NewsAlert: Nunavut tables stand-pat budget with thin $36M surplus
IQALUIT, Nunavut – Nunavut has tabled a largely stand-pat budget that forecasts a sliver-thin surplus.
The anticipated $36-million cushion on revenues of about $1.6 million will be the Arctic territory’s third surplus in a row.
But it’s entirely dependent on federal largesse — about 90 per cent of Nunavut’s revenue still comes from Ottawa.
Finance Minister Keith Peterson says the number of jobs and the employment rate are rising in the territory.
He says the average weekly wage topped $1,000 last year for the first time.
New spending is to focus on fighting poverty, on ways to keep kids in school and on addressing social problems such as suicide and family violence.
Spending on big projects is down as the territory completes initiatives such as rebuilding Iqaluit’s airport.
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