By James Raiswell
It must be an April Fool’s Day joke! On April 1, Canada welcomed the new territory of Nunavut into Confederation, making it the largest administrative region in the country. It spans one-fifth of the Canadian land mass, or an area the size of Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon combined. It is the new homeland for the displaced Inuit.
Despite its sheer physical immensity, the new territory has a population of slightly more than 27,000 people. If you want to talk about immensity, consider the territory’s annual budget of roughly $620 million.
When will the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and its minister, Jane Stewart, let us all in on their little prank? Is the Canadian government using our money wisely by creating a territory whose operating budget works out to about $23,000 per capita? Or is this some elaborate April Fool’s joke for which the Canadian taxpayer will foot an enormous bill?
In terms of federal transfer payments, Nunavut will absorb about $1.15 billion over the next 14 years. That figure does not take into account the added $150 million in one-time administrative costs to the Canadian government.
Socially, the territory looks to be a mess of problems. Unemployment in the territory checks in at 22 per cent — nearly triple the national average. The welfare rate of the territory is three times the national average and half of the adult population in the territory hasn’t even completed Grade 9.
Suicide rates in the territory are six times that of the national figure; incarceration figures are triple those of the Canadian average and one-third of the population abuses solvents.
Too may social ills, you say? Fair enough. Consider the population figures for the region. Nunavut’s largest community (Iqaluit) checks in at about 4,200 people; its smallest community is Bathhurst Inlet, with 18 people.
Politically, the federal government is declaring the settlement to be a landmark agreement and the Inuit who live on the territory are delighted to have control over their homeland.
But does the 19-member Nunavut Legislative Assembly expect to improve the many social, political and economic problems the territory faces days into its inception? Or will it simply fall back on the federal government, pleading for more fiscal aid when things go wrong?
Come on, Jane Stewart, let the cat out of the bag. April Fool’s Day pranks are supposed to have stopped at noon.
Could it be that the government is serious about this one?