EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Tootoo: Mr. Speaker, my understanding of this process is that the Department of Finance had put out a call letter to the departments asking them to provide information to them by a specified date.
So I guess, to be more specific, I would like to ask the minister if he would table the call letter that went out to the departments with the date outlined in there when the information was required and also a list by department and public agency or Crown corporation with the dates that they did finally provide information to the Department of Finance.
Yes, I will table the reports if I can.
Question 213 – 2(3): Medical Ship (Arreak)
I would like to ask my question the minister of Health.
A while back in Nunavik, there was a ship that went to the communities doing studies. Will they being doing that in Nunavut?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Health, Ms. Aglukkaq.
I am not familiar with the boat or the ship in Northern Quebec.
Can the member please elaborate a bit more?
Speaker (interpretation): Mr. Arreak, can you elaborate more on your question.
We have heard that there was a ship that traveled to the different communities with a medical team in Northern Quebec and they conducted research; we have heard through the radio. Will there be a similar one in Nunavut?
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Mr. Speaker, I am not familiar with any activities of a boat in Northern Quebec related to health. I can look into it with my officials and get back to the member, but I am not familiar with any boat activities with positions in Nunavut at this point in time.
Question 214 – 2(3): Credit Courses (Barnabas)
Mr. Speaker, the elders and the adults from kindergarten to grade 12 are asked to do some instruction in Inuktitut in traditional knowledge.
Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell us if they are given instructions on Inuit traditions, are the students given credits because of that?
At every community level, the local DEA has an opportunity to invite elders, for example, into the classroom and into the school. When the elders go into the classroom, especially, and I think the member is talking mostly from the K to six side, then any work that the elders do with the students is recognized by the school and by the DEA.
My question is very simple: do the students earn credits when they are taught Inuit traditions?
I just said: depending on what we are looking at.
For example Mr. Speaker, the credits aren’t the same for high school. So for example, in high school, you have to have 90 credits to pass grade 12 and there are core courses within that. Within that framework Mr. Speaker, there are programs and courses and credits for Inuktitut language, language arts, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, and so on, and those courses would have a credit option.
At the lower levels Mr. Speaker, as per course of the DEA and the school, elders come into the school and teach different programs and that is part of the total school curriculum. In that sense, there’s a credit given.
So the answer to the member’s question is yes, and yes.
Then how many credits are geared towards those Inuit traditions?
Is it for statistical, or culture, or language?
What’s the credit amount?
At the high school level, a credit course is the equivalent of five credits.
So as an example Mr. Speaker, I just received report cards from my kids. They take Inuktitut and they would get five credits if they passed the course. So that would be the credit and that’s the maximum a credit can be for a given course during that school’s semester.
I am aware that in Pond Inlet and in Arviat, of the people who do the curriculum, but I would like to find out exactly how they are given credits.
Do they get exams on what the elders have taught?
As part of any type of credit program, and I guess we are referring to the high school level, there would be tests on the comprehension as well as the learning that has taken place in the classroom.
So again, the answer would be yes.
Question 215 – 2(3): New Staff Housing Policy Impact on Staffing (Tootoo)
I would like to just commend my colleague, Mr. Barnabas. It’s not very often that someone can get the Minister of Education to say yes all the time to anything; so a job well done.
I know since the new Staff Housing Policy came out, there have been a lot of concerns throughout the workforce not only here in Iqaluit, but also around the territory.
In last week’s paper, I believe, the results of a survey that the Union of Northern Workers...I’m sorry; the Union of Northern Workers used to be the Northwest Territories...the Nunavut Employees Union did, the majority of the respondents to that survey indicated that there would be a mass exodus of employees leaving because of the high cost of staff housing.
Can the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation indicate whether this is actually something that they are monitoring to see if, in fact, that the policy is having detrimental effect on our work force?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister for the Nunavut Housing Corporation, Minister Akesuk.
Yes, not even a year has passed.
There were 237 that were surveyed and we have about 2,600 employees.
We will have a better idea in the coming years on what kind of impact this will have on the employees because originally, this was going to be for five years in Iqaluit, and ten years in Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.
Maybe after two or three years, we will have a better idea what kind of impact it has on the employees if they were to leave Nunavut because of that.
Can the minister indicate whether his department or the corporation has consulted with the Department of Human Resources, that does the exit interviews for staff, to indicate whether that when they do the exit interviews, that is one of the questions on the exit interviews, so that they can adequately determine what kind of a factor, if that is indeed a factor, for people leaving work for the government?
Maybe I can talk with the Minister of Human Resources.
At this time, the people who have applied for positions in Nunavut, we can let them know ahead of time here in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, or Cambridge Bay of the Housing Policy to indicate to them, when they apply, what our situation is.
The minister indicated that they will look at it in like two or three years. I appreciate the fact that the policy is very new, but if we do not take steps now to set up a plan to monitor it and see what the actual reasons for people leaving are, then in two, three, four, or five years, when we look for that information, it will not be available.
I guess what I am asking the minister to do is: will they, if they have not already, set up a plan from this year, when the policy was implemented, to find a way to actually track the reason for people leaving and see if they had left because of the high cost of staff housing?
Will the minister commit to doing that?
Coming from Nunavut Housing Corporation, yes, I still have to talk with the Nunavut Employees Union.
We value our employees and offered homeowners assistance because we want to make homeownership more available to our employees and we should be able to market it more so they can obtain their own housing.
The minister indicated that the Homeownership
Program has been expanded and can acknowledge the efforts on behalf of the corporation to try and entice people into homeownership. But again, my concern is for those people that have no interest of getting into homeownership, that are just here for short period of time.
I think you take a look at the Auditor General’s Report, the perfect example of an area where we cannot retain or keep or attract skilled employees with an accounting background to do that.
One of the things that are deterring people from coming is the high cost of housing. I think the government especially and all the members of this House need to be aware of that.
So again, I guess my question to the minister is to really commit to developing a tracking plan and providing the members of this House with a copy of the plan that has been developed tracking people leaving because of the high cost of staff housing.
Yes, I will check into this further as to what else we can do because our employees are very important and we want them to be happy.
So I will check into this further to see what else we can do and how we can keep track if they are mainly leaving because of the high cost of housing or if there are any another reasons.
I do agree with the member that we have to keep track. We might even have to ask the Department of Human Resources to work with us as to what else we can do. If it is a fact that the employees are leaving because of the high cost of housing, especially for those southern employees, yes I do agree we have to keep a close watch on this.
And for those employees, who already have their own homes, we encourage them to apply to work with the government and we have to make them more attractive too to attract northern employees.
Question 216 – 2(3): Federal Negotiations in James Bay (Kattuk)
On the James Bay area, they are negotiating an agreement with the federal government and the First Nations around that area. Could the Premier give us an update on what is happening with those negotiations?
The James Bay Cree are still negotiating with the federal government, but they have not made any conclusions to date.
Speaker (interpretation): Your first supplementary, Mr. Kattuk
Mr. Kattuk (interperation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think it was in 1999 when the first Legislative Assembly was elected. That was the first time I asked this question and I am bringing it up again. Do you anticipate a conclusion to these negotiations?
There have been some advances. For example, they are negotiating the Wildlife Management Agreement and it is going to be something similar to ours.
If it is going to have an effect on the Inuit, then the Inuit will have to agree first of all.
They haven’t concluded the negotiations yet, so I can’t really say exactly what’s going to be included in the agreement.
What kind of Inuit? There are quite a few different agreements around that area.
This is where our rights are in there, and if there’s going to be any effect on our Nunavut Land Claims Agreement then we would have to agree to it first.
Question 217 – 2(3): Shift Work at Baffin Correctional Centre (Tootoo)
My question is for the minister that failed to score a goal last night, Minister of Justice.
Last week, I asked the minister in regard to shift length scheduled changes at the Baffin Correctional Centre, and in his response, I’m just looking at the Hansard, he indicated that in moving from a 12-hour shift to an eight-hour shift, he said, “…we have directed that the shifts will be eight hours and it will reduce the level of stress involved in the workplace.
Mr. Speaker, my question for the minister is: was there any consideration given into what the employees that are working at that facility wish, whether they would prefer a 12-hour shift or an eight-hour shift?
My colleague also neglected to mention that one of the other reasons was that we are having a very difficult time in recruiting more Inuit to work in that facility and that was one of the reasons that have been given is that the shift hours were not very conducive to Inuit with families here in Iqaluit.
So that’s one of the main reasons why we decided that shorter shifts would be a lot more conducive for Inuit that happen to have families here in Iqaluit so that we can get more Inuit working in the facility.
I didn’t neglect to say that, but my question was simply: did they consult with the staff that are already working in the facility? And from the minister’s response, I would just ask for clarification. Given his response that they didn’t really care what the staff already working at the facility thought, they were going to do that; do what they wanted anyway.
As a government, we are entitled to make decisions on what we feel is in the best interest of the public interest.
Our government is not run by employees quite frankly.
So we do make decisions that we feel are in the best interests of our overall territory.
Does the minister have an idea of what the turnover rate at the Baffin Correctional Centre has been over the last two years?
I know that the Inuit employment numbers are just shameful, and I do hope to change that with the new hours and more active recruitment efforts of trying to get more Inuit in the actual facility.
I will ask my second supplementary again.
Does the minister have an idea what the turnover rate has been at the Baffin Correctional Centre over the last two year and also, if I can throw in there, since he has heard that one already, what has been the use of casuals out there as well? They have a hard time maintaining and retaining staff there to begin with.
I don’t have all the figures readily available on the numbers so I will have to get back to the member on that.
Question 218 – 2(3): Medical Travel Problems (Barnabas)
In the media, the minister stated that it was just a hiccup in the system and that was in regard to the people going for medical reasons and there being problems with transportation.
Why is it that she just considered it as hiccups?
The minister stated that she was going to be writing to the hamlets and the health centres. Why is it that she just considered those problems as hiccup?
I think in reference to the situation about travel accommodations, I was responding to a question that some of the patients traveling, such as our employees, are entitled to benefits and some of them make their own travel arrangements when it comes to hotels. We cover their transportation costs.
For individuals that we make travel arrangements, applications that are covered under the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program...I’ll give an example, from Arctic Bay the patient is seen at the health centre, their travel request would be faxed down from the Arctic Bay health centre to the Pangnirtung office. The Pangnirtung office will then make the travel arrangements for the individual.
The situation that happened over the change, when we changed from having those travel arrangements being made out of the Iqaluit hospital for any patient traveling in north Baffin; there were some situations where some patients were discharged over the weekend and that there were no individuals available to make the travel arrangements. That particular situation was a result of a new physician that was in town and had discharged the patients over the weekend, but since then, the measures have been in place to correct that particular situation where a person was discharged and nobody was there to make the travel arrangements.
So some of these changes are resulting in some confusion and we have tried to address that by communicating to the service providers. At the same time, I have also committed to providing correspondence to the mayors and the communities and the health centres of the change.
The change, in itself, in terms of the patients receiving the travel arrangement for them, they would not be a change because administratively the change is between the Iqaluit hospital and the Pangnirtung office. The patient will still get their travel itinerary through the health centre or the boarding home.
So internally, we made that change in keeping up with the decentralized model and to also improve the services for patients traveling in their communities.
Are they still having patients stuck in town? You said that you sent these by fax, how come all these problems are not resolved yet?
With the change from a week or so ago there were some situations that we had to correct. I am not aware of any since this weekend.
If the member is aware of any situations and problems patients are experiencing at the hospital here since that time, I would like to know who the individuals are and I will communicate with my appropriate staff to address the situation.
We are trying to improve the process and this will take a little bit of time, but at the end of the day, the change from the Iqaluit hospital to the Pangnirtung office, the patients receiving their itinerary will see no difference other than the fact internally we are making that adjustment.
If the member is aware of the individuals that are experiencing problems and being left behind, I am not aware of those, so if he can give me the names today, then I will be pleased to follow up with those individuals.
In the Baffin region, do the patients know where to call or where to send their messages by fax?
For example, if they did not have any travel arrangements, who do they get in touch with?
If the patient is traveling from one of the communities and is left behind, then the contact would be the health centre in that community.
If a patient is here and misses the plane or whatnot, then the next contact would be to the boarding home that they are at and a number in Pangnirtung.
I can share that information with the member and provide the contact information to the member as well as this House.
Again, I would like to receive the names of those individuals that the member makes reference to so I can follow up and try and correct the situation.
At the same time, I will also commit to having that information available to and post it at the boarding homes and the hospitals and perhaps at the airport here in Iqaluit.
Question 219 – 2(3): Baffin Regional Hospital Lease or Buy (Tootoo)
In our last round of standing committee meetings when a number of questions were posed to the minister and for which we have recently received a written response to, I would like to thank the minister for that, but one of the questions that was raised there was dealing with the hospital.
I am talking about the Qikiqtani General Hospital here in Iqaluit. The question that was raised was has it been determined yet if that building, the hospital will be leased or purchased.
The minister has gotten back that there has been no decision made yet; they are waiting to hear on Qikiqtaaluk Corporation for a proposal. I understand that the department has written a letter late last year to QC asking them to address the lease versus buy option. I am just wondering if the minister could update us on that if there has been any progress.
Speaker (interpretation): Minister for Finance, Mr. Simailak.
Hon. David Simailak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have not heard whether QC has responded to us or not.
In the letter that the department wrote to QC, was the contractor building the hospital and I am just wondering if there was anything in there that indicated what kind of premium would be acceptable on behalf of the government as to whether they are looking at leasing or purchase offer to give them some guidelines to look at in putting together their proposal.
Hon. David Simailak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have not seen a letter. I can look into that and inform my colleague.
We know our GN leasing policy states that the premium will be acceptable only if leasing creates a tangible benefit sufficient to offset any additional costs.
My question for the minister or the Chair of the FMB is: in cases like this where they are looking at whether to lease or to purchase, and I know that’s something that the Auditor General has raised in the past as being an issue, have they determined what would be that sufficient premium that would be acceptable on behalf of the government when looking at leasing versus purchase?
We have not considered whether we are going to lease it or buy it.
We have not come to a decision yet, but the ones in Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay hospitals have been purchased.
But the one here in Iqaluit, we have not made a decision on whether it will be leased or bought.
I thank the minister. I understand that they haven’t made a decision on it yet.
Mr. Speaker, my question was: as the Chair of the Financial Management Board that would address an issue raised by the Auditor General in the past about some of the significant premiums that the government has paid for leases, has the government determined what would be an appropriate range for a premium to pay on a project or building or whatever that they would be looking at leasing as opposed to purchasing?
In regard to my colleague’s question, at this point, it has been under consideration.
We have not come to a decision yet about the Iqaluit Qikiqtani Hospital.
We have not come to a conclusion yet.
Tabled Document 084 – 2(3): Legal Services Board Annual Report 2004-05 (Okalik)
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table the Legal Services Board Annual Report 2004-05.
Tabled Document 085 – 2(3): Response to Petition 03 – 2(3): Public Housing in Rankin Inlet (Akesuk)
I wish to table the following document: Response to Petition 03 – 2(3): Public housing in Rankin Inlet.
Tabled Document 086 – 2(3): Final Report of the Evaluation of the Nunavut Teacher Education Program September 8, 2005 (Picco)
Tabled Document 087 – 2(3): Nunavut Arctic College Annual Report 2004-05 (Picco)
I would like to take this opportunity to table the following documents: first, the Final Report of the Evaluation of the Nunavut Teacher Education Program, as well as the NAC Annual Report, the Nunavut Arctic College Annual Report for 2004-05.
Motion 011 – 2(3): Legislative Assembly Appointments (Tootoo)
WHEREAS section 42 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act provides for the appointment of a Deputy Speaker and Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole;
AND WHEREAS section 38 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act provides for the appointment of members of the Management and Services Board of the Legislative Assembly;
AND WHEREAS section 17 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act provides for the Legislative Assembly to appoint such committees to aid and advise it as it considers necessary;
AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly is prepared to make appointments;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Honourable Member for Rankin Inlet North, that Peter Kilabuk, Member for Pangnirtung, be appointed Deputy Speaker and that the appointment of Patterk Netser, Member for Nanulik, be revoked;
AND FURTHER I MOVE that the Honourable Edward Picco, Member for Iqaluit East, be appointed to the Management and Services Board and that the appointment of Peter Kilabuk be revoked;
AND FURTHER I MOVE that the Honourable Edward Picco, Member for Iqaluit East, be appointed to the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and Privileges and that the appointment of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq be revoked;
AND FURTHER, the last further, I MOVE that Peter Kilabuk, Member for Pangnirtung be appointed as member of the Standing Committees Ajauqtiit and Health and Education; and that he be appointed as an alternate member of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Accountability and that the appointments of Patterk Netser as a member and alternate member of these Standing Committees be revoked.
Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Exemptions Act; Bill 12, Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2006-07, with Mr. Arreak in the Chair.
>>House recessed at 15:21 and Committee resumed at 15:45
Chairman (Mr. Arreak)(interpretation): We can proceed now and we were dealing with Bill 12 and Bill 9. (interpretation ends) What is the wish of the committee?
Chairman: Are we in agreement to first deal with Bill 12?
Chairman: Minister Aglukkaq, do you have witnesses you would like to take to the table?
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: Does the committee agree to bring in the witnesses?
Chairman: Sergeant-at-Arms, escort your witnesses to the Chamber please.
Minister Aglukkaq, for the record, please introduce your witnesses again.
For the fifth day in a row, to my left is Dave Ramsden; Deputy Minister for Health, and to my right is Eric Whitworth, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Health.
Chairman: Thank you, Minister. We are on page H-12.
Before we all agree, I would like to remind members not to ask questions which are hypothetical or questions that are seeking opinions.
I reminded you on Friday and I remind you again.
H-12.
Total Operations and Maintenance. $4,612,000. (interpretation) Do you agree?
Chairman: H-13.