EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
That is going to be a good benefit for new buildings. We all know, Mr. Speaker, that a large majority of buildings are not new units. Not all of the buildings owned by the housing corporation are new.
Are you going to be installing LED lights in those buildings? It would lower the cost of operations greatly for the government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can say to the member, people who are watching the proceedings, people renting units, and my colleagues in this House that when older buildings need to be renovated, LED lighting will be installed.
Mr. Speaker, I can state that for the buildings that are owned by the housing corporation, for example, the LHO warehousing offices in the communities, we will be installing solar panels if there’s going to be new construction. They charge batteries. We are even looking into installing them on our own buildings, especially our warehouses.
Relies to Budget Address. The Hon. Keith Peterson.
Reply to Budget Address 002 – 4(3): Mr. Keith Peterson (Peterson)
I rise today to correct some alternate facts that were expressed in a Reply to Budget Address last week.
In my Budget Address last week I announced that the Government of Nunavut will open a beer and wine store in Iqaluit later this year.
In a Reply to Budget Address by our colleague for Iqaluit-Sinaa, Mr. Okalik, I counted six references to a liquor store.
I heard that inadequate consultations had occurred with respect to opening a beer and wine store in Iqaluit, and finally I heard that a treatment centre should be opened in Iqaluit before a beer and wine store opens because the latter would cause drinking problems.
These are clearly alternate facts and I would be remiss if I did not respond accordingly for the record.
First, let me be perfectly clear: the government is opening a beer and wine store.
Mr. Speaker, I will provide some brief history behind the decision to move forward on the opening of a beer and wine store.
In July 2014, as the Minister of Finance, I received a petition from the residents of Iqaluit asking that consultations be undertaken to determine whether or not a beer and wine store should be opened in Iqaluit.
Following that we sent correspondence to the City of Iqaluit asking if they support the commencement of consultations.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Finance began consulting with the public only after the city council passed Motion 14-261 stating, and I quote, “That Council supports the Government of Nunavut’s public consultations on a government-run licensed beer and wine store in Iqaluit.”
The consultations included public service announcements, an online survey that was also circulated to Government of Nunavut employees, the opportunity for special interest groups to make presentations to the Department of Finance, an evening public meeting where individuals could present their views on a beer and wine store, and a plebiscite held on April 20, 2015 asking the question, and I quote, “Are you in favour of opening a beer and wine store in Iqaluit?”
Mr. Speaker, my Minister’s Task Force on the Review of the Liquor Act, which visited all 25 Nunavut communities, recommended that the Government of Nunavut open a beer and wine store that could disrupt bootleggers who sell hard liquor, such as 40 percent vodka, at high costs to some people who want something to drink immediately, often binge drinking to the point where their health is at risk or violence occurs.
Mr. Speaker, the task force began their important work in 2010 and visited all Nunavut communities over 27 months to hear their views about alcohol.
They presented a consultation report and a report with recommendations to the government.
We responded publicly to their recommendations. We thank them for their service to Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, the beer and wine store would offer an alternative to buying hard alcohol from a bootlegger and should reduce binge drinking.
Our calculations show that one 12-ounce bottle of beer is equal to one 5-ounce glass of wine or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. In other words, 36 bottles of beer, or 432 ounces, is equal to 54 ounces of hard liquor.
Bootleggers are selling 60-ounce bottles of hard liquor for prices that exceed $300 or more per bottle.
Beer and wine products from the government-run beer and wine store will sell at considerably lower prices.
The public meeting on October 7, 2014 was well attended by over 100 people.
There were 32 people who spoke and 3 people spoke in favour of opening the beer and wine store.
Mr. Speaker, the results of the online survey showed that 95 percent of the 310 surveys received by the cut-off date of November 30, 2014 were in favour of a beer and wine store.
Of the 36 local interest groups that were invited to discuss opening the beer and wine store, six groups accepted the invitation. While there were concerns regarding monitoring, control, and education, all six groups were supportive of a beer and wine store and willing to collaborate to develop and distribute educational material and evaluate the results of the beer and wine store opening.
Mr. Speaker, on April 20, 2015 a plebiscite was held pursuant to the Plebiscites Act. The question on the ballot was, and I quote, “Are you in favour of a beer and wine store opening in the city of Iqaluit?”
The results of the plebiscite showed a 40 percent voter turnout with a clear majority of approximately 78 percent of ballots in favour of a beer and wine store opening in Iqaluit. 1,452 Iqalummiut voted, with 1,126 for and 326 opposed.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard that, despite the extensive task force and Iqaluit public consultations, a beer and wine store should not open in Iqaluit until a treatment centre is opened.
Some basic Google research revealed that an 18-bed treatment centre was located in Apex until 1998.
No one is quite sure why it closed. However, it appears that the former Department of Health and Social Services was unable to cover the costs of reopening in 1999 after they learned that it was too expensive to operate.
They chose instead to send clients to the south for addictions treatment.
However, some additional research in Hansard and Googling various media articles over the years beginning in 2000 reveals that there were good intentions to open a treatment type facility in Nunavut, but it never materialized.
In fact on May 16, 2002 the former Department of Health and Social Services tabled the Nunavut Addictions and Mental Health Strategy where, on page 7 of the recommendations under Goals it states, and I quote, “explore alternative referrals patterns (e.g. Kuujjuaq) for residential treatment; detox pilot in Iqaluit in 2002/03.”
The Northern News Services reported on November 11, 2002 that the Government of Nunavut would open an addictions treatment centre in Nunavut the following year, offering clients four to six beds for acute treatment alongside additional space for addictions counselling.
Mr. Speaker, a quick scan around the city of Iqaluit reveals that there are already many legal ways and there have been for years for residents and visitors to purchase beer, wine, or hard liquor. Let me list the ways:
Order from the Nunavut Liquor Commission warehouse in Rankin Inlet
You can bring it in your luggage within personal limits. There are no permits required. You can bring in nine litres of wine or approximately one case of twelve 750 millilitres of wine, three litres of spirits, which is approximately three 40 oz. bottles of hard liquor, 26 litres of beer or approximately three flats of beer; a flat is 24 cans.
You can bring in through permit by food mail, sealift, or order from liquor facilities in Ontario and Quebec with shipping through air cargo
There are bars, restaurants, and private clubs in Iqaluit. There are nine or ten by my reckoning.
Special occasion permits - you can get a permit for weddings and resale permits for cash bars at events.
There is homemade beer for personal consumption
Homemade wine with a permit.
Mr. Speaker, there is even a brewery approved by the City of Iqaluit under construction out by the Sylvia Grinnell Park.
Mr. Speaker, a beer and wine store is not going to solve all the well-documented issues that some people have with alcohol.
As I stated, it will offer people an alternative to purchasing hard liquor from bootleggers and reduce binge drinking.
The decision to open a beer and wine store was not an easy one to make, but we believe it is the right decision to make at this moment in our history. We will move forward with a positive outlook.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) Replies to Budget Address. Mr. David Joanasie.
Reply to Budget Address 003 – 4(3): Mr. David Joanasie (Joanasie)
I stand to respond to the Budget Address that was delivered by Minister Peterson at the beginning of our winter sitting.
First of all he points out in one word, in one word he describes it as “balanced,” and I would like to describe it as disappointing.
Of course yes, the budget highlights a number of new initiatives.
Specifically I would like to acknowledge the Quality of Life Secretariat. This is a good thing that the government is doing, but it’s not enough.
The 2016 statistics show 32 Nunavummiut ended their lives and that’s one too many.
The year before that it was the same amount of people.
If you calculate it, 52 weeks in the year and if you divide that by half, every two weeks, that’s 26 weeks.
Imagine every two weeks, if you get your paycheque, it’s about the time somebody has committed suicide.
Every two weeks. That’s just an estimate.
Health, I think you have a big role in this. Health and healing is what we need to have our path on as Nunavummiut.
I think this budget is starting towards that, but we need more.
I was reading the budget with interest and I did a search.
It talks a lot about economic development and the economy.
Of course this is good in some way but also at the same time we need our society and we need social development.
Page 2 and page 3 talk about the general outlook of the economy and the economic development aspects of our territory, and then if you finally go to page 5, that’s where in this Budget Address it says, “Education is our top priority,” but when we first started our term, we said that education is our top priority; it should be number one.
I think that needs to be addressed in future budgets.
Mr. Speaker, in our territory we have statistics-wise approximately 37,000 people in Nunavut. Minister Peterson pointed out that more than 10,000 of those are in schools, are children.
Approximately one-third, pretty well, of our population is a child.
We need to focus our efforts and our attention to the children and what they have to offer.
When we were listening to Ms. Ellen Hamilton speak when she received the Order of Nunavut, I wholeheartedly agreed with her.
Children are our most valuable assets and I think our government needs to recognize that more.
We need to focus our investments in how we can develop their lives as a government.
One of the pillars of Sivumut Abluqta talks about healthy communities and families, and I think we need to continue to strive towards that.
Everybody is part of a family; we are all interconnected.
When I talk about healing and health and how the government needs to address some of these issues, we have to look at the big picture and how some people go without, but some people are well off.
How do we close these gaps as a government? That’s how I’m trying to talk.
(interpretation) Mr. Speaker, there was also another comment the Minister of Finance talked about regarding human resources in the Nunavut government.
The number of people working for the government hasn’t gone above 50 percent ever since we started the human resources reports on Inuit employment. We get the government’s Inuit employment reports and the figures rarely change.
The numbers are around the same amount with no changes amongst these reports.
This figure has hovered around 50 percent ever since we started reviewing the reports since December 2013. In looking at the figures, the numbers hover at 50 percent.
Public servants who worked for the Government of Nunavut as of December 31, 2013, of which a number of positions were vacant, the total number of positions was 4,307 PYs, with 3,283 positions filled. Further, the total number of Inuit employees stood at 1,636.
This is approximately 50 percent of this amount.
By December 31, 2016 the figures on the total number of GN positions stood at 4,773.62 and the filled positions totalled 3,537.51. The total number of Inuit beneficiary employees was 1,762.71.
These figures haven’t changed and still hover around 50 percent.
Even though we have made enormous efforts to increase these figures, the number of Nunavut Inuit working isn’t even close to the goal of 85 percent.
However, these figures didn’t change within this three-year period.
The minister alluded earlier to the Sivuliqtiksat interns. Nonetheless, the numbers fall short of our goals.
We have to double our efforts, as the numbers are still too low.
If our goal is 85 percent, then we need to create a great number of training programs within the Government of Nunavut’s programs and services.
I just wanted this to be clearly imprinted on people’s minds.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, in the Budget Address there’s mention along the lines of Inuit employment.
I came across something that reminded me of an old report that the GN and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated had commissioned. It’s titled, The Cost of Not Successfully Implementing Article 23.
This is a big report that was completed back in February 2003.
On page 9 of that report it says, “The value of lost wages to Inuit is significant.
Inuit would have earned $258 million in compensation if Article 23 had been fully implemented.”
That’s just one excerpt or passage I wanted to share.
At the time back in 2013 it says, “The combined total cost to Government...” There are direct costs that governments have to pay. “The combined total cost to Government is estimated at $65 million in 2003 alone, and $1.3 billion over the next 18 years...”
I understand that those statistics in that report were used in NTI’s lawsuit to push for implementation of Article 23 and then the consequential settlement by the federal government.
Moving forward, hopefully the next budget of the government and future budgets will be looking at ways in which Inuit employees will be better able to gain meaningful and beneficial employment opportunities, as well as with training.
Mr. Speaker, (interpretation) I also wanted to include in my statement about the Budget Address where it states that “Education is our top priority.” (interpretation ends) That’s on page 5 and (interpretation) on here it states that “It is the key to developing people...” (interpretation ends) Going back to the Budget Address right after the minister stated that “Education is our top priority,” he explained that “It is the key to developing people with technical, scientific and professional skills.
These are essential in the modern economy. Without these skills, without these skilled people, we will not get far in the modern world.”
(interpretation) Upon hearing that, it seems to exclude the many people of Nunavut who don’t have that level of education, perhaps suggesting our future is very dark.
Furthermore, it doesn’t acknowledge any of our traditional skills, such as hunting abilities and ecological knowledge, as if they don’t even exist. Additionally it belittles these skills by stating they have no place in the workforce or that this knowledge is irrelevant. There is no mention of this matter.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, (interpretation) I really wanted to mention this in light of my colleague’s efforts and who is sitting beside me representing Quttiktuq.
He has been very passionate about Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the (interpretation ends) Budget Address (interpretation) doesn’t even mention Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit once.
Nonetheless, many constituents expect our government to incorporate this knowledge and to formally acknowledge this knowledge.
In this day and age most positions list certain qualifications and education levels.
However, after the creation of the Nunavut territory and the recognition of Inuit rights, our traditional lines of knowledge and skills have allowed us to survive up to today.
Recognition of hunting skills, abilities and knowledge has to be included, as hunting is work. Hunters go hunting daily when weather permits. They hunt for sustenance.
It is the foundation of the Inuit culture and with it ties to our language. I feel there wasn’t enough focus on this area when the budget was announced.
Although members continue to have expectations, it just seems to have been shoved off the agenda. Now it seems we are pushing hard to restart.
Are we going to look for more ideas here? Members want this initiative to be introduced.
Mr. Shooyook rose today and spoke about the studies government undertakes and that deadlines should be implemented for them. Further, since we started as a government in 2013, we enacted a government mandate, including a comprehensive review on (interpretation ends) programs and services. (interpretation) How to say it?
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, when my colleague, Mr. Shooyook, talked a bit today about how there’s some expectation that we had with regard to the government programs and services review.
Looking back, I think I have the same sentiments and I wish to caution the next Assembly, whoever will be in our seats in the Fifth Assembly. Looking back, there was the Qanukkanniq report in the Third Assembly that they underwent and then this government did it in a few phases, but it took too long.
We’re still expecting results.
In trying to make the government more efficient, it has been, I would say, kind of a failure in that we’re still expecting those results.
I just wanted to end by saying that I think we have this budget and there are a lot of things in it, but overall I’m disappointed in that there is not enough.
Some of my colleagues reacted, “At what costs are we having a balanced budget?”
I have the same thoughts of what more could we have done to meet the needs of our communities and to meet the needs our people and the territory. (interpretation) That’s it.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) Replies to Budget Address.
Hon. Member for South Baffin, Mr. David Joanasie.
Tabled Document 263 – 4(3): A Hunger to Teach (Joanasie)
The lack of bilingual, Inuktitut-speaking teachers in Nunavut has been a much-discussed issue in this House.
Just today, on March 2, 2017, a summary research report called A Hunger to Teach: Recruiting Inuit Teachers in Nunavut was published by Professor Paul Berger and Karen Inootik, Rebecca Jones, and Jennifer Kadjuk.
I am tabling a copy of this report as I believe it may help to offer some insight to the current teacher situation in Nunavut.
I encourage my colleagues as well as the Minister of Education and his staff to read it. At the appropriate time I will have some questions related to the issues raised in the report.
Tabled Document 264 – 4(3): Nunavut Impact Review Board Announcement Concerning Strategic Environmental Assessment in Davis Strait and Baffin Bay (Keyootak)
I wish to table today a copy of the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s recent announcement concerning the upcoming strategic environmental assessment in Davis Strait and Baffin Bay.
I note that NIRB intends to hold public meetings in Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq.
I urge all members to review this document with care.
Tabled Document 265 – 4(3): Excerpt from September 17, 2013 Hansard (Okalik)
I would also like to table a copy of Hansard.
Moving on. (interpretation ends) Item 15. Notices of Motions.
Motion 042 – 4(3): Extension of Review Period for Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Consumer Protection Act (Sammurtok, T)
WHEREAS Bill 25, the proposed Act to Amend the Consumer Protection Act, received second reading on October 25, 2016;
AND WHEREAS Bill 25 has been referred to the Standing Committee on Legislation for consideration;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Hon. Member for Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu, that the period of time for the standing committee to report Bill 25 back to the House be extended by a further 120 days.
Bills 32, 33, 34, and 35 with Mr. Mikkungwak in the Chair.
Members, during our break, I encourage all of you to visit the wonderful display in the lobby put on by the Minister of Education and his staff.
>>House recessed at 15:44 and Committee resumed at 16:05
I would like to call the committee meeting to order. (interpretation) Good day to the residents of Baker Lake and Nunavut.
(interpretation ends) In Committee of the Whole we have the following items to deal with: Bills 32, 33, 34, and 35.
Mr. Chairman, we wish to continue with Bill 34 and the review of the main estimates for the Department of Education; if time permits, the Department of Community and Government Services.
Does the committee agree that we first deal with Bill 34?
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) I would now like to ask the Minister of Education if he has officials that he would like to appear before the committee.
Yes, I would like to have officials with me here.
(interpretation) Thank you very much. (interpretation ends) For the record, minister, please introduce your officials.
Sitting with me today to my left is (interpretation ends) Deputy Minister Kathy Okpik (interpretation) and to my right is Heather Moffett, Director of (interpretation ends) Corporate Services. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Welcome, Ms. Okpik and Ms. Moffett, to the witness table.
Early Learning and Child Care.
Ms. Angnakak: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon, everyone.
Your department provides contribution funding for DEA early childhood education. Can you describe some of the challenges in supporting DEAs to provide early childhood education programs in their communities?
From the information that we gather, the district education authorities have indicated that the funding passes through them and they’re the ones that just sign the cheques.
Maybe I’ll say it in English. They think that they’re only the (interpretation ends) middleman. (interpretation) That’s what we hear from the district education authorities.
How many DEAs across Nunavut have set up child care services?
That’s a very good question from my colleague.
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I can always get back to my colleague with a response.
I can just say that (interpretation ends) the early childhood funding (interpretation) is available to all the communities, but only some communities access those funds.
I don’t have the numbers with me, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Angnakak: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation) If you could elaborate further on the different structures of the daycares.
Some are under the responsibility of the DEAs and some are stand-alone daycares.
Can you elaborate a bit more about that for the benefit of our understanding?
There are different structures, which is very true. For example, there are preschool programs that are funded through (interpretation ends) Aboriginal Head Start (interpretation) with the federal government.
The district education authorities operate the ECE programs not just for daycares but also for other programs.
In looking at these figures, an amount of $1 million is listed here for daycares. Obviously DEAs are responsible for more than just daycares.
How is this amount allocated to the communities? Does each of the communities receive the same amount or does that amount fluctuate?
There are different amounts depending on the number of children. (interpretation ends) It’s different for every community.
Yes, it is. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Also in regard to the (interpretation ends) Young Parents Stay Learning Program, (interpretation) there’s funding available to help young parents keep their children in daycare.
Is the funding of $170,000 that has been allocated for that program fully spent?
I’ll try to make this clear on that point to the member.
The Young Parents Stay Learning Program is very useful for young parents. When young parents aged 18 and under are in high school to complete their grade 12, they’re eligible for the Young Parents Stay Learning Program.