EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I'm asking the Premier in reference to the power grid, but since we are including the road link, has there been committee work initiated.
There was a promise to review it but has the actual work begun.
Mr. Speaker, the Ikuma Group that had worked on developing our own power corporation is starting the work on pre-feasibility study that was done by Manitoba and that will be ongoing.
Question 270 - 1(3): Decentralization to Igloolik
Mr. Speaker, in regards to decentralisation, since the Nunavut Government has planned to decentralise programs; my question is to the Premier or the Minister for Finance.
I'm not too sure as to which one I should be asking.
Perhaps to the Premier.
A program was going to be decentralized to Igloolik but due to problems that they have been experiencing they did not go ahead with moving staff members into the community as the office space is inadequate.
How could we speed up this process.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot force anybody to move to a different community.
We are now dealing with people who do not want to move to other communities.
I know that we are going to be dealing with decentralization but we can't get into detail before the budget speech.
Is the Premier stating that if the staff don't want to move to the communities you will do what ever they say because they are your bosses.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): We have stated that these positions will be moving to a different community and if the staff don't want to move we will be able to find other potential workers who will replace them.
Member for Iqaluit Centre.
Question 271 - 1(3): Use of Capital Dollars for Maintenance
I would like to ask the minister if she was planning to use any capital dollars for M&I or retrofits in the supplementary appropriation, because I believe it is only O&M dollars provided in the formula financing to the local housing authorities.
Minister responsible for Public Works and Technical Services.
Hon. Manitok Thompson (interpretation): As I already said the budget has not been opened yet and I was surprised to hear that the member is already talking about programs that are probably in the budget.
This is unacceptable and I just want to say that my budget has not been opened yet and I have not made my presentation.
Mr. Tootoo, another question.
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I'm sorry that the minister did not understand my question.
I wasn't asking about next year’s budget.
I was asking about the supplementary appropriation that is going to be coming forward using this year’s funds.
At this point in time I would like to confirm that Mr. Tootoo doesn't mind not receiving a response.
We will get back to the other orders of the day.
Maybe it would be more appropriate to rephrase my question.
I would ask if the minister has any plans of putting forth a proposal in some sort of supplementary appropriation regarding surplus of this year's funds for housing.
I would like to say to the member that we cannot talk about the budget because we don't have the papers in front of us, or the supplementaries.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you minister.
Mr. Tootoo, further questions.
Mr. Tootoo: My question has nothing to do with next years budget at all.
It deals with any supplementary appropriations in regards to housing.
Perhaps, I think the members of the Legislative Assembly agree with me, that the housing budget is very important and one of the priorities.
If there was to be any type of extra money in the Housing budget then we will definitely be using this for housing.
The member for Arviat, Mr. O'Brien.
Question 272 - 1(3): Size of Budget Surplus
Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Finance.
My question doesn't pertain to the budget but it pertains to the surplus that the minister has openly provided to the media on 2 occasions.
At one point we were looking at a 10 million dollar surplus.
We are now looking at a thirty to forty million dollar surplus.
Could the minister confirm for me today that we might be looking at a sixty million dollar surplus.
Would the minister confirm to me today that this is correct or not.
Minister for finance, Mr. Ng.
I can say that tomorrow that I will give a fiscal update on the Government of Nunavut's fiscal position.
Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if the minister would throw us a little bone, or a little scrap, or a little hint as to whether or not I'm even close to my sixty million dollar surplus projection.
I would even accept if he said we were close to the fifty-five million dollar number.
Minister responsible for Finance.
As I will indicate tomorrow the figures will be firmed up to the best of our abilities and I hope that all members will be pleased with the figures Mr. Speaker.
Question 273 - 1(3): Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti
I understand that the Premier had a launching of the new Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti, which replaces the old Business Incentive Policy.
I would like to ask the Premier if that is the same document that was tabled in the House when we were sitting in Rankin or have there been any changes to that policy.
Hon. Paul Okalik: As I said in my opening comments before the committee of the whole, I said that it was a draft policy and that it would involve further discussions with NTI and we would prefer comments from members.
After waiting some time, further discussions with NTI led to a few minor amendments made to the draft that we tabled in Rankin Inlet.
I would like to ask the Premier if he is willing to table that new policy in the House so we can deal with it in the committee of the whole.
So that it is the policy we will be talking about and not the draft policy.
Hon. Paul Okalik: Mr. Speaker, it should not be a problem to deal with that document now, I would just like to double check to see that it has been translated fully.
I will make it available to members as soon as I can confirm this.
Question 274 - 1(3): Worker’s Compensation
There is a letter to me that is a response but it doesn't have a date on it.
Will we be just asking you questions and you won't be providing us with documents in regards to social services because I just want to get some answers.
I don't want to say there are going to be people having problems in this regard.
I just want to find out.
My question is to Minister Arvaluk.
Speaker (interpretation): Mr. Arvaluk.
Hon. James Arvaluk (interpretation): Mr. Speaker I didn't understand what his question is.
Speaker (interpretation): Mr. Iqaqrialu would you clarify your question please.
There is a letter responding to me which I will read.
I believe that the question is in regards to injured workers.
Are injured workers paid if they get injured on the job.
It just states that if there is an injury on the job that it would be up to the compensation people to provide them with compensation.
Can you clarify the statement you made in the letter.
What the letter is saying is that students or people being trained on the job or the hunters or fisherman or trappers, whatever they were doing, either training or hunting or trapping, they would be covered by WCB.
The last sentence states that if you want to get some more information in this regard you can get some information from the Workers’ Compensation Board or you can ask the question of the Minister responsible for WCB.
That’s what it’s saying.
I’m very grateful for the response that you have given me.
The other question that I have is that I think there is a committee in regards to social services and there is also legislation amending WCB, not from the Nunavut Government.
Will the Nunavut Government be providing amendments to WCB policies or legislation.
Hon. James Arvaluk (interpretation): I cannot answer for the Minister responsible for WCB but the legislation is amended or done by the Government and whatever the rules or whenever the rules are changed it has to be effected.
There will also be a committee for Social Services or Income Support and the money that is being made available for students that are attending educational institutions.
So those committees are set up to look into those things that I am talking about but I cannot answer on behalf of WCB because I am not responsible for WCB.
This question, I’m saying that in regards to Income Support program, as long as they are doing hunting or educational purposes then that they will be covered by Workers’ Compensation Board.
I thank the Minister for his quick response to my questions, however I have another question in regards to that.
There are some people that go to Universities and Colleges and they can only get in if they have a high school diploma.
There are a lot of people in my community that have high school diplomas and there are some people who speak only Inuktitut, who know a lot of their traditions and culture and I know they are very smart people and very wise.
So I am just asking the Minister if these people can be put into training programs to better themselves.
I think that is another question that you are asking.
We will be going back to oral questions and we will get a response to your question after our fifteen minute break.
>>House recessed for fifteen minutes
Speaker (interpretation): We have a question and it’s in regards to student financial assistance for those students who would like to further their education in colleges or universities.
Mr. Iqaqrialu (interpretation): My question was that I know for sure there used to be some students that were allowed to enter colleges and universities without actually having a high school diploma and there are a lot of people who would like to go into such a training program to further their education who don’t speak English.
So I would like to ask the Minister if he could consider those people that are interested in attending colleges, if they can get assistance Mr. Speaker.
Hon. James Arvaluk (interpretation): Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if I can understand the question, however I’ll try and answer.
I was trying to say we will be looking into this next week.
However, I was trying to see if there would be any possibilities for those students who don’t have high school diplomas to enter colleges to further their education.
We were trying to consider full time hunters and trappers to see if they would be willing to go to universities and when they go to colleges they are always assured of funding and they have to have student financial assistance to attend colleges.
We will be looking into this situation more closely to see how we can encourage the public to seek or get further education.
Actually I was talking about trying to see if we can fund some students who are going to Arctic College to give them more income support and we will try and see if we can provide more funding for such programs.
We will also seek to see if they can have moral support from social workers or something.
I was just using that universities or colleges as an example to see if there were any kinds of possibilities to enter them.
Question 275 - 1(3): Priorities of the Government
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier, as stated in the Bathurst Mandate, housing and education were the top two priorities of this government.
I would like to ask him if they are still the top two priorities of this government.
Hon. Paul Okalik: All the issues discussed in the Bathurst Mandate are evaluated on the basis of the Bathurst Mandate before any submission is made to Cabinet.
They are viewed and assessed on the basis of the Bathurst Mandate and the priorities are still housing and education.
Question 276 - 1(3): Museums in Nunavut
With the creation of Nunavut there are a lot of communities with a lack of certain facilities.
One of the things that seems to keep popping up, and it really hasn’t been looked at very seriously, is the establishment of museums in communities in Nunavut.
My question today is to the Minister responsible for Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
Is he working on a policy to establish museums in every community.
Minister for Culture, Languages, Elders and Youth and Status of Women. Mr. Havioyak.
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Thank you very much.
In response to your question, we recognise that museums are things that we need to put in place in terms of our tradition and culture and we have to put them in to policy through our department.
Once we have done working on it, we will table it for you to see so that we can implement that.
Speaker (interpretation): The Member for Baker Lake, Mr. McLean.
I think I got most of it.
When can we expect to see this policy regarding the establishing of museums in Nunavut.
In terms of the policy, I will wait, we are working on that as of today, so that we can table that and then you will have a chance to see it.
I will let you know though that we will table that but we are still working on it.
I will let you know very soon.
I really appreciate the Minister’s answer.
By the sounds of this he is really taking this as a priority and is working on it and is going to advise us later.
Can the Minister confirm to me that every community in Nunavut is going to be treated fairly and equally when it comes to the locations of museums in Nunavut and it won’t just be the larger regions or the capital.
The Minister for Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
I recognise that there are a lot of communities in Nunavut who would want and like museums put in place in the communities so that our younger generation will be able to see and preserve our culture.
This is something that we are working on very hard so we may be able to see it in the very near future but at the present moment it is an ongoing process.
In some communities there are some museums already in place but then there are other communities who are still requesting museums.
But as we know, things don’t happen over night, so we are still working on it.
Any more questions.
Member for Arviat, Mr. O’Brien.
Question 277 - 1(3): Medical Travel
Mr. O’Brien: Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services and the Power Corporation, and it relates to medical travel.
Can the Minister tell the House if there is much of a variance I guess, in the cost of travel, whether it is in the Keewatin or the Baffin.
Furthermore how the costs of the travel arrangements are tendered out.
Speaker (interpretation): Minister for Health and Social Services and Power Corporation, Mr. Picco.
Mr. Speaker, this is a broad ranging question.
In the session in Rankin Inlet, I had mentioned in questions and oral questions about a review that we’re undertaking right now to review all medical travel in Nunavut.
Approximately twenty million dollars or about twenty percent, Mr. Speaker, about twenty percent of the total budget of the Department of Health and Social Services is in travel, medical travel, and there are different reasons for travel.
There are emergency medical evacuations, for example Mr. Speaker.
There’s travel for people to go from their communities to scheduled appointments within Nunavut and outside of Nunavut and there is also travel for example to send physicians, eye teams, and so on around the communities.
So there’s all kinds of different components to travel.
If the Member is specifically asking about a contract or tender, maybe he could tell me which contract he is speaking about, because within the Government of Nunavut and indeed within the Department of Health and Social Services, we do have advertisements in place for medical travel for example, medivacs and so on.
Mr. Speaker, I might add that you’re doing an excellent job today on your first day on the job.
Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t requesting detailed or confidential information in reference to this, but it is my understanding, the travel, the cost of travel, medical travel whichever it is, whichever type it is, varies greatly from the Keewatin, for example, to the Baffin.
It is my understanding that the cost in the Keewatin is actually much higher than what it is in the Baffin, though the Baffin has a larger population base.
I wonder if the Minister can confirm whether this is the case and if it is, why is it so.
Speaker (interpretation): The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Picco.
One of the issues surrounding the cost of medical travel, as the member knows, for example, here in the Baffin region, we have a hospital right in the region itself.
So when we medivac someone from Pond Inlet, instead of sending them, for example, to Ottawa, for health services, they go right directly to Iqaluit.
When we medivac someone from Arviat, from Whale Cove, from Repulse Bay, those people would be sent from their community directly either to Churchill or Winnipeg, and therefore the cost would be more.
Perhaps you can ask one question at a time.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t think you’d have to be a rocket scientist to understand that if you’re travelling further, of course it’s going to be a greater cost.
But if you look at the cost per air mile and to break it down even finer, if for example, it’s costing six dollars per air mile in the Keewatin and the same air mile travelled in the Baffin is four dollars, it seems to me that would be a problem there and I guess that’s what I’m asking the Minister.
If you look at it from air mile to air miles in each of the regions, and it’s my understanding, and I guess maybe I can start by asking the minister, is there a variance, a significant difference in the cost of travel, per air mile, in the Keewatin or the Kitikmeot, as opposed to the Baffin.
I wish to apologise to the member.
What I was trying to say was that you had already asked two questions.
I suppose you can have a supplementary question.
It’s your final supplementary.
As I stated earlier, you had raised two questions, and I apologize to the member.
The Minister of Health, Mr. Picco.
I thank the Member for his question.
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier in this House, we are undergoing right now a comprehensive review of the travel policy that is in place and the monies that we’re spending on medical travel and part of that review is to make sure that we have equity and fairness across the system in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, the actual cost variations on a regional breakdown, if the cost were a dollar more in the Kivalliq region as opposed to the Kitikmeot region, or for example if there is a higher cost in the Baffin region.
But you can’t mix your apples and oranges.
Mr. Speaker, I am trying to answer the member’s question, as it is a serious question, I believe it is.
I am saying that I don’t have the dollar values per travel mile as asked by the member.
I am trying to explain that we do have a working group right now within the Department of Health and Social Services reviewing the medical travel and reviewing the total costs.
Mr. Speaker, I will bring that policy forward.
I want to remind the members that I have to recognize you first before you raise any questions.
You have had your final supplementary question Mr. O'Brien, so therefore you can’t ask any further questions.
First we had two questions in one.
That’s the reason why I can’t give you a final supplementary question.
I understand your comments about the questions that were asked.
My point of order was that I wanted to ask whether or not the minister was taking my question as notice.
Minister of Health and Social Services are you going to respond.
Concerning the member’s point of order, I think I did answer the question in that I said I did not have that information right now and that I would provide that information to the member and to the House over the coming days.
Let’s go back to the orders of the day.
Return to WQ 5 - 1(3): Summer Jobs at Nanisivik & Polaris Mines
I have a return to written question 5 – 1(3) asked by Mr. Irqittuq and provided by the Minister of Sustainable Development, the Hon. Mr. Kilabuk.
Returns to Written Questions. Returns to written questions.
Item 9, Replies to Opening Address. Replies to opening address.
Report 12 – 1(3): Ajauqtiit: Report on the Appointment of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner of Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting the report on the hiring of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner of Nunavut.
The Standing Committee of Ajauqtiit prepared this report after we conducted a thorough selection process to identify the most appropriate candidate for this important public office.
Later today I will bring forward a notice of motion and seek unanimous consent to bring a motion to the floor of the House today to recommend that Mr. Robert Stanbury be appointed as the new Conflict of Interest Commissioner for Nunavut, pursuant to section 79(1) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act.
I would now like to read the report with the assistance of other members of the Standing Committee, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the report on the appointment of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner of Nunavut by the Standing Committee Ajauqtiit.
The mandate of the Standing Committee of Ajauqtiit is to:
Consider issues related to the Government of Nunavut’s obligations with respect to the implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA), including the activities of the Government of Nunavut in relation to the operations of the Boards, Commissions and other bodies established by the provisions of the NLCA;
Consider any other matter referred by the House.
Mr. Speaker, during the summer and early fall of 1999, Members of the Standing Committee of Ajauqtiit were involved in the appointments process for three positions that, by statutory authority, are made by the Legislative Assembly:
Languages Commissioner of Nunavut
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nunavut
Conflict of Interest Commissioner of Nunavut
During Full Caucus deliberations in June of 1999, it was agreed that the Standing Committee of Ajauqtiit would bring forward recommendations for these three positions for consideration by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut at the next Session, or as soon as possible thereafter, as per the terms of reference of the Committee.
This report details the process and the recommendation for the position of Conflict of Interest Commissioner of Nunavut.
The Conflict of Interest Commissioner has the primary mandate to advise Members of the Legislative Assembly regarding conflict of interest and conduct reviews of allegations of conflict of interest by Members of the Legislative Assembly, as outlined in the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act.
Mr. Speaker, I would like at this time to turn the floor over to Mr. Kattuk to continue.
Mr. Kattuk, member for Sanikiluaq.
The Committee received 26 applications for the position of Conflict of Interest Commissioner from individuals from across Canada, with a variety of professional experiences.
The Committee was pleased with the high calibre of the applicants, and would like to thank everyone who expressed an interest in the position and submitted an application.
The Committee would also like to express its appreciation to the Office of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly for the administrative, research and procedural support it provided.
The Committee also thanks Members for their support in encouraging qualified constituents to apply for the position.
The Standing Committee also wishes to note that all written materials reviewed by the Members, including résumés, questions, procedural documents and drafts of reports were translated and reviewed by Members in both English and Inuktitut.
In addition, all meetings of the Committee had the assistance of simultaneous interpretation.
We thank the Interpreter/Translator of the Legislative Assembly for her superior service, and we also acknowledge the dedication and the staff of Nunavut Tusaavut Inc.
I will ask Mr. Iqaqrialu to continue.
I will just continue on with the report.
In keeping with the Government of Nunavut's commitment to consultation and to open and transparent selection processes, the Standing Committee decided to approach it in a manner similar to that used by the Department of Human Resources in the hiring of senior public service positions.
In this regard, at the end of August, advertisements in English and Inuktitut, for the position of Conflict of Interest Commissioner were placed in the northern newspapers, Nunatsiaq News and News North; and in the Globe and Mail in English.