Nunavut projects fourth deficit budget in a row on slightly increased revenues

IQALUIT, Nunavut – The Nunavut government is tabling its fourth deficit budget in a row despite slightly increased revenues.

“Planning to spend more than we expect to receive in a year is not a comfortable feeling,” said a copy of the speech Finance Minister George Hickes was to deliver in the territorial legislature Wednesday.

“However, given the many pressing issues that this budget seeks to address, our government believes that planning for a small deficit in 2020-21 is a necessary and worthwhile measure.”

Hickes said the territory will take in more than $2.3 billion this year, a small increase due mostly to higher federal transfers.

However, the document still forecasts an operating deficit of about $30 million. That’s less than one per cent of its total budget, but still more than double last year’s $12-million deficit forecast.

The biggest winner in this year’s budget was Health, which will see nearly $40 million more in spending.

“This budget aims to foster individual and community wellness, particularly in health care and support to families and individuals in crisis,” said Hickes’s speech.

The speech said the reason for the increase was the high cost of medical travel in Nunavut, which will eat up about two-thirds of the increase. The territory doesn’t have the population density to support the full range of medical services, so Hickes said one out of every five dollars in the health budget is spent flying patients south.

“This is unacceptable,” said Hickes’s speech.

“We should not have to choose between offering Nunavummiut levels of medical care comparable to the rest of Canada while at the same time trying to balance a budget based on federal transfers that take insufficient account of the service delivery challenges in our vast territory.”

The budget also moved to address concerns about the relationship between RCMP officers and the remote, Inuktut-speaking communities they serve.

Hickes proposed hiring six new RCMP officers, as well as four Inuktut-speaking civilian RCMP employees to work with dispatches fielding calls from communities.

“They will work directly with the dispatchers to answer calls — for this is often when Nunavummiut need help the most — and will assist the police in a way that better serves the language and cultural needs of Inuit.”

Hickes said Nunavut’s economy is expected to grow 13 per cent this year, largely because of mine activity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2020