least a job or 1.5 jobs created. I think we pump in the order of $500,000 to $600,000 annually back into communities, which is a relatively small amount. But when you consider what the community profile is, it's actually quite significant.
In addition to that, with the community service providers--who are obviously local people in each community--we target an upgrade to their skills every two years. We're in the process of putting together the next community service provider conference. So we're trying to grow the capacity of these individuals. The other thing that is interesting is that I think 18 or 19 of the original 23 are still in place five years later. That's quite significant, because, as you know, turnover is a problem. This has been quite a stable platform.
It's very timely that Nunavut Broadband will have a release of infrastructure too--actually next week--that will build on the original platform. We're expanding the capacity to accommodate the users that have grown by about 50% greater than anticipated. The network was originally built for 2,000 people. It now accommodates about 4,500, so it's outgrown.... It's a victim of its own success in that sense. So this upgrade that will be forthcoming next week will address that additional capacity.
In the future, there are also additional upgrades for increased speed. One of the challenges of broadband is that it's not a static thing. What was defined as broadband five years ago at a certain speed is no longer, because of the growth of the web and richer applications. In fact, what we rolled out is now too slow. You always have to stay ahead of the curve, so we're attempting that with these infrastructure upgrades.
As well as the actual bandwidth, there are applications that are bandwidth savers, such as large file transfer applications, video conferencing, and some applications targeted at the classrooms specifically, which are going to be rolled out in March. This is part of the infrastructure to roll out.
In terms of challenges, an oft-quoted statistic in the north is that a unit of connectivity that you would have in, say, Ottawa costs 100 times more here than it would in the south, because it's all satellite networks, obviously. There is no terrestrial infrastructure. What costs $60 a month in Ottawa would be $6,000 here, unsubsidized. So it's a tremendous challenge that way.
One of our main challenges, and probably my main function, is to address what happens to the network post-2012, because our funding is project money—Infrastructure Canada, the Broadband Canada program—and it comes to an end. Unlike other infrastructure projects—if you build a bridge, you have a bridge—unfortunately, the network comes to an end. Our primary challenge is addressing what happens post-2012, when the funding comes to an end, when the bridge disappears, essentially.
So in addition to just running the operation, the key thing is to secure long-term funding, because like most things in the north, it can't really exist in an unsubsidized fashion, like food or anything else. It's just that the population is too sparse over the distance.
The only possibility of an alternative to that would be if you look at the Greenland Connect model. They've run fibre from Europe to Iceland to Greenland to Newfoundland. It's on an order of magnitude of a thousand times more capacity than what we have. It's a very long-term solution. The capital investment I think was $200 million upfront, but we may spend that ourselves over the course of a decade and not be any further ahead. So it would be prudent to look into that as a study. In fact, that's one of the things on the slate for this year.
Another challenge we have—and it's no slight to anyone in the room—is our cashflow for our core funding. The bane of most NGOs is running the operation dependent on cashflow funded to agencies you have no control over. So a lot of operational focus goes into trying to maintain running the organization, trying to respond to the reporting needs, things like that, the balance between due diligence and being too oppressive in these funding requirements. That's also a challenge in a small organization like ours. And like many, we share space with the film board and the craft people, so it's a very common topic at coffee.
What we like to say is that bandwidth in the Arctic is like water in the desert, and it needs to be managed in somewhat the same way as a precious resource. And it will be that way for the foreseeable future unless we go to a fibre-type option.
There are some timely events unfolding that I think back our case, though. Finland, you may be aware, has just recently announced they've enshrined broadband access as a legal right, which is quite progressive. They're the first country in the world. So that may be the direction of other countries. That was about a month and a half ago.
The World Bank has also released a report that ties broadband access to the expansion of economic development.
Also, currently here, of course, everyone's familiar with the GN report card, and there are half a dozen, I would say, different aspects in that: the criticisms around decentralization, education, all the things that could be addressed by, basically, a better communications infrastructure.
As I said, I had to rewrite it on a napkin on the way up on the plane, but I think essentially that's the background and those are our primary challenges. There are the obvious ones with trying to physically set up this infrastructure with transportation challenges and weather and things like that. The infrastructure is largely in place; we're in the upgrade phase, so those challenges have primarily been addressed.
I think that's probably been about five minutes.
:
Thank you, and welcome, everybody.
I'll give you a quick background on the Nunavut Development Corporation and then I'll get into a number of points. One point I didn't list is broadband, and it's critical. I support everything Mr. Doyle had to say.
The Nunavut Development Corporation is a crown corporation of the Government of Nunavut, and it was created by the Nunavut Development Corporation Act. Cabinet, through the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, appoints a chair and a board of directors who are responsible to direct the affairs of the corporation. The objects of the corporation are to create employment and income opportunities for residents of Nunavut, primarily in small communities; stimulate growth of business; promote economic diversification and stability; and promote the economic objectives of the Government of Nunavut.
The mechanism we have to achieve these objectives is to incorporate and manage companies, corporations, or projects by direct ownership or by venture equity investments. The corporation receives an annual appropriation of approximately $3 million from the Government of Nunavut to support our initiatives. The corporation, NDC, measures the effectiveness of our programs based on a variety of pre-established criteria. Key among them is the cost of creating or maintaining employment through the corporation's various investments.
The investment focus has been in the arts and crafts and meat and fish sectors, through the controlling ownership and operational subsidization of nine Nunavut-based companies. These companies are located in the three regions of Nunavut.
Briefly, the arts and crafts company, Ivalu Limited, in Rankin Inlet is an arts and crafts retail store. Jessie Oonark Limited is in Baker Lake, and it runs a silkscreening custom embroidery operation. It is also involved in buying carvings from local artists, which we move south through our wholesale division in Mississauga. Kiluk is located in Arviat. It produces sealskin fashions and it is involved in buying carvings as well. Taluq Designs is located in Taloyoak, and it produces a unique line of handcrafted duffle, which we call “packing animals”. They're dolls that are wearing amauti. It is also involved in buying carvings—there's a theme there. Uqqurmiut Arts and Crafts is in Pangnirtung. It's quite a famous arts and crafts operation. It's involved in tapestries, and there will be one in the speed skating oval for the Vancouver Olympics. If you went to the legislative assembly you would have seen a huge tapestry there that was done by Uqqurmiut. It does weavings, and it has a print shop, printmakers, and carving buying.
With respect to meat and fish companies, Kitikmeot Foods is in Cambridge Bay. It processes char and muskox. Kivalliq Arctic Foods is in Rankin Inlet, and it processes caribou and char. Papiruq Fisheries is in Whale Cove. It's a small seasonal operation, which is a feeder plant for Kivalliq Arctic Foods for char. Pangnirtung Fisheries is in Pangnirtung, and it's a turbot and char processor. We have a wholesale division in Mississauga that markets the arts and crafts across the country, and we have a retail store in Terminal 3 at Pearson, Arctic Nunavut. You may have come across it in your travels.
I will briefly touch on a couple of challenges, because there are a lot, and a couple of possible solutions. The GN report card has already been mentioned. That was undertaken by the Government of Nunavut to assess the effectiveness of its programs and services, and it was released at the beginning of October. It speaks to a number of barriers and challenges, and it offers a number of recommendations to address these. If you don't already have a copy, I think it's well worth your referencing it for this study.
Businesses need educated and skilled employees and managers. We've already heard this from the housing corporation. Currently there are not enough Nunavummiut who are qualified to fill existing employment positions. We are challenged to find the skill sets with Nunavut to fill many of the positions at our companies, particularly technical, trades, and senior management.
The very first recommendation of the GN report card speaks directly to this issue, and I'll quote it:
Re-open negotiations with the Government of Canada under the NLCA [Nunavut Land Claims Commission] to obtain financial support for a long-term, more aggressive education and training strategy.
The report card provides the rationale for this recommendation in its preamble on education, and it speaks directly to the purpose of this committee, so it's well worth referencing.
Training programs such as those offered through the aboriginal human resources development strategy need to continue. They have been effective. Support for the Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium, through that program, is an excellent example of the program's success.
All of our companies require reliable access to raw materials at reasonable costs. Otherwise, the business just can't survive. Access to raw materials can be restricted by any number of factors, such as limited availability in a time-and-place context, cost to acquire, logistical infrastructure barriers, or quota and allocation restrictions.
Specifically--and I have an example here--soapstone for carvers is not often available, because either sources are not close to a community or the cost to quarry and transport them is prohibitive. I don't know if you've heard about this already. You'll probably hear about it later tonight in one of the other presentations.
Without this basic raw material, carvers are not able to make carvings to support themselves and their families. The Government of Nunavut does have a soapstone strategy in place, and the participation of Indian and Northern Affairs in support of this and other GN arts strategies will add critical resources needed to advance these initiatives.
Next, Nunavut's share of offshore turbot quota in the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization fishing area 0B is currently only 41%. It has recently been bumped up from 27%--just last week--but this is still well below the typical allocation of 80% to 90% that other jurisdictions have in their adjacent waters.
Industry needs quota to develop the fishery. Therefore, the federal government must support and continue to support Nunavut in achieving parity with other jurisdictions by allocating all future increases to Nunavut, and by granting Nunavut fishing interests the first right of refusal to purchase any southern-held quotas that are held in Nunavut waters, as they become available.
Growth in other fisheries such as char and clams is hampered by lack of research. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has invested significantly in fisheries research in other jurisdictions, but Nunavut has not seen this level of investment. DFO needs to undertake research in Nunavut so the industry has information to work with in assessing economic opportunities.
Infrastructure, as you have probably heard already, is underdeveloped and is an impediment to economic growth. Economic development of this nation has been dependent upon infrastructure investment since the days of Confederation. There are hundreds of examples, from railroads to airports.
Marine docks and harbours are necessary to service annual marine sealifts, the commercial fishing industry, and cruise ship tourism. Current means of loading and offloading are inefficient and expensive and can be unsafe. “Dangerous” might be a more appropriate word in some cases.
Other than the recent announcement of harbour development in Pangnirtung, there has been no federal investment of this type of infrastructure, even though there are programs such as the one for small craft harbours that is administered by DFO, which has invested multi-millions of dollars in harbours across the country for 20-plus years.
Nunavut has been excluded from this program until recently. More investment is needed. There is a government study dating back to prior to division, and it has been an issue since the mid-1980s with the Government of NWT to get harbours built.
Electricity is expensive to generate, both from a direct cost and an environmental cost perspective, but there are alternatives, such as a connection to southern power grids. A power line from Manitoba, where electricity is less than 10¢ per kilowatt, to the Kivalliq, where electricity is greater than 40¢ a kilowatt, has been studied and now awaits development. The federal government needs to invest in this infrastructure to reduce the economic barrier to businesses created by high utility costs.
Road development has been extensively studied. The federal government needs to invest in this infrastructure, as it has historically done in other regions of the country. Businesses will benefit from an alternative lower-cost means of transportation available throughout the year. Our challenge right now has been mentioned by the housing corporation. Moving materials is really a once-a-year deal. With a highway, as you know, it is 365 days a year.
:
On the first question, there is sufficient bandwidth currently offered to the infrastructure to upgrade when the network capacity will be caught up to where the actual number of users are.
There is another part to that with the rollout of the large-file transfer application. It's a time-deferred application, so if you're sending some sort of geoscience mapping files or images, X-rays, or what have you, they would be deferred to transfer at night, when the network is less congested and also cheaper. So it would address that with the combination of the two things, plus we have applied for the Broadband Canada pot of money, in which case that would be a full T1 in all the communities, if we were successful. So it would essentially be like being in Toronto if you were in Arctic Bay. That's for the first question.
On your question about after 2012, up until now there have been a couple of phases of funding through different projects—the national satellite initiative, Infrastructure Canada, and then possibly Broadband Canada, and we're looking at P3 Canada. But in theory, in 2012, it would come to a crashing halt and just end, in the sense that the rates would have to go up to full, unsubsidized commercial rates, which would basically be triple or more. So at that point, many people just couldn't afford it, so it would be catastrophic at that point, unless there were some....
What it needs is a program—actually, I hate to bring it up—similar to something in the order of food mail, where you have a regular A-based-budget type model, but in this case adequate instead of going back for supplementary estimates all the time, where it would actually be part of a someone's regular program, budgeted. This was great to get it off the ground, but it's not adequate. Something that's now become core infrastructure of critical importance can't be a project; it has to be a regular program, funded. So someone would have to take it on—INAC, Health Canada, or what have you.
:
Okay, I think we'll resume, this being our fifth panel today in continuing our consideration of the barriers and solutions regarding the economic development of Canada's north.
For the benefit of the witnesses who are here this evening, who I'll introduce formally here in a moment, this is in fact the third of three stops that we are making in each of the territorial capitals as part of our comprehensive study on this topic. The study will be continuing as we return to Ottawa this week and it will be continuing straight through after the Christmas break until mid-to-late March, with a number of witnesses. This is one of the first times, to our understanding, that this standing committee has in fact undertaken such a comprehensive study in this area.
We're delighted to have with us this evening five witnesses. The way we do this, by the way, is we'll be hearing presentations from each of you, and we're planned for about five minutes each. Once you have all had an opportunity to present to the committee, we will then go to questions from members, and I'll give you a bit more information on the format for that once we're ready to do that part.
I'd like to welcome, first of all, Colleen Dupuis. Colleen is the CEO for Nunavut Tourism. We're also waiting for Rowena House, who is the Executive Director of Nunavut Arts and Craft Association. Hopefully she'll be along momentarily. We do have with us Stéphane Daigle, the Regional Manager for the Nunavut office of Arctic Co-operatives Limited, and Stéphane is going to be joined by Nicole Sikma, who is a Director with Arctic Co-operatives. We also welcome Daniel Vandermeulen. Daniel is the President of Nunavut Arctic College. I understand we'll be there tomorrow morning as well for a site visit. And last but certainly not least we have Mr. Chris West, the President of the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce.
So we have a very full panel for the final part of our meetings here in Iqaluit. Let's begin, then, with presentations.
I'll say to the witnesses first that we are doing simultaneous interpretation, so in the course of your presentation make the pace a little slower than what you normally would in regular conversation and that will be a good pace for the interpretation. Don't be too concerned about trying to fit everything into five minutes. We'll give you a little bit of latitude there.
Let's begin with Ms. Dupuis from Nunavut Tourism.
:
I'd like to begin by thanking everyone for this opportunity and for your coming to Iqaluit to hear our concerns.
By way of a bit of background, Nunavut Tourism was formed in 1995. It was the first organization that brought together the three regions of Nunavut. Our vision is to have an environmentally responsible and economically viable tourism industry in this territory that is characterized by professional delivery and operating in harmony with Nunavut culture and tradition.
We've been doing this for about 15 years and we've met with a great deal of success, but there are still a number of challenges facing the industry in this territory. We can deal with some of them, such as a small operator liability insurance program, ourselves, but there are a number of other things we need help with, particularly federal help.
These needs fall into three main categories. We had our annual general meeting a couple of weeks ago and these concerns came from our broader-based membership and board of directors. Because we knew we were coming here, this is something that was discussed and that the industry has agreed on.
The first one is infrastructure. There needs to be a lot better infrastructure in Nunavut. These needs are widespread. Federal dollars have helped with this type of infrastructure in other northern cities, such as Yellowknife, Dawson, and Whitehorse, but they have been largely neglected in the communities in Nunavut, even in the capital here.
Some of these needs include roads and trail development. We have been working on getting a bridge across the Sylvia Grinnell River to expand trail development since 1995. That is a project the federal government made a commitment to, but because of delays the costs have continued to go up from 1995 dollars and we still don't have that in place. That will allow us to develop tourism and park activities on the other side, in one of our territorial parks. There are other needs for that as well, but that is one example.
We also need more paved runways to increase air traffic capacity and safety. Most of the smaller communities do not have paved runways, which leads to the possibility that some jet flights—certain sizes of planes—cannot land there. Unfortunately, some tourists just don't want to land on a gravel runway. And if you have never done that, it can be an interesting experience. That capacity would also help in a number of other things within the community as well.
Better docking facilities in communities would help with tourism and other economic development in terms of fisheries, our annual sealift, and a number of other issues.
The assistance with infrastructure also goes to the fact that we need more small planes. That's not just for the airlines, but some of the communities and other partners that could participate in tourism if we had more planes available.
The second broad category is training. There is a widespread need for training. That's everything from how to start small businesses and making them work, specialized guide and outfitter training, and marine craft operation, to how to work with foreign tourists. We need better programs from federal departments that fit the needs of the north, and Nunavut in particular. We're not a one-size-fits-all environment. Some of the programs of HRSDC that work in downtown Toronto don't work here. That is one of the reasons the programs here are underutilized now.
We at Nunavut Tourism would like to work with the federal government to develop a training opportunity program exclusively for the Nunavut tourism industry. There are particular needs here that must be addressed.
One of the key things to remember is that tourism is one of the few economic drivers that every community in Nunavut can participate in. Some communities have a good offshore fishery or are close to mining deposits or whatever, and that gives them a bit of an advantage. But every community in Nunavut has tourism potential. It is one of the economic drivers everyone can participate in. It is also one of the economic drivers that keeps a lot of the money made by outfitters and small business operators in the north. There is not a lot of it going south when it is a community-based operation. Training would be a significant step in developing businesses in small communities and in developing the tourism industry infrastructure.
The third main issue is marketing and promotion. For years now we have been saying that programs are different north of 60. There have been some changes to some of the CTC programs and other things on a pan-territorial basis. We have found that they still don't fit Nunavut. Nunavut is different in terms of our experience, level of infrastructure, and what we can offer. Even our budget is different from the NWT and Yukon.
On this front, we have a few suggestions. Instead of programs the CTC currently offers that match dollar for dollar other jurisdictions, we suggest that for Nunavut it be a two-to-one ratio. Our budgets are considerably lower than other destinations, and we need that extra assistance.
The CTC also needs to better understand Nunavut. This came to our attention recently because of a passport program the CTC is doing for 2010 in Vancouver. They were advertising Nunavut as having reindeer. We don't have any reindeer. We've checked their website and some other things, and it has been changed. But that's a bit of problem when people don't even understand what they're trying to promote and they put out the wrong message. There were a few other things in the passport we had to change, but the reindeer kind of got us.
Pan-territorial solutions do not work. We work with the NWT and Yukon on some CTC programs, such as our buy-in to the German market, because we have to work together to be able to buy in at the levels they have. To make any impact right now, the base level is $130,000. None of us can afford that on our own. We have to work together. When we market together like that we are often presented at the table as a poorer cousin, because we are still buying in at 20% of something and not at a higher level.
The other thing we found is that the basic mandate of the CTC is failing for Nunavut. We are not able to buy in to the national campaigns. We are not being represented properly. In the copies of my presentation I have provided a print of what the CTC mandate is so you can see what I'm talking about rather than having to look it up.
In conclusion, those are some of the things we feel are not working. Nunavut has huge potential. It has the potential to become a leader in ecotourism and adventure tourism and to create a sustainable tourism industry. All communities have the potential to be successful and have products they can deliver. We need solutions to help us make this happen that are for Nunavut, not federal programs that work in other jurisdictions and do not work here.
Nunavut Tourism and the tourism industry in Nunavut want to work to form a successful and valuable partnership to see this happen. We feel that you guys coming here is a good step in that direction.
Thank you.
:
Mr. Chair, standing committee members, panel members, good day, and thank you for coming to Nunavut and allowing us the opportunity to make this presentation.
I understand that our opening comments are too brief to allow more time for questions and answers, so I will limit my initial comments to three specific areas, though we would be happy to talk endlessly about how the federal government could take a greater role in economic development in our regions.
CanNor was an important set-up in better serving and understanding the needs of the north. The selection of Iqaluit for the location of the headquarters could not have been a better decision, and not just because we felt Nunavut was due for such a decision. The main reason we are happy is that most of the new CanNor positions will be staffed by existing INAC-Nunavut regional office staff. They have demonstrated a strong commitment, and more importantly a strong knowledge about what is needed in Nunavut and the north.
We hope that as CanNor moves forward even more programs that impact the north are moved from departments across the federal government to this new agency. We also hope that the agency will continue to receive the support of the government in the south and be given the authority to make decisions in the north by people who understand the reality of the regions we live in.
That said, we also hope that other departments across the federal system understand the importance of CanNor and make full use of the agency's full resources and knowledge. Too often we hear of programs and initiatives that are not as successful as they could have been because the right northern organizations and federal agencies were not involved. If a federal department has an initiative that involves the north, their first call should be to CanNor so they can help ensure that their initiative is a success. A case in point, unfortunately, is this consultation.
It is unfortunate that the INAC national regional office was not consulted from the beginning as to who to invite for this series of presentations. Many organizations did not hear of this opportunity until fairly late in the process and lost valuable preparation plus consultation time. In fact, INAC and NRO heard about this standing committee from one of the invited participants. Hopefully, there are no organizations conspicuous by their absence during these presentations.
Northern infrastructure... Canada went through a nation-building exercise when it developed the transportation infrastructure across all of the southern provinces. Railways, roads, ports, and other infrastructure were built to connect Canada from coast to coast. Now that northern sovereignty has become a catchphrase, people talk about Canada from coast to coast to coast and it is incumbent upon the federal government to develop the same infrastructure to the last coast.
Our needs are the greatest and our infrastructure is the least. No community in Nunavut is connected to any other community in Canada by either rail or road. There is no commercial port in Nunavut that can serve the needs of Nunavummiut. Many of our airports require substantial investments. These are all vital to future economic development in the region, and we need your support to help ensure that Nunavut and the north are treated fairly, as the rest of Canada was treated.
Please consider the following. Imagine if all of the road and rail systems heading to the west in Canada stopped at the western edge of Alberta. Would British Columbia still be a part of Canada? Would Canada be as prosperous without that connection and B.C.'s commitment to the rest of Canada? We would doubt it.
Nunavut is the land of opportunity, and as the future unfolds, the vast riches that lie within our borders will become more and more important to Canada and the rest of the world. This is only one of the reasons to invest in Nunavut. The other reason is one of fairness.
Canada invested in connecting the rest of Canada to each other, now they need to do the same for the north. To use a phrase used previously by the federal government when referring to northern sovereignty, much to the disdain of the Inuit in particular, “invest in it or lose it”.
Thanks again for taking the time to be here.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chair and standing committee members. Thanks for inviting me.
I want to take this time to present to you some adult learning statistics from the census of 2006 and talk about how they can be seen as both barriers and solutions to economic development.
The underlying strength and promise of the Canadian economy is evident even in the midst of this downturn. This is also true of Nunavut.
Nunavut's construction and transportation sectors remain relatively strong, and as the economy recovers, mining will also recover along with it. However, Inuit Nunavummiut will not benefit from the recovery to the same degree as non-aboriginal Canadians, both in Nunavut and in the rest of Canada. In large part, this is due to differences in educational attainment, as reported in the 2006 census.
I provided speaking notes when I came to register, so I won't go through the table, but you'll see in the table some key elements.
If we look at Inuit Nunavummiut as compared to non-aboriginal Canadians, within the Inuit Nunavummiut, 60% are without high school graduation compared to the rest Canada at only 15%. When it comes to trades, the comparison is much closer. About 10% have some trade certificate compared to the rest of Canada at about 12%. When it comes to college, a career certificate or diploma, again, it's quite close with 18% in Nunavut and 20% in the rest of Canada. When we get to university we get back to a very large disparity. Only about 4% of Inuit Nunavummiut have any amount of university compared to the rest of Canada at 28%.
We're reasonably close in things like trades qualifications and college career-preparation qualifications. Where there's a very acute gap is the 60% of Nunavummiut aged 25 to 64, the age group that comes out in the 2006 census, without a high school diploma, as compared to 15% for the rest of Canada. There is only 4% with some university as opposed to 28% for the rest of Canada.
When you look at the table when it's distributed to you, with the employment rates, the unemployment rates, and the average earnings, you'll see that that's reflected there. For instance, there is an unemployment rate amongst Inuit Nunavummiut of 19%, with the rest of Canada at 5%. These are 2006 figures.
With that as your background, I just want to comment very briefly on some successes and then move on to challenges.
In fact, Nunavut has a number of very impressive successes. Nunavut Arctic College was established as a separate post-secondary institution in Nunavut about 15 years ago. We deliver adult learning and training programs through three regional campuses in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, and Cambridge Bay, and we have community learning centres, sometimes just a rented classroom, in every one of Nunavut's communities. We have a great deal of scope now. That's a very important element.
In terms of developing a skilled workforce, we have a lot of partnerships with southern universities. We've been offering a B.Ed. in elementary education since 1986, and currently with the University of Regina. We have a B.Sc. in Arctic nursing, in partnership with Dalhousie. A full law degree was offered from 2001 to 2005 in partnership with the University of Victoria, and another one is being planned in partnership with the University of Ottawa. We're doing pretty well on that front.
We've also had really good partnership, particularly with the Department of Health and Social Services of the Nunavut government, in developing Nunavummiut for employment in the health sector. With their support, we've offered several programs: nursing, midwifery, maternity care, home care, continuing care, mental health, human services, and community therapy assistance. In fact, recently we graduated the first two Inuit midwives, fully registered to Canadian standards, in the last couple of weeks.
On the trades front, and largely again as a result of a partnership with the Nunavut Housing Trust, we've offered community-based pre-trades training in virtually every community at least once, and produced a significant number of people ready for apprenticeship.
On the front of trades, the Government of Nunavut is making significant investments. The trades training centre will open in 2010 in Rankin Inlet, and it will enable us to offer oil burner mechanic and housing maintainer, which are two trades particular to the north, and also electrician and plumber. And we've recently doubled the capacity of our carpentry training program here in Iqaluit.
We've started planning the mine training centre in Cambridge Bay. When it's finished, we'll be able to offer millwright and welding. We've already started thinking about phase two of the trades training centre, which will help us produce heavy equipment operators and heavy duty and auto mechanics.
So we have a lot of successes behind us. We've done well. But we're still facing some significant challenges. You'll notice, if you look at the statistics, that we've done best at the trades level and the career preparation of college, and where we do offer university, it's always in professional education. It's occupationally focused. That's because almost all of the dollars that come to us have that particular focus to them. If construction industries are booming, invest in carpenters. If mining starts taking off, invest in mine workers. If we need more teachers, invest in teachers. If we need more nurses, invest in nurses.
What we are lacking, and I go back to sort of the bookends of that 60% of Inuit Nunavummiut without a high school diploma and only 4% with some university, is funding for what I call general capacity building. That is not necessarily career or professional occupationally focused.
We need more money simply to enable adult Nunavummiut--and again I'm talking about the age group 25 to 64--to basically return to school. The reasons for the imbalance are historical, everything from the residential school system to lack of funding, to the late development of the eastern Arctic. On the high school end we have a major need. And given territorial fiscal capacities, I think the only government with the fiscal capacity to address that is the federal government.
On the other end of the book case, I call it my other bookend, is university. I would call on the Government of Canada to support building university capacity in the north by endorsing and funding the Jago report on the University of the Arctic in Canada. I'm sure you've heard about this already from both Yukon College and Aurora College during your stops.
The Jago report was commissioned by INAC to investigate sustainable university capacity in the north and how to fund it. Their recommendation was $2.5 million a year for five years, to give us predictability, and also some matching dollars. So I come back to it. Until we have that kind of funding, the major lack of high school diplomas in a workforce where increasingly employers are seeking high school certification or equivalency is a major barrier to economic development.
Thank you.
:
[
Witness speaks in native language]
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure for me to be here tonight representing the cooperative system in the Canadian Arctic.
My name is Nicole Sikma. I'm a member of the board of directors of Arctic Co-operatives Limited, the central service federation of co-ops of the Arctic. I offer the regrets of our chief executive officer, Andy Morrison. He had planned to be here today but was unable to make it because bad weather forced his flight to turn back.
This year, 2009, is a milestone for the co-ops in the Arctic. We are marking the 50th anniversary of the first Arctic co-op to be owned and controlled by the local community. Today, 31 locally owned co-ops provide a wide range of services, including retail stores, hotels, restaurants, fuel distribution, cable television, marketing, property development, and property retail or rental.
The 31 community co-ops in the north and their two service federations are owned by more than 20,000 individual owner members across Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Last year, local co-ops returned more than $8 million in patronage refunds to the individual co-op members across the north. Local co-ops employ 1,000 people in full-time and part-time positions.
In 2008, co-ops invested more than $22 million in communities through wages and benefits paid to the employees. In the short time available to us this evening, we would like to highlight three important barriers to northern economic development and offer brief comments on how to address these barriers.
These barriers are capacity building, Government of Canada procurement, and utility rates. Capacity building: We believe that one of the most important barriers to economic development in the Arctic is the education and training of aboriginal people. It is essential that we direct, manage, and operate all parts of our economy. Unfortunately, we have a shortage of leaders, managers, and employees to manage our own affairs on a sustainable basis. Short-term solutions and quick fixes are not the answer. People development is a priority, with a focus on developing human resources today to meet the long-term challenges and opportunities of tomorrow. The Government of Canada must devote additional resources to human resources development and, in the process, eliminate the bureaucracy and red tape associated with these programs.
Government of Canada procurement: The Government of Canada, through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, has a procurement strategy for the aboriginal businesses. According to published information, the strategy is designed to increase aboriginal business participation in supplying government procurement requirements through a program, mandatory and selective set-asides, and supplier development activities, leading to increased representation of aboriginal business and contract awards by individual departments and agencies. This program is a great idea and it could have a very positive impact on aboriginal businesses. Unfortunately, the program provides only guidelines to various departments.
Departments are not required to follow the policy. In fact, INAC, the department responsible for the program, does not adhere to the policy. Government must recognize the positive impact its spending can have on community economic development, job creation, skills development, infrastructure development, and wealth creation to help develop and sustain communities long after the government project or program is completed.
Very simply, the benefits of government spending to the aboriginal people and their communities could be greatly enhanced if government enforced its procurement strategies for aboriginal businesses.
There is the cost of utilities. The cost of living in the Arctic is extreme and one of the major reasons is the cost of electricity. Our small communities are highly dependent on diesel power generation and costs are excessive.
In Nunavut, power rates range from a low of 32¢ a kilowatt hour in Iqaluit to 79¢ a kilowatt hour in Whale Cove, one of our smaller communities. Most power rates in Nunavut are in excess of 55¢ a kilowatt hour. In the Northwest Territories the cost of electricity in the tiny community of Colville Lake is $2.15 per kilowatt hour.
These rates drive up the cost of living and make it impossible for people to meet basic requirements. It's very difficult for business to survive. It is not unusual for the small community co-ops in the north to spend between $250,000 and $350,000 per year in electricity costs. Our territories cannot prosper and grow with these types of costs. The Government of Canada must work with our territorial governments to find a way to make the cost of living more affordable in the north. An important starting point is the cost of electricity.
Ladies and gentlemen, our co-operators in the Arctic are community-based organizations that have been working for 50 years to build our communities and develop our people. We are committed to working with all levels of government and other organizations to build a strong and sustainable economy in the north.
I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening. We would be pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
:
Good evening, standing committee members and panel.
Created as a non-profit, incorporated society in October of 1998, the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association, or as we call it, NACA, works on behalf of Nunavut visual artists to promote the growth and appreciation of their creative talents and the wide variety of arts and crafts they produce. Nunavut is home to a multitude of carvers, printmakers, ceramic pottery makers, painters, photographers, jewellery and tapestry artists, and seamstresses, and I can go on and on.
Membership with NACA is free for artists. Currently we have over 800 members to our credit. NACA represents artists from across the territory. We continually seek out opportunities to promote the industry in new and existing markets and realize additional sales for Nunavut artists.
In the interests of diversifying and strengthening the arts sector, we work strategically to introduce and advance new methods of artistic expression. Through activities such as conferences, workshops, and the annual Nunavut arts festival, NACA strives to create a better business and working environment for artists. NACA is regularly called upon to help with coordination of events such as the Northern Lights trade show, where the artists enjoy the opportunity to showcase their talents and market their artwork.
At NACA, we are committed to supporting our membership by applying for funding through agencies such as the Canada Council for the Arts and Canadian Heritage to access the dollars we need to complete the projects outlined in our four-year strategic plan and action plan. These guiding documents, plus other day-to-day activities, will provide direction as NACA accesses the required funding to further the organization and continue to grow.
The following are points to consider as we focus on improving the economic outlook of the arts sector.
The arts sector in Nunavut is one of the most important parts of the economy of the territory. Inuit art, with its world-renowned reputation, is one of our major exports. Artistic production is a significant source of income in most of our communities. It is estimated that this sector employs and gives economic benefits to over 3,000 artists and directly contributes $30 million annually to the territorial economy.
To ensure the sector's viability, NACA emphasizes the importance of the transfer of skills from elders or established artists to youth. Our youth are not getting involved, as in many cases they believe that work in the arts field is an unprofitable venture and not a viable job option. We fear that this erosion of knowledge will have a significant impact on the arts economy in the coming years. Mentoring must be reinvigorated and fostered to help improve the arts sector and keep it as a sustainable source of revenue and a respectable occupation.
Our artists need access to funding. Some of our member artists are unilingual and require additional help to fill in applications in order to advance their marketing opportunities. NACA intends to assist them by facilitating more funding opportunities at the social economy level to support them in becoming full-time artists.
Programs offered by Aboriginal Business Canada and other federal programs are currently underused. Artists do not take advantage of this funding due to the difficulty in filling in the various applications and the length of time required to process funding requests.
To facilitate applications from Nunavut artists, forms should be created in straightforward formats that are more user friendly and translated into Inuktitut. Communicating in a language that is comfortable and known to the artist is an important aspect of the Inuit culture. To address these issues, NACA is working with the Canada Council for the Arts to ensure their applications are available in an easy-to-understand format and translated to Inuktitut for Nunavut artists.
The Department of Economic Development and Transportation has worked hard in developing a new authentic Nunavut brand on behalf of the Government of Nunavut. This new branding program will help solidify Nunavut's identity in the art sector and move us forward in being recognized as a unique contributor to the Inuit art world and the wider arts market.
NACA is a strong supporter of the authentic Nunavut brand and the benefits of this program for our artists, because it will certify their artwork as original, handmade, and from Nunavut. It will promote genuine work over imitations and make Nunavut arts and crafts easily recognizable around the world.
In support of authentic Nunavut, NACA would like to secure the federal government's assistance in facilitating communications with the igloo tag program, which is administered through the Indian and Northern Affairs, to foster a stronger partnership between the two programs. This working partnership is one of the missing key components to ensuring the authentic Nunavut brand programs thrive.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak about the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association and Nunavut's art sector, a significant part of the overall Nunavut economy.
We are focusing on moving the sector forward, and with your assistance, improving funding relationships, allowing easier access to funding for our artists, and working together to solidify the authentic Nunavut brand.
Good evening to each of you. Thank you for taking the time late in the day to come out and speak with us.
Over the last day we have had a lot of presentations. Certainly we've asked the questions and we are getting an earful. We asked what were the barriers to economic development, and we are getting it in both ears, and through the eyes as well, which is important. But I also get the strange sense that there is so much opportunity, that even though there is a lot of struggle and there are a lot of challenges, there is a great opportunity here. We have seen some of it already, which has been enunciated, with the Arctic College, with the co-operative movement for 50 years—and congratulations on that--and with artists and the industry at $30 million a year, and more could be done.
But through all of this I get the sense that there is this struggle, almost, with the south. I hear that programs get designed from the south that don't fit the north, that people don't understand that there is a marketing problem when they try to say you can get reindeer in Nunavut; that when we talk about it from a visionary perspective, our focus has been east-west and not north-south. So there is this pushing and pulling all the time, but at the same time there is the sense that people point to the south as well for some of the answers—you know, the federal government, the federal government, the federal government.
My question will be an overarching one. Is it true that people in the north, and specifically in Nunavut, feel held back by the south, by the decisions, by the models of delivery, by perceptions, by control issues? Do people feel that?
That leads us to the issue of devolution and shifting the responsibility, and people taking the responsibility to deliver their own tourism programs. I want to know how people feel about that, because I think it will help us in terms of how we put our study in context.
Ladies and gentlemen, I see that we have equal numbers of men and women this evening.
Mr. West expressed a concern. He was wondering about the ability of people at CanNor to make decisions about the north. We met with the deputy minister, whose office is here, in Iqaluit. As deputy minister, she has to be able to make decisions herself. Otherwise, she should be replaced. The person in that position should be able to make decisions.
Now, my question is for Mr. Vandermeulen, and it has to do with education. This afternoon, we met with a mining official. He said that miners could be trained on the job. I hope that you will not make that mistake. As someone who is not aboriginal or Inuit, you would be hated. A number of people could be killed. In Quebec and Ontario, training for mine workers is mandatory and has saved many lives, for that matter.
The mining official admitted that it was necessary to hold consultations on vocational education, as well as high-school education to train people. As discussed this afternoon, that kind of thing is anticipated. It would probably be advisable for you, for the Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit, to think about a training program for miners, as they will most likely be the first ones called to the development sites.
I am not sure whether there were other concerns about development. As far as the territorial government goes, I do not know what its powers are. Usually, in matters of tourism, education and culture, jurisdiction falls to the province. I think it is up to the provincial authorities to negotiate with the federal government, depending on their needs in those areas. If the federal government—which has just been caught, by the way—does not listen to you, we will be there to make sure it knows.
Mr. Vandermeulen, would you like to give your opinion on that?
Thank you very much.
That will conclude our meeting for this panel and for the day. Before we wrap up, there are just a couple of things I wanted to go over.
One is that, as you can probably imagine and as was alluded to earlier in our discussions, it is quite an undertaking to come here for a two-day meeting. That's particularly true of our committee because we have to bring all this paraphernalia with us. So there's a team that supports us here while we're on the road, certainly here in Iqaluit but also last week in Yellowknife and in Whitehorse. We had almost the same number of staff members supporting us as MPs. So I don't know what you take from that, but I can tell you it is a wonderful team and I wanted to just send my thanks.
In addition to our Inuktitut interpreters today we had a team here from AVW-TELAV, Chris Ferris and Gerry Saumur. They do work after we're gone and they pack up all the stuff.
We also had our interpreters--it took three interpreters to do all of our French and English interpretation--and they included Josée Beaudoin, Carol Card, and Annie-Joëlle Tailleur.
We also had a team here, and I mentioned them earlier today, the proceedings and verification officers, to do the transcription. That was done by Anna Joynt and Stéphane Monfils.
We also have a logistics officer, someone who actually does all the planning. She was out here by the entrance door here today, and that was Julie Geoffrion. Julie is at the back there.
Last but not least are the two gentlemen who sit on either side of me here. Mr. James Gauthier is the research analyst. He prepares all of the documents that go into our briefing materials ahead of time. And the clerk of our committee is Graeme Truelove, who sits to my left here.
So that's the whole team that puts this together, and I can tell you, and on behalf of all the members of Parliament, we sure appreciate the work that they do.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
The Chair: As just an administrative item, we have a site visit tomorrow to Nunavut Arctic College. We'll be going there in the morning.
The 39th meeting of the standing committee is adjourned.
Thank you.