Media CentrePivalialigiyit Havakviitᑐᓴᕋᑦᓴᓕᕆᔩᑦ - Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (original) (raw)
NTI Board of Directors makes commitments in infrastructure, suicide prevention, shelters and Inuktut during meetings in Pond Inlet
Friday August 30th, 2024
For Immediate Release
(August 30, 2024 – Pond Inlet, Nunavut) The Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) Board of Directors met in Pond Inlet this week to continue development of NTI’s strategic priority workplans, and passed resolutions to invest in infrastructure, housing and mental health, and approved the Uqausirngaq Framework.
To enable NTI and Regional Inuit Associations (RIAs) to plan and complete infrastructure projects, the board passed a resolution to allocate 100millionoftheGovernmentofCanada’sIndigenousCommunityInfrastructureFund(ICIF).Asaresultofstronginvestmentpoliciesandperformance,anadditionalamountof100 million of the Government of Canada’s Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund (ICIF). As a result of strong investment policies and performance, an additional amount of 100millionoftheGovernmentofCanada’sIndigenousCommunityInfrastructureFund(ICIF).Asaresultofstronginvestmentpoliciesandperformance,anadditionalamountof11.6 million in interest earned on these funds was also allocated between NTI and the RIAs.
The Board approved $11.2 million spending plan for the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy. The plan supports healthy communities, empowers Inuit youth, provides wrap around supports for child survivors of sexual abuse, documents Inuit traditional knowledge on mental health and 2SLGBTQ+, and provides targeted supports in communities with particularly high levels of suicide in Nunavut.
The board passed a resolution for the funding to construct three domestic violence shelters in Baker Lake, Gjoa Haven and Pangnirtung. This commitment will see the completion of shelters announced in March 2021. Since that time, NTI, with the communities, has completed designs and secured funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative.
For the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, NTI hosted a meeting in Kugluktuk in November 2023 to jointly plan Inuktut revitalization, reclamation and maintenance. The NTI Board reviewed the plan, the Uqausirngaq Framework, which will see Inuit organizations focus efforts on education, language skills training, community programs, language documentation, media and arts.
The NTI Board of Directors is committed to enhancing transparency and providing meaningful financial information to Inuit. After an audit of NTI’s financial records, the external auditor issued a clean, unmodified audit opinion and observed a marked improvement in financial statement disclosures. As NTI continues to grow, the financial processes and internal control systems have remained effective in providing assurance on the integrity of reported information.
Inflation continues to exert pressure on core operations, and the NTI Board of Directors expressed disappointment that funding from the Nunavut Trust declined by $28 million – representing a 39% decrease in revenues for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
Other topics of discussion during the meeting included updates from the Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey, which launched earlier this summer in Pond Inlet, as well as Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam’s tour of Nunavut communities affected by tuberculosis outbreaks, including Pond Inlet.
Thursday evening, the Board visited the women’s shelter, which has been open and operating since November 2023. The Pond Inlet shelter was also announced by NTI in March 2021. The community chose to renovate an existing building and NTI invested $2.6 million into the renovation. The Board learned about the care and programs the shelter provides to women and children escaping violence.
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Media Contact:
Ivaluarjuk Merritt
Director of Communications
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.