EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
During our shooting exercises, he used to take care of us, so Robert.
Mr. Iqaqrialu (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize someone.
One of my constituents, Louisa Kooneeliusie.
Welcome to the gallery, and I would like to state that these are all men and she’s the only female, and she has a difficult job to do which I am very proud of, from Clyde River. I would like to welcome everybody to the gallery.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize someone.
If you watched hockey during the Arctic Winter Games, or during tournaments you probably have seen the person many times because he usually wears a goalie mask - David Nakashuk.
I would like to recognize Charlie Cookie from Upper 11 in Churchill days and Vincent Malaki. When his Kamiks would get too wet I used to tie up his kamiks.
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize from my constituency, Steve Marks, and Kevin Lebinski from Kimmirut.
I would like to welcome them to the Gallery.
Question 286 – 1(6): Cost of Pangnirtung Session
In his Member’s Statement he talked about the benefits and the costs of holding a session outside of Iqaluit.
I would like to ask the Minister if he will be tabling the additional costs for the Government for holding the session in Pangnirtung.
Speaker: Minister of Finance, Minister Ng.
A very timely question.
Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to table it this afternoon.
It is just in translation.
Question 287 – 1(6): Shipping Fuel Cost
Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Public Works and Services.
I mentioned it in my Member’s Statement, and it has been in the news recently. In past years NTCL was able to reduce the cost of shipping dry goods through an economy of scale by shipping fuel and dry cargo on the same vessels into the Kivalliq communities. NTCL stated that by doing this the dry cargo rates were being subsidized by the fuel.
Can the Minister tell me what affect the separate shipping of fuel and dry goods will have on the cost of shipping for consumers in the Kivalliq?
Hon. Peter Kattuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) The question that he raises is a very good one.
During the past years the fuel and dry goods were shipped together, and next year they will be shipped separately.
The question that he is asking and my response is that I don’t think this will have much of an impact on prices.
In the present contract, we are in the final stages so we are still finalizing it because it is not complete yet.
I expect in answer to his question that there will not be too much of a difference in prices.
Mr. Speaker, that is not the answer that I was looking for.
Can the Minister assure me in this House today that consumers will not pay for the delivery of the fuel savings through the purchase of their dry goods?
We will be looking for the cheapest means and we will be seeking those so that the cargo that will be shipped to the Keewatin will not be so expensive.
Mr. McLean: Mr. Speaker, the point that I am trying to get here, as I said earlier in my question, is that it used to be the fuel and the dry cargo travelled together on the same vessel.
NTCL assured us that there was a cost savings because the fuel subsidized the dry cargo.
Can the minister tell me if the cost of shipping dry cargo to the Kivalliq was considered during the RFP process for the fuel delivery?
We are still in the finalizing stages and the question the member is asking I can’t give him a definite answer at this time because we are still looking at the situation so I cannot answer his question at this time.
Mr. Speaker, when you put the RFP out, and I was the first one to say in this House that 19 million over three years is a significant cost savings.
It’s hard to justify criticizing the government for the cost savings involved in the fuel delivery.
But the issue here is that, when the building contracts are awarded in the Kivalliq costs are estimated based on the cost to supply, ship, and erect buildings.
This means that a contractor must determine in their price what the cost to ship building materials will be and pass that cost onto the government.
Can the minister assure me government contracts for building will not increase for these reasons?
And what I’m getting to here is if we cost save 6 million a year or whatever million a year on the fuel delivery contract, it’s no secret we just approved a 16 million dollar school for Arviat, a 17 or 18 million dollar health facility for Rankin Inlet, another 2 or 3 million contract for a project in Baker Lake, another project in Chesterfield Inlet.
But to quote the tender, if we don’t have the dry cargo rate established and they’re not going to increase, then the government may be in hot water you know for another 2 or 3 million in extra freight, if the cost isn’t protected before we settle on the dry cargo rate.
Does the minister understand that and can he confirm that to me?
It’s not going to cost; you take it out of one hand and put it in the other.
And the overall cost savings, it might cost us more.
Can the minister commit to checking this out before he makes a decision?
I expect that this will be cheaper than the NTCL the dry goods that will be delivered to the Keewatin region and we will also look for the lowest contractors for construction.
So I don’t have a big concern that it might be more expensive.
So I don’t expect that because we will be looking for the lowest contract responses.
Question 288 – 1(6): Update on the Municipal Finance Review
Mr. Speaker, I’ll be asking the Minister of Finance.
Can the minister of finance update this House on the status of the municipal finance legislation review?
Mr. Speaker, as the member mentioned earlier, I thought he was going to ask the minister of finance.
So I’m caught off guard.
Can he repeat his question, please?
Speaker: Mr. Alakannuark, would you repeat the question and clarify it?
Can the Minister of Finance, update this House on the status of the municipal finance and legislation review.
Speaker: The question is directed to Minister Thompson.
But maybe some of the question should go to the finance minister.
I would suggest Ms. Thompson if you can attempt to answer the question.
Yes I understand the question of the member.
It’s the responsibility of my department. On the review of municipal finances we are near completion of the municipal finance review and it has been given to the mayors and hamlets in the communities.
What we want to do is get some understanding from the hamlet councils and for them to review it and it is still in their hands.
Mr. Alakannuaq.
Mr. Alakannuaq (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’m sorry I made a mistake about which minister I should direct it to and I apologise.
When will the review be completed and when will the municipal financing be completed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The municipal finance review was given to the mayors in October.
As a result the mayors, hamlet councils, and their staff are in the process of reviewing them at this time, and will give the government their views on the review.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not really sure when exactly that would be provided in this House at this time because it’s in the hands of the municipal councils; or the hamlets and mayors of communities. So when that is done I will be tabling it in this House.
Yes I understand the minister’s response.
Once that review is done by the municipal councils and it’s given back to her department, will her department be able to give us the information in this House?
What we’re doing is reviewing the municipal financing that we give to the hamlets; we’re not talking about giving money to the municipal councils. What we are doing is the review of their financing whether it needs strengthening and once those reviews have been done, I will be tabling it in the House.
Question 289 – 1(6): Female Incarceration Facility
I would like to direct a question to the Minister of Justice about the female correctional facilities.
What kinds of facilities do they have at this time for females while they are awaiting their trials here in Iqaluit?
We have been continuing with what we have been using since the GNWT.
When we have females incarcerated, what we do is we are following what we used during the GNWT.
I am sure that we have to find a better system for taking care of the female inmates that are waiting to go to court.
The Minister stated that he will be looking for a better system for females that are on remand.
Can the Minister tell us, the Minister stated that they keep them at a correctional facility, what kind of place do they hold them in?
What we do when they are remand they wait at the RCMP cells because they do not have any room at the Baffin Correctional Centre as that is allotted for male inmates.
So we provide RCMP cells when they are awaiting their trial.
It is good that there are not that many females that are on remand, but we will have to look at this in the future.
Yes, I thank the Minister for his response.
He stated that they have to stay at the RCMP cells.
For instance if I am waiting to go to court and I am at the RCMP cell, and if it happens that they have people that are intoxicated in the same cell, is that the kind of person that I would have to room with?
The males have a better facility, but the females have to be in the cells.
They must be together with the people that are intoxicated.
They have a separate cell that they go to.
The people that are intoxicated are in a different cell than the ones that are in remand; they are in a separate one.
I am not exactly sure at this time whether they are in the same room on occasion as the people that are intoxicated.
We have been using this system since the GNWT days.
I mentioned that I would have to look for a better system for females that are on remand.
Yes, this has to be resolved and the females given inadequate space while they are on remand. Can the minister inform us that when the females are on remand are they allowed to be visited by their relatives?
Yes, they can have visits by their families while they are being held in the cells, while they are on remand.
Question 290 – 1(6): Cost of Incarceration in Various Facilities
Can the minister provide us with how much it would cost the Nunavut Government to take inmates to Yellowknife, the BCC or southern institutions?
Perhaps he could give us a little bit of information about how expensive it is to have those inmates in various institutions.
Yes, there are various costs, different costs but I can’t really say exactly how much it is right now.
If the BCC is too full as well as the inmates from further west, we send them to the Yellowknife correctional centre. This allows them to be closer to their communities in Nunavut.
It may be about 170 dollars per day for an individual if we take them to the southern correctional facility; I think it’s about 140 dollars a day at BCC and in the communities it’s about 120 dollars and we also provide some extra for them if they need to get some assistance.
And what we do extra is give them education and in Iqaluit, at the BCC, we don’t have the figures added, we have not added the figures yet as to the numbers on the inmates presently being held at BCC.
After we collect the number for inmates that we hold here in Baffin I will provide it to the members.
The minister just gave us some costs for each of the facilities.
In smaller communities such as in Pond Inlet, they have somebody providing for those in remand until their fate is decided by a criminal court.
Once convicted, at what point would the decision be made to determine who would go to what facility?
Depending on the sentence passed, can inmates be held in a community? I’m not exactly sure how they go about determining that.
Can the minister inform us about that?
What they do is first of all, the Department of Justice finds out whether the inmate will be able to be put in the outpost programs. Then they assess that individual first to make sure they’re not a danger to the public before they take them to the outpost camp.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): The minister stated that it’s cheaper to keep inmates at the outpost program.
How come it’s cheapest?
What we do is we do a study on the operations of each facility and we don’t have any control over the outpost camps except to provide them with operating funds.
So we do not have anything to do with the costs in the outpost camps at this time.
What we do is we look at the operations of the outpost camps for the inmates in the communities and we provide them with assistance.
We also provide extras for providing them with skidoos and other equipment so they can go out on the land.
From what I understand there are some costs that are out of your hands.
Who is responsible for setting their rates and who pays for the costs within Nunavut?
I was talking about the Yellowknife costs, Ontario, and places outside the jurisdiction of Nunavut.
We do have an agreement with the communities outside of our jurisdiction.
But if we look at Iqaluit for example, the owner and the employees, the fishing facility and the utilities and so on, we would have to add those costs up for the members.
Only then can I respond to your questions. But in regards to the outpost program, as I stated earlier, we do provide services and other essential equipment to keep up this program.
Question 291 – (6): Funding Programs
As I said earlier, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Finance.
Will the Minister of Finance bring forward a report on all expenses for programs?
For example, how the arts programs are funded, things such as IBC and the production of the Atanarjuat movie.
How do you fund these types of programs?
Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure about the Member’s question in respect to tabling of expenses. There is a consolidated financial statement that will be tabled once it is finalized with the Office of the Auditor General.
If he is referring to the issue of a Film Tax Credit which possibly he may have been, that is more along the lines of a Sustainable Development issue where they are trying to put together a program right now in respect of a potential film tax credit.
Speaker: To ensure that you get your question answered Mr. Iqaqrialu; did you want to clarify your question? Which Minister, which topic?
I think I can ask all the Minister’s the same question because I think that there is interconnection between the government departments.
The only reason I directed my question to the Minister of Finance is because he’s responsible for the government’s finances.
I am asking him why the Arts Programs and the Film Industry is under funded by the Government of Nunavut.
What I would like to know is if people out there are asking for financial support and contributions are they given the proper support?
Each government department should be able to drop off a report and your department make it into one consolidated report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the Member is probably alluding to the broader issue of government spending priorities and programs.
I think that’s what the whole main estimates exercise process is in respect of reviewing all the programs of every department individually. Whether there’s a Standing Committee process or more formally, as the Committee of the Whole and articulating what those needs are.
The Standing Committee makes recommendations and we try to address those recommendations in the form of additional resources if at all possible.
But I think it's recognized that we have a limited amount of resources.
We’d like to do more but we can only do so much with the resources available to us.
Have there been requests for funding from different organizations who try to promote the culture and language of the Inuit or of Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, I would say that there have been applications to every government department and to every minister that’s in charge of a program in respect to requests for funding for different programs, different initiatives.
Because of the fact that that’s how we deliver a lot of our programs through grants and contributions in respect to trying to meet some of those initiatives that are put forward.
The organizations who request funding from the Government, do they get the proper support or do they receive what they are requesting?
Mr. Speaker, as you know there are always more applications for programs than there are funds available to support all those applications.
So it’s a matter of if the proposal fits the criteria for the program first of all, and if not, secondly I guess if the amount of funding requested is available and if not then we try to assist those organizations or applicants by looking at other avenues.
Whether it is through different Federal jurisdictions or departments, or other departments within our own Government, we try to help them.
It is not always the case that we are able to provide what is requested.
Question 292 – 1(6): Awarding of Contract and Cost Savings
The Public Works Minister has stated through his Minister’s Statement that there will be approximately 19 million dollars saved in a three year span.
Yes, the Government is going to be saving that amount.
If we look at the dry goods or the transportation of dry goods, they usually are ordered by individuals or retail outlets.
As the Minister had stated earlier, there would be a savings of 19 million dollars over a three year span.
If they had to use more for the transportation of oil or fuel to the Keewatin region, are you going to be informing us about the increase in the price for the transportation of fuel, prior to its implementation?
I cannot respond to your question at this point because I don’t know whether there is going to be a decrease or an increase.
There will be another review and we will be consulting with ship-owners, transporters, and so on, and of course we will be looking at other ways of cutting costs; we will be asking the private companies and only then will we find out.
We have now found a contractor who can give us substantial savings.
That is going to be our practice.
We will definitely look for any cost saving measures for the transportation of fuel.
NTCL, if they were not the cheapest transporters, and if you did find a company that could provide the services for a cheaper price, using truckers in Montreal for example, and transporting to the Keewatin, then we would have no more supplies from Winnipeg for the delivery of dry goods.
What about the MOU that was signed between the Nunavut Government and the Government of Manitoba?
The agreement is still in place today.
As a Government we have to provide the best prices for the best dollar.
Living in Nunavut is extremely costly and we have to take every measure to look at how we can decrease the costs.
It does not matter where or who provides the services.
We are looking at building a road from Manitoba to the Keewatin, so we will not need to use ships to transport our goods.
We have a very good working relationship with the Government of Manitoba. You probably know about global warming, we are working with other jurisdictions and it’s going to stay the same.
But as a government we have to provide the best service for the best interests of our clients.
We have to meet the needs of the people of Nunavut.
There are numerous Keewatin and Inuit businesses that are provided services from Manitoba businesses; it’s very well established to date.
This is just an example, if we ship the products from Montreal to Churchill, and because we’re not going to be using NTCL anymore, what kind of support will the private businesses be given in the Keewatin region so that the increases are not too big a hit on them.
We will seek the lowest cost to private businesses, as we always endeavour to.
We will continue to offer as many options as possible so that we can get cheaper prices, whether it be through Manitoba, or through Montreal. Whoever has the cheapest price will be contracted by the government. Just like any private businesses, we look for cost savings.
Question 293 – 1(6): Statistics on Inmate Outpost Camps
A while ago during his statement, he said that those who are incarcerated are put into correctional institutes, as well as in the outpost camps to serve their time.
I would like to find out how many outpost camps have a contract for inmates being sent out on the land.
I have responded to a similar question and it’s still about the same; we would like to see it increased, especially to the outpost camps who have inmates or who are looking after inmates.
I can’t tell you exactly how many are taken care of by outpost camp operators.
Maybe I could ask you in one region you might have a better idea.
Using Kitikmeot as an example, how many operators do you have in that region in the outpost camps?
I cannot respond to this particular question at this time.
We can revisit it tomorrow in the House.
Question 294 – 1(6): In-patient Detoxification Facility in Kivalliq
Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Health regarding his statement or commitment of having some type of in-patient detoxification services in Nunavut.
Does the Minister know to this day how many they are going to set up in Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, in an answer in this House earlier in this session, on the detoxification, we talked about detoxification and we clarified it.
Detoxification is a program that is run by this department, Mr. Speaker.
We would run that program in one of our small, non-decentralized communities, where we have the opportunity for having a resident, where we actually have people in-house to do the detoxification program.
A non-decentralized community.
Are we talking about one facility for all of Nunavut?
Hon. Ed Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that Mr. McLean read the Mental Health Strategy that has been presented in this House, with the price tag of 2.2 million dollars.
In the Strategy we talked about limited detox.
When we talk about limited detox, we have provided for example, in the new psychiatric facility to open up, we hope to have maybe at least one or two beds available for 24 hour, 7 day a week care for someone who is going through an addictions program or where they are being detoxified.
Mr. Speaker, we would also hope to have that type of program in a resident setting, where you are working with a person and/or their families when you are trying to do detoxification, as we have discussed before in this House.
Currently in the Kivalliq, people have to travel to Thompson, which is another environment that they have to be cured in.
I think that causes a small problem though it does help.
Would the Minister consider opening an outpatient service, or an inpatient service in one of the larger Kivalliq communities?
Mr. Speaker, one of the options that is available to us with the completion of the new Health Centre in Rankin Inlet, is to have an available bed where we would be able to run a limited detoxification program.
That is why we have said this detox is a program and not specifically a facility.
We would hope to be able offer the same program in Cambridge Bay in that regional facility, as well as I said earlier, here in Iqaluit, a psychiatric facility, and have a detox program run out of a residence setting in one of the non-decentralized communities.
Question 295 – 1(6): Status of Program Review
Last year and a half or so, the buzzword of this Government was Program Review.
It is a word that has changed and disappeared in the last little while.
I’d like to ask the premier if he could update this House as to the status of the program review by the government.
I believe that we’ve been tied up in actually carrying out the program review.
So, it’s been fairly quiet.
The first phase I believe has been completed in terms of gathering information within our government departments and we have practically completed the external part of our review.
We will now be commencing asking our constituents and the MLA’s themselves what they think about the programs we’re providing with questionnaires and questions.
Hopefully starting next month we will be travelling to the communities and hearing from the people and perhaps some focus groups on the best ways of delivering programs for them in Nunavut.