EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Truly, the efforts of our dedicated Baker Lake educators went far beyond the call of duty as they worked to teach our children with the walls and roof literally crumbling around them.
Uqaqti, these are exciting times for parents and students in Baker Lake.
Construction is beginning on the new Jonah Amitnaaq School.
The community is 80% of the way towards achieving its fundraising goal for a larger gym.
I want to pay tribute to the hard work of Hugh Tunnuq for his tireless work and his commitment to the health of our youth.
Uqaqti, one of the first real decisions that we as a Legislative Assembly and government made was to make education one of the two core priorities of our government.
After years of benign neglect from the former government, we're finally starting to see some real investments made in education.
Uqaqti, education is everyone's responsibility.
I want to also acknowledge today the efforts of Joe Aupaltuq, Chair of the District Education Authority and Leo Lareau, a private businessman, for their efforts in starting Baker Lake's first Internet Service Provider.
We're connecting our youth to the world of knowledge, while not forgetting their history, culture and identity.
I'd like to recognize my constituency assistant Hanna Qimmiartuk who is in the Gallery.
I really appreciate her assistance.
Mr. Speaker I'd like to recognize my constituency assistant.
She is very capable and does well with her job.
Natia Koonilusie.
I'd like to recognize a visitor in the House.
Cathy Towtongie who I had worked with before.
She was here earlier but she must have left.
I have never recognized anybody in this House and I'd like to recognize someone from Sanikiluaq.
She is involved in the drug and alcohol workshop.
Mary Inutaluk.
And my constituency assistant Lisa Meeko.
Item 4: Oral Questions
Question 306 - 1(5): RFP for Provision of Home for Disabled
My question is directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services and it is in regards to what I mentioned earlier.
I think he understands what this question is going to be.
I would like to thank my colleagues for their support.
I would like to ask the minister about the RFP for building a home. Has this been resolved.
Mr. Speaker, that is correct.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Nice answer.
That was a very good answer.
Has the minister notified the Chesterfield Inlet people, especially the Corporation that is involved in the RFP already.
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, not directly Mr. Speaker.
The letter would be sent next week by way of the question from Mr. Arvaluk.
Yes we have done that right now Mr. Speaker.
Supplementary Mr. Arvaluk.
I'll jump to the second question.
I was going to ask, the answer was very short but I didn't notice whether it was approved or accepted or rejected.
Can you tell me that.
Hon. Ed Picco: Yes thank you, Mr. Speaker, that is correct.
They are currently done being reviewed and assessed and we’ve accepted.
Right now, the building plans are under review with Public Works and Services.
Question 307 - 1(5): Youth Programs Available through Culture, Language, Elders and Youth
Mr. Speaker, my question is in regards to my earlier member’s statement.
My question is for the Minister Responsible for Elders and Youth.
We must not and can not blame our youth for our social problems and we must get them to be involved in our planning for the future now.
Mr. Speaker, what programs are available to get the young people to have input into the planning processes of our government.
Mr. Speaker, within the Nunavut Government the programs that are available to get the young people involved , there are really no programs right now but there are programs available with Inuit organizations.
Speaker: Just ask for visitors to remove their hats in the chamber please.
Minister. Mr. Alakannuark.
A supplementary to my question.
As a government how could we support our youth.
Through what programs can we assist our youth to get them more involved in the planning process.
As the Minister Responsible for Youth we presently don’t have enough funds to provide programs and as much as we’d like to provide programs for the youth we as Nunavummiut in our communities need to work together for the betterment of our youth for their future.
We need to be involved as parents but there are no programs at the moment.
Mr. Speaker, this is an urgent matter for our future.
Our youth are our future.
So as the minister what can you do to provide programs in Nunavut for our youth.
This coming year we will be visiting communities and we will do a needs assessment to see what each community is looking for to provide programs for the youth in different areas. So during our community consultations we will be able to meet with elders and youth and get some input on what is available and what are the youth are looking for.
You stated that in the coming year you will be visiting communities.
Once you have completed your community visits will we be able to see a plan as to what will be provided within the communities for our youth.
The community visits that we will be doing in the New Year is so that we could get some input from the communities as to what is available.
We don't have that information in our department at the moment.
So once we have all that information we will be able to put a plan together but up to now we don't know when that information might be available.
On behalf of Ms. Thompson welcome delegates from Rankin here on a Bible Study program.
Question 308 - 1(5): Gjoa Haven Fish Plant
As I was mentioning in my Member's Statement I was talking about the fish plant in Gjoa Haven.
This plant has not been in operation for quite some time.
There was equipment in the community to dry fish and this was never utilized in Gjoa Haven.
I would like to find out from Sustainable Development as to what kind of plans they have in utilizing this equipment and the fish plant.
Speaker: Thank you. Minister Responsible for Sustainable Development.
I can not answer your question at this time.
I am not aware that there is a fish plant in your community and I am not aware of the equipment that you say is available in your community of Gjoa Haven.
I will get back to you when I find out more about this.
I thought you knew about the fish plant in Gjoa Haven.
It is my understanding now that you as the Minister of Sustainable Development do not understand that there is a fish plant in Gjoa Haven.
In fact it hasn't been in operation.
In the summer of 2001 the equipment was all put together.
Can the minister find out from the community or the HTO to see what the condition is of that fish plant in Gjoa Haven.
Speaker: Minister Akesuk.  Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will try and find out some more information with respect to your questions.
Question 309 - 1(5): Pond Inlet Arena
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is directed to the Minister of Community Government and Transportation.
I think last year or spring I raised this issue before.
I was talking about the hockey arena, and the minister said that there will be some work done on the hockey arena.
Last summer, the minister's department went to the community and met with the Hamlet Council, and we have not received any letters or responses to this request.
I would like to know if the Minister of Community Government & Transportation has been made aware of my concerns with respect to the arena in this community.
As I stated before we looked into trying to do something about the arena but we have not come up with a plan yet as to how we are going to renovate or modernize the arena.
We are not too sure if we are going to continue to keep it the way it is.
But staff from my department have seen this arena.
At this time I cannot say as to what year we might be able deal with this issue or whether we will deal with it through a replacement program or new program.
We are not sure at this time.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): With respect to the arena.
When I was asking about this arena I thought it was going be built and this past summer it seems something was going to be done with respect to the arena, some work was going to be done.
But I have not seen any plans on the capital estimates that would deal with our arena.
Mr. Speaker, the minister is not sure as to what is going to be done with this, but I want to find this out as to what is going to be done with the plans.
I do not just want to dream about building facilities like the arena, but there is always the lack of funding that we have to live with.
With respect to the member's concern about the arena, I think in the summer we used close to 30 thousand dollars to get them some answers and a response to his concerns.
At the time we thought we may be able to upgrade the facility, but if we do modernize this arena then we are going to have to replace it anyway in the near future.
We would like to work with the member and the Hamlet Council on this when we are making plans to renovate this arena.
When he first gave me an answer he wasn't sure if they would be building a new arena or just upgrading and expanding it.
It seems according to his second answer that we would be dealing with this between the Hamlet Council and ourselves and it would be done on the five year capital plan.
The second question I have is, can the minister tell me if it is better to build a new arena.
When we were first dealing with this arena and the possibility of doing renovations, the member and I were talking about renovations, but we all know that it is a very expensive activity to do this.
At this time it is difficult to give a full new arena to your community, because of the lack of funding for capital items.
Because of this, we thought maybe we could modernize it and then use it for a while, but the funding to do this may be better used in another community where it is more needed and this would be better dealt with under a new capital program.
We do want to renovate that arena.
He told me that there have been numerous considerations to either renovate or replace the arena in Pond Inlet and he wasn’t sure exactly how he was going to get it done.
I wonder how long it’s going to take the department to study whether it’s going to be renovated or replaced, the arena in Pond Inlet.
I’m not saying that it’s going to be complicated but I was saying that we knew already at the beginning that it has to be renovated or replaced.
I’m not sure whether it’s going to be replaced yet or not at this time because there’s no funding for that purpose.
But I know before it is replaced we would want to renovate it.
And we tried to find out how best we could do it at that time.
Now there’s a design and a planning stage for the arena in Pond Inlet and my staff will be going up there to do an assessment on it.
When we work with those people that will be going up there to do the assessment, the hamlet and the member from Pond Inlet would be able to get together with them to find out whether it would be in the ten year planning or the five year planning.
We would like to know that there would be some funding and in which year it would be replaced or renovated.
But at this time, Mr. Speaker, I know that there’s going to be planning or a design that is going to be done pretty soon.
Question 310 – 1(5): Commercial Clam Diving in Qikiqtarjuaq
My question is directed to the Minister of Finance about the clam diggers that dive for clams.
My question is, I just wondered if the minister knows about the new underwater equipment that they’re going to be replacing for clam digging.
Speaker: Minister Ng. Minister for the Worker’s Compensation Board.
Mr. Speaker, no I’m not aware of any equipment that is being planned for the Qikiqtarjuaq clam operation, Mr. Speaker.
My supplementary question to the minister.
The people that went to Qikiqtarjuaq to train the clam diggers I’m not sure exactly what kinds of training they do.
I think they teach safety training to those clam diggers and they teach them commercial clam digging.
I wonder if the minister would tell me if he would be able to look into the project of training that they’re doing in Qikiqtarjuaq.
Mr. Speaker, I am aware, as the member is, that I believe there were concerns about the safety of the operation of the Qikiqtarjuaq clam divers. Through the help of the Department of Sustainable Development they managed to locate and secure some funding to allow for some commercial diving training for those individuals that were involved in that process.
I understand that was quite successful.
Those who received their certification were able to continue on with commercial harvesting activities.
If there are additional requirements in that area and I am not sure if that is the case right now Mr. Speaker, I am sure the Minister Responsible for Sustainable Development would look at what would be required and how to assist anybody else that may want to get into that type of business.
I don't understand the minister's response.
Are you saying that yes you would be able to say yes to the people that would like to take on more training.
Mr. Speaker I can't say yes or no right now.
It would depend on what requirements are in the community and the sustainability and viability of the operation there.
That is more Sustainable Development's responsibility as far as the assessment and trying to support the needs that might be there as a result of those assessments.
Would you be able to find out for me the types of equipment and safety issues that they have to follow.
I'd be willing to work with the member and my colleagues to try and identify what needs are in the community and try to assist them to obtain those needs.
Question 311 - 1(5): Docking Facilities for Baker Lake
Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Minister Responsible for Community Government & Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, over the last several years the people of Baker Lake have been trying to get docking facilities out of the GNWT and Government of Nunavut.
We are probably the last community not to have proper docking facilities in Nunavut.
Has the minister got some kind of plan to provide docking facilities in Baker Lake.
Hon. Jack Anawak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker just before I spoke I wanted to recognize someone in the House.
Paul, Joe Scottie and Rebecca and Albert from the Kivalliq region.
Mr. Speaker, Baker Lake should not feel alone.
There are other communities that badly need a dock facility.
Unfortunately the program I think sort of lapsed in the last number of years when it was with the Government of the NWT.
What we are trying to do as I mentioned some time ago, we have managed to secure some additional money from the Department of Transportation to the tune of 1 million dollars a year.
What we hope to do is to put that money towards either access roads or at least leave it to the community to determine whether they want it to put towards access roads or building of a dock.
At this point in time we have not had any discussions with any community about when we allocate that money to the communities whether they want to put it towards an access road program or a docking facility.
Mr. Speaker, I don't want to go back in history too far, but the community has been requesting a docking facility in the community for many, many years.
So far to date it is not even in the design stage or in the talking stage or something like that.
Can the minister be more direct on if he will direct his department to go in and start the consultation process and maybe looking for a location for it and maybe put it on the plan.
Mr. Speaker, we don't have a problem with starting the planning stages for any facility in any community.
The only problem is whether we are able to secure the funding for that particular capital project.
At this point in time we don't have enough necessary funding for a capital project until we have looked at the other capital needs of communities.
The member has to realize that the capital dollars that we access are the same capital dollars that the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Social Services, and any other departments here have to access from.
So I have no problem in directing the Division of Transportation in Community Government & Transportation, to start the process of looking at where and how we would be building a dock in Baker Lake or any other community. Just that the securement of the dollars needed for that particular project might not necessarily follow, the plan that we would have if in terms of starting the planning process.
Mr. Chair, I more than anybody else, realize the capital dollars are very, very scarce in this government, and I didn't want to give the impression to the minister that I wanted the new dock built in Baker Lake immediately.
Because I realize that there are priorities in this government like schools and health centres and other projects.
I didn't want a commitment out of the minister to build a dock in Baker Lake immediately.
There is a potential mine site in Baker Lake that should be developed over the next five to ten years and I have met with mining company officials and if, indeed, this project goes ahead, there is going to be a need for a dock.
The mining companies have identified an area where they may build it on their own, without government help, and I thought that was very good of the private sector to go in and build infrastructure in communities, but I am getting to the last point of my question.
Would the minister be prepared to direct his officials, and I know they are very busy in their offices, but would he be prepared to direct his officials to go in and work with the community on a future site for a dock in Baker Lake.
If he could do that, then I would contact the mining company officials myself and ask them if they would be interested in doing a joint venture or a co-venture on finding a new site for a dock and getting the planning underway.
Of course we would not want to get in the way of the mining company building a dock facility if they want to move forward and build a dock, all the more power to them.
I should inform the member and I was remiss in not mentioning that we do have a small pot of money every year coming to the tune of 500 thousand dollars for what is called the Coast Guard Small Harbour Craft Program, from which we may be able to put more funding towards building this dock.
I will ensure that the Department of Transportation will start the process of looking at communities where things like docks may be required sooner rather than later.
I know they are all required, but some of them might be more necessary in light of the fact that if the building of a dock is going to economically boost that community, then in terms of getting a mine opened, then we will start the discussions. And I will start the discussions with my colleague, the Minister of Sustainable Development in terms of seeing what more we can do.
To see whether we could secure more funding other than the 500 thousand dollars to do certain things like that.
Question 312 - 1(5): Activities for Restorative Justice Month in Nunavut
As the minister knows, this month is restorative justice month.
I would like to hear if he could tell the House what special things he is doing in Nunavut.
Those plans are in development as we speak, Mr. Speaker.
The minister seems to be a few weeks behind on this.
I would like to ask what they will be doing in Nunavut.
Speaker: Premier Okalik.  Hon. Paul Okalik: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We have been preoccupied trying to get ready for session and other matters that are more important for the members.
We have been trying to catch up with everything.
Thank you for the minister's response.
I know that everybody has been very busy, and these justice issues are very important, so that they can do something in the communities.
Maybe next week, he could let us know what he is doing, what special things he is doing in Nunavut.
Question 313 - 1(5): Group Home for Kugluktuk
I would like to direct this question to the Minister Responsible for Health and Social Services.
Earlier on I made a statement on the much needed group home in my community.
I also raised this question last year and I don't seem to be getting anywhere with it at this point.
So I would like to ask the minister if he is working on this issue, and directing his officials to work on it.
Minister Responsible for Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's statement and the answer to both question are yes and yes.
I would like to ask when do you expect to have some answers and put something together on this much needed group home.
Mr. Best the Deputy Minister for operations is working on this project.
At the break this afternoon after question period I will be meeting with the Deputy Minister of the department to review capital plan and I will get an update at that time for the member.
Question 314 - 1(5): Construction of a New Home for the Disabled in Chesterfield Inlet
I wish to direct this question to the Minister of Health and Social Services.
I was interested in his response.
I was craving a cigarette and I apologize to the Minister of Health. I missed your response.
I did have some further questions that I wanted to pose to the minister.
Since he is very busy perhaps he can respond to me.
As I have stated before, on March 30th, 2002 the term will be over for the Catholic Mission contract for the group home.
Will we be able to get the group home or construction of the group home in Chesterfield Inlet this summer.
Minister for Health and Social Services. Minister Picco.
This past spring we were in Chesterfield along with Public Works and Services and Health.
We did renovations to the Saint Theresa hospital so that we could continue to use it.
Our next step Mr. Speaker was discussions with the Bishop of the Arch Diocese.
We will be able to extend the contract until we get the new facility built.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think he understood me.
Maybe I didn't understand him.
I think we need to have a clear understanding.
My question is, will the material for the construction be brought in to Chesterfield Inlet this coming summer.
That would be it.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I like his response. Sometimes we have a problem which is out of the minister's jurisdiction.
Every summer NTCL when they bring in the barge in the summertime in the Keewatin region, Chesterfield Inlet is usually the last community for the barge to come in.
They arrive in the middle of October and the end of October.
I was wondering if he could work with Chesterfield Inlet because in the beginning of spring, once the barges start arriving, we would like to see it arrive first to Chesterfield so that the construction of that building can start in the beginning of the summer.
I have no control over NTCL's shipping schedule but we will make it a point so that NTCL will know that this is an important project and that we want to expedite it.
Question 315 - 1(5): New Health Boarding Home for Winnipeg
That is good news that the Minister of Health has given to the residents of Nunavut as a whole on that facility.
My question today is to the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding a much anticipated project for the Kivalliq in Winnipeg, the building of a new transient centre.
Can the minister update me on this project.
Mr. Speaker, on the issue of the RFP for the facility in Winnipeg, the RFP is closed and we are reviewing the proposals.
We are hoping to make an announcement in the next two weeks.
The residents of the Kivalliq are very happy to hear that they are going to replace that old aging facility down there.
And a new facility is much needed.
Can the minister let the residents of the Kivalliq know when that new facility will be opening up.
Mr. Speaker, I didn’t say there was a new facility or anything like that.
All I said was that the Request for Proposals has closed.
We’re reviewing the responses to the Request for Proposals.
There was more than one submission.
They want a facility in Winnipeg and that’s being evaluated and I hope to make that announcement in the next two weeks.
Question 316 – 1(5): Unsafe Location of Dump in Taloyoak