EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
On more than one occasion, as an MLA, I have received correspondence from our government, actually from the ministers. The correspondence is sent in English only, with a caveat stating that the Inuktitut version will follow upon completion.
This tendency to have Inuktitut a seeming afterthought by the bureaucracy still exists today.
I thought this government would change its colonial ways upon the creation of Nunavut and with the recognition of the three official languages of Nunavut. They are: Inuktitut, French, and English. Inuinnaqtun is included, but it is a dialect of Inuktitut.
With the public service continually placing Inuktitut as a secondary thought, those residents or MLAs who can only read in Inuktitut are being forced to slow down and fall behind the debate.
This is very disconcerting to me, as we the MLAs represent Nunavut and our linguistic requirements have to be the priority.
We need to have Inuktitut available as with all official languages recognized by our legislation.
It seems that we get correspondence way too many times with notes stating that the translation will follow.
This is unacceptable since Inuktitut is one of the official languages here in Nunavut.
Mr. Keyootak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank my colleagues.
As per my earlier statements about Nunavut during the land claims process, I was intimately involved in that.
During the negotiations for the land claims agreement and up to the completion, I was part of the board members who fought that battle. Furthermore, many Inuit who were involved back then are now sitting in this House.
At the time our expectation as board members, at least some of us, was that once Nunavut was created, Inuit rights would be incorporated into the new government system to be created. As board members, that was part of the reason to expect Inuktitut to be recognized and this formulated part of our struggle to establish the territory.
Further, many of our constituents harboured that same expectation.
Part of that vote was to create Nunavut and the recognition therein of Inuit, with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit forming a foundation for the new government. This was part of our expectations.
Some of our board members were relentless in trying to establish the territory because of our expectations to finally have Inuit rights and language enshrined in the new government.
Mr. Speaker, now some of us think and I imagine previous MLAs have thought the same thing that the bureaucracy imagines we are trying to return to olden days when we speak of Inuit knowledge from time immemorial and when it is voiced here.
However, all members know that it is not trying to return us back to the old ways as practised nor will we ever return to those days when Inuit were self-determining.
Nonetheless, in speaking of actual Inuit abilities and knowledge related to social interactions, that was what some Inuit expected to be incorporated into this government once Nunavut got its own government.
That is why our elder fights for incorporation of this knowledge.
Furthermore, it illustrates why some of us fought so hard to get Nunavut due to what we thought would change in the governance mindset.
The expectation was that our Inuit abilities that sustained us would be incorporated into the Nunavut government, but we still find barriers today that keep Inuit in the secondary tier.
Progress has to be made to ensure it is equivalent.
That is what I wanted to speak to, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for being able to voice my thoughts.
Member’s Statement 316 – 4(3): Suicide Prevention (Qirngnuq)
I want to say this prior to my statement to the House.
I had to first call the affected individual today and with their approval, I will be speaking about suicide today and how to prevent suicide in our youth.
What I wanted to say is that this stems from a suicide last spring or last year that I will reference in order to make progress on this front.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the issue of suicide prevention.
Mr. Speaker, as you recall, I spoke about this issue earlier this year when I learned of the tragic news of a suicide that had taken place in my constituency.
Mr. Speaker, at that time I noted that although we cannot control human beings’ lives, we must do what we can to help our young people avoid a dark path.
Mr. Speaker, I know that suicide is a crisis in our land.
Although one suicide is too many, we have been facing a situation that is unprecedented in terms of the number of young people who have been lost to us.
Mr. Speaker, it is also a tragedy to see that suicide afflicts so many remote indigenous communities elsewhere in Canada.
This is truly a national tragedy that requires a national response.
Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago the House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs held a public hearing here in Iqaluit on the issue of suicide prevention.
There are no nays. Mr. Qirngnuq, please proceed.
(interpretation ends) I was very honoured to have had the opportunity to speak directly to the committee about the importance of suicide prevention, and it is my hope that they listened carefully to our words.
Mr. Speaker, our own minister responsible for suicide prevention made a presentation to the federal committee, and I will have questions for him at the appropriate time on this important subject.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to conclude today by noting that the issue of suicide prevention was also addressed at the recent annual general meeting of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, which I had the honour of attending earlier this month.
Member’s Statement 317 – 4(3): Heritage Minute Honouring the Late Kenojuak Ashevak (Joanasie)
Good afternoon, colleagues, people of Kimmirut, Cape Dorset, and Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour the late artist Kenojuak Ashevak, who is showcased in a new Heritage Minute video which was released today.
Mr. Speaker, last year I made a statement in this House on this very matter indicating that this Heritage Minute video will be released and it’s the first of its kind in that it’s narrated in Inuktitut.
Mr. Speaker, Kenojuak is one of the most recognized names in the arts sector.
Her accomplishments and impact that she’s had on the community, in the territory, and for Canada have been tremendous.
Mr. Speaker, this Heritage Minute is acted out appropriately by members of her family, including her sister Koomoatoo Mathewsie, her grandson Johnnybou Ashevak, and even her great-grandchildren Joshua Wortman, John Walker Ashevak, and Liam-Riley Alivaktuk.
Mr. Speaker, Miali Buscemi, who plays Kenojuak in the one-minute piece, is the only non-relative of the cast, but she portrayed the late artist beautifully.
Mr. Speaker, please join me in thanking the sponsors, CBC News, Canadian North, ACTRA, and the federal government Department of Canadian Heritage for their contribution to this Heritage Minute and a great tribute to Kenojuak, her community, and her family, who have a proud moment to cherish through this video.
Member’s Statement 318 – 4(3): Maintenance of Government of Nunavut Buildings (Mikkungwak)
Before I proceed, I would first like to say that my father-in-law turned 79 today. I wish a very happy birthday to Matthew Kunungnat.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the importance of building maintenance and satisfactory working conditions.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, the Government of Nunavut employs many Nunavummiut and delivers services to many more.
The buildings that the government owns and leases serve as the workplace of many Nunavummiut and the service centres for many more.
When these buildings are well-maintained, they provide the basic working conditions from which employees are able to deliver the best possible services to their communities.
On the other hand, when these buildings are in a constant need of maintenance and repair, it affects the employees, it affects the employees’ ability to serve their clients, and it affects the community as a whole.
I recognize that our territory needs a significant amount of new and important infrastructure and I encourage the government to continue its efforts to meet Nunavut’s infrastructure needs.
However, I urge the government to recognize that the development of new infrastructure should not come at the expense maintaining its current infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, leaky pipes and aging floors may not seem very dramatic in comparison to the need for million-dollar capital projects, but addressing these smaller problems will make a big difference for government employees and the community members that they serve.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will have questions for the minister on this issue.
Member’s Statement 319 – 4(3): 2016 High School Graduates of Coral Harbour (Mapsalak)
Good day, people of Naujaat and Coral Harbour.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate students in Coral Harbour who graduated from grade 12.
Unfortunately I was not able to attend the ceremony because of a family matter at home.
I will announce their names and I would like to congratulate them for graduating on August 26.
Chantel Emiktowt
Sebastian Saviadjuk
Caylin Angootealuk
Andy Nakoolak
Karla Nakoolak
Vivian Paniyuk
Christopher Eetuk
Jenna Natakok
Daniel Jr. Shimout, and
Mark Judai
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the graduates.
Member’s Statement 320 – 4(3): Expressing Pride in Grandsons (Mike)
I take this opportunity to rise and extend congratulatory remarks to our youth who have caught their first animal, male or female, as I am equally proud of all of them for practising our traditional hunting culture.
Recently this summer stemming from the spring, my three grandsons were able to hunt and caught their first animal of certain species. I wish to praise their hard work, including every other young person who accomplished this.
My grandson is now 13 years old. He shot his first beluga and I took great pride in his first catch. His younger brother harvested a harp seal beater, which is called a milajuaq in Inuktitut, for the first time.
Further, my irngutalluaq, whom I referenced a while back as having caught his first walrus and congratulating him for that accomplishment, just recently caught his first arctic hare on his first solo hunt whilst accompanying his parents on a berry-picking trip.
While his mother was picking, he went hunting for arctic hare.
Pangnirtung, as you know, has quite steep and craggy terrain, with many hills and mountains. He started searching for his quarry and found some arctic hares. He had run out of ammo while on the mountainside and hurried back to the boat, grabbed more ammo to continue his hunt.
He ran uphill to continue his hunt and he returned clutching a hare in one hand.
He just turned eight this year.
I wanted to express my pride in my grandsons’ accomplishments and congratulate them for continuing our traditional hunter-gatherer practices and for being allowed to hunt, which is the Inuit men’s tradition in the Arctic.
Further, I regret not being able to be on the land and hunting with my grandsons, as they are learning by themselves and becoming ever more capable.
I can live with that as that is the current reality we face.
Ms. Angnakak: I just caught it.
I just saw one of my constituents come in right now.
Her name is Parniga Akeeagok and I would like to welcome her to the House.
Speaker (interpretation): Welcome to the gallery. Item 6.
Question 412 – 4(3): Departmental Vacancies (Enook)
Now, in relation to the latest Government of Nunavut quarterly report ending June 20, 2016 wherein I read the following figures, in Pond Inlet the number of government positions vacant totalled 44 and out of these 44 positions, 12 of them were in the Department of Community and Government Services.
Let me start by first asking the minister: can he identify the duties of these 12 positions and exactly which positions are currently vacant?
It’s my understanding that there are five vacant positions in Pond Inlet right now and they are for four project managers and one facility manager.
That is my understanding of the current situation there.
Can the minister indicate which of these vacant positions are currently out for competition?
Currently there is only one project manager position that is being advertised and I know the member will have something to say about this, but it’s due to staff housing issues.
We are not allotted staff housing, so therefore we can only advertise one of the positions because that’s the only staff housing that has been assigned to us so far.
Mr. Enook: Uqaqtii, I wasn’t surprised.
(interpretation) Mr. Speaker, I’ll comment on this one regarding the shortage of staff housing.
I wasn’t going to mention it, but the minister is well aware that the shortage of staff housing is a real problem in the smaller communities.
This is especially true in the smaller communities whereas in some communities, for example, in Pond Inlet there are way too many staff houses that have always been vacant and it is also a problem.
Do the positions that the minister mentioned come with shared staff housing if someone is going to be in government staff housing?
The qualifications for project managers are quite stringent and it’s a highly competitive market within Canada and not just within Nunavut. We have advertised in the past and have been unsuccessful on them.
As I stated, we are currently advertising for one project manager right now with housing and the other positions are not advertised right now, again, because there is no housing available.
We feel that it would be futile to advertise the positions without housing because people have to have a place to live.
Question 413 – 4(3): New Building Canada Fund (Mikkungwak)
During yesterday’s sitting of the Legislative Assembly the minister introduced the Government of Nunavut’s 2017-18 capital estimates.
Towards the end of this document there is a long listing of projects that are coming forward under the federal government’s New Building Canada Fund.
One of these projects is the Qikiqtani Correctional Healing Centre.
However, I do not recall seeing any federal news releases or announcements confirming federal support for this project, and this project is currently not listed on Infrastructure Canada’s website.
For the record, can the minister confirm whether or not the federal government has formally approved this project under the New Building Canada Fund?
Mr. Speaker, that particular project has gone forward to Canada. It’s a priority project for Nunavut.
It has received discussion in this House in the past.
It is a project that exceeds what I think is a $50 million threshold, so it has to receive a final cursory review by the Treasury Board of Canada, likely in November.
We have received assurances from Infrastructure Canada that this is just a normal process. It’s being recommended and supported by Infrastructure Canada. They’ve had people up here meeting with our people to review the project and discuss it.
During Tuesday’s sitting of the Legislative Assembly my colleague from Uqqummiut asked whether or not the federal government has formally said yes or no to constructing a new deepwater port for Qikiqtarjuaq under the Building Canada Fund.
Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the response that he received to his question and it is not at all clear to me what the federal decision actually was.
Mr. Speaker, when projects are approved by Ottawa, there is no shortage of news releases, photo opportunities, and signing ceremonies to celebrate the occasion.
My question is this: can the minister clarify how Nunavut communities and their MLAs are informed when Ottawa says no to a funding request?
Hon. Keith Peterson: Who am I now, the Minister of Finance for Canada?
Mr. Speaker, Ottawa has a process we have to follow and it’s no different than any other province or territory where projects have to… . The New Building Canada Fund is a 10-year program.
Nunavut is receiving $256 million under that, of which 10 percent is for the Small Communities Fund.
The projects are similar to the way the capital planning process goes. We have to meet the criteria.
We put projects together. Some are through the departments. Presumably they work with communities, the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, and other entities, and then they would come through the Financial Management Board, which I chair.
We then review and recommend these projects to Ottawa and Infrastructure Canada.
They review them down there and they will indicate to us whether they consider them eligible or whether they can fund them. It’s a little back and forth.
I believe we work with the standing committees to ensure that they understand whether projects are funded or not. We’ve had projects that we have sent down.
This process started way back when funding was announced in 2013 and the criteria was out in 2014.
We put business cases down there in early 2015. They have told us and come back to us a few times saying that these projects aren’t eligible.
My colleague at CGS would normally communicate through his officials down to the communities.
My community of Baker Lake has many infrastructure funding needs, but it is not clear whether or not any of these ideas have been submitted to Ottawa for consideration.
Can the minister clarify how the Government of Nunavut decides which projects to submit to Ottawa for consideration and which projects it decides not to support?
I’m sure he understands how the capital planning process works.
First of all, we’ve got this program, the New Building Canada Fund, which has its criteria that Ottawa has established with the Treasury Board.
Infrastructure Canada then gives that information to the provinces and territories.
We will review that ineligibility criteria and then we look at what projects we have that can potentially meet that criteria.
You know, in our capital planning process, of course we say projects that are top priority would be health projects, education projects, and safety projects.
There’s a whole bunch of criteria that Mr. Mikkungwak is well aware of that we would apply to a particular project.
We’re not just picking some project because it’s a special project. It’s a project that is going to have a significant benefit to a community or to the territory.
We’re working with limited resources, as Mr. Mikkungwak is well aware. We have to kick in 25 percent and we have to do a lot of detailed planning to ensure that if the project is approved, it gets down to a class “A” estimate and then it goes out to tender.
We’re responsible for anything over that. Canada kicks in 75 percent.
If it’s anything more than that, then we would have to cover the cost overruns.
There are a lot of details and a lot of processes involved. We involve the standing committees.
We were down here in the Committee of the Whole through our capital planning process to make sure that whatever projects are approved, they are projects that can get delivered on time and on budget and are of benefit to Nunavut and to the communities.
Question 414 – 4(3): Legal Services Board (Akoak)
Good afternoon to Gjoa Havenmiut. My family is watching. I miss you all.
As the minister will recall, I have raised a number of questions in the Legislative Assembly regarding the Legal Services Board, an organization which is headquartered in my community of Gjoa Haven.
I have previously raised such concerns as why the board’s chief executive officer has been located in Rankin Inlet and the board’s comptroller has been located in Manitoba.
In April of this year a contract worth up to $128,700 was awarded to a consulting company to undertake a review of the Legal Services Board’s organization and compensation structure.
Can the minister indicate whether or not the report on this review has been completed and, if it has, will he make a copy of the report available to me and other MLAs?
The decision to put the Nunavut Legal Services Board in Gjoa Haven goes way back.
I think that at one point they were recommending that the Nunavut Liquor Commission be in Gjoa Haven, which is a prohibited community.
The brain trust of the day decided, “That didn’t work. We better put them in Rankin Inlet and we will put the Legal Services Board in Gjoa Haven.”
It has proven difficult to staff all the positions over there because first of all, as Mr. Akoak knows, there’s a problem with housing and of course recruitment.
There have been arrangements made over the years to allow the executive director to live in firstly Iqaluit and then in Rankin Inlet.
I think that’s a function of you have to hire some qualified staff and have people available to work. There being no housing in Gjoa Haven is a problem. Recently, I believe, in Gjoa Haven it was a real struggle earlier this year to hire a local manager to replace yourself for the last two years, so that has been a real challenge.
As for the status of the report, I can’t tell you that it’s complete.
If I can correct you, when I first got my job as an office manager over in Gjoa Haven, the office was fully staffed.
We had the director there and finance officers there.
It was fully staffed, just to correct you.
As the minister will be aware, the LSB’s board of directors met in Rankin Inlet last month.
One of the board’s agenda items was an update on the structural review of the organization.
Has the minister been made aware of what decisions the board has made on this issue?
Minister of Justice, Mr. Keith Peterson.
I thank Mr. Akoak for the update. It’s an interesting structure with the Nunavut Legal Services Board because some of the employees actually work for the Government of Nunavut.
I think there are three in Gjoa Haven who are Government of Nunavut employees and then there are other employees who are Nunavut Legal Services Board employees.
It’s an interesting structure that has been difficult to unravel over the years, to sort all that out.
I believe they’re working on it. We met with the executive director last summer. When I was in Rankin Inlet in June, we had an opportunity to meet with the executive director.
They are working on that. I believe the executive director is in town this week or coming into town. I probably will get an opportunity to talk to her about some of the restructuring decisions or recommendations that are coming forward.
I just want to make sure that we keep the jobs in Gjoa Haven and this is my last question.
What assurances can the minister provide me that no Legal Services Board positions will be moved out of Gjoa Haven?
I can’t give Mr. Akoak any assurance, but as of today I don’t know of any movement afoot to move any positions.
The Government of Nunavut has a decentralization policy that if positions are moved out, other positions are moved in so that it all balances out.
In Nunavut I think there’s a 60-40 ratio where a maximum of 40 percent of Government of Nunavut employees are in Iqaluit and 60 percent are outside of Iqaluit.
If there’s something you’re aware of that I’m not aware of, feel free to approach me and I’ll have my officials, who are probably listening, follow up on your concern, but I’m unaware of any decisions to move Legal Services Board positions out of Gjoa Haven.
Question 415 – 4(3): Providing Local NTEP Programs (Joanasie)
Mr. Speaker, in recent years Nunavut Arctic College has made great progress in introducing the Nunavut Teacher Education Program at the community level.
This program was very welcome in the community of Cape Dorset, but delivery seems to have stalled for this year.
I would like the minister to provide an update on when the Nunavut Teacher Education Program will continue its delivery in Cape Dorset.
I also thank my colleague for that question. (interpretation ends) Year one (interpretation) of the program was rolled out in fiscal year 2015-16 and it was successful.
Further, the courses were completed for the first year in 2015-16.
A problem cropped up in the community of Cape Dorset or rather, upon the burning down of the school, this became a concern due to the issues faced by the community related to space.
Shortly thereafter only one student out of the original six student body was able to return to resume their studies for the NTEP program.
The program was unable to proceed mainly due to the lack of students, with the single student returning for the second year.