EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I believe the Nunavut Court of Justice schedules their court circuits 6 to 12 months in advance so that they can coordinate all the travel. They have to ensure that they have hotel rooms for all the staff; the judges, lawyers, and other support staff, and then ensure that the people who have to appear before court, if they have to be brought back from… .
I’ll use Cambridge Bay as an example. If they’re in remand in Yellowknife, they could be scheduled to be back.
It’s quite a logistical challenge to organize all the court travel and ensure that people do get their day in court and keep in mind that they are up against uncertain weather conditions at the time and also issues with aircraft.
The Nunavut Court of Justice does try to plan and I’m sure that when they do plan, they do call ahead to see if there will be any community events underway or being planned at the same time and take that into account.
I believe we have court services for actual courts.
I just want to get information.
If I’m on the wrong page, please stop me.
I have a question with regard to courts, if I’m in the right place.
We have heard through the media that sometimes they have to do a court circuit, but they end up having to defer services due to a lack of judges.
As Nunavummiut, we have stated that we have to wait for a very long time for the court circuit to arrive.
There are problems arising from that.
What have you done to address this concern and how can this be rectified?
Again, that is a valid concern as well.
Currently, we are short two judges in Nunavut.
Unfortunately, the Government of Nunavut can’t appoint judges. That can only be done by the federal government.
There is a process underway right now and I believe they have nominated some people. We are one of the groups that nominates people to be judges, but there is a review process that takes quite a long time.
At the same time, they can use deputy judges from other jurisdictions, for example, from provinces that can come up for a short term and on short notice, but again, even that’s a problem.
There are a lot of vacancies in the deputy judge ranks. Again, we have to wait for the federal government to appoint some judges and deputy judges for Nunavut.
Since the judge had a concern about this issue, have you asked the appointers to make sure the process is actually faster than they had actually done it?
Although I wasn’t the minister at the time, I believe my predecessor raised it at the recent FPT with the federal minister and she is aware.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $12,514,000.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $35,449,000.
Back to page E-3.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $113,855,000.
I thank you and the committee for your good questions today and for bearing with me as I learn the Department of Justice.
As I said, I have been getting caught up on it for the last week and I have answered questions in question period.
I find the Department of Justice is a very interesting department and it can do a lot of good things for Nunavut.
I was the Minister of Justice four and a half years ago for almost three years.
A lot of that is starting to come back to me and how important the department is to Nunavut.
There are a lot of very important initiatives underway with studies and legislation.
We’re also working to find solutions to our corrections facilities in Nunavut and also to support our community justice committees, the community justice outreach workers, and all the other people out on the frontlines who go to work daily to help people in the communities.
I appreciate their hard work on behalf of our government.
I would like to thank our officials in the Department of Justice.
I have met some the other day and quite a few of them were happy to see me come back. It was good to see them. When I go to visit the Department of Justice, I always go visit the Corporate Services folks first because they’re good people.
There are a lot of good staff and I appreciate the people here in Iqaluit and all the people out in our communities, all the justice committees, all the elders, and other people who work for us. It’s a lot of work.
I would like to thank my officials who came here today, Ji Liu, our corporate services fellow, and Stephen Mansell, our director of policy. They are both in the gallery. I would like to thank Bill MacKay for being here today.
I believe it’s his first time in Committee of the Whole. Yvonne Niego, is this your first time?
It’s not her first time, but she’s got experience.
I thank everybody.
She’s got a couple of appearances in her experience.
I thank everybody for having us today.
(interpretation ends) We will take a short break before we proceed to the next department, 10 minutes.
>>Committee recessed at 18:11 and resumed at 18:24
Bill 13 – Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2016-2017 – Legislative Assembly – Consideration in Committee
I would now like to ask the Speaker of the House if he has officials that he would like to appear before the committee.
Does the committee agree to let the Speaker’s staff go to the witness table?
(interpretation ends) For the record, Speaker, please introduce your officials.
On my left is Director of Corporate Services Michael Rafter and on my right is our Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, John Quirke.
Please proceed with your opening comments, (interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to appear before you today to present the 2016-17 Main Estimates and 2016-19 Business Plan of the Office of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.
The proposed 2016-17 operations and maintenance budget for the Office of the Legislative Assembly is $25,897,000.
This represents a modest increase of approximately 3.5 percent over our 2015-16 main estimates.
I will speak in English for the rest of the statement.
(interpretation ends) The Legislative Assembly’s 2016-17 main estimates also reflect the financial and human resources required for the operations of our independent officers, including the Office of the Representative for Children and Youth.
I would note that the legislation which establishes this office is now almost fully in force.
I am pleased to take this opportunity to update members on the progress of a number of digital initiatives that are currently being undertaken by the Office of the Legislative Assembly.
Since April 1, 1999, over 2,100 documents have been formally tabled in the House.
A recent initiative is making downloadable versions of tabled documents available to the general public for their ease of reference from the Legislative Assembly’s website.
I would also note that our audio and video archival project is progressing well, as is our plan to expand public access to our proceedings through such means as live streaming on the Internet.
As a consequence of the tragic events that occurred in Parliament in October of 2014, the Management and Services Board of the Legislative Assembly has been working to review our legislature’s security procedures to ensure an appropriate balance between security and public accessibility.
As members will recall, the fifth investiture ceremony to have been held since the coming into force of the Order of Nunavut Act was held in the Chamber in the fall of last year.
I pay tribute to the 12 distinguished individuals who have received the Order of Nunavut to date, and I look forward to opening this year’s nominations during our upcoming spring sitting.
That concludes my opening comments, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank my colleagues for their support and I welcome their comments, suggestions, and questions. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: The floor is now open for general comments.
Office of the Legislative Assembly on page A-4.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $7,830,000.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $12,867,000.
In case I don’t ask any questions to the Speaker, I just want clarification on the independent officers of the Legislative Assembly on page A-6.
The child and youth representative just started last year and hired staff. It’s a very new office. I’m sure the office was set up with whatever was needed.
It appears to have been originally set up in a haphazard manner and it has been around for about a year now. Have there been any unexpected things that resulted such as if you needed to hire more staff?
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. (interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker.
What a good question.
So that you can get a clear answer, I would like (interpretation ends) Mr. Clerk, John Quirke, (interpretation) to answer, if you don’t mind.
When the office was set up, a bit of a reminder that this office was given to us when the Legislative Assembly passed the legislation.
The organizational structure that was identified by the government was passed on to us.
At that particular time, it was really unknown whether the resources and the organizational chart were sufficient for the operation.
It turns out, once we stated hiring the individual or the child and youth representative, when she did an analysis of the operations, etcetera, in consultation with other jurisdictions, it was determined that with the six full-time positions given to them from day one, there was a requirement for three more.
She made a business case about those three positions to the Management Services Board, which the board accepted.  The three extra positions included a child and youth advocacy specialist, an intake specialist, and a critical injury and death investigator.
That was new because, like I said in the beginning, we weren’t too sure what was given to us by the government. Based on analysis, etcetera, it turned out there was a shortfall and that’s why she made the business case and those three PYs were given and the increase for the budget.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. (interpretation ends) Office of the Legislative Assembly.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $5,200,000.
Chairman: Thank you. (interpretation) Go back to (interpretation ends) page A-3. Department Summary. Office of the Legislative Assembly.
Detail of Expenditures. Total. Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $25,897,000.
Speaker Qulaut, you can now make your closing remarks.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you very much, everyone. We will now be able to proceed well to the next year and spend this money wisely.
(interpretation ends) I ask all members to please wait in their seats while we prepare for the last department and that is the Department of Environment.
I would now like to ask the Minister of Environment if he has officials that he would like to appear before the committee.
On my left is my Deputy Minister, Gabriel Nirlungayuk, and on my right from corporate services is Nikki Nweze.
Welcome, Ms. Nweze and Mr. Nirlungayuk.
Mr. Minister, Mr. Mike.
Hon. Johnny Mike (interpretation): Let me clarify. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
I want to take this opportunity to clarify what I said during debate on the Department of Environment’s budget in the Committee of the Whole.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Enook had asked me about the grants and contributions programs on page I-6 in our budget.
I want to be clear as I stated that no new monies will be added to the budget.
After the budget is approved in this House, the department will be tasked to review and implement the 2016-17 budget estimates just like every other department.
If there are changes that need to take place within the projected grants and contributions for the department after it is approved in the House, those policy changes will have to be approved by cabinet while FMB approval will be required to transfer the funds between departmental programs.
Mr. Enook, my colleague, is correct. We cannot reprofile monies in the budget and we are not suggesting that.
Mr. Chairman, the main estimates that you have before you is the budget for the Department of Environment that we are asking you to approve.
I hope that this clarifies my answer and again, I thank Member Enook for raising it.
We were on I-5. (interpretation ends) Branch Summary.
I would like to thank the minister for making that statement.
I would like to ask a question on environment and I had the document in front of me yesterday.
We were concerned about two PYs and we wrote a letter to you as a standing committee.
We wanted further information on the creation of those two new PYs and I’m sorry we didn’t receive a response to our concerns.
It seemed to indicate that these PYs were funded by the federal government. Now there is a possibility that the funding will not be approved for $360,000.
I would just like to have this clarified. Is it still uncertain whether the federal government will continue to provide these funds as before for 2016-17 or is it clear now that this funding for $360,000 will no longer be approved and you want to bring it before this House?
If you would elaborate further on this.
Hon. Johnny Mike (interpretation): Yes, we’re making a request for those two PYs and it will come out of that line item.
The minister is saying that the monies you requested from the federal government has been denied.
I thank my colleague for that question. From what we know, yes, that is the case.
Again, in that letter we wrote as a standing committee, we had asked for additional information. We wanted to get a response from you about the two PYs and what their responsibilities and (interpretation ends) job titles (interpretation) will be. It’s too bad that you haven’t responded to our letter.
I’m sure there is a job title for these two PYs.
Are they going to be employees of the Nunavut government and when are you going to be putting them out?
I don’t have the letter in front of me, but we’re requesting for two additional PYs.
We have employees now, but in order to proceed with work on climate change, we are requesting two additional PYs. Their job descriptions and titles will be given to you by way of correspondence.
You’re requesting two PYs.
From what we understand, they’re already employed by your department.
I think that’s what you said. Those two employees will just keep doing what they have been doing, but they will only be funded by the Nunavut government.
Hon. Johnny Mike (interpretation): Yes, you understood it correctly.
Mr. Enook (interpretation):We know that these two employees are going to be working on climate change. Even if it is not written down, I would like you to tell us exactly what is their job description.
This letter was written on February 9 and today, we are into March.
Maybe you didn’t receive our letter or it came in late.
We requested the information quite a while back about the job descriptions of these two PYs.
Can you at least give us some sort of an overall description of what they’re going to be doing?
We can give the committee the information by way of a letter.
Mr. Enook (interpretation): Mr. Chairman, that wasn’t me.
Mr. Chairman, sometimes it gets quite hilarious.
With those two PYs, one is an indeterminate position and the other one is a casual position.
Why is it like that and is it going to stay like that?
Ms. Nweze.
With the two provisions we have, one is the climate change coordinator position and the second one is the climate change outreach position. We already have employees in the positions.
The PYs were paid before through the federal government’s funding, but we are not receiving that funding anymore.
To make sure that we retain the positions to do all the climate change programming, we want to move the positions to Vote 1 so that the GN will be paying for those PYs.
That is the reason why we have requested $350,000. There would be two PYs and $100,000 for additional operating funding. That is what our request is for the two PYs.
Which community are these two positions based out of?
Hon. Johnny Mike (interpretation): Those positions are based out of the Department of Environment’s offices at headquarters.
Chairman: Branch Summary. Environment.
Program Management. (interpretation) Following my list of names, Mr. Keyootak.
I would first like to ask a question as I didn’t quite understand the issue of compensation for the loss of equipment or destroyed by polar bears or by other wildlife. You said that these funds are usually depleted by the end of the year.
My question is about my community and those who tried to claim compensation, especially because our equipment is destroyed by polar bears every single year.
I’m talking about a period of 30 years in particular.
I have heard of only one hunter from my community who got compensated.
Many others have requested compensation, but no one else has received compensation because the monies were said to be depleted.
Could you indicate which pot of money for the loss of equipment tends to get depleted? Can you give us a breakdown of what is spent for equipment compensation?
We can also produce that information to the member following his line of questioning.
I look forward to receiving that detailed information. It will allow us to see how much loss was caused by polar bears and wildlife, for example.
While he is at it, can we also get to see how much is used by the Baffin, Kivalliq, and Kitikmeot regions and by which communities? I would like that included in the information package.
Yes, we can give you the detailed information.
I would like to move on to the business plan. I’m looking at the Inuktitut version and it’s on page 161, fifth bullet. It states, “Continue monitoring of Baffin Island Caribou by collaring, health monitoring, and conducting additional surveys as necessary.”
What does it mean exactly? What kind of collars would be used for monitoring Baffin Island caribou?
I will refer this to my Deputy Minister, Mr. Nirlungayuk.
Mr. Nirlungayuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also thank Mr. Keyootak.
What we are requesting that you are reading is for community visits and consultations where we want to conduct the studies on caribou research.
We will have to visit the communities to get their permission.
Are you just going to collar them? Is that what you are planning to do?
My Deputy Minister, Mr. Nirlungayuk, will define “collaring.”
Mr. Nirlungayuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank Mr. Keyootak for asking for clarification. Yes, you’re right.
Our biologists want to know where caribou migrate. They say that we don’t have migratory information on Baffin Island caribou.
They will have to go to the communities to explain their collaring program and we will have to consult with the communities.
What does collaring mean? When they are going to collar the caribou, what kind of equipment are they putting on the collars?
When the animals are being studied, they will be putting satellite collars on them.
In the past, they put satellite collars on polar bears when they were surveying them. That used to be done to the caribou.
Hunters were really dissatisfied with that.
There is damage done to the bodies of animals that have collars on them and they lose all their fur on their necks.
They had put a stop to that practice.
When I used to be involved with the hunters and trappers organization, hunters had really disagreed with the collaring.
Have they considered any alternatives in doing their studies?
Yes, we have also noticed that.
We have stopped that practice with polar bears for that very reason. They did not like the practice of collaring.
We stopped the practice of collaring polar bears for a long time.
With Baffin Island caribou, we hear different things. Regarding the survey methods, we have to know exactly what the migratory routes are of caribou.
This would help with the decimation of caribou populations on Baffin Island.
The communities will be consulted on this program.
We will have a better idea of what the communities think of the collaring program in order to know where the caribou migrate.
After the community consultations, we will have a better idea of the program.
With the collaring program, would they have to use helicopters?
My Deputy Minister Nirlungayuk will respond to that.
Mr. Nirlungayuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Keyootak, for asking that question.
To my knowledge, yes, they would be using helicopters.
The biologists will come to the communities to explain what they’re going to be doing. They will want to follow the wishes of the people. That’s what they want to do.
The hunters and I are really dissatisfied with the use of helicopters. Helicopters are extremely noisy.
I had asked the environment minister about this before. If they’re going to be using helicopters and they only have two blades, they are extremely loud.
If they have three blades, they’re a lot less noisy.
Caribou and polar bear ears start bleeding from the loud noise.
It’s not from the noise of the engine; it’s from the noise of the blades.
Helicopters with two blades are extremely noisy.
The ears of polar bear and caribou start bleeding. Maybe they can put it under consideration to use a helicopter with more than two blades, perhaps a three-bladed propeller instead.
Has that been considered?
Deputy Minister Nirlungayuk will respond to that question.
I also thank Mr. Keyootak for providing advice and to see if they can look for alternative ways. They will be explaining that program when they go to the communities.
I thank them for putting that into consideration.
I have been involved in polar bear surveys and I have accompanied them quite a number of times by helicopter.
They really distressed the polar bears and it’s probably the same case with caribou when they’re being studied with helicopters.
I’ll just say that as a comment and I thank them for putting that under consideration.
Following my list of names, (interpretation ends) Branch Summary. Environment. Program Management.
I know a few questions have been asked on the climate change positions and I would like to ask a few further questions.
In the business plan on page 154, it states, “The Climate Change section has been engaged in community-based adaptation initiatives...” I wonder if the minister can update us today on what types of community-based initiatives they’re talking about and in what communities they take place.
My Deputy Minister, Mr. Nirlungayuk, will respond to that question.
Mr. Nirlungayuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Thanks to the member for asking that question.
I can provide more detailed information. From what I have been briefed on, staff have gone to the communities looking at what the local knowledge is in terms of the changing climate and how they are doing adaptation work within their communities.
This work will continue on, but I can further provide more detailed information for the member.
At this time, the department doesn’t know which communities were visited in regard to climate change.
I would like Conor at the witness table, if he can be escorted here. He can provide a detailed response.
Chairman: Thank you. Does the committee agree to let the official in?
For the record, Mr. Minister, please introduce your official.
Hon. Johnny Mike: Conor Mallory.
Welcome to the House, Mr. Mallory.
Mr. Rumbolt, please repeat your question so that the question can be heard.
I’ll ask both of my questions again just in case there is more information.
I was asking about where it states in the business plan about “The Climate Change section has been engaged in community-based adaptation initiatives...” I was trying to get a sense of what kind of adaptation initiatives you are referring to and in which communities it is happening in.
Mr. Mallory will answer the question.
Mr. Mallory.
Mr. Mallory: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think, as the deputy minister said, we can certainly provide more information on what actual activities have taken place thus far.
I know they have taken place in Cape Dorset and Arviat. There may be some other communities. I would have to double-check.
We can certainly get that information, but I know we will be continuing to do more communities in the future.
Maybe a comment; while he is getting this information for us on what climate change has done in the past, maybe he can update us on what their plans are for the next year with this budget so that we can have a sense of the types of initiatives that these two employees are doing in our communities.