Nunavut News
The federal government is committing $21.5 million to the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s slimmed-down request to get the Grays Bay Road and Port project “shovel ready” over the next couple of years.
The funding announcement for the initiative, which is expected to make Nunavut mining projects more economical and potentially reduce cost for community resupply, came Tuesday in Iqaluit. Federal Minister of Transport Marc Garneau was on hand for the occasion.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) had already announced that it would give $7.25 million to the initiative. “We are very happy with the outcome… we feel good about where we are,” said Scott Northey, CEO of Nunavut Resources Corporation in regards to the financing from the federal government and NTI.
Through its subsidiary Nunavut Resources Corporation the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA) originally sought $415 million for the $550-million Grays Bay project from Ottawa in but that request was rejected in April 2018.
KIA president Stanley Anablak described the Grays Bay Road and Port as a “nation-building project” while addressing the Transport, Infrastructure and Communities committee in Ottawa on June 4. Anablak compared it to Canada’s nationwide railway construction of the 1800s.
For the rest of this article: https://nunavutnews.com/nunavut-news/ottawa-gives-21-5-million-to-kitikmeot-road-and-port-project/