EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Will the minister commit to having the Public Agencies Council direct the NBCC to publicly disclose the identities of the companies and individuals that receive public money in the way of loans, yes or no?
Of course, Mr. Elliott knows that I can’t just say yes or no; it is virtually impossible.
I will tell the member that I will discuss with the Public Agencies Council and the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation his request and I will try to update him as soon as possible.
In June of this year, the government tabled a letter to the former interim chairperson of the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation.
This letter rescinded previous direction of the government and restored the statutorily prescribed reporting relationship between the chief executive officer of the NBCC and the board of directors.
However, I note that the government is currently trying to recruit yet another CEO for the NBCC.
The job ad for this position states that the CEO is, and I quote, “fully accountable to the Minister of ED&T, the NBCC Board of Directors and the Comptroller General.”
How can the CEO have three bosses and does the Public Agencies Council endorse this kind of confusion in terms of the relationship between Crown corporations and the government?
I thank Mr. Elliott for that question; two questions he asked actually.
Mr. Speaker, I will again discuss with the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation and we will try to clarify any confusion on Mr. Elliott’s part on how the CEO can report to three bodies or persons.
Again we don’t want to confuse people and when you have three people to report to, it makes it kind of hard, whether you are reporting to the right person or whether you are receiving direction from the correct person.
In June of this year, the minister tabled the most recent annual report for the Public Agencies Council. According to this document, one of its priorities for the current fiscal year was to “prepare letters of direction to the territorial corporations in advance of the finalization of memorandums of understanding.”
We have not seen any of these items yet and it is clear to me from the mess at the Nunavut Housing Corporation that direction is required.
Why have these items not yet been tabled in the Legislative Assembly and will the minister commit to providing them to MLAs before the end of the fall sitting, yes or no?
I recall when I was on that side, I used to ask that question to get a yes or no, and we used to say, “yes,” “no,” or “maybe.”
Mr. Speaker, I will follow up with the member’s request and hopefully we can table those documents before the end of this sitting or we will certainly get the information to the members.
Question 474 – 3(2): Communicable Disease Rates (Ugyuk)
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I had asked questions about the types of cancer that occur across Nunavut.
I appreciated the minister’s willingness to check with his officials to see what information is available.
While he is looking into this issue, I would like to ask the minister if he would also be willing to ask his officials to see what information is available regarding the incidence of sexually transmitted infections across Nunavut.
I certainly will commit to providing more information on the type of information that she requested.
I know that once the information is available, my officials, no doubt, will provide that information to me and I will be glad to table the reports, if any, at least an indication of the type of diseases that are prevalent in Nunavut.
Ms. Ugyuk: I have often heard that good decisions are based on good information.
If we want to make people more aware of the risks involved in unhealthy lifestyles, such as having unprotected sex, we need to make them aware of the high risks of catching an infection.
Can the minister update this House on what plans are in place to formally publish information on Nunavut’s health status, including the rates of sexually transmitted infections?
Mr. Speaker, I know that I can assure the members that all of the information related to sexual diseases is normally available in terms of publications at the nursing stations in communities.
I know that, in some cases, many of our young people and even adults are not used to reading that kind of information, but we can only encourage them.
We are aware that there are high rates of transmitted infections and gaps in sexual health programming, but I can assure you that the department is doing all it can to provide information to the public, and we can certainly do more.
I will commit that the department works with the community health committees as well to ensure that the public is provided the best possible information.
I also would like to indicate that we have partners like NTI that, through the federal programs and funding, are also providing additional information from time to time.
Certainly we can partner with them in a much greater way and I will certainly commit to doing whatever I can on that.
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I would like to acknowledge the good work done by the Department of Health and Social Services on the “I respect myself” campaign which focuses on sexual health.
I have noted that the campaign distributes items such as condoms, but the supplies run out very fast.
Can the minister update this House on what steps are being taken to continue this program and whether additional supplies will be sent out to schools and public health clinics across Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, I know I can ensure the member that the Public Health Agency of Canada is providing funding for that kind of program and that program will continue to be funded until July 19, 2012.
So what I can commit to the member is that more information definitely should be made available to those who have no access to computers.
We do have a website that the member just quoted, www.irespectmyself.ca, but I am also well aware too that many of our Nunavut community members and citizens don’t always have access to computers, particularly those who are unilingual.
I can only try and assure the member that we need to do a lot more, and certainly I will be willing to provide more information as we make progress on this.
It’s a huge challenge.
Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) In some jurisdictions, regular updates are provided on the numbers of communicable diseases that have been reported in regions or communities.
Here in Nunavut, we seem to wait until an issue, such as tuberculosis, or TB, hits the news before any numbers are reported.
This often causes a panic because people don’t know if there has been a sudden outbreak or if we are experiencing a temporary increase in cases.
Has the minister given any consideration to making updates on communicable diseases across Nunavut available to the public on a regular basis?
I believe the department is somewhat making progress in that.
Even last spring, I indicated in this House that even young people were involved in attempting to provide more information to their peer groups and so on, and they’ve had venues like Northern Stores and NorthMart, for instance, handing out information to their colleagues and friends, and so on.
I certainly will encourage that we do more in that area.
I think, during the last few years, we certainly have done a bit more in terms of making these kinds of communications a lot more available to communities.
I certainly will commit to the member that the department certainly must do more and follow up where needed.
Question 475 – 3(2): Prevention of Home Invasions (Okalik)
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) My question is directed towards the Minister of Justice.
Last week, there was some disturbing news coming out of my riding that there had been a home invasion in one of my constituents’ homes and that there was a rather brutal assault on one of my constituents.
I understand that in this case, the perpetrators were caught, but that there is still quite a bit of concern in the community I represent about these types of incidents occurring.
Can the minister assure my constituents of what steps the department and the police are taking in our community?
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP was very diligent in investigating the incident and they made arrests.
I want to assure the member and the people of Iqaluit that the RCMP takes serious crimes of this nature very… they look into it right away.
They follow down every lead.
I was in communication with the chief superintendent on a regular basis on it until he informed me that they made the arrests.
I am firmly of the belief that the RCMP does an excellent job of policing in the community.
If people see or recognize that there are dangerous areas or dangerous situations, they should try to avoid them and report any suspicious activity. We can’t just depend on the RCMP to do the policing. It is important that we, as citizens of all of our communities, report crime and suspicious activity to the police.
Make sure that your doors are locked and if you are troubled by anyone knocking on your door, make sure you don’t answer it unless you know who is there.
Phone the RCMP on their operation call centre right away if you are concerned about anything.
I would imagine that you shouldn’t be walking late at night alone. That’s obviously a great concern.
You should walk with a trusted friend, or take a taxi, or get someone to drive you home.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I would encourage the minister, perhaps, that the police did more drives around my community.
It would allay some of their fears. When police are present, regardless of where they may be throughout the community, it tends to prevent a lot of activity that is not healthy for our community.
Can the minister direct the RCMP, perhaps, to cruise around the community more frequently so that their presence is felt and that the constituents, regardless of where they are in Iqaluit, feel safer throughout the community?
I thank Mr. Okalik for that suggestion.
Yes, I can talk to the RCMP about that.
I’m not privy to their daily operations and how they set everything up, but I can certainly raise Mr. Okalik’s concern and the concern of the community with the RCMP.
Question 476 – 3(2): Equality in Sport (Elliott)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for Sport Nunavut, Minister Tapardjuk.
Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I spoke of the unequal support provided to Nunavut athletes to travel to regional and territorial tournaments.
This topic has been raised a number of times in the past both by myself and my colleagues.
Has the minister given any consideration to changing the policy for allocating funding for Nunavut athletes to travel to regional and territorial tournaments?
Thank you for posing that question. In regard to funding, especially for airline and sporting events, the policy still hasn’t changed and it’s still the same as it is in 2010-11. We have $1,691,000 in total that is made available for air transportation for athletes going to another community to attend sporting events.
For example, there were 246 requests from 22 communities, and requests totalled $4,984,000 and we only had $1,600,000 to be used specifically for those purposes.
So again we were short funds, but we will keep it up and we will provide financial support to athletes who want to travel to other communities to attend sporting events.
At this moment, we are deliberating on this issue and how we can revamp it to make sure that all benefit more.
Since I have a new deputy minister, we are doing a review and we will see what kind of changes we will be making, Mr. Speaker.
On March 12, 2010, the minister submitted a return to Oral Question 223 – 3(2), which addressed support for our athletes.
In his response, the minister stated, and I quote, “The Nunavut Soccer Association piloted an all-inclusive fee structure for regional tournaments in 2009-2010.
This pilot will be reviewed with participants prior to consideration for 2010-11 events.”
Can the minister update this House on the success of the all-inclusive fee structure which was piloted in 2009-2010?
With regard to the return, I do not have a copy, so I’ll have to take that as notice and I’ll get back to him as to what the status of the report is.
I want to provide factual information, so I’ll have to take this question as notice and I’ll have to return to the question later, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Elliott, your question has been taken as notice.
Question 477 – 3(2): Status of the GN-NTI Ten-Year Inuit Housing Action Plan (Ugyuk)
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
Last month, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated publicly criticized the government for its handling of the Nunavut Housing Trust and accused the government of walking away from its housing partnership with NTI under the Ten-Year Inuit Housing Action Plan.
Can the minister provide us with his perspective on the issue and can he indicate whether or not the government is still working with NTI to lobby the federal government for housing funding?
I’m not sure; I read about that particular statement in the newspapers and, really, I’m not in a position to give a perspective on that.
I think it was a matter of an opinion whether or not this government has walked away from any agreement or arrangement.
This government has continued to acknowledge the support of Nunavutmiut, particularly the homeowners and every community member who are calling for increased housing, critical housing that we are trying to address, and it’s also very important.
In order to have healthy people, we have to decrease the overcrowding homes of Nunavutmiut, and so on.
We continue to support the principles that NTI has originally submitted to the federal government in terms of calling for over 1,000 homes.
We are getting close to building 1,000 homes.
The last remaining units are done.
The 1,000 homes will definitely be built.
We are asking for the support of all of the MLAs so that homes can be provided to Nunavutmiut, and we will not walk away from any arrangement, or commitment, or partnership with anyone on this area.
It is too critical to try and debate whether or not we have, really, an issue or not on this.
I had asked a question earlier about whether they had tried to get more housing units in conjunction with NTI and the Government of Nunavut. Have they partnered to lobby the federal government to request more housing needs for our future needs here in Nunavut?
With regard to this issue, we have to move forward to completion. Therefore, firstly, we are working extremely hard to ensure that the units currently under construction are completed.
Furthermore, my colleague spoke to this issue last spring when he spoke about the Affordable Housing Initiative program. We have to complete these additional units with the funding we received from the federal government. If we can complete them, we would receive the rest of the $100 million fund.
This initiative has a deadline date of March 31, 2012 and we are trying to complete this phase in order to qualify for the rest of the funding.
We are almost at the stage where these units are undergoing final inspections and when we reach that stage, we have to report on the program.
The federal agencies are being communicated with on a consistent basis and there have been a fair number of meetings between our agencies and the federal department.
What I can state today is that Statistics Canada is assisting us in this regard, especially as it relates to housing data in all of our communities here in Nunavut.
The housing needs survey is currently being compiled and this will definitely support our arguments in trying to get more units as it will identify the number of housing units we still need.
At this time, the report is being edited by Statistics Canada, although the data has been compiled.
They forecast a smaller timeframe, perhaps some time during our winter session, where they can release that document. I will table that report from Statistics Canada in the House when the housing needs survey is completed.
It will showcase our first follow-up report on housing which we will submit to the federal government immediately upon its completion.
Ms. Ugyuk: I am not certain if NTI has the expertise to design and run a housing construction program, but I can see an important role for NTI and our regional Inuit organizations to make a positive contribution in the area of designing and supporting training programs for Inuit to gain skills and qualifications, especially in light of the opening of our new trades school.
Can the minister indicate how the Nunavut Housing Corporation is working with Inuit organizations in this area?
Hon. Tagak Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can reply in this manner: with respect to the Inuit associations and organizations, I am quite familiar with the entities as well as their leaders.
On a personal note, I have helped to initiate some of the organizations and this is something I am not ashamed to state.
I have always stated that they are partners and that we have to work collaboratively with them.
With regard to the Nunavut Housing Corporation mandate, the funding can be used for apprentices’ hours towards their journeyperson certificate and the Department of Education is our partner on this issue.
What our department is dealing with is practical experience and their apprenticeship hours, and this is still ongoing.
There are a lot of people who have become journeypersons ever since the Affordable Housing Initiative and the housing trust were implemented. There are many people who are working towards their carpenter level and we are trying to get them to reach those levels.
We are also getting royalties from these trainees because they also have to have classroom hours.
We will continue to work with those organizations throughout this year. It seems certain that we will be able to provide status reports on partnering with the organizations and the initiatives that we are trying to implement between these Inuit organizations and the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
As the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation, I plan to work with these organizations and can discuss these issues with them at any time.
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) As we all know, NTI is currently suing the federal government and is asking for $1 billion in damages.
In the event that NTI’s lawsuit is successful, perhaps some of that $1 billion could be used to build more housing.
Would the minister consider making this suggestion to NTI’s leadership?
Mr. Speaker, I can only commit to providing the information on some of the comments that have been made.
Certainly this part of the cabinet here cannot direct the Inuit organizations or any other private institutions out there, including businesses.
So we can only communicate whether or not they would be willing to invest in some of the housing units, but it would depend on their management as well as what kind of priorities they have for Nunavutmiut.
Question 478 – 3(2): Update on Projects (Schell)
Is the new office building in Iqaluit and the white elephant residual heat project the reason for the proposed 19 percent rate increase?
Thank you, my colleague, for that question.
Just those two very issues only and only those two?
I guess my next question is: what are the costs for the office building in Iqaluit and total cost for the residual heat project in Iqaluit to date?
I don’t have that kind of fine detail before me, Mr. Speaker.
I’ll have to look into that and get back to my colleague on that kind of detail.
Are you recovering any costs from the residual heat project by selling the power produced from residual heat back to the customers in Iqaluit?
As I said, I will get back to my colleague with the details on that question.
Question 479 – 3(2): Update on Trigram Building Lease (Okalik)
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) This is unusual.
Thank you, my colleagues. (interpretation) I want to ask a question to the Minister responsible for Community and Government Services so he can stand again if he can.
We have heard, at least in my constituency office, about the Trigram Building. I am not sure what the Inuktitut name is. It’s in regard to the Trigram Building that is utilized by our public servants.
The lease is scheduled to end on March 13, 2013 and the annual lease payment is $662,760 as is shown in the financial statements.
Is the government preparing alternatives or options to get a new office building to replace the Trigram Building in the upcoming future before the lease expires?
Hon. Lorne Kusugak (interpretation): Thank you for getting me to rise; I have been tired of sitting.
Thank you, Mr. Okalik, for asking that question.
With regard to the government and the buildings which we lease as government offices, as we near the end of the lease agreement dates for them, we conduct studies as to whether or not they would remain in those office buildings.
Alternatively we look at whether they are required to move to a different building and either to a larger or smaller building.
We have to look at all of the factors related to office rental.
At this current time, the lease end date is still a while away, but I know that as we get closer to that date, we will be conducting studies and looking at where we can make improvements and the leasehold improvements that we may have to make.
However, we conduct a study of all the required issues before we change offices.
I tried to ask that question immediately since I would like the department to start planning to change the office building currently leased out as it has caused health issues in the past.
The Trigram Building has a history of respiratory issues amongst the workers due to mould.
In knowing that this has been the case, I do not want the government to have to rush if it becomes an emergency.
So I would first like to ask: are you going to be planning a possible replacement in the immediate future? That date will reach us quite soon.
I further encourage the minister to start planning so that they have an alternative to the Trigram Building, perhaps even a new building. At the very least, they should have a building that is much more worker friendly.
Thank you, Mr. Okalik, for awakening us towards the issues that we have to keep in observation when we are dealing with office buildings.
As I told the member previously, I believe it was at our June sitting and the mould issues that the member raised, they did not find any mould and they cleaned out the pollution.
Also, in February, they conducted another study to determine air quality in the Trigram Building.
They did not find any deleterious or harmful substances in February, according to the engineering firm there.
I do not want the workers there to be fearful of that office.
As we get closer to the end of the lease date, we will start our preparations at an early stage.
Again I would like to thank you for waking us up to those facts.
As we get closer to March 2013, I’m sure the member will again stand up to remind me about this office building.
If there are no more… .
Question 480 – 3(2): Poverty Strategy between GN and NTI (Elliott)
My questions are directed towards, I believe it would be the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Minister Taptuna.
In regard to the recent news release that came out about NTI working with his department on the poverty strategy, with some of the questions that Ms. Ugyuk had in terms of NTI going into agreements with the Government of Nunavut and then either funding being accessed or work being done and not both parties working out a specific agreement in terms of a terms of reference, has the Government of Nunavut worked out a Memorandum of Understanding with NTI on the poverty strategy and outlining how they are going to work together?