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Around Iqaluit

February 11, 2005

Iqaluit this week

GREASE, the musical

Tonight and Saturday, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 13, 2:30 p.m., Inuksuk High School. Iqaluit high school students will recreate the time, the place and the motion. Admission is free; donations go to the Iqaluit Music Society.

Legion curling bonspiel

Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18 – 19. Enter as couples or singles; teams will be drawn. Entry fee is $30 for members or $50 for non-members. New and beginner curlers welcome. Call Les Hickey at 979-5438.

Toonik Tyme date set

Toonik Tyme 2005 will be celebrated from April 18 – 23.

February 11, 2005

Iqaluit mayor welcomes homeowners association

Iqaluit Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik said she welcomes the creation of Iqaluit’s newly-formed homeowner’s association, “Nangminiqaqtuit Iqalungni,” when members of the group appeared at a city council meeting this week to introduce themselves.

Susan Gardiner and Joe Tigullaraq, who each addressed council as spokespersons for the association, had little to say about the organization’s specific concerns.

But they described the new organization as a body that will “make sure the rights of homeowners will be protected,” and will work on recommending “courses of action.” They also slammed Iqaluit reporters for “concentrating on the negative side” in their coverage of the association’s formation.

Coun. Stuart Kennedy said he applauds the group’s creation, saying its members are “a list of who’s who in Iqaluit homeownership, with a definite interest in seeing Iqaluit prosper.”

February 11, 2005

Iqaluit council wants in on gas tax committee

Iqaluit city council wants to ensure that Iqaluit is represented on a new advisory committee that will recommend how to divide up Nunavut’s share of federal gasoline tax revenues.

The fund gives Nunavut $37.5 million a year over the next five years to pay for water, waste-water and solid waste schemes within municipalities. After five years, the federal contribution will drop to $15 million a year.

To figure out how to split up Nunavut’s share, the Government of Nunavut and the Nunavut Association of Municipalities will form a body called the Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee.

Deputy Mayor Chris Wilson said he’s not suggesting that “Iqaluit is not sensitive to the other communities,” but he said it’s essential for the city to be involved in the committee’s work.

A GN press release says the committee will recommend long-term capital plans and set criteria for the new money. The advisory committee will also make recommendations for municipal infrastructure projects that use either federal or territorial money.

The federal government will distribute about $1 billion a year’s worth of money, collected through the federal tax on gasoline, to municipal governments throughout the country.

Ottawa is insisting that the money be spent on “environmentally sustainable” infrastructure, such as water and sewer projects, solid waste management, and roads and bridges.

February 11, 2005

City pays off bus contractor

The City of Iqaluit will give $137,124.46 to R.L. Hanson Construction Ltd. as “full and final payment” for the early cancellation of Hanson’s contract to provide a scheduled bus service in Iqaluit.

Under that five-year contract, which started in July of 2003, the Hanson firm supplied a bus and driver, and kept any money raised from selling fares.

But after their budget sessions early last December, city councillors voted to cut the service as of Jan. 10., and provide the Hanson firm with 30 days notice of their intention to withdraw from the contract.

A study by Dillon Consulting showed that ridership on the bus service dropped from 300 riders a week to only 200 a week — at a cost of $16.99 per user.

At the same time, city council was forced to make nearly half a million dollars in cuts to stave off a deficit and create a balanced budget for 2005.

The contract was only about a year and a half old after city council made its decision to back out of it. City officials then began negotiating a compensation arrangement with the contractor.

City councillors voted to approve the payment Jan. 27, after an in camera session. Coun. Nancy Gillis was the only council member to vote against the motion, which was made by Deputy Mayor Chris Wilson and Coun. Theresa Rodrigue.

February 11, 2005

City lobbies Godfrey on infrastructure

In a special one-hour closed session Jan. 20, Iqaluit city council members and city administrators sat down with John Godfrey, the federal cabinet minister responsible for infrastructure, to lobby him for more money to pay for badly needed work on Iqaluit’s aging municipal infrastructure.

City officials told Godfrey about numerous problems that Iqaluit residents already know about: the old undersized sewage lagoon, areas not yet serviced by utilidor, bad gravel roads that are prone to washboarding and undercutting because of poor drainage, and the need to completely rebuild the Apex road.

But they also had a lot to say about the city’s desire for a deep-water port and dock that could help the community save on shipping costs. In the 2005-06 fiscal year, the GN is expected to give the city $100,000 to pay for a feasibility study on a deep water port, which could cost between $20 and $25 million.

Godfrey responded by listing various federal money-pots to which the city is eligible to apply for funding, including $37.5 million in gas-tax revenue that the federal government will give to Nunavut municipalities, every year for 5 years.

February 4, 2005

Iqaluit this week

Huge book sale

Saturday, Feb. 5, 1 - 3 p.m., Iqaluit Centennial Library. Come over and fill a shopping bag full of books, and pay only $5. Proceeds go to the Iqaluit Library Board. For more information call Tori at 979-5400.

A voyage to the South Pole

Monday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m., Francophone Centre. Sarah and Éric McNair-Landry present photos and videos from their trip to the South Pole.

Sex ed for everyone

Friday, Feb. 11, 1:30 -3:30 p.m., Nunavut Arctic College. Celebrate National Sexual and Reproductive Health Day with this interactive presentation from one of Canada's top sexual health educators.

GREASE, the musical

Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11 - 12, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 13, 2:30 p.m., Inuksuk High School.

Iqaluit high school students will recreate the time, the place and the motion. Admission is free; donations go to the Iqaluit Music Society.

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