EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Hopefully, they will have a good understanding of the Income Support Policies and Regulations, because what used to happen is the Income Support or the Social Worker at the time, would have to explain what was in the Regulations.
What was in place for rules?
Again that same person who was denied Social Assistance or Income Support, having to explain to the client this is what the regulation is, or this is what the Policy says.
So maybe the Minister, or his officials, can explain to us, “No, that does not happen anymore.
All of the forms and regulations are now in Inuktitut.”
So the local Appeal Committee can read and understand them.
The forms are in Inuktitut.
They are now translated into Inuktitut, and we will also provide information on the policy regulation matter and also provide information pamphlets to the Public.
We will also endeavour to make more training available.
Chairperson (interpretation): Page 9-10.
I do not have much of a question, but I do have a comment to make.
To clarify to my two colleagues here; in regards to the income support recipients and in regards to the rent, for those of us who have been a member of the Housing Task Force, my colleague reiterated the concerns that we heard out there.
We are not trying to make changes, but we do want to have the Nunavut residents current on the information.
And how much the Nunavut Government had worked in regards to this issue.
We want the Public to understand what we have heard.
But we have to be careful because there are not many employment opportunities at the community level.
We have to be aware of that and keep it under consideration in all of our decisions-.
In the smaller communities, there are no employment opportunities in my riding and there are no economic opportunities in the smaller communities.
For that reason I also want you to consider that when we review these kinds of issues.
Also as Nunavut residents who live in the North, we have not been living with finances for many generations.
That is not part of our tradition, but the non-native people are very good with financial matters.
As Inuit we will need time to fully understand the financial matters.
This is just a comment that I want to make.
I have a very short question in regards to the comment that I am making.
Perhaps you can provide a directive out to the Income Support workers, that you can affect the Inuit negatively when you are trying to provide the assistance to them and whether they understand all of the implications.
Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): After looking at the Agreement, it became evident that when they talk about the term, ikajuusiaq, Income Support, what kind of services they provide.
Many members of the public don’t know about that and many of them were concerned about the lack of information during the review.
In order for the information to be disseminated, there might be better information for these people so that they can have better knowledge. Thank you.
Page 9-10, Mr. Tootoo.
Mr. Chairman, maybe just want to clarify for the member for Rankin Inlet and the Minister that in no way am I intending to demean anyone on income support.
I know that it’s a last resort for a lot of people and a lot of people would rather not be there.
One of the things that it states here in their statement in what they’re supposed to do is provide assistance for people to become more self-reliant, to enable individuals to make productive choices on their future.
If people make uninformed decisions based on not having all the information, then that’s causing them problems.
People, we’ve heard, when I was on the task force, that people that went to work, their rent went up.
So I don’t want to go to work because my rent is going to go up.
But in the majority of those cases, people have more disposable income even though their rent goes up.
People need to know what they have to work with.
The government strives to help people get into home ownership and different programs like that, well, if you ask someone to go into a House, you think they need to know what the costs are.
This is a thing I think that has stopped a lot of people from wanting to get into programs like that or taking jobs because they think they might not be able to afford it after and I think it would be just a good educational tool for people.
People know if they want to try and achieve something, then this is what they need, there’s no illusion of false numbers out there that they have to try and achieve.
I just want to make it clear for the Minister and staff and the member that too bad he didn’t stay here to listen to the response, that clarification, and hopefully that’s a good example of if you don’t have all the information, you don’t make the right decisions.
Total Operations and Maintenance. $2 million, 186 thousand dollars.
Chairperson (interpretation): Page 9-11, Adult Learning and post-secondary services.
Page 9-11, $19 million.
Grants and Contributions for 2002/2003, it was $18 million.
Within the same year it increased up to $19 million and within this fiscal year $19 million, 504 thousand dollars.
I was wondering if the Minister can clarify this to me because I think we use quite huge sums of funding for adult learning and post-secondary services for students that have to go outside of Nunavut to further their education.
So, I was wondering if that was one of the reasons that there’s an increase on that.
Yes, there’s an increase within this fiscal year.
Mr. Chairman, the increase for the operations of the buildings for heating and maintenance, it went up by a $300 thousand and also for student accommodations, by $550 thousand and also, new funding $343 thousand dollars.
In Arviat office, for the Operations and Maintenance, there’s an increase there for their transportation and since that headquarter has moved down there, that’s why there’s an increase on that for $100 thousand.
I’d like to thank the Minister for the clarification so that they can increase the residents for the students.
Since it’s within $19 million, I have another question.
I’m sure that doesn’t exist within our schools and for the sake of the future, will the department be establishing schools where there are none in the communities?
Chairperson (interpretation): Before the Minister responds, the individual to your right is a new official, so if you could introduce him.
I welcome the Nunavut Arctic College President, Mac Klendenning.
He will be sitting on my right while we are dealing with Nunavut Arctic College.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you. I’d like to welcome you.
So you can respond to the question that was posed by the member.
For the fiscal year 2003/2004, what we’re dealing with is for Operations and Maintenance of the schools and Nunavut Arctic College and although we know that we require funding for new schools but they don’t go through this line item.
Page 9-11, Mr. Havioyak.
Mr. Havioyak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Regarding Grants and Contributions, $19 million 504 thousand dollars.
I wanted to ask a question regarding the trades program.
(interpretation end) My question is in regards to the training program and I wanted to make sure that we have it ongoing again.
I’m getting used to using that word now.
As you know, during the last few years, one of the mining companies has been contributing to the community along with your department having trades program.
I know they did that in the community by way of being in a partnership project, such as cooking, carpentry and so on. Is there something happening again, like that type of program somewhere in one of the communities where you can have a training trades program through the adult education.
For Adult Training.
In regards to his question, whether there is going to be more Trades Training Programs.
For example, for the fiscal year 2002-2003, there were approximately 289 individuals who participated in the Trades Training Program.
In the Baffin region there were 148, 160 in the Keewatin and 35 in the Kitikmeot.
They did various Trades training.
I am very pleased to see the number of individual’s.
This is through the LMDA (Labour Market Development Agreement).
LMDA funds the whole Trades training.
We were able to provide that kind of Trade training according to our Agreement.
His question, whether this is ongoing?
Yes, we expect this to be ongoing.
We expect this Trade training to continue.
Although I had provided this information to the Standing Committee.
Mr. Chairman, for Carpentry, for Information Technology, Airbrakes, Mechanics, Welding, and all these Programs will continue but I do not have the detailed information in front of me.
It will depend on the interests of the Public and what their interests are in taking the Training Program.
Mr. Havioyak: The reason why I raised this issue is that when you look at Page 12 on the Trades Program, last year you had $299 thousand, and now for this coming fiscal year, you have $148 thousand.
So there is a decline.
If it is going to be ongoing, is it going to be going down on that?
The number of dollars is going down.
I worry about that when you say ongoing program, and still the funding is going down.
I am with you when you say that more and more Adults that are going to these Trade Schools, Trade Programs.
Still I would like to see again, I am talking about the Partnership Program, and such and so on, that took place a couple of years ago in Kugluktuk.
That was very effective.
Right now they hired most of the students that were taking the Training Program.
It is very successful when they are doing a Partnership Program.
Is there going to one like that again?
Or is someone proposing that?
It is very effective way to train adults where they can show their skill in the different Trades.
Yes, Mr. Chairman, in regards to his question, whether there is going to be a Partnership for training in his riding, or in his community.
Yes we have various different planning for Trades training, for Nursing, and also for employment careers.
Like you said, you have some people that are interested in taking those training and I am glad for that.
I have always stated in the House, with the mining companies, we have so many unemployed people walking around they’re unemployed because they don’t have the training and the mining companies are not taking them.
Do you have something in the mining area that they did a few years ago in Kugluktuk with Diavik for example. Is there some money put aside for that partnership program where mining related areas for example.
The Nunavut Arctic College President will be having a meeting next week and it’s very likely that they’ll be discussing this issue with the Kitikmeot Development Corporation.
Mr. Havioyak: I would like to ask the Minister if he could keep me posted on it.
It would be interesting and I’d like to know what’s happening in the region, even especially for my community.
So it would be interesting to know what the outcome of the meeting that you just mentioned will be.
That’s all I have for now on that page.
First of all, I would like to ask a question regarding student financial assistance if they go to university.
In 2003/2004 there is $3 million 642 thousand dollars.
That’s for the student financial assistance.
What kind of support do we go to students who go to Ottawa, Trent in Peterborough and so on in a month?
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Anawak. Mr. Kilabuk.
With the student financial assistance, yes it is $3 million 642 thousand dollars.
Mr. Chairman, I can’t give you the breakdown, but I’ll get my officials to respond to your question.
Mr. Anawak (interpretation): If it’s possible to get a breakdown, I would like to know how much a student down south gets.
If they can provide that, that’s good, if not, I’ll ask questions on it later.
We don’t have the breakdown, but we would also have to factor in whether this student is single, or if they have families, or if they have children.
Through this student financial assistance, they get the same amount whether they’re students up here or down south.
Mr. Anawak: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would just like to outline my concern a little bit.
I use this as an example because; I have a son in Ottawa going to Carleton University.
Every month we support him because of having for his living arrangements.
In our case I guess that it is not too bad, because we can support him.
I guess my worry and sorry I do not think that we are supporting them enough.
My worry is someone else’s child whose parents may not have the kind of job that I do, or my wife, but someone who may be on social assistance.
My worry is, if there is not that kind of support, at least the financial support from the parents, are we doing enough to promote post secondary education if they do not have the adequate and necessary funding to stay in a place like Ottawa, Trenton, Peterborough, or other places.
I will have my Deputy Minister give you further details so that it can be made understandable for the members.
The basic grant that the students get for post secondary education is $2 thousand 500 per year, or $1 thousand 250 dollars per semester.
That covers tuition and fees at the University.
They then get the cost of airfare to go to the nearest Nunavut Arctic College site, if it is a Nunavut Arctic College site, or to a southern, what is called a gateway city, and those are the first places in the south that you go to when you leave the destination from Nunavut, that would be Ottawa, Montreal, or Winnipeg, so they get the airfare return to that location.
They get their monthly allowance for living.
As the Minister said that that varies quite a bit depending on whether or not it is a single student on their own, where it is 825 dollars, up to a student who is a single parent with three or four children who might get in excess of $1 thousand 800 dollars.
So it is all geared depending on the size of the family and the status of the person.
There are also Supplementary Grants that are available.
The Supplementary Grants cover the book allowance, up to $200 dollars per semester.
That comes along with the monthly living allowance.
There is also a Student Loan that is available above that.
So if a student does have particular needs that are above those covered by that, there is a loan that the student can apply for.
So there are a number of pieces of assistance that the student can get to go to University in the south.
The reason why I am concerned about this issue is because there are a lot of other Aboriginals who are other than Inuit, who have different agreements with the Federal Government in regards to financial assistance.
All the expenses are paid such as the accommodations, their per diems, and so on.
The reason why I brought up this question is because $825 dollars is for one individual with no family members and they get an Apartment or other accommodation, it would probably amount to about six to eight hundred dollars a month for the lower class apartments and $1200 or more for better apartments.
It looks like the $825 dollars does not quite meet the needs of the student.
When the student finishes Grade 12, and is interested in attaining a higher level of education, I think that we should be providing them the appropriate levels of assistance as is required to properly meet their needs when attending post-secondary institutions.
If we want our students to graduate these courses, we should not be placing them in a position of hardship for their furthering their education.
Especially if we are interested in having them work in our government upon graduation I think that it would be better if we gave them more financial support.
Also, if the parents are barely meeting their own needs here in Nunavut, it’s very likely that they could not give additional financial assistance to their child.
We might be talking about social recipients who won’t be able to give any financial support to their children. When that student undergoes additional stress due to financial hardship, then they may just quit due to their inability to meet their needs.
Basically I was saying to make it clearer that not all of the students will have the financial resources available and we have to keep that under consideration.
Further on the same page, we also have contributions for college.
Another example is that I have a son-in-law who wants to complete his grade 11 or 12 through the Nunavut Arctic College program in Whale Cove.
I looked into some of the details but I don’t think that we’re able to give any financial assistance to students who are upgrading at the community level.
He is by himself.
He claims to be single.
He is with my daughter but he is considered single and therefore ineligible for any assistance.
My question is, can we give consideration to the idea of providing financial assistance to people upgrading at the community level or could you give them financial assistance for those types of students?
Before I give the floor to the Minister, we are representing all people in Nunavut, so I think it would be best if we leave the names and family connections out of the House.
Keep their identity blank because that individual that you are referring to might not want to be used as an example in this House as everything is recorded in the Hansard.
In regards to the students that take upgrading, they get a separate financial support.
There is money available through the income support department while they’re upgrading to a general equivalence diploma or to the trades.
So any attempts to further ones skills and abilities are addressed through the income support program.
Kilabuk.
I used those two individuals as an example, and Mr. Chairman, I know both of them personally and I know that they would not resent the fact that I am using them to highlight the issue.
If I was told that I should not use them again, I will not mention them again.
I think that these students have to be informed that money is available for them.
Inuit at times, run into those invisible barriers and I think it’s up to the bureaucrats to make sure that this information is made available to the students.
The income support program people should be informing the students who are upgrading.
In reference to my colleague from Kugluktuk, there are programs for carpentry and other programs and I don’t like this decrease in funding.
We know that not all of our children are going to become administrators.
They won’t all become teachers.
There are some who will be going into the trades like carpentry and electricians and so on.
I think that we have to realize that we have to focus on some of these programs and expand the trades division budget.
There has been approximately half cut from those types of program budget.
It’s a little over 1 dollar.
So, I’m opposed to it.
Yes, there are some excellent programs that are out there but I think that there are certain trades we will always require and that some people are more apt at trade jobs like carpentry, mechanics and electricians.
In respect to this particular decrease, from a $299 thousand to $148 thousand, this is in respect to the Board.
This is the budget for the operations for the trades board from 2002/2003, and the decrease is for 2003/2004.
We’re on page 9-11 and 9-12, I believe are the same.
The total listed is $19 million 504 thousand dollars.
That’s on the next page with the breakdown listed.
Has there been any review on improving the level of contributions made to students upgrading?
There has been a complete review and if you can recall, there was an increase in the amount for the grants and contributions to the students.
With the changes or programs needing upgrades, we’re going to keep working on adult learning and post-secondary programs and we will continue to note the experiences of our youth, so we would like to continue receiving suggestions.
I was listening to two conversations so I didn’t quite get all of the response provided.
If there was a review and an increase to the funds, is it possible to see a copy of the final review of these programs?
I will try to get a copy to Mr. Nutarak, but I would like to tell you that this document was tabled in the House and copies are already available.
In regards to the carpentry program, oil burners, plumbing, mechanics and other trades programs, is your department looking at the possibility of building a trades school in Nunavut or somewhere that would be more accessible to the students interested in those types of programs other than Fort Smith?
We are currently working on revamping the adult learning services along with the trade school idea and we are currently working on Adult Learning Services.
We are going to also be including pre-trades schooling along with on the job training and upgrading prior to attending trade school.
It is a concern of people who would like to go into Trades, why there is no facility closer to home where they can take these courses.
We are going to be including the possibility of a feasibility study of building a trade school.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): When it is almost six o’clock, we get our second wind when it is time to report progress With this review and the Adult Learning / Post Secondary Services.
How many years do you plan on before building the Trade School?
The planning for the possibility of a trades school was begun last fall.
The different reviews recommended by committee have been undertaken and we are consolidating all the concerns and reviews and the planning for that started last fall.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): Page 9-11, 2002-2003, $20 million previously and now $21 million with an increase of $1 million.
Can you explain the increases in that section?
This increase in that section, as I mentioned earlier, Mr. Chairman, is regarding the 300 thousand for heating fuel and operational increases, and $550 thousand for the Student Residences, $333 thousand for new housing, as well the headquarter Offices and Administration in Arviat, $100 thousand.
On 9-12, I would like to ask about the question that was asked earlier regarding students after Grade 12, for Post Secondary Institutions in Nunavut Arctic College and other places in Canada.
When we had an earlier session the Minister made a statement that the Financial Assistance for students would be increased, but we do not see that reflected in this Budget.
The Financial Assistance for Nunavut Students budget line has no change in the dollars amounts whatsoever.
Is there going to be an increase in this program, first of all?
And second, how come we do not see the increase reflected in the budget although he made a statement that financial assistance would be increased?
I made a statement that financial assistance will be increased for students. If you look at this year’s budget in this current fiscal year, there was an increase already.
The increase was already implemented and this current fiscal year increases in the program are seemingly not reflected in the Budget.
I would like some clarification for the 2002/2003 estimates.
It looks like it is exactly the same for 2003/2004 and why I want an explanation of the increase not being reflected.
I thought the financial assistance for students was to be increased.
Is this increase reflected elsewhere?
I don’t think I understand her question.
If she could clarify her question.
For the years in there, Mr. Chairman, the first year main estimates for 2002/2003, up to 2003/2004, main estimates are the same amounts.
But there was an increase for financial assistance for students.
Yes, maybe she could rephrase her question.
Could you clarify your question, Member of the Legislative Assembly for the High Arctic, Ms. Williams.
I understand 2002/2003, yes; I understand there was an increase.
But why is it still the same for 2003/2004.
Okay, I understand it now, Mr. Chairman.
As well, I would like to ask a question regarding this very important program.
We were in Greenland the other day in Sisimiut.
We saw different programs for training geared for work, trades school.
They were building homes and they were learning at the same time.
These Houses, cabins or shelters for anyone.
They also have oil burner training programs.
I was quite envious of the progress they have made.
As we’ve heard, a comment made earlier, we’re not all going to be administrators or doctors or teachers.
We need different options, especially for trades.