EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I believe that people who are hurting would be willing to speak to an individual who is available for counselling.
It is not for the money’s sake; it is for the sake of talking about their problems and issues, and I am sure they would be lining up if there was an individual who could counsel these individuals.
So that is how it is with the social workers that work with the individuals.
One issue is that the lay people who work in church, once their people found out that they are trusted people; many people go to those individuals right away.
Thank you. That was just a comment.
Question 237 – 2(3): Global Warming Issues (Curley)
My question is to the Minister responsible for Environment, as we have heard and I am sure we are all aware that there is global warming.
For that reason, I would like the minister to focus on the environment change in Nunavut.
When we say global warming, our scientists are working on this too hastily.
I believe that Nunavummiut have to be concerned about our climate change. I believe it is changing.
Could the minister consider discussing this issue with entities and to start collecting the knowledge of Nunavummiut?
Have you discussed the matters that what you would like to hear from the knowledge-holders? If we do this together it will be ideal.
Is the minister planning on this?
We are working on the issues on what we would like to do to deal with global warming.
We want to involve Nunavummiut and also would like to incorporate the knowledge of Inuit as to how we can deal with and cope with global warming.
A concern that I have are elders who were born when the weather was extremely cold, we should invite them while they are still alive to get their knowledge, and also you, as minister, know that we need to get the knowledge of these individuals.
If you agree to hold a conference; I believe that the residents sometimes see Green Peace go over on top of the concerns of Inuit and because Inuit are fearful of not being able to harvest any kind of species, perhaps to make sure that sometimes due to global warming, we might not be able to harvest. So could you deal with all of these issues?
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): Thank you. It’s very clear and it’s going to be very beneficial to deal with climate change in Nunavut.
Perhaps it would be good to see the plan right away for Nunavut to make sure the international countries understand what our situation is and also to make sure that the wildlife protectors such as Green Peace know about these issues.
Also, I think the same with our elders; I believe that we should do this as soon as possible and we will consider it very carefully as to when the best time would be to deal with this issue as the Department of Environment.
Question 238 – 2(3): Federal Government Contact Person (Kilabuk)
Mr. Kilabuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our government also works on behalf of the federal government for benefits like for example, Mr. Speaker, for firearms registration, passports, income tax, senior citizen support, and pension plans. These are all services of the federal government that the Nunavut Government does on behalf of the federal government.
Mr. Speaker, my first question to the minister is: who, in our GN, is the contact person for the federal government here in Nunavut?
There are quite a few offices or departments that deal with these issues.
If they have connection to the federal government, sometimes we try to respond to some concerns in regard to those issues, but we usually go by way of our MP when my constituents require assistance.
I asked this question because our elders who receive elders’ pension, whether it be a man or a woman, they had come to me asking for help and support. They don’t know who to go to and they don’t know who the contact person is.
Mr. Speaker, perhaps it will be easier for us and at least we will be more receptive to the elders and to the people that we serve such as Nunavummiut. Could the minister commit to me that through our MP’s office that they work together to identify a contact person for Nunavut for federal government services?
Our MP tries to give support and assistance, but I will try and work closely with her to make sure that we provide the information and we do need to give support and assistance to the elders. I know that we will have to deal with this issue again.
I know our MP Karetak-Lindell has always helped us out, but she’s always traveling and not in her office, and has a lot of responsibility.
I know that our questions are waiting for her.
I would like to ask the joint working staff for the federal government and the Government of Nunavut: how is it going to be arranged through her office?
Motion 012 – 2(3): Extended Hours and Days – Notice (Peterson)
I give notice that on Friday, March 10, I will move the following motion:
I MOVE, seconded by the Honourable Member for Iqaluit East, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker deems fit to assist with the business before the House.
At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with my motion today.
Motion 013 – 2(3): Extended Adjournment – Notice (Tootoo)
I give notice that on Friday March 10, 2006, I will move the following motion:
I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Iqaluit East, that notwithstanding Rule 4, that when the House concludes its present sitting in Iqaluit, it shall be adjourned until June 9, 2006.
And, Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with my motion today.
Speaker (interpretation): The member would like to have unanimous consent to deal with this motion today.
Motion 012 – 2(3): Extended Hours and Days (Peterson)
I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Iqaluit East, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker sees fit to assist with the business before the House.
I, too, would like to seek the Assembly’s unanimous consent to deal with my motion today.
Speaker (interpretation): The member is seeking unanimous consent to move this motion.
Motion 013 – 2(3): Extended Adjournment (Tootoo)
I MOVE, seconded by the Honourable Member for Iqaluit East, and notwithstanding Rule 4, that when the House concludes its present sitting in Iqaluit it shall be adjourned until June 9, 2006.
AND FURTHER at any time prior to June 9, 2006, if the Speaker is satisfied after consultation with the Executive Council and members here, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon that the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it had been duly adjourned to that time.
Under the Orders of the Day. Item 16.
Bill 19, An Act to Amend the Exemptions Act; Bill 12, Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2006-07, with Peter Kilabuk in the Chair.
In accordance with the authority vested in me by Motion 12 – 2(3), the Committee of the Whole will stay in session until it reports itself out.
Before we proceed to Committee of the Whole, we will take a 20-minute break.
>>House recessed at 15:24 and Committee resumed at 15:51
Chairman (Mr. Kilabuk)(interpretation): Thank you very much for coming back to the meeting. (interpretation ends) I would like to call the committee meeting to order and in Committee of the Whole...thank you, Mr. Akesuk.
In Committee of the Whole, we will have the following items to deal with: Bill 12, Bill 9, Bill 13, and Bill 14.
Mr. Barnabas (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would like to continue with Bill 12 and deal with the review of the Department of Education Main Estimates for 2006-07 and we would also like to deal with the Department of Environment.
Chairman: So are we in agreement that we first deal with Bill 12?
Yes, I would like to ask my witnesses to join me at the table.
Sergeant-at-Arms, I see you have escorted them in already.
And now, Minister Picco, for the record, please introduce your witnesses.
On my immediate right is Ms. Sandy Teiman, Director of Income Support Programs, and on my immediate left is Mr. David Pealow, Comptroller for the Department of Education.
Yesterday, we were on G-12.
Branch...or rather, excuse me, G-10. Education. Branch Summary.
Total Operations and Maintenance. $2,260,000.
I welcome the minister and his officials again today.
Could the minister explain to me and my colleagues what it means when they say, ‘Program Compliance’ in the first line, Overall Policy Development and Program Compliance, what does that mean?
Program Compliance is a general term used by governments and other organizations and agencies to define the program scope of the work being carried out under an individual program.
So as an example, Mr. Chairman, that would include eligibility requirements and so on.
I thank the minister for that short response.
Where it states policy development, does that include the calculation of rates to pay individuals and families?
The rates and so on; those types of schedules are set in the regulations for income support. When we talk about policies and program support, that would include support at the ministerial level, of course, at the senior levels within the department, as well as meetings that we may be involved in at the national level; whether they be PT, the provincial, or territorial level, or the FPT; which is the federal, provincial, and territorial level.
It seems like a couple of years ago, I raised the idea of using the income support funds to help unemployed folks get to the mining, remote worksite.
Would that have come under policy development?
The member did, almost two years ago I believe, raise the issue on travel to remote sites and what we have done within the Department of Income Support is we have put a program in place, specifically for that issue.
If someone is on income support and needs to be transported to a remote worksite, as an example, then those costs are covered under the Income Support Program.
Travel to remote worksites for those on income support, the good news that it’s included now and there is a program for that.
As they say, better late than never. I should have done this at the start of the meeting. I want to go on the record as having welcomed our witnesses Ms. Teiman and Mr. Pealow.
Welcome to the committee’s appearance.
Can the minister indicate whether that remote worksite assistance is being utilized by any clients in any of the regions?
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have advertised the program with a brochure and all Income Support offices are aware of the program.
There has been uptake on the program, and indeed, there are individuals on the program. I don’t want to give you who they are or anything like that, but I can say that the program is being accessed. There is promotional material out there advertising the program.
Indeed, our staff and workers in the field are knowledgeable of the program itself.
I’m glad to hear that it’s being used.
Can the minister explain with a bit more detail of how the income support folks calculate the levels of support to pay to clients?
It doesn’t have to be any specific community or region, but how they calculate that? I’m wondering if it takes into consideration the high cost of living in Nunavut that affects all of us?
I walked through a scenario the other day in Question Period with Mr. Curley; I believe it was on the program eligibility requirements on income support. Income support is a program of last resort.
It is set up by this government and other jurisdictions in the country to help individuals who have not got other sources of income, or indeed, full-time employment, or part-time employment.
The Income Support Program is operated through individual contracts with individual families and/or our own staff through the Government of Nunavut in any given community.
The program itself is set up so that costs are covered within a zone. So for example, cost of living amounts under the program would be different depending on what zone you are in as a family.
So let’s use an example, Mr. Chairman, if you were in Zone Five, which includes Grise Fiord and Kugaaruk, then you would be receiving more income support than someone who is in say Zone Two.
So there are five different zones available.
When a person wants to go on to income support, anyone over the age of 18 in Nunavut is eligible for income support.
They apply to the income support officer, the income support employee looks at the actual income of the individual in question and determines if that person is eligible and then determines what the level of support will be and that would be based on family support mechanisms that are in place, for example, does the individual have dependents, a spouse, and so on.
So in the short answer, I hope that helps answer the member’s question.
I thank the minister for that overview and it does help, to some degree, to understand how it’s calculated.
I get a lot of individuals approach me in my office when I’m in Cambridge Bay or send emails; they seem to think it’s insufficient.
I’m not sure what the answer is when they are only getting a couple hundred dollars, and then it costs you $50 for a bag of groceries and you are supposed to make it last a month. It’s very difficult for the folks.
With that in mind, do the income support folks here work with the income support individuals in the hamlets to provide counselling to income support clients in terms of how to budget their needs for a month so they can make the money that they receive stretch longer so that they aren’t without food for two weeks out of every month?
Follow that, Minister Picco.
Again, we have done some program changes this government has in the last year and a half that have been well welcomed by income support recipients across Nunavut.
We increased the rate by 15 percent, as the member knows; five percent and then ten percent.
We have also taken Co-op dividends, so if the members use their income support when they are buying supplies, groceries, and so on from the individual Co-ops and the Co-ops pays out of dividend at one time, that would be included as an unearned income and would be subtracted from their income support. That’s not the case anymore.
So that gives them an opportunity for extra dollars in their pockets.
The question on is it enough, Mr. Chairman, is a good question.
We know that the cost of living is very high across Nunavut. So if you had a family of five, for example, in Kugaaruk, they would receive roughly $1,500 under the Income Support Program for food allowances, then there would be also other monies that would be available for your power bill, light bill, phone bill, oil bill, and so on.
Again, the Income Support Program is a program that’s out there as a program of last resort.
Again, I would hope to be in a position to be able to increase the amounts available under the Income Support Program within the budget framework upcoming.
As I said earlier, we have increased it by 15 percent in the first year and a half of this government and those were the first increases in the program since 1998. So those were the first increases in seven years.
For clarification, Minister Picco, $1,500, and that’s for how many days?
Hon. Ed. Picco: That is for 30 days.
That would be a 30-day or a one-month period.
Individual months have different days, some with 31 and some with 28 as we know.
On the average, it’s 30 days.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, minister for that information.
Does the minister’s staff or his income support staff, do they have an idea how much it costs for families - take that family in Kugaaruk, five individuals - do they know how much it would cost normally to provide healthy meals for the family for a month?
I know the number he gave us is $1,500, but would it be more expensive to feed that family if they had enough money to buy the food?
We work with what the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has put forth as a food basket and we try to use that to help ascertain the rates. I just want to clarify what I said earlier, the amount in Kugaaruk for four, it was $1,150 a month; for five, it was $1,356; and for six, it was $1,519. So I just want to make sure I got the right line.
I think the other point to be made, Mr. Chairman, the biggest complaint that we have on the Income Support Program, I think the member is alluding to this, was the amount that is available, and when we look at the total income if somebody in that family is working, then those monies are subtracted away from it.
If somebody wins bingo as an example and when they go get their income support, that money can be subtracted from their income support payment.
So we need to be able to look at the regulations and we have internally right now, are undergoing an internal review of the Income Support Program from some of the comments that we have heard.
Chairman: Thank you, minister. Just as a reminder to my colleagues, whenever possible keep your responses and questions short and to the point.
Thank you for that caution, I will try.
Under Contract Services, there is an amount budgeted for $285,000. Can the minister describe what Contract Services pays for?
The Senior Citizen Supplementary Benefit is delivered on behalf of the Government of Nunavut via contract. The contractor increased the price for the delivery of that benefit. That is being done through the offices of the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Same question for the fees and payments for $928,000. We see a decrease from the last year.
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We took the, that was a transfer from fees and payments to cover the contract costs that the member had just asked about.
Can the minister tell us what the fees and payments will cover?
Mr. Chairman, 585 seniors, $135 a month. I will try to keep my answers clear and to the point.
You are doing well so far.
I do not have any more questions on this page.
Mr. Alagalak: Nope.
While we are on this page, I would like to ask the minister about the lack of housing in Nunavut and the lack of employment opportunities.
There are a lot of individuals who are eligible for housing and able and willing to work, but due to a lack and shortage of housing and because of no job opportunities, they end up staying with their parents and collecting income support.
Are those individuals eligible to get additional support say for heating costs and energy costs?
If the husband and wife have three children and they have dependents in their families, the total income of the family is included when we look at the benefits applied for the Income Support Program and we also look at the expenses.
So if there was an issue, for example, with the electrical bill, which does not happen very often with the Power Corporation, if they have issues with the oil bill or the phone bill, then those costs can be covered within the context of the program.
There would not be extra support given specifically for that common law couple, lets say, that were living with the head of the household and the spouse. That is my understanding of the program.
Mr. Kattuk: Maybe I have to explain more.
In Nunavut, there is a shortage of housing and high unemployment. So dependents have to live with their parents, or their families, or mother and father, but they are eligible to get the income support. My question: if those people that are getting income support, would they be able to help the father or the mother pay for power bills or electrical bills?
I just spoke to Sandy about it. It is my understanding that the total income within the home is included, and if those children are with the parents, they are not able to get their own home because of the lack of housing in the community, whatever costs are in that home and the family is on income support, those costs are covered.
They are in subsidized housing, and their oil bill and light bill, and so on, those still would be covered under the head of the household when that person gets their income support.
In my opening remarks, I mentioned, in regard to income support, especially students or young people who have finished school and while they are still in school they still can apply for income support.
I realize that there are not that many job opportunities in the communities. If they work part-time or work for a while, then that money is deducted from their income support. How does the department, for example, plan in order to motivate those income support workers?
There are some exemptions in place. If you are working and you’re a single person, pretty much you would be exempt for up to $200. For families it would be $400.
Everything costs a lot more up in the High Arctic and the store owners, especially in the Quttiktuq; High Arctic, we only have Co-ops and they try and support the local Co-ops and a lot of the time, the income support cheques doesn’t last very long because they try and buy as much as they can on fresh products.
I wonder how they can be helped more when that is the case.
What we’ve been doing over the last year and a half on this program is review, first of all, the amounts.
As I said earlier, we did increase that by 15 percent. We have changed the exemption. So for example, the new energy rebate from the federal government is not included as earned income, so it will not be subtracted from the income support cheques.
We have done the same thing, as the member indicated, with the Co-ops. In some communities, for example, in Grise Fiord, where there is only one community, which the member represents, people would get a dividend from there. There would be opportunities for the dividend being paid out by the Co-op not to be subtracted from the cheque.
We’ve also increased training opportunities and allowances under the program.
Improvements to the program since division includes: the remote worksite that Mr. Peterson talked about earlier, we’ve put transition benefits for income support recipients in place, there’s been training allowances initiated, we’ve established the Nunavut Social Assistance Appeal Board, we exempted the Co-op patronage refunds which we just talked about earlier, we exempted the child disability benefits that we talked about earlier, we’ve continually developed and distributed training manuals out into the program, we’ve also hired a compliance officer.
So a lot of program changes have been put in place, and again, we want to be able to review the amount of monies available under the Income Support Program. There’s no argument on the amounts and how much is going out.
If you’re in social housing, you’re fully subsidized.
We have not increased the amount of electricity per unit; it’s still at 6 cents a kilowatt hour across the territory and this hasn’t increased over the last ten years. We’ve also included opportunities for training; so if someone’s on income support, they get extra support for training.
After the 15 percent increase and we know that Sheila Fraser went up to see how the prices are up there, shortly after she left, there was an increase on the costs of goods and food by 15 percent. It seems like they’re upping the increases that they do get from Income Support.
Once an increase was made by 15 percent, the prices went up 15 percent.
So that doesn’t help a bit for Income Support recipients, especially with people who have a large number of children or relatives.
I wonder if his department does any studies to see what the prices are in the communities or in the stores.
Before I go on to Mr. Picco, I would like to welcome the Mayor of Iqaluit Elisapee Sheutiapik and other visitors.
As I indicated earlier, the member raises a good point. In the High Arctic and in some of the other communities, but in the High Arctic specifically, Grise Fiord, and as well in Kugaaruk, we see some of the highest prices in Nunavut.
What we are doing as a department and a government is working with INAC, the federal government, to cost out that healthy food basket. We do have a program underway that the members may be aware of.
For example, in Kugaaruk we were looking at the parcel post amount under food mail and lowering that amount again so that the families in Kugaaruk would have an opportunity to buy healthier foods, fresh produce, and so on. That program is continuing.