The aging and deteriorating condition of hunters and trappers buildings are a source of "ongoing frustration," Hudson Bay MLA Allan Rumbolt said in the legislative assembly on Wednesday.
The Department of the Environment’s 2019-20 main estimates include $223,000 in operations funding for the three wildlife organizations: the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, the Kivalliq Wildlife Board and the Kitikmeot Wildlife Board.
Rumbolt wanted to know what more the GN can do to aid Nunavut's hunters and trappers in constructing new offices as well as install radio repeaters to improve communications and enhance safety.
He noted that a new HTO office in Cambridge Bay soon to open, but that funding came through the Nunavut Inuit Wildlife Secretariat.
Environment Minister Joe Savikataaq acknowledged that the GN doesn't have any designated capital funding for HTO buildings.
"We are struggling ourselves just to replace our own office needs, so we just don’t have any extra money for infrastructure," said Savikataaq. "But if there is a viable capital project they want to do, they can speak with our department, they can speak with economic development and throw in a business aspect of it. I know there is at least one HTO that has done that in the past."