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GN expedites construction of Whale Cove water treatment plant; MLA seeks other replacements

Planning and design for Whale Cove's new water treatment plant will begin next year, Community and Government Services Minister Lorne Kusugak said in the legislative assembly on Thursday.

"We prefer not to have boil water advisory requirements for Whale Cove or anywhere else in Nunavut." says Lorne Kusugak, minister of Community and Government Services.
NNSL file photo

The facility was originally scheduled for 2024 but it should now be complete in 2023, Kusugak said, adding that Covid-19 is not anticipated to affect the timeline.

"It is entirely true that Whale Cove has been forced to endure boil water advisories practically from the commencement of spring up until the fall season sometimes," Kusugak admitted. "We prefer not to have boil water advisory requirements for Whale Cove or anywhere else in Nunavut."

John Main, the MLA representing Whale Cove, had raised the need for a new water treatment plant several times over the past three years. On Thursday, he also pointed out that the community's dump needs remediation or replacement.

Kusugak said planning and design for the landfill will be done in 2021-22. That will be followed by a cost estimate and then a request will be made for funding in the legislative assembly, according to the minister.

The "quite dilapidated" public works workshop in Whale Cove needs to be replaced, says MLA John Main.
photo courtesy of John Main

Main then reiterated that a new public works workshop is required in Whale Cove. He described the existing aging shop as "quite dilapidated and on the verge of being a derelict building."

"It is an eyesore and unsightly. It doesn’t even seem a place of work," said Main.

Kusugak said the the last sealift ship brought in materials for fabricated buildings, which will be under construction next spring and summer.