Pangnirtung, Nunavut, July 13, 2010 — The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health and Minister Responsible for the North, was joined by Gordon MacKay, Assistant Deputy Minister of Economic Development & Transportation, to announce that the governments of Canada and Nunavut will improve airport safety and convenience by jointly investing $1.2 million toward an airport runway resurfacing initiative in Pangnirtung. Mr. MacKay represented the department on behalf of Economic Development & Transportation Minister Peter Taptuna.
“Our Government is proud to partner with the Nunavut Territory in making essential infrastructure initiatives like this one a reality,” said Minister Aglukkaq. “Not only will this investment in Pangnirtung’s airport runway improve safety and convenience for air travellers, but it will also stimulate and benefit this community for years to come by creating jobs and improving travel links to the community.”
“The resurfacing of Pangnirtung’s Airport Runway will enhance the overall safety of plane access to the community,” said Minister Taptuna. “This project also includes application of surface stabilization materials, which will benefit the health of Pangnirtung residents by reducing the amount of dust created by planes taking off and landing on the runway.”
The funding of this project was made possible by use of the Provincial-Territorial Base Fund administered through Infrastructure Canada. The Provincial-Territorial Base Fund is part of the Building Canada Plan and is designed to provide investments in key infrastructure in Nunavut for core infrastructure priorities such as water, wastewater, green energy, regional and community airports, as well as safe roads.
The Government of Nunavut is working closely with the Government of Canada to ensure that infrastructure funds are spent on priorities throughout the territory. Since 2007, approximately $142.6 million has been committed across Nunavut toward initiatives under the PT Base Fund, with close to $107 million coming from the Government of Canada alone.
Across all of its funds, Infrastructure Canada has now committed more than $10.2 billion toward over 6,000 infrastructure projects as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. When combined with the contributions of our funding partners, there is close to $30.5 billion committed to infrastructure projects across the country.
For further information on infrastructure projects in Nunavut, visit www.creatingjobs.gc.ca.
To learn more about Canada’s Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca
Contacts:
James Kusie
Office of Canada’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister
613-991-0700
Infrastructure Canada
613-948-1148
Matthew Illaszewicz
Manager, Communications
Economic Development & Transportation
Government of Nunavut
867-975-7818
