EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
And I have great expectations, that this Committee will come up with something that we can use to improve the education system in Nunavut.
Question 402 – 1(6): Programs and Services for the Mentally Challenged People
Mr. Speaker, my statement today in regarding health care for disabled and mentally challenged people in Nunavut and the frustration a single parent in my community has been experiencing with trying to get care for her child so that she can pursue meaningful employment and also the lack of resources that are available for disabled people in our community who want to be contributors to this society.
And I do not have to quote the Bathurst Mandate, putting people first, but can the Minister responsible explain to me if there are programs and services available for the mentally challenged and disabled, the Minister of Health.
Speaker: The question is directed to the Minister of Health, but we are not quite sure whether that is the appropriate Minister.
Minister Picco, if you would like address the question.
Mr. Speaker, I think there is some cross pollenization of the actual question and the area; cross jurisdictional within the Departments, for example, how to support individuals and so on, that is the income support.
The council for the disabled is under the Minister responsible for the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth and I deal with the clinical issues of people with disabilities.
So, for example, Mr. Speaker, someone who is in the hospital, or using the wheelchair and so on, that is to the Department of Health and Social Services.
But I can say to the Member that we have put in place a home care program and having heard the Member’s Statement, I would suggest that there is an opportunity where we could actually have support brought into the constituent’s home to support her in the care of the individual.
Again, I am not familiar with the case, only what the Member has said in his statements.
I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that that was the first course to take in this very serious issue raised by the Member.
And again, Mr. Speaker, we have a good program in Baker Lake, as the Member knows and I would suggest that that would be the route to take.
Mr. McLean: Mr. Speaker, see this is another example of when you ask a question, a serious question from a constituent that this Government is so big that they cannot deal with somebody who has a problem and cannot help themselves.
So you know, parents contact us and I am not the foremost authority on this issue either.
And my question is yes, okay, he answered, as the Minister of Health, he answered that there is home care available for this individual and I am sure that the parent would be very relieved to hear this and I will call her right after Question Period and advise her of that.
For the issue of employment, are there any opportunities out there, economic opportunities and I am not sure which Minister can answer the question, but is there any programs there that can try to help this individual who is challenged to get into some kind of meaningful employment or training?
Mr. Speaker, again I take the question and the address by the Member very seriously.
I am not the Minister for Employment, although I am the Minister for Immigration.
I would suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, and in all seriousness to the Member, and to the House, that there are opportunities for Training Programs, for offsite On the Job Training Programs through various organizations, for example, the Kakivak Association.
Through the Regional Inuit Organizations there are subsidies in place, for example, for an employer, there are also programs available for standard employers, for example, Mr. Speaker, if the Northern Store in Baker Lake were able to find a position where the person in question were able to do the job, then there may be monies available through the Subsidy Program to encourage that type of program.
Again, Mr. Speaker, through Income Support, I know there are programs because I have had constituents who we have helped with when there are programs available to help people who are disabled, or who have not the experience necessary to find employment.
Again, Mr. Speaker, the Member just read the letter out from the Constituent, I do not have it, so it is not before the House.
Maybe at the end of Question Period, or at the end of the day, the Member could draft a formal letter to me.
As the Minister of Health and Social Services, I will endeavour to look after the two issue, one being the respite care that the constituent needs, as well as some of the after care, maybe through the Homecare Program.
And the other issue on Income Support, or jobs, I am sure that my colleagues, and the Minister responsible would be able to see what we can do to proactively work on a plan of action for the constituent in question.
I would like to thank the Minister for his fine answer.
On the issue of homecare, which brings up another issue, I was under the impression that homecare was only available for seniors.
My question is, is homecare available in every community for the mentally challenged, the disabled, and maybe the younger people in the community?
Mr. Speaker, I agree with Mr. Akesuk that that was a good question.
Homecare is available to people who need homecare, that may be the elderly, indeed they may be young people, it may be people who are disabled.
We have rolled out a very successful Homecare Program in every community in Nunavut.
We are doing it with our partner, the Federal Government, four point five million dollars over the next few years in the Homecare Program.
Mr. Speaker, what I would suggest again to the Member is to work with the constituents and write a letter to me as Minister to make sure that those types of care are in place, including respite for the mother of the constituent in question.
So the short answer is yes, Mr. Speaker.
Question 403 – 1(6): Creation of Medical Travel Office for a Decentralized Community
I would like to make my question short.
Yesterday the Minister of Finance raised this issue through his Budget Speech.
In terms of the Health and Social Services Departmental Budget, what community is transferred positions under these figures?
As well the Minister of Health and Social Services has indicated that they were moving.
My question is where would the departmental offices be placed in Nunavut?
Speaker: Can I ask the Member who he wishes the question be directed to?
Mr. Havioyak (interpretation): I had mentioned I was questioning the Minister of Health and Social Services.
(interpretation end) During the budget address yesterday, the Minister of Finance had said in his address, one of them being the creation of a decentralized medical travel office.
I’m just wondering if he has decided as to where this office will be located.
Mr. Speaker, I was thinking about placing it in  Apex.
No, Mr. Speaker, in all seriousness, a decentralized travel office has been a long time coming.
The ulu, yes Mr. Speaker, I noticed that you have that heavy weapon there.
Mr. Speaker, in all seriousness, the decentralized travel office is one of the components of the travel review, air travel, medivac travel that has been completed by KPMG.
One of the recommendations there to help facilitate the number of issues surrounding the travel, as well as the decentralization and the scheduling of travel, based on what is available.
I would suggest to you Mr. Speaker that we have looked at the opportunities for decentralization in Kugluktuk.
That is our second decentralized office, after Pangnirtung.
We would be looking at an opportunity through the KPMG study of the opportunity of placing that decentralized office if the logistics and administration as well as I guess the financial matter can sustain that office.
I believe Mr. Speaker, that that would be the direction that we would be moving in.
I apologize if my question wasn’t clear.
My question is in terms of the decentralized travel office.
When will this office be in place; perhaps in the spring, summer or fall?
When will this decentralization take place?
Mr. Speaker, one of the issues raised by the Members at the various Standing Committees was the not so successful decentralization of a regional Health and Social Services office in the Kitikmeot, specifically in Kugluktuk.
We have looked at the different ways of finding the positions instead of having specialized positions.
We have spoken about that in this House before where for example, how would I find an epidemiologist in Kugluktuk.
How do I fill those local positions?
The success we’ve had with decentralization for example with Baker Lake was actually going in there, doing an Nunavut Arctic College training program and then training people from Baker Lake and at the present time, around 80 or 90 percent people from Baker Lake who are working in the power corporation.
That’s the model we want to see move forward in decentralization and that’s the model we would put in place in the Kugluktuk if the decision is made to decentralize the travel office there.
I would suggest to you Mr. Speaker, that as soon as the KPMG recommendations are ratified, we would move very quickly, expeditiously to put that in place and we would be in contact with Nunavut Arctic College to have a training program in place.
And so, I would suggest to you that I would hope that by the fall, if the Member has pointed out, that the beginnings of the workings of the decentralized travel office, if not before then, would be seen on the ground in Kugluktuk based on the recommendations from KPMG.
I often raise a question as to how many positions would be in place at this decentralized medical travel office because this is a concern in the community of Kugluktuk because we like to see as many positions that could be placed here.
Mr. Speaker, we have not identified the late number of positions that would be associated with the decentralized travel office.
That will again, depend on the logistics as well as the administrative needs of the travel office and this is to coordination to this 1-800 call number.
So, for example, Mr. Speaker, the way the decentralize travel office would be set up the way we visualize it right now and that if you were in Whale Cove in a health center, you would need a medical travel schedule, you would be able to call on the 1-800 number or go online and you would be able to then facilitate that through a central office.
The beauty that Kugluktuk brings to this, Mr. Speaker, is that it would be two hours for example, later in the West or earlier in the West.
So, for example, if it was 5 o’clock in Whale Cove, it would only be 4 o’clock in Kugluktuk.
Conversely, if it was 5 o’clock in Iqaluit, it would only be 3 o’clock in Kugluktuk, which means more people would be at work and it would be easier to facilitate.
One of the concerns raised by many of the Members of the Legislative Assembly is, when the Members at this House has been that when medical travel is being done after 4:30 or 5:00, the travel office has been closed and we have not been able to expedite the travel as necessary.
So, that is one of the benefits of Kugluktuk.
I cannot say at this time, Mr. Speaker, how many jobs that would be.
I would suggest that it would be more than at least a half a dozen.
Final Supplementary. Mr. Havioyak.
I understand most of these six positions are going there, so can the Minister let us know exactly when these positions will be opening up, although today they are just in preliminary stage?
Maybe once you find out properly, can you let me know as soon as these positions will be opening up because I would like the Minister to make sure that we would like to continue to get these positions decentralized to our community?
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the follow-up comments of the Member and as I said earlier, the final recommendations have not been approved yet, where the decentralized office would be as announced in the Finance Minister’s Speech.
I will commit to the Member that as soon as this decision is made, that we will be able to put it in writing to the Members of the House to let them know the plans on the decentralized office when that final approval takes place.
Question 404 – 1(6): Repulse Bay Hamlet Office Replacement
My question is concerning Repulse Bay and the residents of Repulse Bay.
I have been working really hard on this issue about office replacement, including radio transmitters and the like that was lost to fire last year.
Repulse Bay has requested that they replace the radio transmitter as soon possible so that they can listen to the CBC radio show, but what about the Hamlet Office in Repulse Bay?
We are fully aware that the hamlet office in Repulse Bay burned down and there was an emergency that happened just recently.
I had my staff go to Repulse Bay right away to look at the building.
They immediately made plans for a replacement office with the insurance policy, but they have a temporary office space in the community and the cabinet had a meeting to discuss the emergency situation in Repulse Bay.
I directed our staff to complete the architectural designs of the office for Repulse Bay on a priority basis.
I expect that we will start building the hamlet office this summer.
Thank you for that clarification and I now understand.
The replacement building requested from Repulse Bay, is it going to be office space only?
They are doing the architectural designs.
We are only in the initial stages and we have not even decided whether it will include any type of recreational addition.
It may be similar to the hamlet office that was there previously.
Mr. Speaker, I cannot really say what the design is going to look like as we are in the initial stages of doing the designs.
As soon as they finish the designs, are you going to let the Hamlet of Repulse Bay know along with Members of this House when they’re finished with the design?
I can say that perhaps the contract will be awarded around June 16th, and we have asked our staff to come up with the architectural designs with urgency and we are hoping that the sealift from Montreal will bring the construction material for the hamlet office for this summer.
We are hoping that the construction will start in August as soon as we have all of the prerequisite materials available for the community.
Question 405 – 1(6): Percentage of High School Graduates at the Academic Level
These people have yet to pose their question and we are running out of time so can I ask a question?
That was in consideration of the other Members but my question is to the Minister of Education.
This is to clarify the question, out of those students who completed grade 12 last year, how many students passed Grade 12? And, out of the total number of students who completed high school, what was the percentage of graduates at the academic level?
In respect to the numbers that the Member is referring to for those students who finished high school last year between those who graduated in the academic stream or the general level, I cannot clarify the numbers at this time.
Perhaps the Minister can give me a Return to my Oral Question at a later time?
Yes I can get the information together.
I will get the number of students who graduated in the academic stream and what the corresponding numbers were for our territory.
Mr. Nutarak, I apologize.
Question 406 – 1(6): Plans on Studying Contaminated Wildlife
My question is to the Minister responsible for the Department of Sustainable Development.
We heard that we have PCBs in some of our wildlife, although at relatively low levels, whether they are marine mammals or land wildlife.
What are you planning to do in the area of PCB in our wildlife?
Is the Federal Government doing a study?
Or are you planning to do a study whether there is too much PCB or not in our wildlife.
That is a very good question to ask.
The Wildlife Officers in the communities can work with the community to deal with the concerns that the community has.
If they have a concern whether their wildlife has dangerous PCB levels or not or if they have a concern about the general health of their wildlife, whether they are marine mammal, or land mammal, they can contact the Iqaluit office for research matters.
They can get the assistance of the Wildlife Officer to send out the wildlife samples.
The Wildlife Officer work with the local community residents, hunters and organizations to deal with these contaminant concerns.
How often does the government conduct research on the level of PCB contaminants in our wildlife? If I raise this, are you going to do the research after I bring it up?
Has there been any research done on contaminants in our wildlife in the past or is it conducted annually?
Perhaps I can use walrus as an example.
There was a study done on walruses just recently where there is a disease in the walruses called trichinosis.
They did a study recently on this infection and the communities are quite knowledgeable about the wildlife in their area, so they best can determine whether the wildlife species are sick or not.
It would be very hard to do any form of study on this contaminant at this time on all the wildlife as it is almost impossible.
We can learn from the communities if they have a specific concern on a specific species, and then we can work with them on conducting the research on contaminants.
So I have to ask you to do a study, or have there been any studies done at all whether we have PCB contaminant levels?
It’s been a concern of our community.
There are green house gases that cause pollution that can cause the contaminants in our wildlife.
We can even be affected because it’s in the food chain.
So have there been any studies done?
We have started studies and there are some brochures and published material that has been translated.
Also there are pictures illustrated on those brochures, about what kinds of contaminants that might possibly be in our wildlife.
I’m sure the local Hunters and Trappers Organizations have copies of those brochures and documents.
They are very colourful and they explain what kind of contaminants might be in our wildlife.
We can also look into getting some more information for you.
Question 407 – 1(6): Arctic College Student Drop-Outs
I thought I wasn’t going to have an opportunity.
Yesterday, I asked some questions to the Minister of Education in regards to the high number of drop-outs in the Nunavut area.
Today, I would like to ask some questions in regards to Nunavut Arctic College.
Since 1999, when we were established as a government, there have been a number of programs that have been implemented and taken on as courses at Nunavut Arctic College.
From what I’ve seen, there are a lot of Nunavut Arctic College students who dropped out without completing their courses.
I think it’s important to complete their program because it’s very expensive to send them down here and then send them home in the middle of the school year.
Since 1999, and since the government was created, do you have the number of dropouts from Nunavut Arctic College, or is it something that’s confidential?
I don’t want the names, I just want the figures on the number of dropouts that we have here.
I will have to get the data before I can give you the numbers.
It’s true that there have been a number of dropouts from Nunavut Arctic College, but of course, some of them can’t continue their education because of a variety of reasons.
We can compile the numbers and I’ll give you the numbers as soon as I have them.
I would like to thank the Minister for responding to my question and I look forward to seeing the numbers.
As you stated, you said there was a variety of reasons and I think it’s important to find out what those reasons are because I’m sure that would decrease the number of drop-outs.
If we found the numbers or the reasons, it would be something that we could work on to make changes to the programs or the way that we set up the system.
I would like to know if there is a link between drop outs and suicide in our communities.
Are you going to be able to follow up on this and compile the statistics?
Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will talk to my employees at Nunavut Arctic College.
I do not have the specifics written down in regard to the reasons why they drop out, but I could get the information, get the number of drop outs that has occurred over the years because all that data is compiled and filed at the Arctic College Offices.
So, it is obvious that you will get this going.
Could you have your Department get the numbers from all of the Nunavut Arctic Colleges?
To give you a brief overview, we have different Arctic Colleges out there.
They are the community colleges where they have short programs that are a week long or a little longer.
And then again, in the major regions of Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit, we have programs that run all year or multi-year programs.
It will be kind of hard to get the reasons from the small communities, but with the three regional bases of Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit and if the numbers are compiled, it will be easier to get the numbers.
I would prefer to focus on the three regional bases.
It is obvious that we are not going to get Nunavut-wide numbers.
As the Minister stated, it would be a little harder to get the information from the smaller communities, but it would be good to find out why they have high drop out rates in the smaller communities, it would be good to know.
Would it be possible for the Minister to get that kind of information?
I am not trying to sidetrack the questions, but I know that there are short-term programs that are offered at the community level.
And Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to say to the Member is that I would want to get the information from 1999 on and part of the difficulty will be pinpointing the different reasons.
If they missed out on some of the statistics, we will be getting a false figure.
We will talk to Arctic College and I will give the information to the Member, if the individual colleges' have compiled the numbers, and it is possible that some of them might not have the statistics ready.
If that is going to be the case, then we would have a false figure complicating our approach to meeting these challenges.
Moving onto Item 7.
Mr Quirke.
Return to Written Question 006 – 1(6): Victim Assistance Funding
I wish to advise the Members that I have tabled a Return to Written Question 006-1(6).
Item 14: Tabling of Document
Tabled Document 078 – 1(6): 2003/2004 Corporation Plan for the Nunavut Development Corporation
I would like to table the following documents, 2003-2004 Corporations Plans for the Nunavut Development Corporation.
Motion 018-1(6) Extension of Mandate of Special Committee to Review the Official Languages Act
I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Uqquqmmiut, that the Special Committee to Review the Official Languages Act shall continue as a Special Committee of the Legislative Assembly until it presents its final report to the House and further, that it shall continue under all other terms and provisions as established by the Motion 001-1(5).
Bill 28 – An Act to Amend the Young Offenders Act and Other Acts in Consequence – Second Reading
I move, seconded by the Member for Baffin South, that Bill 28, An Act to Amend the Young Offenders and Other Acts in Consequence be read for the second time.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, this Bill amends the Nunavut’s Young Offenders Act, in order to prepare for the coming into force of the new Youth Criminal Justice Act, a Federal Act.
And the Bill also makes consequential amendments to other Acts to change references to the Young Offenders Act to the Youth Criminal Justice Act of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, the new Federal Youth Criminal Justice Act comes into force in Nunavut, and all of Canada, on April 1st, 2003.
These amendments to the Territorial Young Offenders Act are needed so that the administration of the new Federal Act can be implemented smoothly in Nunavut.
Speaker: Thank you, the Motion is in order. To the principle of the Bill.
Bill 28 has had Second Reading and accordingly the Bill stands referred to the Committee.
Bill 29 – An Act to Amend the Nunavut Power Utilities Act and Certain Other Acts in Consequence – Second Reading