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Ms. Williams (interpretation): Mr. Speaker, I want to recognise the many achievements of these families.
To our present day in history the second and third generation members continue to play important roles as leaders and role models for all of Nunavut and Canada.
I am very honoured to have Rynee Flaherty present here today, the Elder, her children and her grandchildren who can’t be here today with us.
Although some family members are not here I also would like to talk about her daughter Martha Flaherty, who tackled many important issues such as family violence and sexual abuse during her terms as the President of Pauktuutit, the National Inuit Women’s organization.
Her brothers, Harry, Jamie, William and Johnny Flaherty, and her younger sisters Leesee and Mary and their brother Peter hold important positions both with government and nongovernmental organizations alike.
I would also like to talk about John Amagoalik. I’m sure he doesn’t need any introductions. During the land claims negotiations, he was very instrumental and he took the lead role in the Nunavut Implementation Commission.
I would also like to talk about the contributions of the Alakariallak family.
Minnie Alakariallak is also in the gallery.
Her husband and she have made many important contributions to the community of Resolute Bay starting in the 60’s and the 70’s.
Minnie’s house was the primary boarding home for transient medical patients travelling in and out of the High Arctic. They have made important contributions to the community of Resolute Bay over the years. Joannie and Minnie ran a Boarding Home for transient patients who had to travel through Resolute Bay to get home or to the hospital down south either from Arctic Bay or from Pond Inlet.
Everyone is aware of and knows about Minnie and her husband and how they always helped other people.
Joannie ran the Anglican Church.
Also Elizabeth Allakarialak who is also well known, she was a long time Social Worker and she is now currently working with Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
Of course, Madeleine Allakarialak, Minnie’s granddaughter needs very little introduction as she was also identified as a very good role model from Nunavut and many of us listen to her most mornings on CBC; Madeline Allakariallak is here and so is Minnie’s great-grandchild.
Another of her grandchildren, Angie Doig is also here and she’s got her own children and I also would like to talk about the Akeeagok family from Grise Fiord.
This family has shown some fine examples for Inuit to look up to as well because they make good role models, such as Sigluk Akeeagok, who’s sitting over on the other side, a former RCMP officer, a former Fisheries and Oceans Officer, and presently he is a Wildlife Officer.
His wife Mimi Pijamini is a long time resident of Grise Fiord, one of the first Inuit school teachers in that community and who is currently working on furthering her qualifications.
Mr. Speaker I don’t want to miss anyone and I know that I have missed a lot of names in my statements.
I could conceivably take the whole morning to do my Member’s Statement if I were to recognize everyone.
I am glad that you were able to give me some extra time for my Statement.
I hope that this House agrees with me, this is a small way to recognize the number of times the contributions of these families have been overlooked by Canada as a whole.
And if it weren’t for them, Mr. Speaker, Nunavut would be a much smaller place than it really is.
And welcome to the Gallery our guests.
Are there any further Members’ Statements? If not, I’d like to wish all the Members and staff and the media that are here all day long, working with us a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year.
Also extend that to the people of my home community of Arviat and all the good people of Nunavut, especially to the elders and the children from our communities. Lastly a reminder to all that we should make an extra effort to take care of the poor and less fortunate.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize some people Ms. Williams mentioned in her Statement.
When I was a Minister for MACA during the GNWT days in the Northwest Territories I recognized a volunteer.
He was the best volunteer in all of Nunatsiaq and that individual received recognition and was awarded when I was the Minister for the Municipal Affairs office back in 1996.
This selected NWT volunteer helped the most people and their fellow human beings.
Mr, Speaker, I would like to recognise, he can even help carry groceries, Peter Flaherty, he’s over there.
If he could stand up; I recognize him because he was the best volunteer and also one who cared the most for his fellow residents and his mother accompanied him when he came for the award.
I don’t know if Minnie Alakariallak remembers me, but back in the 1980’s in Yellowknife I was the manager of the Interpreter Corp. I know that since I came from Sudliq, her dialect was quite close to my dialect so right away as soon as she opened her mouth I knew that she wasn’t from the Kitikmeot and I was very happy to hear a familiar dialect.
Minnie Alakariallak I would like to recognise her and also good morning to all of them because we were taught to say that by Madeleine on her C.B.C broadcast, I had to say that.
It was quite interesting and nice to hear their dialect so I would like to say I wish them a very good morning.
I’d also like to recognise all of them.
I hardly ever recognize anybody in the House as my communities are amongst the furthest, but I would like to recognize all the people from my communities.
Martha from Resolute, originally from Greenland.
Irene Ikaluk from Resolute. Angie and her children, Eric Doig and David Akeeagok.
I talked about the Akeeagok family a little while ago; he is one of the sons and Harry Flaherty, Lazarus Akeeagok.
Elizabeth Alakariallak.
Rynee, would you please stand up.
Rynee Flaherty, William Flaherty, Madeleine Alakariallak who is known by everybody.
I also said the Kadluk family, Andrew Tagak and Minnie Alakariallak, Peter Flaherty who was recognized earlier on and Susan Gardner and Jamie Flaherty.
Over on the other side, I would like to recognize people originally from Grise Fiord.
Sigluk Akeeagok and his wife Mimi and their son and Johnny Flaherty.
I would also like to recognise Meeka and Abraham Arnakak.
Lastly, but not least my husband Glen Williams.
Merry Christmas and thank you for visiting the House.
Speaker: Once again, welcome to the Gallery.
I would also like to recognize some of the people who were recognized already, the ones that I know of.
When the Member from High Arctic was talking about the high arctic, she spoke about Inuit contributions such as those made by the members of the Flaherty family. I happen to have my Assistant Deputy Minister Jamie Flaherty here and his mother, his brothers and sisters and all the other families of the High Arctic Exiles, who were relocated to the High Arctic from Northern Quebec.
The people of the Belcher Islands lived in almost the same place as some of these High Arctic Exiles, and I feel fortunate that the relocated families were not picked from our area, but they have always made me feel welcome whenever I have met them.
First of all, I would like to recognize all the people who were recognized already, I believe that I know most of them visiting today.
Mr. Speaker, over here behind me, on this side I would like to recognize the people from Pangnirtung, from my constituency, Abraham and his wife Meeka Arnakak.
I would also like to briefly state that they have counselled people who are grieving and they have always been there to help out the people.
They never seem to get tired of assisting other Inuit although they are both busy people.
Abraham worked for the Housing Association for quite some time but he is now retired.
He has more freedom to do what he wants to do, and his wife also works as a cultural teacher at the Arctic College Adult Learning Centre.
I would also like to recognize some of my relatives from Grise Fiord.
I also have some relatives up there descended from Ooloosie and I am happy to say that they are here today and I wish to offer recognition.
I would also like to recognize my cousin Meeka Arnakaq, and her husband Abraham, and also Minnie.
I have represented her and she has always been there on occasions when I have visited the elders’ centre although she has not visited me for quite some time I would like to recognize her.
Question 340 – 1(6): Update on Human Resource Management System
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Human Resources.
As the Minister is probably aware over the last few years, something that I have been inquiring about is a Human Resource Management System something that has been in the works apparently since division.
I would like to ask the Minister, he tabled his Public Service Report last week.
In that report, Mr. Speaker, it indicates that the Government still requires an integrated Human Resource Information and Payroll System.
I would like to ask the Minister if he could update this House as to where they are with that Human Resource System and when can we expect to have one?
I thank the Member for posing his question.
Although it was difficult to compile all of the names, we have produced this report with the help of Public Works and the Department of Finance.
We are compiling the names in the computer and initially although we experienced problems we have completed most of the work and we will be providing them today.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t know what names the Minister is indicating.
I was looking for some kind of indication as to when and if we will ever see a functioning Human Resources Management System within the Department of Human Resources.
I know that something like, apparently we sunk millions of dollars into this over the last 3 years.
I’d like to find out when we are going to see something come out of that.
When will we have an actual system that works?
As I just indicated, we now have the system in place and we will, unlike the past years, we now have a system collecting the data and through the new system, we will be able to provide more, much more updated information as a result of the hard work that the departments have put in the last while.
So we do have our system out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in the Public Service report, it indicates that the government still requires an integrated Human Resource system in the payroll system and also they anticipate the implementation of the new system will begin in the next year.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister, in this report, there’s all kinds of statistical information has been compiled and then one of the things in there Mr. Speaker, that is something that I raised on numerous occasions in the past and the previous Minister from Human Resources could attest to, is the turnover rates within the government.
In the Public Service report, I would assume as a result of the tracking within the system, it indicates that turnover rates have gone from 31% to 28%. I’d like to ask the Minister if they could indicate through this House, what the cost of that turnover rate is to the government?
At this time I’m not able to provide the member with what it has cost us thus far.
That is something that I would have to get my department working on, but with staffing, including recruitment advertisings, relocations, we are looking at approximately, it costs us about fifty thousand dollars.
Mr. Speaker, maybe the Minister could indicate that he could commit to providing the actual cost of the turnover, the 28 percent turnover within the Public Service, with the cost to the government. I look forward to the Minister doing that.
I’m sure it’s more than fifty thousand dollars.
Mr. Speaker, one the of the things that I don’t see in this Public Service report and the Minister said he tabled it last week so I don’t know if I have thoroughly reviewed it, but can the Minister indicate, I know it’s something that the department has been working on again for some time. Do they have an updated or new Human Resource Manual for our employees to follow or is this something that is still in the works and when can we expect to see it.
That is something that I would like to be able to provide to the Members, earlier than later because I know the department staff have been working extremely hard on that manual.
But further to that, with my colleagues’ comments regarding the information that we provided, hopefully with the new system we have in place, we will be able to provide much more detailed information and also look at both benefits and what cost it takes Human Resources to ensure that we have fully employed departments in the government.
Question 341 – 1(6): Update on the Kivalliq Road
Mr. Speaker, we just finished her department earlier last week on the capital for Community Government & Transportation. There was money for the Bathurst Inlet Road Project and I think it’s a great project to produce and to help the private sector develop the mineral resources in Nunavut.
But there has been a long festering issue in Kivalliq and that is the issue of the Kivalliq road which you yourself have been pushing for the last 7 or 8 years. To date it seems to have died off.
Can the Minister update me on the Kivalliq Road and where it’s at?
Mr. Speaker, the road, the proposed road to the Keewatin from Manitoba or from Manitoba to the Keewatin has not died off.
It’s still a very active file and we are very serious about this file.
What has happened is that the Keewatin Inuit Association has requested money from DIAND to put into the study, the study that will be done on the road.
The government has already put their portion in, the Nunavut government.
The Manitoba Government has already put in their portion and the Keewatin Inuit Association responsibilities were to ask for more money from DIAND so that we can start a serious study in January.
So Mr Speaker, this is still a very important file that my department is working on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, you raised this road yourself when we were doing the leadership elections in 1999.
You asked the Premier at the time, and the Premier at the time said that he’d like to be able to drive out of Nunavut on a road. And you know it’s 4 years later and there’s been very little movement in this connection that would open up Nunavut to the world, through the resources and opportunities etcetera.
We all know the issues surrounding this road; the Minister told us she’s going to have something started in January. Would the Minister update this House on a regular basis on how the talks on the Kivalliq Road issue are going? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I know this has been talked about in the Mayor’s meetings every time the mayors get together.
We have a lot of support from the Keewatin region for the Manitoba road to the Keewatin.
I will certainly keep the House updated on what is happening and what the status is on this road.
We’re seriously going forward with this and we should be able to see some documents from the study as soon as we get that started.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister is answering my questions and those are the answers I like to hear.
But on the issue of the road; I have to date not seen once piece of information on that Kivalliq road and to this date I don’t think the mayors have seen much information on it, where it’s at in this stage after four years.
Could the Minister again agree to give us information, MLA’s, and the mayors of the Kivalliq on the ongoing issue of the Kivalliq road and update it on a regular basis so we know that we can do our lobbying?
We will do a status report on what has been happening over the last four years.
Question 342 – 1(6): Submitting the Required Paperwork to the Federal Government
I will ask it in English.
(interpretation ends) The Auditor General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly said the Government of Nunavut had not submitted the correct paperwork to the Federal Government in order to collect over 30 million dollars owed to us under an agreement that reimburses Nunavut for costs related to certain health services.
My question for the Minister is has this Department submitted the necessary paperwork to collect this amount?
Mr. Speaker, the 32 million dollars, and the Member is correct, I believe that it is under the Hospitals and Physicians Contract tabled in the House last week.
I have reviewed it with my department, Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to you that in this case we have spent the money; we have spent the 32 million dollars.
We have not invoiced the Feds for the total amount.
When we receive the 32 million dollars it is not going to be a cash windfall for the Government or anything like that because the money is just an account receivable.
We spend the money under that budget item, and then we have to send in an accounts receivable invoice.
The reason the invoice was not sent in was because the audited statements from the Department of Health were not available.
We did not have an audited invoice to submit to the Federal Government.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that that information is being gathered right now and will be sent, if it has not already done, expeditiously to the Federal Government as per the Financial Administration Act.
We know that Health overspends its budget by millions of dollars per year.
What is the Minister doing to improve financial management in his department?
Mr. Speaker, we have put several cost control measures in place.
At the same time, Mr. Speaker, if it takes 20 dollars for the gas to go from A to B, and you only have 10 dollars for gas, you are not going to get to B.
One of the concerns raised by the Auditor General in her report last year was that the department was under-based.
We did not have enough money.
That is the Auditor General’s own reasoning behind some of the situation.
So this government acted very quickly and expeditiously and put an extra 20 million dollars into the base for the department as it pertains to the Auditor General’s Report that the Member was speaking about.
We have put controls in place.
We have just hired an additional position to work in the finance and accounts receivable, accounts payable side of the department.
That position was part of the help that came from the Department of Finance which has done a review on the Department of Health; one of the recommendations was extra support, and that person is in place.
There have been a number of things done Mr. Speaker, to try to get the costs under control and at the same time be cognizant of the fact that you are delivering at times life and death services.
We need to be able to provide those services to the people of Nunavut.
I hear in this House many times Mr. Speaker, requests from Members for Wellness Counsellors, Addictions Counsellors, other services and programs, and so on.
There is only so much that we can do with the limited dollars that are available.
We are trying to the very best that we can, but at the same time, Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct.
There have to be more controls put in place on the expenditure side and not necessarily just on the revenue generating side.
My next question is, in 2000-2001 the Health Department overspent by twenty million dollars, in what areas did this overspending take place?
Mr. Speaker the Premier has mentioned to me about a year and a half ago, about the opportunity if it presented itself, would I like to look at a different portfolio. I said at the time I was not interested because I wanted the opportunity in this public forum to defend that over-expenditure.
And the Member asked me about the 2000-2001, Auditor General’s Report. Let’s think back to when we were integrating the three regional health boards, we assumed their deficit of 8.9 million dollars; we did not know that the health boards had that deficit.
Mr. Speaker, when you look into the contingencies that were in place from headquarters prior to division, prior to April 1st 1999 and in carrying that forward, extrapolating that number into the three regional offices, an additional 4 or 5 million dollars.
Mr. Speaker, when the twenty million dollar expenditure came about, I would suggest to you 70% is directly attributable to the integration of the three boards, which had already accumulated a deficit of 8.9 million dollars.
So Mr. Speaker, it wasn’t that we had taken twenty million dollars and spent it.
We actually had included it; you have to remember that we are talking about an audit report of now two years ago.
The Auditor General’s reports are a year and a half, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen months, behind.
So that’s where those figures came from, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity of trying to clarify the situation with that deficit.
I appreciate the response from the minister, we all know that 1999/2000, up to now, all the departments have been under-staffed, for different reasons. Therefore the budget that was allocated probably was not used for some of the things approved. In 2002-2001 there was probably some money allotted for the staff but we didn’t have full staff at that time, so I’m also thinking about
these kinds of things that cost money but we didn’t have staff.
Mr. Speaker, my question is what consequences are there in place for senior managers who have managed to overspend by millions of dollars?
Mr. Speaker, we have to remember how we got into the situation with our financial budget and so on. Mr. Speaker, in 1999 on division and before the division, 97, 98, and those three years, an excess of three years of over expenditures were being tracked by the Government of the Northwest Territories on what was being spent in the 26 communities, which made up the Nunavut settlement area.
The Federal Government said Mr. Speaker that two territories would not cost any more than one territory.
They basically took the 1.2 million dollars that was being sent to the Government of the Northwest Territories and split it in half. If you remember that Mr. Speaker, Minister Thompson remembers it, we were in the Nunavut caucus, so it came out to 450 million dollars and then a percentage was added onto that for headquarters and so on, for leasing costs of buildings.
The Health budget in 1999, was a hundred and twelve million dollars, that’s what it was, as Member Williams has just said, it wasn’t enough, because we were at about 20% staff in headquarters alone and about 80% vacant positions. The following year 2000, now we were staffed up, probably about 60%, so that was 40% more positions filled, that means more money was being spent and at the same time we absorbed the deficits of the Health Boards in the total base budget that was left.
When you put those kinds of considerations into place, of course you’re going to spend millions of dollars.
The processes that are in place under the Financial Administration Act as well as the Human Resource Program under Finance and under Human Resources, dictate if there are penalties there for budgets that are overspent.
Ultimately Mr. Speaker, it is this House and the Minister responsible for that Department to have to take the responsibility for the budget.
And Mr. Speaker, that’s what I have done with the deficit in the Department of Health.
Question 343 – 1(6): New Air Terminal for Pond Inlet
During the Pangnirtung session I spoke about the need for more modern air terminals.
For many years our terminal has been too small in Pond Inlet and yet a terminal has never been built.
I was wondering if the Department has considered the requirement for a larger terminal in Pond Inlet.
I would like to know if the terminal is under consideration for replacement.
The budget for Transportation, we use priority setting for the oldest buildings and safety and health issues.
It’s becoming evident that the air terminal in Pond Inlet has required change for many years because it’s too old and small now.
Mr. Speaker, at this time, since that became evident we were able to get funding from the Federal Government for this infrastructure, the funds that I mentioned in Coral Harbour, and Pond Inlet is one of the priority communities to get an air terminal building.
Mr. Speaker, at this time the Hamlet Council of Pond Inlet has made their position known and they have made a motion to get a new air terminal building.