Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Nov. 24th, 2009

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

I would just like one quick answer, also, to the question about board development. You had spoken about the needs to have training for individuals who could be appointed to boards. I just wonder if you could comment on what type of training you feel would be important for those individuals.

[Brooke Clements]

For a lot of these board positions, they have to deal with fairly complex technical issues, and there is technical training related to the various aspects of the environment or operations they have to deal with. As somebody said earlier today, 40 years ago Nunavut was a hunter-gatherer society. It's been 400 years in the south since we've evolved from that. Nunavut is trying to really find its own way and do its own thing, but it will need help. What the mining industry has recommended is just some independent transitory federal government board to really watch over and assist with the formation and training of these committees, which are very technical things.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Mr. Payne.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Thank you for attending today, gentlemen.

Mr. Clements, you talked about one of the challenges regarding geoscience. Maybe you could expand upon what you see as the challenges there, the timeframes. What would be required to get the information that is needed for the industry?

[Brooke Clements]

Every exploration project starts at the desktop, where people go to the library, or now the computer, and they study an area, and they say that area has the potential for gold, diamonds, or platinum; that's the first step of any exploration project. Because Nunavut is so remote and it's covered with snow nine months of the year, there really hasn't been a lot of mapping and things like that relative to other areas that have this kind of prospectivity for mineral deposits. Just on the basic geologic mapping, geologic information gathering, map-making, there's been a lot of that in the last year or two. That has really accelerated lately, and I just urge you to continue that kind of funding.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Mark, in terms of the ports you talked about, you said three or four ports would be necessary here. Where would those be located?

Secondly, do you have any idea of what the costs would be to develop those ports?

[Manasie Mark]

I couldn't answer you for the costs, but for the three ports, we're looking at the new causeway here, and over the causeway, the old causeway, and behind that is the tanker port, where they pump out. It's at the point of Iqaluit.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Thank you very much, Mr. Payne and Mr. Dreeshen.

We have one final question on the list, and that's Mr. Bagnell's.

Go ahead, Mr. Bagnell.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Thanks.

I just have one question, Brooke.

We get different reports on the present effectiveness of the Kimberley Process in preventing corruption in Canada and blood diamonds overseas. Some people say it's falling apart and other people say it's working great. Could you give us a bit of an update on that?

[Brooke Clements]

I've had to use it a few times, and I think it's done a great job. It especially did a good job...when it was implemented there were still some major civil wars in Africa, and diamonds were at the heart of these civil wars—in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Angola. Very rapidly, it implemented a process of tracking and documenting diamonds, and it probably came close to shutting down this illicit diamond trade. I know that in its initial implementation it was extremely successful in cutting down on the trade of illicit diamonds.

I've been fortunate enough to deal with a few diamond parcels where I had to ship the diamonds to Europe, and I can tell you it is a pretty extensive process in paperwork and documentation. And I haven't heard there are any problems with it now.

[Larry Bagnell, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Okay, good.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Members and witnesses, thank you very much for your very thorough questions and responses, and certainly for your presentations. This has been extremely helpful in advancing our study. Of course all of the discussion today is transcribed, so it becomes part of the documents we'll be using to formulate our recommendations towards the end of this study.

As I mentioned earlier, I think, this is our third stop in terms of visiting the territories, but our study continues well into December and into the new year, when we'll be hearing from witnesses from a variety of different stakeholder groups, and well into early March, after which time we'll begin to formulate our report and recommendations.

At this point we will suspend the meeting.

We have four more witnesses coming up in the next hour and a half.

I see Mr. Duncan has joined us. Mr. Duncan is a full-time member of our panel, but he got delayed by flight issues yesterday.

We're glad to have you with us, Mr. Duncan.

We'll now suspend for 10 minutes. We'll resume at precisely 2:30.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

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.

[Patsy Owlijoot, Acting President, Nunavut Housing Corporation]

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.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Ms. Owlijoot, is that your last page?

[Patsy Owlijoot]

Yes, it's my last page.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Okay. I don't want to seem to be rushing you; I just want to check with you.

Go ahead and finish up. Thank you.

[Patsy Owlijoot]

Okay.

As well, major injections of short-term funding, while welcome, also strain NHC capacity, since the corporation is unable to quickly ramp up to deal with such large fluctuations in activity levels. NHC has a current staff of 103; however, 31 positions—about 30.1%—were vacant as of September 2009. These capacity issues and others are the subject of a comprehensive gap analysis study currently under way, the results of which will be shared with cabinet.

Although there are many challenges like those listed above, the NHC remains optimistic and committed to achieving our vision to ensure that families and individuals in Nunavut have access to a range of affordable housing options.

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to share this presentation with you.

I welcome any of your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Thank you very much, Ms. Owlijoot.

Now we will go directly to Mr. Patrick Doyle, Chief Executive Officer for Nunavut Broadband.

Go ahead, Mr. Doyle. Five minutes or thereabouts would be great.

Thank you.

[Patrick Doyle, Chief Executive Officer, Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation]

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.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Almost 10, actually. You did quite well. One wouldn't know that the napkin was in play there. That was quite well done.

Thank you, Mr. Doyle.

Now we'll go to Mr. Zawadski. Mr. Zawadski is representing, as I said earlier, the Nunavut Development Corporation.

Welcome, and you have the floor for five minutes plus, or whatever you need within that range.

Go ahead, Mr. Zawadski.

[Brian Zawadski, Senior Business Advisor, Nunavut Development Corporation]

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.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Are you just about getting to the end now?