EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I’m just saying that community based training has been very successful, hiring these trained people in that area, not only in security but also in the other training programs for example cooking, carpentry or introductory for welding, these types of things.
So I’m just saying that community based training is very effective in my community.
The problem will be now, everything for the next two months, because the facility that they have been using until this summer, is going to be turned over to the Department of Justice to be used as a healing place, and that was the main centre where they have been training.
I’m just saying the department really has to look into this matter as where the mining company is making a good effort to hire local people, trained people but yet…
Chairman (interpretation): We’re dealing with the Capital Estimates.
Please try to keep your comments directed towards 2004/2005 capital estimates.
Just a reminder to Members that we should be and keep in line with the Capital Estimates discussion.
Mr. Havioyak: I’m working exactly towards that in making these statements.
I’m exactly going towards that part so, thank you
But anyway I am saying community based training is a way to go and we need a facility, a facility where a lot of these young people who want to train in those carpentry courses, but I would like to see that we build a training center for these people.
It may be carpentry courses because a lot of these people, if they are not trained, they will not be employed.
But I think we have to understand that we need these facilities either in Kugluktuk or in our communities and I think if we can get a facility like that for communities because we do not see it in our five-year Capital Plan that I would like to see that if we can get a training center in our communities.
Chairman (interpretation): We are dealing with Capital Estimates.
Next on my list for general comments is Mr. Iqaqrialu.
Mr. Iqaqrialu (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you to the Department of Education and the staff of all, I know you all.
Lorne Levy, I know, is a very capable worker; I think after two years I will be able to speak to him in Inuktitut and he will speak to me in Inuktitut and we will converse all in Inuktitut and that would be a dream, especially when we are dealing with the Capital Planning it would be ideal to speak in my language to him and I am proud of that.
With the renovation of schools, I have been able to benefit for the renovation in my community and it has really benefited the community.
And as well, in Qikiqtarjuaq, it is also in the Plans in the future for the renovations or upgrading of a school.
Perhaps, to mirror my Colleague’s comments, those who are completing school are increasing, but there are also further needs once they finish high school.
I think, through the Capital Planning for the future, we should really start focusing on trades schools in the communities within Nunavut.
And if there is supposed to be a consideration, it is well worth it as in Nunavut and before Nunavut, during the Northwest Territories days, we have really advanced in the last three or four years and the communities needs for Capital has been met, although with the shortage of funds in the Government’s Budget.
We could do a lot more, given if we had more funding available within the whole of Government and as people of the Arctic above the tree line.
We do not have as many industries in the north, the communities of Kivalliq and Kitikmeot are more accessible to the south and we, in the Baffin Region, are not as accessible and the only way that we could have access to the south is through air and by sea.
And so, I think if there would be more room in the Capital Plans to ensure that we build more trades schools and vocational schools within Nunavut.
Perhaps, in that area, we could start saving some money by stop sending students elsewhere.
I am very proud of the Department of Education, the Minister and the good work they have done to date and I further expect that in the Capital Planning for the future that Inuit specific schools will be considered in the future, folk schools for Inuit and those are some considerations we can make in the future for capital planning in the Department of Education.
I have no problem with this years capital planning for this department.
Capital estimates, department summary.
Next on my list for general comments is Mr. Alakannuark.
Mr. Alakannuark (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you to the witness table.
I also have some gratitude to show for the addition of the school in one of my communities, which I'm sure cost a lot of money.
Yes, it’s good to show your gratitude when something is done to you and I think just keep me in line if I'm going all over the place and I think when we upgrade and renovate schools it only does good for the students because they’re more eager to learn.
And but there’s a but there unfortunately when our children and relatives, when you have to leave the family for further schooling it’s quite difficult on anybody that would have to go away from the community because they have family ties in the community it’s often quite difficult for students to go out of the territory for schooling.
And because we need to start training our people I think the best way to deal with this is to build schools, trade schools, vocational schools within Nunavut so that students can stay in school and complete their training and I think that should be our focus for the future so that we have well trained Inuit within Nunavut without having to go out of the territory for that schooling because a lot of times they end up quitting because they miss their family or what have you.
I’ll use an example, my daughter, who is in school in Pangnirtung; she had to leave some of her children behind, some of her kids are with her and my son is going to school at a managerial course in Cambridge Bay.
My other son is going to the trades school in Fort Smith.
In all cases they have to leave their children behind and it’s kind of painful to see the children being left behind by the parents.
If we were to have community based training then we wouldn’t have to see that.
I don’t see anything in the Capital Estimates in that regard, but I’d also like to mention that in Repulse Bay, I'm just wondering when it will make it to the Capital planning regarding the upgrading or the renovations of the school in Naujaat.
Chairman (interpretation): Capital estimates for 2004-2005.
That’s what we are deliberating on; next one on my list is Mr. Netser.
I am proud of Minister Thompson and her officials for giving us interesting comments.
I have heard from around the table here that the department is doing very well.
When we envisioned our future, if we don’t have a vision for the future, nothing comes out, but I'm very glad that the department has a vision for the future and at times we do have heavy equipment training program in Fort Smith which is outside of our territory.
And yes we need to get trade schools within Nunavut or heavy equipment programs and I know that I expect to see heavy equipment training in the north.
I live in Coral Harbour and I’ve also worked with the granular deposits and I know that we have a large amount of gravel in Coral Harbour.
I would like to envision, for my colleague that there be a heavy equipment training program open in Coral Harbour because we require heavy equipment training programs within Nunavut. I just want to state that.
We’ll move on to questions.
According to our rules and procedures as a Chairperson for the Committee of the Whole, please make sure you go through the Chairperson when you have questions and I will allow each Member ten minutes to ask questions.
Everything is being timed here.
On page 9-4, what page are we going to start off with the Department of Education in Capital Estimates?
Chairman (interpretation): We’ll start off with 9-5.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): On page 9-6, information item.
This $300 thousand on the top here, Minor Capital if you can clarify that what’s that going to be used for so that I have a better understanding of it.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Nutarak.
This $300 thousand on Minor Capital is usually used for things like fixing doors and windows if they need to be fixed.
Is it also used to draft Bills?
Chairman (interpretation): Minister Thompson.
I did not catch his question, I’m sorry.
This Minor Capital of $300 thousand is that also used to draft up Bills, because it’s set aside.
Chairman (interpretation): Madam Minister.
It’s for Tangible Assets also such as metals and materials such as gymnasiums; it is not used to draft Bills.
Joamie school burnt down here in Iqaluit, and there’s Capital Estimates of $9 million, 165 thousand dollars for the construction of the school this coming summer in the fiscal year of 2004/2005.
I’m sure that Joamie School had insurance.
Have you receive insurance from there already?
Or didn’t they?
After Joamie School burned down, we had to make urgent plans and we had to find budget item for it.
I forgot what you call insurance in Inuktitut.
The insurance could not cover the whole cost.
So therefore, we set aside ten million dollars because the insurance could not cover the whole cost.
Chairman (interpretation): Do you have further questions, Mr. Nutarak.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): In order to have a shorter meeting today, I will have brief question.
In the estimates, the 2004/05 for the Department of Education, for schools, it looka like there seem to be no plans for new schools, for the brand new schools.
When do we see the plans for construction of new schools?
I’m not talking about adult learning centers.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Madam Minister, thank you.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you. Madam Minister.
Hon. Manitok Thompson (interpretation): Yes, Mr. Chairman, we have a twenty year long term Capital Plan and we already reviewed them.
Chairman (interpretation): Do you further questions, Mr. Nutarak?
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): I’m trying to utilize my time line to ask questions.
In Cambridge Bay, the library, the student accommodation they set aside an additional five hundred thousand dollars, was the rest of capital estimates too small?
Is that why you need additional capital?
Hon. Manitok Thompson (interpretation): In Cambridge Bay, on Arctic College student accommodation, we had to reopen that, and we had to make sure that will be funded in the Capital Estimates.
Also for Sanikiluaq, there’s funding set aside for six hundred and fifty thousand.
Is that complete, is that why I don’t see any line for that item anymore?
Chairman (interpretation): Mr. Nutarak is asking questions that he couldn’t see additional information.
When we go down to the Community Government and Transportation you could see their plans included are up to 2009 now.
I just want to give you that information, Madam Minister.
This six hundred and fifty thousand dollars for Sanikiluaq, the pupil/teacher ratio was quite high so this is to start the school design for 2003/2004 and so it was approved to get a new school in Sanikiluaq.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you. Nutarak.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): I just wondered when the school will be built in Sanikiluaq.
Chairman (interpretation): Madam Minister
The school, we would like that school to be completed by March of 2004 as soon as the construction and design is done.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): The adult learning center in Nunavut.
I know there’s not much money for those community-learning centers for all of Nunavut.
In some communities in Nunavut, the adult learning centers are very old and they have to get renovated.
What are the plans for those adult-learning centers as the needs are in the communities?
Chairman (interpretation): Can I have order here please?
Hon. Manitok Thompson (interpretation): Like I said that we have a twenty year plan as to what the plans will be for the adult learning centers as well as the school renovations or extensions to existing schools.
We have plans for all of the communities in Nunavut.
In Pond Inlet, for example, the adult learning center has to be replaced and there has to be a design put in place for that school as well.
We have a twenty year plan for those types of things.
The adult learning center in Pond Inlet has been seen, and it isn’t very big.
I just wanted to find out which year is there a plan for that adult learning center.
For Pond Inlet, there in the future Capital Estimates, there is a plan for it in 2006 and 2007.
The school should be completed as long as the Members agree to the plans that we have in place at the present time.
The only real question I have is on Capital.
Over the last couple of years in my community, I have noticed the increased amount of vandalism on the outside of the schools.
So, I was talking to the Pubic Works people in Baker Lake and they replaced ten windows, those heavy plate-glass windows that cost $5 thousand dollars in the last two years.
This brings me that to this, as much as I hate to admit it we are evolving and we are evolving in the territory with vandalism.
We have some instances where kids, teenagers late at night are roaming and breaking windows and etc…and it gets to my question, I went and talked to the principle about it and it is, you know, we have by-law officers, we have RCMP, but then again they’re large facilities and if you look at the Baker Lake facilities, between the two buildings you are looking at probably $30 million dollars worth of assets on the two schools, if you have to replace them some day because of, I do not want to say that word fire or things like that.
But the point I am getting to here is I think we are to the point in this territory where we have to put surveillance cameras on the outside of the buildings as a deterrent.
The Northern Stores built a new store in Baker Lake ten years ago and we were all kind of cynical and laughing about it, but they put security cameras on the outside and inside of the building and it cut down their vandalism by about 200 percent.
I’m just saying that rather than get the District Education Authorities to take it out of their Operations and Maintenance every month or every year, that would be, yes, it was part of the Capital process, to have security cameras on the outsides and maybe just down the main hallway of the facilities as a deterrent.
Because in my experience, like I say in Baker Lake in the last few years with some buildings in the community and it may be something that the Government Offices will have to do in the future is implement security cameras on the outside of the buildings and just in the major hallways in case somebody breaks in and then you have the vandalism problems taken care of.
So, I'm encouraging you to look at security systems and I think a rough security system is around $50 thousand dollars.
I think that’s a small price to pay on a $15 or 20 million dollar facility.
So, I'm asking you as Minister and the capital planner and the Deputy Minister if you would consider over the next few years of installing security cameras on schools that want them, I don’t like to see anybody forced, like I say it just seems to be more and more happening in the communities when it comes to vandalism and you know, stuff like that.
I will speak with the department of Public Works and Services to plan for the security cameras and surveillance cameras to be installed in the schools and I'm sure it is not just for Baker Lake, I am sure it is not just Baker Lake’s concern but a concern of many Nunavut communities.
Especially when there was a vandalism or arson attempt in Coral Harbour and such things and vandalising the exterior of buildings, the exterior of schools such as the schools or the arenas, graffiti being painted on the exterior of the building.
I'm certain we have to make sure that this is not happening anymore in the communities.
I have seen in my travels that there are some metal window protectors on the outside of the schools and that would be one of the good things to protect from vandals breaking windows.
Yes, Mr. Chairman I agree with the Member, I will make sure this is part of our capital planning such as surveillance cameras and protective metal on the exterior of the school windows for those of them in the communities that would like to have them.
Anything else? Mr. McLean.
Thanks for the answer Minister; I know we will work on doing that as quickly as you can.
My only fear is that if it is delegated to Public Works and Services, it might be put down as a very low priority at this point and they will come up with the excuse that they do not have the money.
So, I wish that your department would take the lead on this and maybe show Public Works and Services that this can be done in a timely matter.
That’s all my questions for today.
The Public Works and Services Minister just nodded his head in agreement that he will be talking with his officials.
Mr. McLean, anything else?
As I mentioned earlier on something that wasn’t mentioned here, the colleges Nunavut facilities, do you have some kind of plan or we might be putting the Arctic College facility that are needed, is there something in place that you can share with us or is there a plan to do one so you can find out where the needs are, are you finalizing them I guess.
We have a 20 year plan for those facilities such as Arctic College and community learning centres but you have to understand that Arctic College has their own Board of Governors and have their planning for Capital Estimates.
I will be meeting with the Arctic College Board of Governors to find out from them; I talked to them in regards to those Arctic College facilities and community learning centres.
Thank you Minister for your response and the Arctic college may be a better system. Just one more thing, again.
The start of this government in 1999, there was a project for Kugluktuk, the siding of the high school, which is great; that was done and I’m glad it’s finally done; it’s a very nice school because it has a nice siding now.
But on that plan, the original plan was to do one project which includes the library, but I am aware of the situation to date as where if we wanted to put a library into the school and that could be used by the community, it’s not feasible because of the building codes and so on.
I could be wrong on this but that’s what happened.
It sort of faded away, that the project faded away.
A community library could be used by the high school. The reason I’m saying this is, in talking with the District Education Authority a few days ago, one classroom is shared by the library itself and the classroom right beside it. Here is a classroom is beside the library and than here kids walking around trying to find their books inside the same room; it’s very disturbing but I’m just wondering if there is some kind of plan that will be putting it back on the table for the five year capital that might have it.
Maybe that is another thing you can look at instead of being just dropped off by the Five Year Capital Plan.
We have it in our plans and we are aware of the situation and we’re aware of the problem in future plans we are hoping to have a community learning centre in Kugluktuk in our twenty year plan and this is one of the issues that can be put into that plan, a library so we have it in our future plan already.
Anything else, Mr. Havioyak?
Mr. Chairman I just want to start off, with, I’m very pleased to finally see some of the project, I know myself over the last four years and prior to that, Minister Picco, lobbying for something desperately needed here in Iqaluit. I think we all remember the last year that students who were accepted and started taking courses through Arctic College here and ended up quitting and leaving because they didn’t have a place to stay.
So I am very happy to see student accommodations in the capital plan again.
Hopefully it won’t fall off charts like it did in the past.
What kind of insurance can we have that when something is not on there, are we going to see through the first stage and the next stage? When can we expect completion of that project to have students from throughout the Baffin staying in the new accommodations?
I know having talked to students from out of town, I know there’s a real need for student accommodation and this has been brought forward by different MLAs and Mr. Tootoo.
What Mr. Levy is showing me is that it should be finished 2006-2007, I understand that project is currently being designed so, we have started that and it’s not going to fall off the chart.
And on that is the design going to include single as well as married accommodations?
Hon. Manitok Thompson: It may include one bedroom units, two bedroom units and three bedroom units.
The sooner it gets done the sooner you’ll have more people applying for courses here so they’ll be able to have more places to live and better themselves and give themselves a better education.
How many units are we talking about here? Is it 10, 5, 15 how many units are we looking at all together for this project?
Hon. Manitok Thompson: We are possibly looking at 20 units.
I know we are doing one in Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay and here.
As I said earlier Arctic College has a board of governors and this usually goes through the board of governors but what my chart is saying we will work with 20 units.
Welcome news by Mr. Picco I'm sure.
Finally seeing a lot of his hard work and complaining over the years coming through and actually taking place like the ground work at the new regional hospital up there.
The other thing on here is some renovations to the high school and it’s only $50 thousand dollars in the plans this year on that and I know questioning the former Minister of Education on the high schools that are over 30 years old.
In a lot of cases some of the features in those schools have exceeded their life expectancy and I'm just wondering what we are looking at changing.
Is it just going to be a design and phased in over the next 2 years or when will we actually start seeing some of these renovations come into place?
Mr. Chairman, as you know and I'm sure the Minister and her staff are aware, there have been a number of costs with incidents of break downs, floods and things like that that have taken place up there over the last couple of years.
Those are costing huge amounts of money as well, so I'm just wondering if there is any way some of these things that are a high priority if they can be addressed sooner rather than later.
I know that we have been working on this project for a while and I also know that Inuksuk High School is 33 years old which is like old.
And we are thinking that the project will probably cost us about $19 million and right now we are planning on it and construction should start 2006-07 for the 4 years after that.
If the Member needs more detail on this I'm sure Mr. Levy would love to sit down with him and tell him more about this project; it’s on the go.
Mr. Chairman, 2006-2007 is still quite a ways away from now, by then it will be 36 years old, but as I had indicated, I know there are some certain components and I will refer to them as within the school that may be more critical than others to address and in the event of something happening with those components, it could end up costing us more money prior to the renovations being done in 2006-2007.
I know that there was a report that was done and I know that the Department is well aware of the report showing the deficiencies not only in the high school, but also in Nakasuk School as well.
But it is some of those things that could potentially be a higher priority.
If there is a way of looking at that, tracking some of those things, fix them now before they do cost us more money just to maintain and ending up having to fix the whole thing again in three years time.
I am just wondering if they could commit to taking a look at seeing if they could possibly, in fact, track some of those things in order to save us some money within the next three years.
Hon. Manitok Thompson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If Joamie School had not burned down, I think it would have made our life a lot easier and I know that Member is very sensitive to that, too.