EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
On behalf of the department and the people involved, we thank you very much.
Member’s Statement 026 – 3(3): The Order of Nunavut (Elliott)
I must say that the members’ comments remind me of being in a tent.
I rise today to encourage all Nunavummiut to consider nominating distinguished individuals to the Order of Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, I was proud to have seconded a number of the motions that you moved in the House to advance the Order of Nunavut Act through the Legislative Assembly.
The passage of this bill was an important milestone in our own history as a legislature.
Last year, the beautiful winning design for the medal that will be awarded to recipients of the Order of Nunavut was unveiled.
I believe that the creation of our own order is another step forward in the evolution of our territory.
We will all be returning to our constituencies after the current winter sitting has concluded.
I will be encouraging my constituents in Grise Fiord, Resolute Bay, and Arctic Bay to consider nominating individuals who meet the Order of Nunavut’s criteria for contributions to the territory.
Member’s Statement 027 – 3(3): The Launch of Umiat Corporation (Komoartok)
I rise today to bring attention to the impacts that climate change is having on the winter turbot fishery in the Cumberland Sound area.
Mr. Speaker, in previous years, the winter turbot fishery in Pangnirtung has provided many jobs for my constituents, such as fishers, helpers, and fish plant workers.
Mr. Speaker, I was very happy to see the creation of a new company. The Cumberland Sound Fisheries Limited and the Arctic Fishery Alliance have joined to form the Umiat Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to see my fellow Inuit are taking the necessary steps to become more self-sufficient and look forward to hearing the progress of the Umiat Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to bring attention to the fact that my community’s Christmas feast was delayed due to a shortage of country foods in the community but will finally be held this evening.
I am very excited to fly home this afternoon and look forward to sharing this feast tonight with my constituents.
Going to Item 4 in our Orders of the Day.
I would like to recognize my fellow Nattilingmiut residents. They are here for training to look after Junior Rangers.
They are the commanding officers and they train the Junior Rangers in our community, and I am very grateful for their efforts.
I would like to recognize Louise Aqqaq from Taloyoak and Betty Kogvik from Gjoa Haven.
They are very committed individuals who provide a lot of services to our communities. I would like to thank them, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to recognize our pages. (interpretation ends) Our pages have been wonderful this week. Usually with new pages, we have to point out which member and which minister to send our notes, but these pages have been very sharp and efficient, and I wish to recognize them.
Firstly, Amanda Purcell, Rachel Niego-Akavak, Tristan Campbell, he went hiding somewhere, and Lee Wah-Shee Anawak, thank you very much for the good work.
Oral Questions. (interpretation ends) Item 6. (interpretation) There are no hands up.
Question 048 – 3(3): Health Situation in Sanikiluaq (Rumbolt)
Good morning to the people of Sanikiluaq.
On Wednesday, February 23, 2011, I asked the Minister of Health and Social Services for an update on the status of the illness that affected so many residents in Sanikiluaq in December and January.
The minister indicated that he would make a formal statement on the situation.
It has been more than a week since the minister made that commitment and I hope that has been enough time to collect the relevant information.
I would like to ask if the minister is now prepared to provide detailed information on the illness that affected so many Sanikiluaq residents and explain why it so severely affected the more vulnerable members of our community.
I think the member appreciates the question and severity.
The concern that Sanikiluarmiut experienced is a serious one and I appreciate the member keeping on top of that. We also have a challenging department. My deputy minister has not been as well as he is and he will also be absent today from work.
But what I do have is it has been confirmed that there was obviously a very dramatic increase in some of the influenza-like symptoms in December and there were about 52 medevacs of patients who were sent out to Winnipeg for treatment.
It is now confirmed that there were some cases related to RSV and flu.
I am pleased to announce today that the situation in Sanikiluaq has settled.
The particular flu-like symptoms during the fall, early winter, and December impacted mostly the very young and senior people who have less strong immunities, particularly with their body conditions.
The situation has settled down in Sanikiluaq and that is what I can confirm.
Also on February 23 of 2011, the minister indicated that he would also include information on the status of medical supplies in the community.
A great deal of the health centre’s supplies was used up dealing with the outbreak over Christmas.
Can the minister update this House on the status of medical supplies at the Sanikiluaq Health Centre and indicate whether or not they have been replaced?
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question and I certainly will respond to that once I get the full details of the supplies.
One of the things that all of the Members of the House should know is that each fall to early winter, there is normally an advisory at local health stations for families to get a flu shot.
Flu shots are an important preventative medication for all members of the communities, but only a certain amount of individuals, not all, came to take advantage of getting flu shots.
I think it would help that we would keep that option open at all times.
I certainly will get back to the question once I have my departmental officials compile all of the supplies and whether or not they are current (interpretation) in Sanikiluaq.
As the minister is well aware, it seems that other communities are becoming affected with flu-like symptoms.
Can the minister confirm whether other communities across Nunavut are being affected by the flu-like illness?
Personally I cannot confirm that, but what I can confirm is that the chief medical officer of Nunavut had issued a public alert notice a few days ago, indicating that flu-like symptoms have increased and that notice is going around all of the communities throughout Nunavut.
As a result, I think it’s important that even the Members of the House should be vigilant about it.
I think the chief medical officer of health is doing an excellent job in sending the notice out.
If you have a flu-like symptom, as I read the notice the other day, it indicated, “Stay home and consult your health centre to indicate that you are experiencing this particular kind of situation.”
Question 049 – 3(3): Revenue Enhancement Options for the Government of Nunavut (Elliott)
We have been working through the alphabet this week with the minister and we have determined that while the “d” word for “debt” and the “t” word for “taxes” did not make it into his budget speech, the “r” word for “revenues” did.
In his Budget Address, the minister indicated that one of the government’s long-term goals is to develop our own source revenues.
Can the minister outline for us today some of the specific options that he is looking at in this area?
I am glad that the member asked that question.
They seemed to be concerned about debt and taxes this week. I didn’t mention debt or taxes in my speech, perhaps I should have, but we’re not increasing our debt. At some point, we will approach Ottawa.
Taxes are pretty much limited to payroll taxes and personal income taxes. Until we develop our business sector, we’re limited to the corporate taxes that we get.
I believe the member is aware that we are hoping that devolution negotiations will get underway at some point in the future.
I indicated in my budget speech that devolution may be some time away. Until that occurs, we are very constrained by our ability to raise taxes through the corporate sector and through mining, so it is a while away.
I would suggest to Mr. Elliott that for the foreseeable future, probably until the next eight to ten years, we’re going to be very dependent on Ottawa through our Territorial Formula Financing Agreement with Ottawa and that expires in 2014.
That will be negotiated between now and 2014.
We are very concerned about the TFF; we cannot really do much to raise taxes. If Ottawa decides to reduce our funding, we can be in a real pinch.
The minister’s budget anticipated that the GN will only raise $7.5 million in the coming fiscal year from corporate income taxes.
My understanding is that Nunavut’s corporate income tax rate is 4 percent for small enterprises and 11.5 percent for large enterprises.
As we know, megaprojects in the mining sector are being looked at as an engine of economic growth in Nunavut.
In Alberta, the government frequently reviews royalty rates in the oil and gas sector.
I recognize that we need a devolution agreement, as he had mentioned earlier, with Ottawa in order to achieve a better deal regarding royalties from our natural resources.
Can the minister give us an indication of how much flexibility our existing tax system has to gain a greater share of revenue from mining activities?
Mr. Speaker, we don’t have much flexibility.
We want to encourage mining development and exploration in Nunavut, we don’t want to discourage it, and we do through various agreements.
I know the regional Inuit associations have Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreements that derive a lot of economic and social benefits from mining for their beneficiaries who comprise 85 percent of our population.
Through our own Department of Economic Development, they have development partnership agreements and some other benefits are negotiated.
We encourage mining and small business development. I don’t anticipate that we will be raising taxes in the foreseeable future.
Taxes are an easy way to generate revenue but it also has an easy way to discourage investment in Nunavut.
The high cost of living in Nunavut, especially in the areas of food and transportation, has been a major topic of discussion this week.
I know that the minister cannot provide us with exact figures, but can he give us a general indication of whether major retailers and airlines operating in Nunavut pay a fair share of territorial corporate income taxes in order to allow our government to provide programs and services to Nunavummiut?
Mr. Speaker, I don’t have that level of detail with me today and I would have to get back to him on that.
We know that there are different business sectors in Nunavut.
We’ve got the tourism sector, we’ve got the small business sector, the mining sector, we’ve got the airline sector; there are different sectors.
I can’t answer to that level of detail in the House.
Many of my colleagues have been talking about the urgent need to fight bootlegging in our communities.
I have heard the argument that if we were to make access to alcohol easier in Nunavut by opening government-operated liquor stores, the government would actually see an increase in revenues given that people would be able to purchase alcohol legally rather than putting money into the hands of bootleggers and the underground economy.
Has the minister’s department done any analysis on this question and will he commit to sharing the results of this with MLAs?
I’m not sure what he’s driving at. I don’t believe we have done that kind of analysis.
I know we have a task force on the review of the Liquor Act that is talking to communities in town halls and talking to airlines, I believe, and other interest groups and businesses.
We’re going to wait for their recommendations after the consultations and town hall meetings. It will be reported later this year.
We will sit down with the folks, and then we will look at different areas and possible amendments of the Liquor Act, and it may also provide us with some information we can look at in other areas, such as Mr. Elliott is suggesting.
Question 050 – 3(3): Medical Misdiagnosis (Ugyuk)
My colleague for Akulliq, John Ningark, was posing some questions yesterday in regard to people being diagnosed too late when they have illnesses.
I understand that it has impacted many Nunavummiut.
I also understand that in his riding, there is more than one person who is ill, and I feel compassion for the people who are not feeling well or are ill.
However, I want to ask the minister: is there any form of preventative work?
We receive funding from the federal government for prevention.
Can we provide support to the health centres so that they can do preventative work?
I will be responding similarly to what I responded to with regard to some of the issues.
Mr. Speaker, one of our partners is the public health officials. Their main work is to educate the public about the dangers to their health.
For example, tobacco is one of the biggest causes of lung cancer and we have tried to provide assistance to people who wish to quit smoking. We do have a toll-free number and we have resources that try and get people to stop smoking.
That is just one example.
We have other programs to educate people about nutrition and healthy living.
Furthermore, there are also particular sicknesses that may apply to Nunavut and it is more or less a generic case-by-case treatment.
For example, if you look at the flu, the nurses sometimes don’t know exactly what kind of illness it is because they don’t have a laboratory and testing facilities that would enable them to know exactly what strain of flu they are being faced with.
In the end, they tend to send patients out for medical evacuation.
Part of that education is geared towards people in the communities.
For example, I know that some of the nurses are stressed and they are overworked and they are not going to give up on the person who is sick and ill, but there are definitely ways we can work to improve that.
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Yes, I was expecting that response and it’s a good response, but we have our own Nunavut government and it’s preferable that they are trying to turn more towards Inuit customs and practices within government operations.
To cite an example, one of the impacts is suicide. There is a good foundation now that we have created that is geared towards preventing suicide.
With respect to health issues and health education, can we look forward to having a foundation for educating our public about health issues in Nunavut?
I’m not quite sure exactly how to respond to that, but what I can say is that our legislation for the Iliqqusiit programs, including the funding that is allocated to our government by the federal government, funds both ours and NTI’s programs geared towards youth and aboriginal people.
Part of our strategies is funded by the federal government specifically for this year.
Let me just read it in English. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care” is more or less the saying, but as Inuit, we have to go on our own initiative.
We have to try to better our health, we have to try to get it to shape, we have to be committed to that kind of lifestyle, and this is our ultimate goal.
We’re trying to support public health, including our nurses, and the wellness program.
That’s the ultimate goal, to create a healthy living and healthy communities, but I don’t think there’s anything that says, “If you do this particular thing, then you will never get sick.”
I concur with the minister that a lot of us are not educated about the benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
I would like to see a healthy mental ability and a healthy life as an ultimate goal for the Nunavut government, such as cancer prevention.
Question 051 – 3(3): Medical Prescriptions (Komoartok)
In our community, we have a lot of residents who are dependent on daily medication and the medication has to be shipped all the way from Iqaluit and they’re generally placed in pillboxes that have a daily dose.
Sometimes there are delays due to weather in the shipment of medication or if the replacement order wasn’t done, then it causes a lot of problems for those people who need that daily medication and it can create a lot of side benefits.
I wonder if there is any way to ensure a steady supply of medication in cases of bad weather or if they haven’t been reordered. My question is: are they supplied to the community directly or do they have to order them from the pharmacy with a doctor’s prescription?
I would like that clarified, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
That’s a very relevant question posed by the Member for Pangnirtung.
As I stated during the Committee of the Whole yesterday with respect to medication, this forms part of our health system approaches and it’s a very important aspect of the treatment of our patients.
We have partners with the retail businesses.
There is a contract we hold currently with Valupharm and they are looking after the Baffin region.
However, during our Committee of the Whole meeting, I stated that there should always be a small pharmaceutical supply in every community health centre.
We do have a pharmaceutical plan which we’re hoping to implement down the road and I’m hoping that it will start being implemented while I’m still in this portfolio.
The other initiative we have is the telehealth initiative and that allows us to deal with certain things.
Another development we’re expecting is the telepharmaceutical initiative and this would allow medication to be prescribed over television.
This hasn’t been laid out completely yet, but I know for a fact that this would really help alleviate some of the problems we have.
I look forward to improvements in the system down the line.
I would like to know whether they could resolve some of these issues related to patients who need daily doses of their medication.
I would like to see a system that can resolve the issues related to medication, either to call the local health centre or to call the hospital here in Iqaluit. It can even cause a death of a person if they’re dependent on medication.
Where should patients call if they need to replace their medication?
Most patients need medication prior to running out and I would like clarification on that.
Based on the current scenario, if they require replacement dosages, they have to contact the nurse as that is the way it is set up currently.
Prior to the last week of their medication, they have to notify the nurse, who then faxes the replacement medication order to Valupharm. I think we have to remind everybody that they have to give at least a couple of weeks notice before they run out of medication.
If a person tries to make a replacement order just prior to running out of medication, it may cause problems as some people need daily doses.
So it’s very important that they give advance notice to the health centre so that their replacement medication can come in on time prior to the end of their medication.
Question 052 – 3(3): Pre-Purchased Bulk Fuel (Schell)
Yesterday I asked the minister if they have been using the pre-purchase program for purchasing bulk fuel. Now with the price of oil over $100 a barrel, I would like to ask the minister how much fuel has been pre-purchased and at what price.
Our department has taken advantage of the pre-purchase opportunity and I believe we purchased 33 million litres of diesel fuel at this time, Mr. Speaker.
I also asked him what the price was that they purchased this fuel at.
The purchase was done earlier in the year. I’ll have to get back to the member on the exact cost of the purchase, Mr. Speaker.
I would also like to know what the average price was that the government paid for fuel last year and what it can foresee for an average price of fuel this year, and if he is taking into account the added cost for fuel for the government.
As I said, we purchased 33 million litres; it cost us approximately $29 million for that 33 million litres of fuel.
We still have to purchase another 66 million to 70 million litres of diesel fuel.
Until we have purchased all of our fuel, Mr. Speaker, it’s really hard to say how much it will end up costing and get the exact details of the difference in pricing until we’ve got all of the fuel purchased and then also all of the fuel delivered. It’s hard to really come up with the final numbers on that, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) As I heard two questions, that was also your final one.
Question 053 – 3(3): Funding for Hall Beach Elders’ Activities (Tapardjuk)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth. Sometimes I call him my Annuraaqatik.
Yesterday the department tabled their priorities and plans for elders’ activities for the years 2011-14.
Let me give some background. This is a good and newsworthy item. I imagine that questions will arise once it has been disseminated.
It states in the report that traditional knowledge will be accumulated and they will be doing on-the-land courses between elders and youth. I think that was their goal.
Can the minister clarify what type of application process is required to apply for funding?
If there is funding available, spring is coming soon and many communities are preparing now.
My question to the Minister of CLEY is: will there be funding set aside in your budgets specifically for these initiatives?
I also thank my Annuraaqatik for his question.
It was initiated by my predecessor who was responsible for CLEY.
It has been running smoothly and efficiently since that time.
This particular program has funding allocated to it. It was created in 2004 and elders and youth started going on camping trips to work on their transferral of skills.
We have started our preparations for this spring. They are preparing for trips in the Kitikmeot.
The Department of CLEY has a specific division that is geared towards on-the-land programming and they work on these skill sets. In the Baffin and the Kivalliq regions, this program will continue.
Based on the report we tabled yesterday, we will proceed as planned.
Another question that I want to raise is with respect to the compilation of the data about traditional knowledge during these on-the-land programs.
With respect to this issue, Mr. Speaker, let me try to understand this.
Let’s use a community as an example, where elders are taken out for a day trip. When elders are given an opportunity to get out of the house, then it gives them a purpose.
When elders just sit around a house, they start to get tired of their surroundings.
So if a community wanted to take elders on the land for a day trip, do they have any leeway in looking at ways to get the elders participating in other programs within the community, either activities or programs that don’t require money?
I thank the member for his questions.
Yes, it is true that elders are one of our focus groups.
We are trying to identify particular exercises and programs that will include the participation of elders and we are trying to look at various other options to benefit them and to publicize them.
Most communities have either a weekly or monthly elders gathering where they review funding proposals sent to various funding organizations, at least that is what happens in Clyde River and it has run for a number of years. I believe there is a weekly elders meeting that brings the elders together and they have a set of activities to keep them busy.
That is how communities can try to create these initiatives and communities can apply for the funding under these programs.
Yes, I know some communities are very active in assisting their elders, but some communities are requesting more support.
For example, my other constituency community of Hall Beach is always looking for ways to provide more benefits to their elders.
However, at this time, Hall Beach does not even have an elders committee.
In those cases where the communities don’t have these committees, who can they approach, or will the department ensure that the hamlets could still provide support and benefits for their elders?