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A business plan for the centre is now being created, which includes plans for the use of the common area in the facility as well as an Elders Society for Clyde River.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask my colleagues to please join with me today in offering these two community-based groups our most sincere congratulations and good luck in the completion of these exciting projects.
Minister’s Statement 018 – 2(2): Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation
I am pleased to offer our congratulations to the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation in their efforts to connect every Nunavut community to affordable broadband services.
As of today, satellite dishes and antennas have been installed in half of our communities. I understand that by the middle of December, weather permitting, every Nunavut community will have equipment installed.
The satellite and wireless network that is being built by the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation’s vendor, SSI Micro, is considered a state-of-the-art network that will make Nunavut the most connected jurisdiction in Canada.
I also want to congratulate NBDC on successfully training a community service provider in each Nunavut community. The community service providers are local residents who can help people get connected to broadband.
They are now testing the network in their communities and are planning for a launch scheduled in mid-December.
The federal government has committed to $7.5 million over ten years to provide a public benefits bandwidth subsidy to Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation so that the broadband services can be offered at a reasonable price in all our remote communities.
Without this subsidy, the business case is not feasible and the network cannot launch.
I have written to the federal minister responsible for this initiative to encourage his office to complete the negotiations on a contribution agreement for the bandwidth subsidy so that the Nunavut network can be turned on by December 15, 2004.
Again, congratulations to the team of people in our communities involved in making broadband a reality in Nunavut.
Minister’s Statement 019 – 2(2): The IIU Network Receives Two National Awards
I rise today to announce that the Ikajuruti Inungnik Ungasiktumi, IIU, Nunavut’s telehealth network, recently received two national awards that recognize our innovative use of information and communication technologies to enhance our access to, and the quality of, care being delivered to Nunavummiut.
We received a Silver Award of Excellence from the 2004 Canadian Information Productivity Awards and an Award of Excellence from the Canadian Society of Telehealth, donated by the Digital Group of Telehealth Companies.
The IIU network offers programs such as family visitation, continuing medical education, learning closer to home, and care closer to home such as pediatrics and obstetrics.
It improves the accessibility and quality of care delivered in the communities in a way that is cost effective, by reducing the need to travel to other locations for medical and social care.
I would like to congratulate our Health and Social Services staff for their commitment to developing the IIU network, as well as Nunavummiut for using this innovative program.
Together we are building healthy communities.
Mr. Speaker, Nunavut has telehealth sites in every community, the first jurisdiction in Canada to achieve this distinction.
Telehealth is being used and delivered in Nunavut by Nunavummiut to give our people better access to health professionals outside their community.
I believe that the IIU network is a key element of bringing care closer to home.
Minister’s Statement 020 – 2(2): Subsidy for Harvesters
Good afternoon, colleagues and television viewers.
I would like to talk about the selling of fur in Nunavut.
The selling of fur has always been a key component of Inuit life.
It ensured our survival, and later became an important part of the economy.
Today trapping remains an important part of the land-based economy and puts much needed cash into the pockets of trappers.
Trapping, however, faces an uphill battle in the marketplace, and often furs are undervalued.
This threatens the continuation of trapping as a part of our way of life and as part of our economy.
To assist this important industry, my department administers the Fur Pricing Program.
This program provides financial and other assistance to fur sellers, particularly when the markets are down.
One component is this program provides a fall payment for fur sellers who sold wolf and fox furs during the previous year.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to advise you that this month my department is sending cheques to over 200 fur sellers, totalling nearly $60,000.
I hope this assistance allows them to continue to earn a sustainable living from the land.
Member's Statement 032 – 2(2): Shortage of Housing
I rise today to address something which has been raised with me by a number of constituents in Arviat.
Mr. Speaker, one of the responsibilities of elected housing associations is to determine the allocation of available public housing units and manage the associated waiting lists.
As all members are aware, the serious shortage of housing in Nunavut makes this a difficult job at the best of times.
Mr. Speaker, constituents have expressed concerns to me that the allocation of housing is being influenced by the actions of local Health and Social Services staff in the community.
In some cases it appears that the people are being moved up the waiting list because they managed to get a recommendation from Health and Social Services that they need on an immediate basis.
Mr. Speaker, I know that there is frustration in the communities where this type of thing is practised, when people wait patiently, for years at a time, for a house to become available.
It is frustrating to see other people jump ahead in line.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that the local housing association must be allowed its job and be accountable to the community.
I will have questions on this matter at the appropriate time.
Mr. Evyagotailak
Member's Statement 033 – 2(2): Providing Care Closer to Home
I rise today to address a need in my constituency Kugluktuk for support to continue to provide care closer to home.
First of all I would like to congratulate the students that participated in a poster contest on Alcohol and Drug Awareness Week.
They are: Gustin Adjun, Chantelle Avakanak, Suzanne Powers, Tanya Ongahak, Andrew Atatahak, Kathleen Hanak; congratulations to them.
Mr. Speaker, at this present time the women’s shelter in Kugluktuk is unable to operate.
A lack of funding has resulted in staff still waiting to get paid for their work.
Bills for power, telephone, fuel, food, water and sewage are piling up.
The facility itself is in urgent need of repairs, from frozen water pipes to the lack of a decent refrigerator and washing machine.
Mr. Speaker, we all recognize the support and importance of providing care closer home, but we should also recognize that many home-based initiatives also need support and assistance to get up and running and to be able to continue, especially in highly stressful and difficult situations.
Mr. Speaker, over the past few years we have seen a number of cases where municipalities have gotten into difficulties with their finances, with their accounting practices or with the auditing of their books.
In those cases, the government steps in with assistance and support to help the municipalities to get back on their feet again.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the members if I can complete my statement.
Mr. Evyagotailak, please continue.
Mr. Evyagotailak: Thank you, my colleagues.
Those community organizations are not abandoned and left to sink on their own.
Mr. Speaker, there should not be any difficulty for other local groups to provide critical local services.
If there is a true commitment to providing care closer to home, then our government should also be committed to providing assistance and support to the home-based organizations that provide the care.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to encourage the Minister of Health and Social Services that her department’s Care Closer to Home initiatives include providing support to community organizations such as the Kugluktuk women’s shelter, to get back on their feet and continue providing an important local service.
Speaker (interpretation): You have to stick to one subject or one topic when you are making your member’s statements.
Member's Statement 034 – 2(2): Needs of Smaller Communities
I rise today to highlight the need for decision makers to pay attention to the needs of our smaller communities, the have-not communities.
(interpretation) Earlier this year I had the pleasure of welcoming Nunavut’s Premier and ministers to the community of Qikiqtarjuaq when they held a cabinet retreat there.
This was an excellent opportunity for the cabinet to see first-hand the challenges and opportunities facing a small, decentralized community.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, during this past summer, our Prime Minister, Paul Martin, took the time to visit Nunavut and other Northern territories.
Although it’s good to see these visits take place, I would like to see more attention paid to smaller communities and not just the usual stops in the larger places like Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit or in well-established tourist destinations like Pond Inlet and Pangnirtung.
(interpretation) Mr. Speaker, visiting a larger community such as this one only gives you one side of the story.
When federal decision makers come to Iqaluit, they might assume that the rest of the territory looks the same; a community with lots of construction, economic growth, and job opportunities.
Mr. Speaker, communities like Clyde River and Kugaaruk and Grise Fjord also need attention. In these communities, people have ideas and energy but they often feel that they’re being left behind.
If they did go to those smaller communities they would see that there are no breakwaters, and if they went to Broughton Island they would see students being taught in the hallway and the lack of job opportunities in the community.
Communities like Clyde River and Grise Fiord are some of those communities.
Mr. Arreak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker and fellow colleagues.
The people in the smaller communities have ideas and are more than willing to make contributions.
I am pleased that our cabinet recognizes the need to pay more attention to the needs of smaller communities.
I want to take this opportunity to say that the next time a federal minister plans to come here, to our communities, our government should strongly suggest that they spend some time in the smaller communities where there is a lack of opportunities and jobs.
Mr. Speaker, they will find an equally warm welcome and I know that they will learn much from this experience.
Member's Statement 035 – 2(2): Coral Harbour District Education Authority
Mr. Netser (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw the attention of the government to the needs expressed by the district education authority in Coral Harbour.
To date, those needs appear to have gone un-noticed.
Mr. Speaker, the Coral Harbour District Education Authority has been writing letters, drawing up proposals, and meeting with other community representatives for many years now.
Recently Mr. Levy and his staff were in Coral Harbour to look at our school, only to say, “we have big plans but it’s not for Coral Harbour.”
To date, the Coral Harbour District Education Authority has expressed a need for a high school for the community.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be tabling a series of documents that records this need in black and white.
Unfortunately, education minister after education minister has failed to address these needs.
It is time to change that.
The most recent challenge faced by the Coral Harbour DEA is a cutback in funds.
Similar to the difficulties faced by the other community I represent, Chesterfield Inlet, the Coral Harbour DEA has less funding in its budget for the 2004-05 year.
The district education authorities need these funds to hire local program instructors.
As I mentioned last week, these programs are very important to our culture and to our students.
When we focus on academic issues, the Coral Harbour district education authority has expressed a need for a librarian and more classroom assistants and, Mr. Speaker, more space.
Mr. Speaker, how can the DEA meet increasing needs with less?
The community of Coral Harbour is growing.
Parents and students alike are facing greater and greater risks to their health and academic achievement as the resources allocated to providing for their education do not meet the needs.
Mr. Speaker, the district education authorities in both of the communities in my constituency are facing a very difficult situation.
On the one hand they are asked to meet growing needs and demands, while on the other hand they are given less and less to do it with.
Speaker (interpretation): The member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement; any nays?
This government has already dissolved one level of community representation with the dissolution of the education councils.
The latest actions of the government make me wonder whether the role and authority of our community district education authorities will slowly be watered down until they, too, dissolve.
At the appropriate time I will be posing questions to this issue.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. members’ statements, Mr. Tootoo.
Member's Statement 036 – 2(2): Charitable Contributions
For a number of years now I’ve had the pleasure of rising annually in this House to highlight and pay tribute to the generosity of our territory's residents.
Although statistics can be a dry topic, they often reveal some important human truths about a situation.
Statistics Canada recently released its annual figures on charitable giving and donations across the country.
And once again Mr. Speaker, as it has every single year since 2000, Nunavut led the entire country with respect to the median charitable donation made.
Nationally, the median donation was $220; the median donation for Nunavut was $410.
Mr. Speaker, according to the figures that were released, more Nunavummiut were in a position to donate than in the previous year.
Over 1,500 people made a charitable contribution of some sort, and over $2 million found their way to worthy causes.
These figures, of course, don’t take into account all the times people drop $10 or $20 into their local food bank collection; they don’t quantify every occasion when someone sponsors a local student.
They don’t fully account for the heartfelt support that people extend to their fellow citizens and their communities.
We know that our residents are far from the richest in the land.
For example, fewer than one out of ten Nunavut tax filers reported investment income in 2003 from such things as stock portfolios.
We know that our communities are faced with the challenges of unemployment and the lack of job opportunity; that is why Nunavut’s generosity is particularly striking.
Those who are fortunate enough to be in a position to give, do so.
As members on both sides of the House have observed over the past weeks, our prosperity depends on actions in those areas where we have the greatest potential.
It depends on concentrated, strategic investment from our national government.
As study after study after study has demonstrated, increase economic prosperity for Nunavut and the North benefits the nation as a whole.
The good news about our residents’ generosity just goes to symbolize how true that is.
I would like to ask all members to join me in saluting the thousands of Nunavummiut who led the country in the giving spirit.
Member's Statement 037 – 2(2): Fencing for the Arctic Bay Dump
I rise today about my constituents’ concern that there is no fencing around the garbage dump, which means if I throw something out from my house, it goes to the dump then it scatters all over town.
There are polar bears that come to our dump because the garbage, when there is no fencing around the dump, just blows with the wind.
For example, in Arctic Bay, we get the wind from the same direction most of the time, and the garbage that is blown around from the dump ends up in a reservoir.
I have visited other communities and their dumps have fencing around them; this should also be the case with the smaller communities.
Member's Statement 038 – 2(2): Ordination of Darren McCartney
I’d like to let all of the members know, regarding the Anglican church in Pangnirtung... . As my colleague from Kugluktuk is aware, Darren McCartney went to Pangnirtung a little over a year ago from Ireland.
Mr. Darren McCartney was ordained yesterday.
His father, his wife, and his brother were there, all the way from Ireland.
Our bishop Paul Idlout, Andrew Ataguttaaluk, and Roy Bellkit were also in attendance when he was ordained.
There was also Ron McLean from Iqaluit and a Mr. Laceye from Northern Ireland, where Mr. McCartney is originally from.
The Anglican church was filled to its capacity, and I wanted to rise today to congratulate the Reverend Darren McCartney.
Member's Statement 039 – 2(2): National Child Day
Uqaqti, this past Saturday, parents, teachers, daycare staff, children, and the public joined in the National Child Day march here in Iqaliut.
Mr. Speaker, the marchers were joined by many residents and non-residents.
I would like to point out that the Member for Cambridge Bay, Mr. Keith Peterson, was also an active participant.
Although he fell behind at the beginning of the parade, he caught up near the end.
Mr. Speaker, the National Child Day event was also held across Canada.
At the end of the walk, participants were treated to hot chocolate, treats, and prizes.
In all seriousness, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the participants of the walk and thank the member daycare organizers for organizing a good parade and for doing a job well done.
Mr. Curly.
Member's Statement 040 – 2(2): Manitoba to Kivalliq Road
I rise today in regards to the Kivalliq sea-lift.
We have encountered a lot of problems, especially this fall, with the ships.
There has not been any improvement through government contracts where they contract out ships.
This is a big concern for the Kivalliq residents; not just for the residents but also for the businesses.
We are not sure as to where we should order from.
This is a big concern in the Keewatin.
It was even shocking that the ship that has been going back and forth from Churchill for so many years has closed down.
It doesn’t sail from Churchill; we get ships now from Montreal.
The point of destination is Montreal.
This is not assisting Kivalliq residents with respect to its growth economic development.
This is not assisting us.
It costs a lot more.
It’s scary now, especially where there are a lot of things that they’re losing.
So, can the government consider the growth of Kivalliq with respect to Manitoba.
If we’re going to get that, we’re not going to grow from Montreal or from Quebec.
I urge the department of transportation to realize that there is a big demand for assistance from Kivalliq.
This is not a light issue.
Member's Statement 041 – 2(2): Taloyoak Visit
I would like to inform the Assembly about an important event that occurred in Taloyoak. My colleagues chose Taloyoak as the location for the recent cabinet retreat, from October 18 to 22.
(interpretation ends) Cabinet members and their staff took advantage of their time to enjoy activities in Taloyoak: touring the community, taking part in a community feast, participating in the opening of the new fire hall, and enjoying some ice fishing.
Mr. Speaker, another important part of this visit was the opening of the elders’ centre in the community.
Minister Tapardjuk presented Bessie Ashevak with a plaque to celebrate the occasion, and we all had the opportunity to share lunch with the Taloyoak elders.
It was an especially important event as we also had the opportunity to meet with the elders as well as with Bibian Marqniq.
Mr. Speaker, Bibian is one of the oldest living elders in Nunavut. It was a great honour for cabinet members and colleagues and their staff to meet her.
I would like to issue a special thank-you to Pat and Leah Lyall, and Christine Lyall, as well as the staff of the Boothia Inn, Chloe, Lydia and Moatie, for all of their assistance and for their kind hospitality.
I would also like to thank my constituency assistant Johnny Kootook, who went out of his way to ensure that everything went smoothly, and the hamlet council and staff for their assistance and for the excellent meeting we had between the cabinet and council members.
Finally, I would like to thank the people of Taloyoak for a wonderful time.
I would also like to extend my appreciation to the Premier and as well as to my cabinet colleagues for choosing one of the smaller communities to hold the cabinet retreat.
Member's Statement 042 – 2(2): Opening of New Hotel in Rankin Inlet
I would like to recognize that there was a recent opening of the Co-Op and now it has a hotel.
This is very convenient; it is also a great benefit to the community as we all know once that when there is more than one store, and there is competition, the prices tend to go down.
We appreciate that fact, because a lot of people do food mail, but it is up to them.
For those people who don’t take advantage of the food mail, they now have the option of going to the Co-Op.
And the hotel is excellent.
Now people who travel to Rankin Inlet will have better breakfast in the hotel.
I ask all members to applaud with me for the new hotel in Rankin Inlet.
Member's Statement 043 – 2(2): Winnipeg Boarding House
I rise today to show my appreciation to the Minister of Health and Social Services in regards to inviting us to tour the Winnipeg boarding home.
I would also like to thank the Kivalliq members of the Legislative Assembly for being able to go with us, and Tony, who is the executive director.
He was able to answer all of our questions.
They gave us information as to what kind of policies they have at that boarding home.
We collected more information and more understanding of the function of the boarding home, and this will benefit the people.
So, I would like to thank the minister of health, Minister Brown, on behalf of the Kivalliq members for providing us with the appropriate information.
Speaker (interpretation): Don’t forget, I am the Speaker.
Item 4 Returns to Oral Questions. Return to Oral Question 013-2(2) Number of Grade 12 Academic Graduates.
Item 4: Returns to Oral Questions  Return to OQ 013 – 2(2): Number of Grade 12 Academic Graduates
I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Hunter Tootoo, Member of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, on November 17, 2004.
It concerns a number of grade 12 academic graduates.
In response to the member’s question, I am pleased to provide the following information: the number of grade 12 graduates in Nunavut since 1998-99, I believe this is the answer I gave before, I was just naming that, is 786.
Now, this is a significant increase in the number of graduates who received a grade 12 diploma over the past five years, and it is very encouraging.
We are going in the right direction, Mr. Speaker.
The community-based high school initiative has been a success.
Of the 786 graduates, 259, or one third, of the graduating students studied and passed the English 30 course.
English 30 is considered to meet the academic requirements for most post-secondary institutions in Canada.
Students enrolled in the high school may take a combination of general and academic courses in order to meet the graduation requirements.
I don’t usually receive a lot of visitors to the gallery.
I’m happy to recognize, over there on my right, my wife Rosie and Joseph, my son.
There is also our daughter, but she is not here today.
I would also like to welcome Mr. Kilabuk’s family.
It’s always good to see them in town.
I would also like to recognize a couple of family members here in the gallery.
Over there, sitting in front of the CBC booth, is my uncle, Robert Hicks and his wife Martha; they recently relocated here.
I would just like to welcome them to the gallery.