EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Ng. Members’ Statements.
Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure today to welcome to the Gallery actually in the audio booth a person who needs no introduction and had been introduced in the past.
I understand he is celebrating his 40th birthday today and that coincides with the selling of his 40 millionth record, our own Elvis Presley, Mr. Jimmy Ekho in the booth.
Happy birthday and welcome to the gallery.
Speaker (interpretation): Happy birthday.
Question 508 - 1(3): Payment for Grave Workers
I have asked this question numerous times when we became Members of the Legislative Assembly.
It is in regards to an event that happened in 1968, this event happened in my community.
There were some people that moved or transferred some graves sites to another location.
I asked the Minister Mr. Anawak as to what is happening to the payment of those workers.
These questions were asked by previous Member of the legislature of the NWT, Mark Evaluardjuk.
I think it was in 1998 that he was asking these questions to the Federal Government through the GNWT.
Mr. Speaker I am trying to ask the question again.
The response was that the person that was in charge could not be contacted or was lost somehow.
So I am wondering what is happening with this issue.
Some correspondence stated that after six years the papers are destroyed in accordance with the rules of the Federal Government.
But I am sure the individuals that requested the transfer of the gravesites would like to be compensated.
I am sure there have been other incidences that happened that the Inuit would like pursued.
Although this is not the responsibility of the Nunavut Government perhaps we could relay this message to the Federal Government and state that the Federal Government’s response was not adequate for us.
I will be pursuing this and to try to contact the person that dealt with this in the first place and I will speak with the member and we will deal with this as soon as we can.
Like I mentioned that the people feel for this project that was started earlier on.
We as well have to have a feeling for the requests of that community and I will speak with the member and resolve this.
Question 509 – 1(3): Community Policing
Mr. Speaker, this is a question directed to the Minister of Justice in regards to community policing.
We really enjoy hearing about this type of news especially in regards to the young people entering the police force.
I just want to ask the minister if the guidelines for northern policing are changing.
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Justice.
In regards to northern policing, the guidelines have to be followed. At the same time I would like to assure the member and the Members of the Legislative Assembly and the people of Nunavut that the "V" Division in Nunavut, I met with Chris Bothe of the "V" Division in Iqaluit and he informed me that because he lives in an Inuit community and lives in Nunavut he will make sure that he will not break the law or the guidelines but he will be promoting the Inuit culture by providing northern police constables.
I believe in Chris Bothe's wishes about what he wants to do in regards to northern policing in the north and I mentioned earlier that they have a committee in place who are the people named earlier.
This advisory committee will be working with the RCMP as to how they can best get Inuit constables and to respect the culture of the Inuit people while doing their job and they will try to use Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit while doing their work as an advisory committee.
Question 510 – 1(3): Housing Subsidies for Elders
This is a question for the Minister of the Housing Corporation.
There are many people who own their own homes and the elders also own their own homes.
The elders only receive a pension and they have to pay for fuel, utilities, water, and other things.
I just wanted to ask the minister how the elders who are on a pension could get a subsidy for paying their monthly mortgage, fuel and other utilities.
The Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation is not here.
From what I know we do give them support with income support and I believe that we should look into it and give you a written response on what other subsidies they receive from the government.
Question 511 – 1(3): Federal Government Funding for Housing
Mr. Speaker, two days ago I heard something on the news about housing and I will be directing this question to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
Is the federal government providing funding to the Nunavut Government for housing.
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
I apologise I was rushing around.
The CMHC provides money to the Nunavut Government through an agreement that was signed between the Nunavut Housing Corporation and on top of that, the CMHC provides funding to the Nunavut Government.
I believe it is around 16 million dollars.
That is shown in our main estimates because of course it comes from a third party.
We receive those funds from the CMHC.
Mr. Speaker, to supplement my question, are we going to be reducing the amount of services provided to the elders.
Speaker (interpretation): Madame Minister.
The money that used to come to the Housing Corporation for renovations, maintenance and so on for our rental units is already depleted as I said before.
In 1993 that was the last time we got funding to build housing.
The money has no longer been provided for capital projects since 1993.
The money for operations and maintenance again will gradually be depleted in the future.
Since the money will gradually be reduced for the people living in social housing that receive benefits, for example getting their utilities paid for, are these benefits still going to be paid out by the government.
The money comes from the department of social services and I believe it is thirty-two dollars per month per tenant to pay for utilities and so on, which is paid to the Housing Corporation. The monies that are paid for utilities are very large and like I said earlier we will be setting up a 5 year plan and I will be tabling that plan in the fall.
This is something that is of major concern when we are talking about the O&M dollars that will gradually be discontinued.
The O&M dollars are used to pay for utilities and not for maintenance and neither are they for capital.
As there is going to be a gradual decrease it is a major concern to all governments.
There are also the fifteen recommendations that were made by the housing task force.
We are going to be considering those and I will be working with the various government departments to talk about the provision of water and other utilities and see how they can help us with the payment for these houses.
In regards to the payment of the operations for housing, I also believe we should include the employees.
They end up paying a large portion of their salaries for their rent.
How are they going to be included when you are considering all of housing.
Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
There are fifteen recommendations included in the housing task force report.
There are fifteen recommendations and on the seventh one it states that we should look into the rent scale.
This is one of the major concerns of the people of Nunavut and like Mr. Iqaqrialu stated, we know exactly where this concern is coming from because there are a lot of employees or people in the work force who can't meet the rent scale.
Since this is one of the recommendations we will be reviewing it, but then again we cannot do this on our own.
We have to work with the CMHC and since we operate under the policies of the CMHC we have to come to an agreement with the CMHC to deal with the rent agreement.
Coming in June we are going to start working on the recommendations that were made by the task force.
Question 512 – 1(3): Repulse Bay Health Centre
I will direct my question to the Minister of Health and Social Services in regards to the Repulse Bay health centre.
When are you going to start working on the health centre in Repulse Bay.
As the member knows in the capital planning budget for the Department of health and Social Services, which passed this House last week. There is money in there for the facility in Repulse Bay and that work will now proceed to the next stage and that will be tenders and so on.
So over the next couple of weeks the people of Repulse Bay will see advertising in place for that preliminary work to begin.
Does that mean that you are going to start working on the health centre this summer.
What it means is that right now in the budget we have money for planning and design and preliminary work and so on for the new health facility for Repulse Bay.
That money has been approved in the budget.
We will be making the advertisement for that and we hope to have the work done this construction season, this summer.
The actual building of the facility will probably be next year after this preliminary work is done this year.
Question 513 – 1(3): Changes to Housing Rent Scale
Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
She stated that there is going to be a gradual decrease in the amount of money they are going to receive from the CMHC for their O&M.
With housing still very expensive up here and with the gradual decrease in money from the federal government, my question is, will there still be an increase in the rent scale with the gradual reduction from monies coming from the federal government.
The money we receive from the CMHC there will be a gradual decrease, not right away.
Sometime in the future there will be a gradual decrease and we probably will not feel the effects right now with this present government.
It is very gradual but there is going to be a gradual decrease right until there is no more money coming in from the CMHC.
With that we are very concerned and are looking at options on how we can deal with it as a Housing Corporation and the fifteen recommendations that were tabled, are going to be tabled by the task force.
The task force on housing has been working extremely well and looking at options and recommendations.
We are going to start taking this gradual decrease into consideration and look at ways and means of how we can work with the Federal Government.
The Minister of Income Support will be considering this.
The Minister of Education is going to be doing a tour and I am sure there are going to be comments made on the issue of housing.
We will have to work with the various government departments on the housing issue and to make a plan on what we are going to be doing because of the amount of dollars we receive.
Since those are already going to be taken into consideration are you going to be working with the Federal Government to determine how you can better provide assistance.
Are you saying that you are going to be working with the Federal Government to look at other options.
Yes, this has been an ongoing process and the Federal Government has already told us what their plans are.
The Housing Corporation has known for quite a while, since way back in 1993 when the capital dollars for building new housing was cut off.
From then on we had an understanding that the O&M dollars, in the future, were going to be decreased until there was nothing coming in.
With that understanding we have been working with the present government and the government of the GNWT to look at options and also to provide access housing because we believe that the Inuit should not be only renting units.
In the Nunavut area there are many people renting and we are working on this issue.
Speaker (interpretation): Welcome Mr. McLean we have missed you.
Question 514 – 1(3): Leasing Public Housing Units
It is good to be back, I had a weather delay and it is good to see the Speaker of the week.
I hope this is not a trend that is going to continue.
I hope everybody had a happy Easter.
Mr. Speaker, where there is a strong private sector and strong housing market from the private sector and with the recent announcement of 100 construction units being built in Nunavut, would the minister consider in centres like Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay to cancel building those units and go to the private sector for those housing units.
I am sure the member for Baker Lake was rushing here to ask me the question and I am glad he walked in before the question period is gone.
Yes I have been doing that, as you know we do have some money allocated for the leasing of housing in Nunavut.
I have put forward a request for people or individuals that might be able to lease houses to us.
That is something that we are doing right now.
This is an issue we were dealing with as soon as my budget was approved.
My supplementary question to that is, that is a good answer and the minister recognizes that there is a strong private sector out there and a surplus of private homes to rent.
Would she also consider the communities like Clyde River where there is a desperate housing shortage if she is going to reallocate housing units from Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.
Would she look at the neediest communities like Clyde River and other communities that do not have a large housing market.
For example, Hall Beach and Pond Inlet that she would look at relocating those units to those communities that need them most.
We would consider that if there are housing units to lease from the private sector.
We know that everybody has a waiting list of people for each community that has been allocated housing and that is something that we would consider but we have to find affordable housing for leasing.
We have to be within reason so right now what we are doing is asking the private sector for units available for leasing.
I do know that Clyde River especially and Kugluktuk and Arviat have the highest waiting lists according to the survey that was done.
If it is at all possible to find some units to lease from those communities.
On that note could the minister agree that when she is doing this that we are not held to ransom on exorbitant leases and high costs.
Because we know there is a lot of high cost housing and I wouldn't like to see this government get into leases that they can't afford.
Can the minister assure me that she will look at this and she will look at the price factor and make her decision based on price and not just because there are some empty units in a community. Because it is very important that she look at the cost factor and not get caught in that whole trap again.
Hon. Manitok Thompson: Yes I will look into that and we are only going to be leasing units that are affordable to this government.
Question 515 – 1(3): Relocating New Public Housing Units
She just indicated to the member from Baker Lake that she is looking at some of the construction of public housing units that she talked about from the regional centres to the communities that need them.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask her if she plans on consulting with the MLAs and the LHOs from those communities prior to making any of those decisions on whether that is going to happen or not.
Minister of Housing.
Hon. Manitok Thompson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I would do that.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that it was during committee of the whole that I asked the minister in regards to these units and the money that she had referred to in her budget for the leasing of units.
She had indicated then that it was on a five year, they were looking at five year leases or something short term fix until, the plan was to eventually move people from those units to government owned units over time.
As we know leases are an ongoing thing and a public housing unit once it is built is an asset to the government.
So I would just like again to ask the minister as a result of her comments here today, have those plans changed.
Nothing has changed except that we are looking at options to address the housing shortage in Nunavut.
Third and final supplementary.
Sorry. One more. Mr. Tootoo.
It may be my last one.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to ask the minister, from what I just heard this morning in the minister's response to the member from Baker Lake, is that the minister is planning on some changes already to what she had already indicated earlier in the session and what the recommendations were, to my understanding, that the Task Force had made and she had accepted.
It sounds like to me that there have already been some suggestions or some move to change that.
I would like to ask her if she would, one, meet with the members and inform them prior to any more changes or any further changes or any finalisation of changes before she does.
There are very good ideas from other members that we can address and that's all I indicated, is that the member here just asked me earlier if we can lease from other communities and put some units somewhere else where the need is.
If we can lease six units for instance in a bigger community right away, instead of building those units we can do that. Because recommendations are just that, they are recommendations.
Mr. Speaker, in light of the minister's comments, then would she be willing to provide this house with a cost/benefit analysis as to looking at the feasibility of leasing units over a long term as opposed to building the units and having them as an asset for the government.
The bottom line is we have empty units out there and we have people on the waiting list that can get into those units.
So we have to find an affordable way of using those units.
Do we keep those units out there empty and not do anything about it, or do we do something about it if we can afford it.
Question 516 – 1(3): Location of Vacant Houses
Mr. Speaker, this is a question to the Minister of Housing.
I think there are about 40 empty units.
I just wondered which communities these 40 vacant houses are.
In Nunavut there are about 100 empty units presently and I got my staff to do a request on the number of empty units.
There are approximately 100 empty units in Nunavut.
I know in Iqaluit there are some short term leases that are being utilized by the members presently and there are not just 40 empty units, but there are approximately 100 in all of Nunavut.
Question 517 – 1(3): Laws on Vehicle Insurance in Nunavut
My question is directed to the Minister of Justice or Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, I will ask the question in English to the minister.
(interpretation ends) People in Nunavut are just beginning to learn about Canadian laws but too many still don't know how to use them for their benefit.
Lawyers too are not readily available and many don't know how to seek their expertise.
Other Canadians in the south use the courts when they need to.
Whenever one is involved in a vehicle accident, we in Nunavut are still not doing this as many are still not aware of their rights.
There have been many various vehicle accidents and deaths but many people do not seek the court's help to collect on vehicle or operator insurance.
In Nunavut vehicles and drivers are required to have insurance if they will be driving.
My question is, do Nunavut Government laws require loss of life insurance.
All the people have to have insurance for their vehicles but I am not really sure about the question that he is asking.
I will get back to the member.
Question 518 – 1(3): Re-allocation of New Housing Units
My question again is to the Minister of Housing.
When the Minister of Housing is re-evaluating what she is going to do with lease backs and maybe re-allocating units, will she go to the Standing Committee for their approval before she does this.
We have just a small window to make changes but I will certainly inform the members either by letter or some other way of giving them that information.
Because, Mr. Speaker, I don't know how long this session is going to go, I know that members are going to be going home very soon, as soon as we finish this session.
So I will inform them in some time.
Question 519 – 1(3): Ownership of Vacant Houses
I am sorry but I had a supplementary question to the Housing Minister.
The houses that are approximately 100 but are vacant, who do they belong to.
The houses in question belong to the public or people that left the community to pursue employment in another community.
Those houses are vacant at the present time Nunavut-wide.
Mr. Speaker, the communities that have vacant houses, perhaps the minister could advise me through correspondence which communities those empty units are in.
Amagoalik and Associates was asked whether they could look into or do a survey in regards to renting those empty units.
They found the communities, and using just one day to phone the communities, I am not exactly sure where they are located at this time.
Perhaps I can give the member through correspondence an incomplete list of the vacant houses and also to inform him about leasing procedures, because this leasing procedure was not dealt with through the Housing Task Force.
The only thing that the Housing Task Force concentrated on was building 100 houses and I have asked Amagoalik and Associates consultants to look into the vacant houses in the communities.
Perhaps some of the units are already rented out but I am not sure exactly what communities they are located in.
They did the survey in one day so I will be able to give Mr. Iqaqrialu a draft.
Question 520 – 1(3): Amending Nunavut Housing Corporation Policies
This is also a question to the Minister of Housing.
The Housing Corporation used to belong to the GNWT but now we will be having a stand alone Housing Corporation.
The guidelines or the policies that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation had, are they now the guidelines or the policies of Nunavut.
I just wondered whether those would be followed by the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
In the recommendations, out of the fifteen that the Housing Task Force requested, in recommendation number 2, it states that the guidelines and the policies of the Housing Corporation they requested them to be amended.
We will be dealing with them this fall as requested by the Housing Task Force.
We have the policies and the guidelines but we will be amending them.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): Also a question to the Minister of Housing.
The Task Force on Housing recommended under recommendation number two to change and amend the policies and the guidelines.
I wonder how long the minister will take to amend those and change the guidelines.
Like I mentioned earlier on, under recommendation number 7, it states that the casual and full time employees, we will be reviewing those recommendations and those guidelines.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will have to be involved if we are going to change the guidelines because they are in an agreement with us and providing funding to the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
If we are going to change the policies and the guidelines we will have to work with CMHC in doing this and we will start on this Housing Task Force recommendation 7 to change the policy and guidelines this coming summer.
I am not sure exactly how long it will take us but we will attend to it as soon as we can.
Question 521 – 1(3): Funding for Relocating Power Plants
Mr. Speaker, my question will be directed to the Minister of the Nunavut Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that we will be using 4.5 million dollars for the relocation of NTPC to Clyde River, to relocate the plant.
If the other communities have similar problems would we use that same amount of money to relocate the power plant to another location.
Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation, and I just want to make sure that I am clear on the question asked by the member, is not relocating in Clyde River, Mr. Speaker.
In actuality what is happening is that we are building a new plant in Clyde River.
I understand exactly why you have to build a new plant.
I would like clarification on the other communities.
How many communities want to relocate their power plant to another location.
Mr. Speaker, the cost of the new plant in Clyde River is about 4.5 million to 5 million dollars.
So it isn't actually locating the plant, relocating the plant.
There has been some concern, Mr. Speaker, where the power plant is located in the middle of the community.