EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Does the minister have representation on the advisory committee for daycare centres?
Inadvertently I read out the wrong Minister’s Statement, and in that inadvertent statement I did talk about the $600,000 that was just put into all daycares across Nunavut.
I could tell you, Mr. Speaker, the reason why we dedicated that money through the daycare process, through our early childhood education, was that as a result of meetings I had with my Educational Advisory Committee, which does consist of members of daycares across Nunavut, and we discussed what would be the best impact of using those federal funds.
They are one-time funds and so we are transferring that money throughout the 45 licensed daycare facilities in Nunavut. They can use it for upgrading their facilities, on maintenance, on fuel, on purchases, and supplies.
So again, the answer to the member’s question is yes and that’s a very good news story for daycares and for our children across Nunavut, that $600,000.
Mr. Barnabas: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the aboriginal head start daycares continue from the federal government?
Hon. Ed. Picco: Right now, Mr. Speaker, the federal government sponsors 151 aboriginal head-start spaces in Nunavut. The federal government, from all of the indications we have, is that they will continue those.
At the same time, the recent $600,000 that we just announced that we have drawn down on that trust fund. The federal government wrote me, I just received a letter from Minister Findlay explaining that the federal government is withdrawing from that program. They will allow another draw down of $600,000 and some odd money, which is a per capita funding under that agreement which we didn’t sign, but we are entitled to draw down on it, and we will probably look at doing that.
I will have to meet, again, with the Cabinet to discuss how we are going to do that.
At the same time, the federal government is indicating the national daycare program that Mr. Dryden initiated will not be going forward, but there will be a sunset clause on the daycare drawdown dollars available as an option to daycares and to governments across Canada.
The good news is that the federal government, the new government, is talking about putting $1,200 per family into pockets of families across Canada.
However, our concern and the concern that I will be bringing to Ms. Findlay is that $1,200, based on the cost of living in the North, is not very much and we need to be able to see if there’s another mechanism that can help support the cost of daycare in Nunavut.
A Member: …Point of Order.
I would like to raise a Point of Order.
The Member from Iqaluit Centre stated that we would not be doing anything related to the hospital for the next 18 months.
I would like to draw the members’ attention to page 35 of the Hansard when I said, “We are looking to address recommendations in 18 months, at which time we will be inviting the agency to come back and evaluate the hospital to again, review for accreditation.”
I think it’s important to set the record straight that there are a number of activities and projects that are being addressed within that 18 months timeframe by the hospital’s staff. And the member implied that those recommendations would be reviewed after 18 months.
I apologize to the minister if that was the interpretation that she took from my comments. What I meant with that is that the accreditation review wasn’t going to happen for 18 months.
I never meant that nothing was going to happen at all until 18 months. What I meant was that their next review, the re-evaluation was going to happen in 18 months is what I referred to.
So I apologize to the minister if that was the interpretation that she received on that, then hopefully that clarifies it.
I would like the Hansard reviewed, to ensure that what I corrected is what was, again, what was said.
I just want to make sure for the public information that the right information is out there. I have always said from the very beginning that after 18 months, we would be inviting the ADT back to review the hospital to again, to have it accredited again.
There is a lot of work that has been taken by my staff to try and address the recommendations that came out of the Accreditation Report, and that’s the message that I’ve been saying. I don’t want the record in the House to say that Health and Social Services is not going to act on those recommendations until after 18 months. And that’s what I heard.
So I ask you Mr. Speaker, to review the Hansard during the time the member was raising the questions to the Premier and to clarify tomorrow.
Speaker (interpretation): I will be making a ruling to the Point of Order.
Written Question 010 – 2 (3): Government of Nunavut’s Expenditures on Advertising for Employment Opportunities (Curley)
Mr. Curley: My question is for the Honourable Louis Tapardjuk, Minister of Human Resources.
For the fiscal years 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, to date, broken down by department, how much did the Government of Nunavut spend on the advertising of employment opportunities:
On the radio;
CBC,
Others, specify
In print;
Nunavut News/North,
Kivalliq News,
Nunatsiaq News,
With recruitment agencies;
On the internet, and
Others, specify.
Written Question 011 – 2 (3): Crown Agency Advertising Expenditures for Employment Opportunities (Curley)
I have a question to the Honourable David Simailak, Minister of Finance.
For the fiscal years 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, to date, broken down by entity, how much did the Crown Corporations spend on employment opportunities advertising:
Written Question 012 – 2 (3): Nursing Recruitment (Alagalak)
My written question is for Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health and Social Services, on nursing recruitment.
What company has been contracted by the Government of Nunavut to recruit and hire international nurses?
What is the term of the contract?
What are the terms of payment to the contractors?
How much money had been paid to the contractor as of January 31, 2006?
How many nurses had been hired through the services of the contractor as of January 31, 2006?
At what point in the recruitment process do nurses hired through the services of the contractor enter the GN payroll system?
Are nurses hired through the services of the contractor paid at the same rate as nurses who are hired by other means?
Are any other benefits, stipends, gifts or allowances provided to the nurses hired through the services of the contractor?
Petition 003 – 2(3): Public Housing in Rankin Inlet (Brown)
I would like to forward a petition on behalf of my community calling for more public housing in Rankin Inlet.
Speaker (interpretation): Please forward them to our Clerk.
Bill 12, Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2006-07 with Mr. Netser in the Chair.
>>House recessed at 15:45 and resumed at 16:15
During the Committee of the Whole we have the following items to deal with: Bill 12, Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2006-07.
We wish to proceed with Bill 12 and finish with the review of the Main Estimates and Business Plan for the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, followed by the Department of Human Resources.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Evyagotailak. Is the committee in agreement?
Chairman (interpretation): Minister Tapardjuk, do you have opening comments? If not, you can go to the witness table.
Bill 12 – Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2006-07 – Review in Committee – CLEY
I have some opening comments to make.
Chairman: Please be quiet Mr. Picco.
I’m pleased to have the opportunity to present the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth 2006-07 Business Plan and Main Estimates.
This department plays the central role in preserving and enhancing Nunavut’s culture, heritage, and languages, and provides healthy active living opportunities for all Nunavummiut.
To effectively meet its mission, the department underwent a restructuring of its organizational design, which has streamlined some activities.
As a result, both Sport Nunavut and community programs have expanded programs that positively complement their already existing programs.
Currently, Sport Nunavut is very busy preparing for Nunavut’s participation in the Arctic Winter Games that will be held in Kenai, Alaska in March 2006.
This year Team Nunavut will be represented by 211 athletes, 28 coaches, and eight cultural delegation members.
The department is committed to the incorporation of Inuit societal values and has taken the lead in community wellness pilot projects.
The Inuit societal values projects have been launched in Cambridge Bay and Clyde River.
Our Igloolik office will offer their assistance in the implementation of those two pilot projects.
The Inullariit Elders’ Society has years of experience in supporting their community through their work and activities which involve Inuit ways and traditional knowledge.
These projects will continue in 2006 and 2007 with the expectation to expand them to other Nunavut communities in coming years.
Mr. Chairman, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the department will take the lead in working towards the establishment of a Nunavut cultural school.
To illustrate our commitment, the department has significantly increased its resources in the 2006-07 fiscal year.
These funds will be used to develop the work plan for the establishment of a dedicated school and development of culture education programs for delivery at the community level.
The department is also committed to ensuring the promotion and preservation of Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun in Nunavut through the implementation of initiatives such as terminology workshops and literary prizes.
Furthermore, the official languages branch continues to work towards the development of important language legislation through community consultation.
This year an additional increase in funding has been dedicated to their crucial consultation on two bodies of legislation: the Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act.
The government is gearing up to begin the public consultation process for those acts in early spring.
With the recent announcement of the Nunavut Heritage Centre to be located in Iqaluit, the Department is excited and eager to continue the work required to ensure the preservation of the Nunavut cultural legacy.
Currently, the trilateral working group is considering various options for funding arrangements and governance models.
Finally, I would like to highlight the successful grant and contributions programs the department administers each year.
Funds are awarded to individuals, not for profit community based organizations, and local governments for social, cultural, language, sport, recreation, and physical activity projects in Nunavut.
Each year, the deadline for the funding requests is March 31 and we anticipate the funds will be awarded by the end of April 2006.
I would like to encourage communities, organizations and individuals to apply for this funding. Applications are now available.
Do you wish to have staff go to the witness table?
Mr. Tapardjuk (interpretation): Yes, I have my officials with me.
Does the committee agree; do you agree?
Minister Tapardjuk if you could introduce your officials before we start.
On my left is David Akeagok, my Deputy Minister, and on my right is David Kolot, Director of Corporate Services for our department.
Those are my officials.
Welcome Mr. Akeagok and Mr. Kolot.
Does the committee chair have any opening remarks?
I am happy to see that Minister Tapardjuk and his officials are here.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to be able to deliver the committee’s opening remarks, as we begin consideration of the 2006-07 Main Estimates for the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
Later on, members will have the opportunity to ask questions regarding those estimates to the minister.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Chairman, members are pleased that the department continues to make efforts in encouraging Nunavummiut to preserve our language through initiatives such as the annual Nunavut Literacy Prize and regular language workshops.
Members are also pleased that the department is in the process of consulting Nunavummiut with the respect of two upcoming language initiatives: the Official Languages Act, and the Inuit Language Protection Act.
Members expect to be kept fully informed on the progress of these initiatives.
Members note the department has been consulting the public and businesses for input through such means as brochures.
Mr. Chairman, members note that the department has engaged a consulting firm to conduct an evaluation of the Inuktitut component of the Canada/Nunavut Cooperation Agreement for French and Inuit languages in Nunavut.
Members look forward to receiving the results of this evaluation.
Members are hopeful that it will have a positive impact on the amount of funding provided for the Inuktitut component of the agreement.
Mr. Chairman, members noted that the department will be conducting two community wellness pilot projects in 2006-07, based on Inuit societal values; one in Cambridge Bay, and one in Clyde River.
Mr. Chairman, the committee is very supportive of the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit initiatives.
The committee is pleased that the department has increased its resources for the development of the Nunavut cultural school and the development of the cultural education program.
The standing committee notes that CLEY now has a formal lead on this initiative.
The standing committee urges the department to be transparent in identifying how the host communities for cultural schools will be determined.
Mr. Chairman, members were pleased to learn that the plans for establishing a Nunavut Heritage Centre are ongoing and have noted that Iqaluit has now been firmly chosen as its location.
Mr. Chairman, the committee would urge the Department of CLEY to bring forward a list of O&M and staffing projections for the new Heritage Centre.
Mr. Chairman, members look forward to Nunavut’s participation in the upcoming Arctic Winter Games and wish all of our athletes much success.
Mr. Chairman, oral history has been and continues to be very important to Inuit.
Members are therefore pleased to learn that the department will continue collecting and preserving oral history from our elders.
Mr. Chairman, members applaud the department for its practice on tabling comprehensive annual reports on its grants and contribution spending as this practice is important for the transparency and accountability of the public funds.
Members are strongly sympathetic to the view that the department should expect all recipients of those public funds to report exactly how the funds were used and urge the department to measure the success of its spending.
Mr. Chairman, members note that all of the responsibilities for a public library were transferred to CLEY from Education in 2004.
Little detail has been provided on the department’s strategic vision for libraries.
In light of Nunavut’s disappointing result in the recent international adult literacy and skills survey, investments in our public library system would support other GN efforts to deliver literacy programs to our residents.
Mr. Chairman, members look forward to reviewing the department’s revised policies, such as those concerning recreational facilities, once the revisions have been completed.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my opening remarks. I anticipate that individual members will raise their own comments and concerns on the department’s 2006-07 main estimates and business plan.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Mapsalak. Before we start, we have Rule 77(1) and each member is allowed 10 minutes to make their general comments.
I don’t think there are too many general comments. I don’t have any hands for general comments.
I think we can proceed with the review. Mr. Kilabuk.
Since we are now on general comments from members, Mr. Chairman, thank you and this is my very first general comment as a regular member in reviewing the Main Estimates for the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
From the opening comments and from the business plan that the department...main estimates, in order to work with youth and elders, or board members that carry the same responsibility.
I would like to expect that I hope I’m not the only one that hears or sees that these individuals or communities require more support; especially the youth council, elders’ council, and also appointed members of the board for culture or language.
I also would like to acknowledge the board members in the communities and the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth because they carry the same issues and they are all important. But the support provided to all of them varies completely.
I don’t think the level of support to the communities is standardized for youth councils or elder’s councils, whether it is for culture or language.
What I’m trying to say is that we need to acknowledge and recognize the members of the youth council and elders’ council, and also the minister’s department.
When their goals are the same, why can’t we come up with an employment position that can work for culture and for the youth?
Today, I have heard many times from my constituency for I don’t know how many years that they are working hard and they are in a difficult situation because they don’t have any staff.
Nobody even looked into the elders’ or youth board to get some support. Perhaps within the department you could open a position to give support to the communities for youth and elders’ councils, and to be a contact person so that you can work together with those entities to reach the same goals.
If one position is too low, I’m sure that you can find more positions to work in that field because there are many youth councils and many elders’ councils that work on the same responsibility. They very much support the department’s goals. They can work closely together, but there is still a gap between those two.
The concern that I have is that the entities at the community level should be provided support so that they can run smoothly parallel to the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, and their recognition is equally the same.
I don’t have any names for general comments. So we can move on to review of the main estimates. We are on page F-5 and F-6.
I would like to thank the minister and welcome him and his officials, David and the other David on your right.
I would like to talk a little about the issues that I raised today. I would like to ask a few questions. I would like to ask him if we have the same feeling when we talk about Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, the traditional knowledge of Inuit.
I don’t think we’re collecting just knowledge, I think we are collecting social knowledge and for that reason, I would like to thank the individuals who work at the schools on cultural issues.
The women teach sewing to the school by using the traditional knowledge of Inuit.
I would like to state and name here how proud I am that this individual gets sealskins from anywhere considering she’s not getting paid annually.
She teaches people how to make Kamiks, how to clean sealskins and doesn’t even want to get paid for that.
That’s a very good role model.
She provides huge assistance and she teaches Inuit and non-Inuit how to make Kamiks.
It’s amazing that she is able to use the traditional knowledge of Inuit and volunteer her time.
This is something that we can be envious of.
I think men in all communities should be able to do more because, Mr. Chairman, there is no funding available for Nunavut communities.
Perhaps if the minister can really encourage volunteers at the community level to teach that if we would like to survive in the cold land, we need proper clothing.
Also, I would like to state I know that women’s work is very difficult.
Even though we are not going getting paid we should be volunteering to preserving and enhancing Inuit culture because it’s disappearing.
If you go to any one of the communities, any association meetings or municipality or educational councils, they don’t speak Inuktitut at their meetings, only the individuals that want to speak Inuktitut.
Our Inuit culture is at risk now and we want to be paid to preserve it.
I know there are volunteers out there and I’m sure you’re very proud of them because at times, other tendencies that we have are to say that we are not responsible for this or that.
I think we have to work harder as a government.
We believe in the Inuit language and we are quite sensitive to it, and we can only pay bilingual pay if they are going to be using that language in the office.
If it were not used, no unilingual Inuk would come for services; then the employee would not be eligible for bilingual bonus.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the minister if it’s understandable that a volunteer culture instructor, whether it is a woman or a man, should have to go through dangers in order to hunt.
Sometimes they cannot even tell how thin the ice is.
It’s becoming very difficult to forecast the weather.
I know that we are losing some of our elders that have that knowledge. Therefore, we either have to make a guess or we have to consult with them. I know we can still make snow houses.
Perhaps we should encourage volunteers. Perhaps your department, with the assistance of societies or associations, can encourage volunteers to teach traditional knowledge.
I don’t know if that was a question or a comment. Was that a question?
Yes, it’s absolutely correct.
We definitely have to take that into consideration, and as you probably you know there is an office of the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth in Igloolik, and I think they have teleconferences involving all 24 communities.
The elders are involved in that teleconference. There are youth representatives, and they also hold their own teleconferencing.
During those discussions, I can direct my staff to look into the issue and to get the Inuit out there to think about volunteering or to teach traditional and survival skills to the general public.
As I said earlier, they do hold teleconferences weekly, and I know exactly where you’re coming from.
I could direct my staff to look into this issue and see what they could do to promote the teachings, or the traditional teachings and survival skills.
As a department, we try to integrate the youth and the elders. It’s a little hard, but of course, we will be seeking support from the government so that we can work closer together with the elders.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): To supplement your comment, I don’t think that we should even try to find out if they’re going to agree to your suggestions or not.
I think that collectively, we should make sure that the traditional skills, survival skills, clothing techniques, are taught to the people, because people out there are dying.
You can see an individual who is properly clothed; you won’t worry about that person because he’s properly clothed.
If a person for example were going to get married, the woman would have to be able to make clothing.
As young men, we were told; only after you are able to build an igloo can you then take a woman.
I don’t know what it is now. Why is it that men marry women now?
What is that passage from being a boy to a man and to be able to take an apartment?
But the minister has to urge the people out there, and I think that there has to be collaboration with the entities while there are elders out there who are knowledgeable about those skills that we urge the teaching, even at a volunteer basis.
I think that we should put it in writing so that when our young people get lost out there in the wilderness that they are able to survive and that they have the skills and the knowledge to make it through.
The Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Task Force will be a part of it, but it will be seriously considered.
We do have a pot of money that the communities can request if they would like to put up a program for arctic survival, or something.
There are funds available that can be requested if the Legislative Assembly agrees to it.
I know exactly where you are coming from and I know that the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Task Force will be part and parcel of the whole thing. If you are going to make it a reality they will have to be involved.