Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated is spending $100 million on infrastructure, mental health and language, the land claims organization announced Friday, Aug. 30.
That will include the completion of domestic violence shelters in Baker Lake, Gjoa Haven and Pangnirtung.
The money is coming from the Government of CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund, which gained $11.6 million in interest, Nunavut Tunngavik stated.
However, inflation concerns continue to exert pressure on the organization's core operations, NTI acknowledged.
"The NTI board of directors expressed disappointment that funding from the Nunavut Trust declined by $28 million SA国际影视传媒� representing a 39 per cent decrease in revenues for the 2023-2024 fiscal year," an Aug. 30 news release reads.
"The NTI board of directors is committed to enhancing transparency and providing meaningful financial information to Inuit," continued the news release. "After an audit of NTISA国际影视传媒檚 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."
The organization's board, which met in Pond Inlet this week, approved $11.2 million for the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy, which 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.
In regards to the Inuit language, the directors reviewed an Inuktut revitalization plan and the Uqausirngaq Framework, previously discussed during a November 2023 board meeting in Kugluktuk. The goal is to ensure Inuit organizations focus their efforts on education, language skills training, community programs, language documentation, media and arts.
Also discussed during the Pond Inlet meeting were health-related updates from the Qanuippitaa National Inuit Health Survey, which was launched earlier this summer. Dr. Theresa Tam, CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 chief public health officer, and her tour earlier this year of Nunavut communities affected by tuberculosis outbreaks, was also on the agenda.
On August 29, the board visited the local womenSA国际影视传媒檚 shelter, open and operating since November 2023. The Pond Inlet shelter had previously been announced by NTI in March 2021. The community chose to renovate an existing building, with NTI investing $2.6 million towards that cause. The board learned about the care and programs the shelter provides to women and children in the community escaping domestic violence.
