EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
The reason for that is one of the functions of that particular department is what is called socio-economic monitoring committees, which are committees that are established in every community to monitor the progress and commitments that are made by mining companies in each region.
That function has been transferred out of that unit and now is the responsibility of the regional offices.
When we look at regional offices, are you referring to regional offices within the [Department] of Economic Development and Transportation?
Welcome and good morning, Minister Ell-Kanayuk, Mr. MacIsaac, and Ms. Rowe.
I would first like to get further clarification on something we started in the past year hearing that the sale of Inuit carvings outside of Nunavut and Canada had dropped drastically. I wish to ask what the status is of the studies that were conducted, I believe, in the past year.
The 2016-17 fiscal year is ending soon. Have you heard about any changes? Has there been an increase in the sale of Inuit art or has it remained the same?
I would like to ask the member to identify the page number that he is referring to in the business plan.
Mr. Joanasie, can you indicate the page number?
In the business plan, I believe it would be on page 203.
It is the Art Development Program for $395,000. I believe it would be under that section.
We have Sanaugait: A Strategy for Growth in Nunavut’s Arts and Crafts Sector, and selling and marketing Inuit art internationally.
Can we get an update on what’s happening with this program?
I will have my Assistant Deputy Minister, Mr. MacIsaac, respond to that question.
This particular program is used to help artists market their art. It’s also used to allow them to buy equipment and supplies that they might need to actually make their art.
The member’s question about selling outside the country, for the most part that is based on legislation you might find in other countries.
For example, they might not allow the import of certain materials, such as ivory or marine mammals or parts of marine mammals, etcetera. We have to be very careful when we market or help artists market their materials.
With the cruise ships that went through the Northwest Passage this summer, we have to understand who the passengers are and what they are allowed to bring into their own countries in such a way that what we promote to them or what we try to sell to them or get the artists to sell to them is reflective of what they’re allowed to do.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also thank you.
Again, in the minister’s opening comments you indicated that you will be giving the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association an additional $150,000, which is very good. Whether the art is soapstone carvings or sewn items, it would be of benefit to get additional dollars to help artists.
We know that Inuit are expert seamstresses and carvers.
I can use an example of the waistcoat that I am wearing.
My wife made her very first waistcoat, but there are a lot of people out there who make these beautiful handmade crafts, be it kamiit, mitts, or other items made out of traditional material.
As the Department of Economic Development and Transportation or through the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association, what are you doing to market their art? Do you work closely with the arts and crafts sector to market their handicrafts?
We hear, for example, if you make a pair of kamiit and you sell them through the Internet, they can be purchased for over $1,000.
What is your department doing to market and to give further support to the arts and crafts sector?
His vest is very nice.
Mr. Chairman, the arts and crafts association’s funding is increased in their core funding. For over 16 years NACA has supported the development of artists and they produce high-quality work to market their work across Canada and around the world.
I can give an example that NACA brought 40 artists from across Nunavut to the 2016 Northern Lights trade show in Ottawa and that was attended by over 5,000 people in three days. The Nunavut delegation marketed and sold art and cultural products and facilitated a stronger relationship between northern regions and established northern relationships with southern businesses.
NACA has about 250 active members and 700 non-active members.
They provide training, marketing, promotion, product development, materials and tool supplies, and they serve as a principle support for information sources for the arts and crafts sector.
We have expanded the definition of art to include all disciplines so that visual arts, performing arts, music and dance, film, video, fashion design, and publishing can be included.
You also stated that you expanded the definition of art to include visual arts and so on.
In your business plan on page 203 it also indicates that there was a summit in October 2016.
“The goal was to collect the views of artists and organizations on how they envision the new Cultural Industries Strategy.” In 2017-18 there is also going to be another Canadian Council of Tourism meeting.
Can you give us a brief outline of what will be included in the new Cultural Industries Strategy and when it is going to be tabled?
I tabled the Sanaugait strategy in 2015.
Let me start over again. (interpretation ends) The review of Sanaugait, tabled in 2015, recommended the department develop a new comprehensive arts strategy to support all disciplines.
You’re right. We held an all arts summit in October 2016, which laid the groundwork towards the creation of a new comprehensive all arts strategy. The arts summit brought together about 70 delegates, arts organizations, and arts sector stakeholders from across the territory, representing all arts disciplines.
We’re anticipating it to be completed by the end of this year, 2017.
We further require more consultations to be held throughout the development of this new strategy.
I would like to move on to another subject regarding community tourism, which was touched up on earlier.
It was last year. Can the minister indicate which communities have outfitters where there’s a growing market for outfitting?
I’m aware that you give licences to local outfitters.
Was there an increase over the past year in the number of outfitters that are available out there?
We don’t have that level of detail here with us.
Outfitting is a business in the tourism sector.
With communities that have parks close by like in the High Arctic, Pond Inlet, and Katannilik Park near Kimmirut, do you have advertisements promoting outfitting and supporting people who would like to start outfitting businesses?
To elaborate, Katannilik Park is close to Kimmirut and it’s between Kimmirut and Iqaluit.
Every year there are celebrations. For example, in Iqaluit we have Toonik Tyme and the snowmobile race is held between Iqaluit and Kimmirut.
Is it possible for you to promote these types of activities internationally in order to attract more tourists to Nunavut?
First of all, the snowmobile races at Toonik Tyme are not our responsibility.
I believe that is the responsibility of the city.
I’m not sure who is responsible for coordinating that event.
Our department provides funding to outfitters. Those monies are available by application.
Nunavut Tourism also has memberships and they do activities involving parks.
There is information that goes out to the membership about activities and promoting what they do. That information is available globally on the Internet. Whether it includes parks or outfitters, Nunavut Tourism is responsible for those types of activities.
However, in regard to education, training, and support, those are initiatives our department undertakes through community economic development officers.
Can she indicate how many times or in which communities tourism training has been provided in the past year?
We don’t have that information with us.
Perhaps she can table them in the future.
Turning to another subject, on page 205, can we get more information on the Nunavut Prospectors Program?
Has it been running well?
Are you aware of people who want to prospect in the communities or who have identified minerals that might be available for mining near their communities?
The department funds this program at $150,000 annually, and the level of budget currently meets the demands from the applicants across Nunavut.
Since the inception of the program, more than 1,000 Nunavummiut have completed the introductory prospecting course delivered by the department in all 25 communities of Nunavut.
People can attend the course to learn about minerals, prospecting, and the makeup of minerals.
However, after they complete the course, there is a next step.
If I took the course and I found something that could be a potential mine, stakes are used as markers for a claim. What is the next step for people who have completed that course?
The program shows the participants how to do all that process of mining and staking.
The program encourages Nunavummiut to become independent prospectors and entrepreneurs and to apply their knowledge on the land to mineral exploration.
I will be asking my questions in English.
I know that we have good interpreters and they will be interpreting my question into Inuktitut.
(interpretation ends) My colleague touched up on this on page 205. However, I noticed you’ve got several programs there: the Nunavut Prospectors Program and you also have the Nunavut Science Education Enabling Program and the Nunavut Geoscience Program.
My question is on the Nunavut Mine Training Program. I wonder if the minister can elaborate a bit on what this particular program entails. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We continue to work with stakeholders, including the Department of Education, Nunavut Arctic College, and the Government of Canada, and members of the mineral industry on programs designed to prepare Nunavummiut for the opportunity in the mineral resource industries.
The department contributes $200,000 a year for a multi-party mine training program developed by the participants in the Nunavut Mine Training Roundtable.
Just to mention that the Parnautiit Nunavut mining strategy, the department’s role in mine training is to facilitate and coordinate training opportunities.
Just to give an example, in the 2015-16 Mine Training Fund for the training of potential workers across the three regions an example was the Kivalliq Mine Training Society.
They did a Red Seal Cook Apprenticeship Program and they were given $28,266 to do that.
On December 22, 2016 the Government of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories issued a joint news release, and I quote, “expressing concern over [this week’s] announcement of an indefinite moratorium on offshore oil and gas development by the Government of Canada.”
Your department’s draft 2017-2020 business plan indicates that it will, and I quote again, “Continue working with the partners and stakeholders on the Strategic Environmental Assessment to address petroleum exploration and development in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait.”
To what extent will the recent federal announcement concerning offshore oil and gas development impact your department’s work in the area of petroleum resources development?
The GN remains disappointed in the lack of consultation from the federal government on that announcement before their decision.
I would like my Assistant Deputy Minister, Bernie MacIsaac, to elaborate on the focus that we are going to be taking in which he could explain that going forward, we want the industry to be prepared in the case that this opportunity comes again, if you could allow Mr. MacIsaac to explain.
Hon. Monica Ell-Kanayuk: I noticed the Premier raised his hand and would like to speak.
I would like him to speak.
That’s a very good question from the committee member. As you know, on December 20 the Prime Minister made an announcement that there is going to be a moratorium put on oil and gas development in the Arctic, not just in Nunavut but throughout the Arctic.
As you know, Mr. Chairman, we’re in the process of negotiating on devolution with the federal government.
This announcement is very disappointing because it was done unilaterally. I didn’t find out about the situation and I was told that that was going to happen within the phone call I got about this announcement 20 minutes previous to that announcement.
Of course all three territorial premiers, including myself, were in the process of negotiating devolution.
You don’t take a potential source of revenue away from a jurisdiction, away from a territory while you’re in the midst of negotiating resource royalty sharing and authority to manage your own lands. That was very disappointing and we made that known.
We put out a news release on that with the three territorial premiers.
I’m not sure whether you might have this information or not. However, I’m kind of interested. The world price of oil has dropped significantly in recent years.
What is the minimum price at which oil extraction would be profitable in the Arctic?
We have a geologist here with us, so I would like my Assistant Deputy Minister, Bernie MacIsaac, to answer that question.
If we knew that number, we would all be millionaires.
All humour aside, as you can imagine, the cost of extraction of oil and gas in the Arctic is significantly higher than what it would be elsewhere, for example, in Alberta or Texas or Saudi Arabia.
The economics up here are different.
At the current price of oil and gas I would suggest, especially for oil, that oil deposits up here are not economic.
My next question was touched up on by one of my colleagues.
However, your department’s Development Partnership Agreement Policy expired on March 31, 2016.
Under this policy, mining companies that enter into DPAs with the Government of Nunavut are eligible to apply for fuel tax rebates.
On December 22, 2016 the Department of Finance announced that fuel tax rebates will be “available to individuals and firms engaged in traditional activities and mining exploration.
On March 3, 2016 you stated in the Legislative Assembly that your department and the Department of Finance were working on developing a replacement for the DPA agreements.
I think she answered that earlier on, but Minister Ell-Kanayuk.
To reiterate that answer, it’s the same answer as I gave earlier, and that is that we’re very close to finalizing the new agreement.
Mr. Akoak
Mr. Akoak: Thank you. Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, minister and staff.
This was touched up on by my colleague, Mr. Joanasie, on the Nunavut Prospectors Program, $150,000.
Do these people need a valid prospecting licence before or do they get it afterwards?
They don’t need it when they’re doing the prospecting course, but they would need it in the future if they wanted to stake a claim.
Also, if these people find some minerals of some sort and they do want to get it assessed to see whether they’re worth anything or not, would your department be able to help them ship it to a company that can do that?
Hon. Monica Ell-Kanayuk: Yes, our geologists do that with the participants on a regular basis.
Your second round of questioning, Mr. Mikkungwak.
Mr. Mikkungwak (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for acknowledging me again.
I just wanted to get clarification on page 207 of your business plan because I know that our community has been impacted with the mine.
The very last bullet on page 207 of your business plan says, “Increase pro-active dialogue with communities affected by or soon-to-be-affected by resource development, to increase awareness of and gain public confidence in the regulatory, environmental and socioeconomic assessment process.”
My question is: for the life of a mine, from the beginning of activity to the end of the mine, are you going to be increasing awareness?
If I understood the member correctly, the new development partnership agreement that will be agreed to will address that.
In regard to the DPA, I know that you’re working on the Development Partnership Agreement Policy, but once the policy is completed, would Baker Lake, for example, be informed and what kind of consultations would occur?
Yes, they would be informed.
On another note, I was looking for this in the business plan, but communities used to make requests or apply for funding to construct access roads outside of the community.
In English they’re called (interpretation ends) access roads. (interpretation) Do you provide funding for access roads and how much funding is allocated for that?
That program falls under community transportation initiatives.
As the member may know, we’re having a one-time increase of $2.5 million in this program so that we can catch up on some of the wants the communities have identified.
This program supports development to essential links like hunting and fishing areas and tourism destinations, and makes other land activities possible.
Mr. Mikkungwak (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I also thank the minister for responding clearly that there will be a one-time increase.
However, I need more clarification.
When a community wants to build an access road to a hunting area, who do they make that request to? Do they just make an application to your department for that?
It goes through our department here in Iqaluit.
The proposals are sent here.
I found what the minister elaborated on page 197 of the business plan.
I know that there was a one-time increase.
Is this $4 million for that one fiscal year?
I still have names on my list, but we will take a 10-minute break.
>>Committee recessed at 10:08 and resumed at 10:22
Chairman (interpretation): Let us continue with our proceedings.
I would like to ask a question. First of all, I know that this was discussed, but I need more clarification.
I’m not sure if it was the first time or not, but there were cruise ships touring the High Arctic last year.
Will there be cruise ships visiting again in the future?
That is the first question I would like clarification on.
At this time they have not announced their itineraries or which cruise ships will be visiting Nunavut communities.
Also, there are times that smaller sailboats travel north through the Northwest Passage.
Is your department aware of where these sailboats are arriving from?
Can you respond to that question?
The sailboats are usually privately owned and don’t bring tourists with them, so they don’t require licences or permits.
We don’t always know what’s happening. (interpretation ends) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I know that your department doesn’t have any idea where the sailboats are going. I’m sure it’s not much of a concern.
I’ll move on to another item.
I know earlier members mentioned oil extraction or development in Nunavut.
I know that offshore oil extraction or exploration is not wanted in the north.
They don’t want to see seismic studies being done in arctic waters.
Are you considering any other options for oil exploration other than seismic testing?
I hope you are able to understand me.
If no one objects to the seismic surveys, we believe that it needs to be assessed first through strategic environmental assessments. If there are no problems after the environmental assessments, the actual seismic survey is allowed.
Let me first say that the federal government has now banned oil exploration in the north.
What I was trying to say was simply cut off, so I’ll now move on to another topic.
I’m aware that the issue of marketing crafts was raised earlier.
I know some Inuit carvings are sent out and marketed and that we can sell them to galleries.
Where do you send the carvings to?
Be it outside of Canada, to the States or domestically, which galleries do you send them to?
The carvings, handicrafts, music, films, dance, and others are what are called the arts. These can be included in the marketing.
For example, the (interpretation ends) Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association (interpretation) that I mentioned earlier showcases carvings through the (interpretation ends) Nunavut Development Corporation. (interpretation) We also have our own (interpretation ends) arts development program (interpretation) within our department and we work with and have an agreement with the (interpretation ends) Canada Council for the Arts. (interpretation) We also work with many other entities.
We send out carvings to galleries internationally, not just in Canada.
I also thank the minister for her good response.
Moving on to another item, there are no visual arts programs available in the smaller communities.
How can we encourage the smaller communities to participate in this program to develop their own visual arts?
I would appreciate the minister’s thoughts on that.
There was an all arts summit in October and there was a call to reach out to more communities through this program.
Your last round of questioning, Mr. Joanasie.
I had another question, but I ran out of time.
I had a question on minerals. There is $150,000 that is made available by your department.
On page 207 the second bullet for priorities indicates that you would “Carry out an advanced prospector’s field school for longer-term subscribers to the Nunavut Prospector’s Program…” You weren’t able to get this program started this year, but it’s under your priorities for 2017-18 where you refer to (interpretation ends) long-term subscribers. (interpretation) How many subscribers do you have in the Nunavut Prospectors Program?
Because of the downturn there was not as much interest from the industry, but we’re expecting that to change this year and that they will be more involved.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Can the minister state how many long-term subscribers the department has to this Nunavut Prospectors Program?
There have been over a thousand subscribers.
Mr. Joanasie: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation) Also, it’s not listed here, but I have been talking about carvers.
I noticed that there is nothing listed in your business plan on soapstone quarries in Nunavut.
Can the minister give us a further explanation on what’s happening with soapstone quarries?
I know there’s a soapstone quarry between Cape Dorset and Kimmirut. I’m sure there are other places.
Can the minister tell us if the Department of Economic Development and Transportation provides assistance for quarrying soapstone?
Yes, the department is committed to continued support of this important part of our traditional economy.
The department is developing phase 2 of its Carving Stone Strategy, which will further support carvers and the carving industry in Nunavut.
When will (interpretation ends) phase 2 (interpretation) begin?
Phase 2 of the strategy will begin this year.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $21,750,000.
Minister Ell-Kanayuk, I believe you would like to make a few comments before we go further. I give you the floor.
I would like approval to have my Assistant Deputy Minister, Bernie MacIsaac, leave the witness table and invite another official.
The minister is asking to change witnesses in order to replace Mr. MacIsaac with another witness.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witness out and escort the new witness in.
While they are preparing, I have three names on my list.
Who has their hands up?
Minister Ell-Kanayuk, for the record, please introduce your new witness.
On my right is John Hawkins, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Transportation.
Mr. Hawkins, welcome to the House.
I’m going to go backwards a bit to the business plan from 2015.
I just want to make a quote from there where the department said that they would “Conduct planning work for remediation and removal of decommissioned airport buildings in Qikiqtarjuaq, Coral Harbour, Nanisivik, Sanikiluaq and Resolute Bay.”
Mr. Chairman, for the past eight years I have been bringing up the issue of an abandoned terminal building in my community.
Again, back in the business plan of 2015 the status was “Hazardous Substances Surveys were completed for Qikiqtarjuaq, Coral Harbour and Sanikiluaq.
A cost estimate has been determined for the work required at Sanikiluaq.” It goes on to say, “No work has been done on Nanisivik or Resolute Bay to date.
This priority will carry over to 2015-16.”
A priority for 2016-17 was to “Complete planning work for remediation and removal of decommissioned airport buildings” in these four communities.