News  May 26, 2022 – 5:14 pm EDT

Finance minister says he’s willing to spend budget surplus on more housing

Finance minister Lorne Kusugak speaks to reporters in Iqaluit on Wednesday, May 26 before he tabled the government’s 2022-23 budget. (Photo by Emma Tranter)

The first proposed budget for Nunavut’s newly elected legislative assembly put a focus on housing, including $27 million for new public and staff housing.

“One of the biggest things we lack in Nunavut is housing,” Finance Minister Lorne Kusugak said in the budget speech he delivered Thursday in the legislative assembly.

The territory’s 2022-23 budget proposes $2.58 billion in spending this fiscal year, which is complemented by $2.62 billion in expected revenue.

The budget also contains a $75 million contingency fund to use for emergency spending.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the amount of programming the GN could fund last fiscal year, it’s now projecting an operating surplus of $40 million dollars this year. That surplus is a rebound from last year’s $31 million deficit.

But with costs to build housing in Nunavut reaching $1 million per unit, Kusugak told reporters before his speech that spending the government’s surplus on additional housing is worthwhile.

“It’s good to build a surplus but you can’t just build these surpluses for the sake of having them,” Kusugak said.

“There needs to be a purpose behind them.”

In his speech, Kusugak indicated his government intends to create short-term deficits in future budgets to address the housing crisis.

That intention blends with the sixth legislative assembly’s mandate, Katujjiluta, which commits to build 1,000 housing units during its four-year term.

Other highlights in the spending plan point to the mandate’s priorities including aging with dignity, health and healing, education and diversifying local economies.

Of the $27 million allocated for housing, $21 million of it will go toward new public housing, while $6 million toward staff units. That’s part of the $51.5 million total the government is proposing to spend on the Nunavut Housing Corporation, Kusugak said in his speech.

An additional $1.5 million is proposed to go to homeless initiatives, such as transitional housing and the Ikur’raq cabin building program. The same amount is allocated for family violence shelter funding.

For health care, the budget proposes funding for 75 new health-care support positions, with $2.1 million for 31 medical travel clerks to improve services for medical travel.

For elder care, Kusugak said his government will invest $19 million on construction of the Rankin Inlet long-term care facility.

The budget also proposes two new positions in the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs to create an elder care strategy and implementation plan.

In education, the budget proposes $2.5 million to hire 25 staff for positions that include school counsellors, secretaries and custodians.

To help diversify local economies Kusugak said his government plans to invest $17.2 million in the fibre project that aims to bring high-speed fibre optic internet to Nunavut by 2025.

Kusugak said his government is also proposing to give $500,000 for the GN’s renewable energy support program. The program provides grants to cabin owners to install renewable energy, such as solar panels.

Other highlights from the proposed budget include:

Before it can be passed, the territory’s MLAs will review the proposed budget over the coming weeks in committee meetings with each government department.

with files from Emma Tranter

2.5 Billion annual budget, that is huge for a small population, maybe it’s time for the GN to actually implement all the recommendations and reviews that are done by the auditor general? Instead of being shelved and collecting dust. Housing corp should look at other ways of building houses, prefabricated would make sense but these big businesses like Kudlik would lose there marbles if the GN decided to be more economical and save money while building more homes. I still can’t get over how much money this government has but really can’t get much done with all that funds. But hey, let’s blame the Inuit organizations for not doing enough. Lol

You can be right about the GN and it can still be true that the Inuit orgs don’t do much of anything.

Maybe you just don’t deal or know about what the Inuit organizations do, for their size and budget they do a lot more then what our GN does.

With the GN being the largest employer in Nunavut a lot of GN procrastinators will be agree with you on that one Both can be true.

where are the funds to assist the rate payers who are trying to stay out of staff housing. only Gov of NU workers get an amount which is very low amount.

agree! once in a home there needs to be help to keep it up or to lose it,

Check my math: $2,500,000,000 / $1,000,000 per house (includes admin and contractors) = 2500 houses in the territory. Less than 10% should go to Iqaluit. . Also, this would be the homeless initiative remedy, building homes. So put that initiative money back in the house pot.

2.5 billion is the total Nunavut budget. This covers other department programs, employee salaries and benefits etc..

Unfortunately, the total amount couldn’t be spent on housing alone.

$2.5 billion is the total budget for the GN. So, if you want to shut down health care, schools, elder care, income assistance and layoff everyone who works for the GN for a year, then you could build your 2,500 homes. Except there would be no one to pay the contractors, train the local workers or monitor compliance.

That is very valid, if only 2.5 billion was for housing…..add every other expenditure of the gov of nunavut, including the famous medical travel program…..True post if only 2.5 billion was strictly for housing.

Why should Iqaluit get less than 10%? The city currently boasts well over 20% of the territory’s population and therefore a similar level of need.

Staff housing? Something is amiss here. Look at the GN job board. Most positions with the exception of Health do not include staff housing. Even if the GN builds an extra 100 units they would not come online for 2 years? In the meantime these positions go unfilled. I mean who is going to come work here and spend 50% of their disposable income on a one bedroom apartment in the Brown building. Apparently the GN thinks they can hire locally which is delusional.

“One of the biggest things we lack in Nunavut is housing,” Finance Minister Lorne Kusugak said in the budget speech he delivered Thursday”

Sadly, though there is a dire need for more and improved housing, there are MANY higher priorities

No where else in the known world would a population of only 38,000 people be entrusted with a annual operating budget of $2.5 billion dollars. That amounts to almost $66,000 for every man woman and child in the territory. It almost makes one want to laugh if it wasn’t so ludicrous.

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