EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
(interpretation) We have to make sure that they have the required credits and those have to be reviewed carefully by both the student and their parents in order to choose the post-secondary path for the student.
I’m sure the member will ask supplementary questions, so I’ll leave it at that.
Being expected to raise more questions is extremely gratifying.
I thank the minister for her response. (interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, I would like to make it clear that I do not hold the teachers or the parents or the students responsible for this situation. Teachers and students work with what is provided to them in the form of curriculum, resources, and policies for assessment and passing.
I have felt that it’s with the education system itself which is failing to provide what is necessary to prepare our students for their future careers.
Even though the minister has touched on the topic, I would like to know what steps the Department of Education has taken to review the curriculum, the assessment tools, and the supports provided to ensure that our grade 12 graduates are prepared to enter post-secondary programs.
Hon. Eva Aariak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) We are currently reviewing our graduation requirements and recommendations for changes that will be brought forward to my consideration based on meetings with a variety of partners. (interpretation) It is currently being assessed and they will also have discussions with various educational entities.
That is currently in the works.
Mr. Speaker, can the minister inform this House who is ultimately responsible for delivering an education system that meets the needs of Nunavummiut?
Education in general cannot be under the responsibility of one individual.
The Department of Education, the teachers association, and the schools have to collaborate to make sure that learning needs are being met.
For example, only one department cannot be held responsible.
It is also up to the parents to help the students attend school and help them choose their credit courses.
There are options available within the schools as well.
Should the student need additional support, for example, in math, in reading, or in the sciences, the teachers and the committee are there to give the required support to the student.
Departmental officials interviewed in the media have indicated that there will be an in-service for teachers on the career planning process for students and parents.
Although the minister touched up on this issue, I would like to ask the minister: can the minister describe to this House what kind of career planning support is currently made available to high school students across Nunavut?
In regard to career planning, it’s very important that the students prepare themselves before graduating.
We are trying to make career planning support available for the students. I will find out exactly how many schools have this support in place.
I can’t say at this point how many do have the support system, but I will let you know once I have the information.
In addition, the DEAs have been provided with information on credits that are required in the schools and they can be consulted for that data.
They are also available from my office. If you need further information on the credit requirements, I can provide that information to the parents.
Question 194 – 3(3): Concerns with the Administration of Justice (Enook)
Good afternoon to the residents of Pond Inlet and my fellow Nunavut residents.
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that in circumstances where a resident of Nunavut is formally charged with an offence under the Criminal Code that takes place in a different community than where the accused lives, it is the responsibility of the accused to arrange and pay for the costs associated with travelling to any court proceedings that subsequently occur.
For example, if a resident of Cambridge Bay were to be charged with an offence as a result of an incident occurring in Pond Inlet, he or she would be responsible for paying the costs of travel to attend court proceedings that occur in Pond Inlet.
Can the minister confirm if my understanding is correct?
Minister responsible for Justice, Minister Peterson.
I thank Mr. Enook for the question.
Not being familiar with the particulars of the case he’s referring to, it’s very difficult for me to answer the question.
However, if an individual is charged with a quite serious offence, he or she is entitled to a call through a duty counsel who can assist him and then there’s legal aid in Nunavut.
If the person is remanded to a facility, let’s say in Yellowknife or here in the capital, certainly, wherever the trial occurs, the RCMP and the Department of Justice would cover the costs.
I am aware of situations where residents who have been charged with offences simply do not have the money to travel to court proceedings in other communities.
In these circumstances, what are their options and does Nunavut’s system of legal aid provide any kind of assistance?
We know that it is sometimes impossible to raise revenue to pay for the airfare. The laws and the justice system are very rigid when they make a ruling. Once court orders are made, they have to comply with them.
I thank Mr. Enook for the question again.
With all due respect, again without specific details, every case is different.
I do believe that if you are required to be in court, if there is a reason why you can’t, if you have been released and you have difficulties, I’m sure that you talk to your assigned lawyer, your legal aid lawyer in most cases in Nunavut, and I’m sure they will assist the individual who has to be in court on the day that they’re required to be.
I’m not sure what form of assistance it would be, but they will likely talk to the Crown counsel or other court officers.
As the minister is aware and as I had asked questions, we try to find ways to reduce costs.
Last week, we raised questions with the health minister with respect to the high cost of health care and what they’re doing to lower expenditures, such as through the use of telehealth.
Mr. Speaker, is the Department of Justice reviewing ways of using teleconferencing technology to address the challenges of running our justice system in Nunavut?
I do know that there are a lot of laws and procedures we have to follow.
With Nunavut being so large and communities being so distant, we are one of the biggest jurisdictions in Canada.
Have you reviewed the entire system to see how you could make it work more efficiently?
I just feel that I’ve got to remind all ministers and members that preambles should be short and questions should be brief, as outlined in the Rules, and the same with the responses.
It is very difficult for me to be short, as everyone knows.
I appreciate Mr. Enook’s question.
Yes, I have asked the department to look at ways to find savings.
As an example, last year right here in Iqaluit, we set up a video so that the prisoners at the Baffin Correctional Centre didn’t have to go down to the courthouse. They could appear on video and then have their hearing.
Although it didn’t necessarily save any money, it became more efficient and effective. You didn’t have to transport people back and forth. There’s a security risk and then there’s the associated security searches when you go back and forth to both facilities.
We’re also looking at how we can use the same technology for some of our folks who are in the south.
So we are looking at that.
Technology is something that I personally believe will improve in the future in Nunavut and it will probably have a lot of savings for many departments that we can use to provide better programs and services to Nunavummiut.
I also thank the minister (interpretation ends) for that pointer.
As the minister is aware, a long-standing concern about our justice system is the length of time before matters go to trial and the lack of resources in our legal aid system.
Can the minister indicate what success he has had in obtaining additional resources from the federal government to strengthen our legal aid system?
I thank Mr. Enook for that very good question.
We’ve had very little success in dealing with the federal government in getting assistance for legal aid.
We call it access to justice in Nunavut because, as you said earlier, with two million square kilometres and 25 communities, there’s tremendous amount of travel and distance that have to be covered by all of our judges, our Crown counsel, and our legal aid lawyers and moving individuals around up here in court.
I was successful with the support of the Legislative Assembly last year.
The Government of Nunavut was able to assist the Nunavut Legal Services Board to receive $2.5 million base funding annually to their budget, which is going a long way towards helping them provide more timely service to the people who come to them for help, not just for criminal law legal aid but also for family and civil.
Question 195 – 3(3): Update on School Closure at Pangnirtung (Oshutapik)
I rise today to ask a question to the Minister of Community and Government Services.
Up to today, the other school in our community for our elementary students, I believe, has now been closed for about two weeks.
The work being undertaken to date is something that residents want to find out about. What is his staff trying to fix?
That is my question because parents notice when our students are missing schoolwork, it leads to a delay in school year curriculum completion as this has now gone on for a couple of weeks. Can the minister provide an update on what has transpired to date so that the residents of my home community will know what is going on?
What I can tell you about the closure of the school is that it was due to the decision of the school staff and local health officials, which included my departmental officials who also worked in collaboration with the hamlet.
We are trying to resolve the issue relating to the odour in the building at this time. To date, I cannot exactly tell you what stage it’s at, but I can try to find out as it is being worked on daily and also for the entire day today.
We are concerned about the closure of the school. What I can state is that once the odour dissipates, we would allow the students to come in as we want all Nunavut students to attend school.
However, what I can say now is that this work is still underway and we are working in cooperation with different departments to try to resolve this issue.
It is very difficult to forecast future events, but with respect to the event that occurred or if we experience a similar or even worse case at the school, or even at an office, does the department have contingency plans?
Different communities have different agreements, some directly with the government while others have agreements that are administered by the hamlet or a different body that are tasked through contract. That is how things are done, through different agreements.
When we are undertaking that, we try to ensure we have plans both with CGS and the body responsible for that particular matter, whether it is the school, the hamlet office, or the health centre.
We try to have a common plan that deals with these challenges to ensure that we have the best practice for such things as fuel spills.
We do have contingency plans, but we continue to try to update them because we know something unexpected usually comes up.
This is the current situation we find ourselves in, Mr. Speaker.
Question 196 – 3(3): Hunters’ Inability to Sell Narwhal Tusks (Elliott)
My questions are for the Minister of Environment and are based around narwhals and narwhal populations.
A number of our hunters were hit hard this summer with the inability to sell their narwhal tusks. Mr. Speaker, I’m sure some people in the south see the sale of the narwhal tusk as a luxury. For the individual purchasing the tusk, yes, it is a luxury, but for our hunters in the communities, it is a part of their livelihood.
It is also a part of food security.
With the federal government’s ban on the sale of narwhal tusk outside of Canada, a number of our hunters have lost part of their annual income.
I’m sure the minister is as frustrated as I when it comes to the fact that we are not able to change federal policies. Could the minister give the House and the listening public an update as to what his department is doing to influence the federal government to lift this ban?
Of course, we all know about the issues with narwhal in Nunavut and the proposed ban that DFO had put on the narwhal stocks.
I would like to clarify, though, to the member first of all that jurisdiction of narwhals is totally that of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. However, as the Department of Environment, we do support very much the communities in this case and we support NTI’s and NWMB’s concerns that were voiced to DFO in regard to assessing these stocks without proper consultation taking place.
It is very important to us.
I have written to the Minister of DFO as the Government of Nunavut supporting these organizations and voicing our concerns to that regard.
So it’s very important to us.
However, the status of this, I do know a little bit, as I met with NTI recently. There is ongoing consultation with all communities involved.
There has been no suspension or reduction of allowable harvest levels and there is ongoing communication and consultation.
Over the summer, I had heard that there were meetings with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and other organizations regarding the development of a management plan.
You had talked about different partners and organizations involved. I was wondering if you could explain which departments or agencies are involved and whether the Government of Nunavut is involved in the development of this plan.
Yes, there is ongoing consultation and communication mostly through affected communities, HTOs, NTI, and NWMB. We, as the Government of Nunavut, are not participating fully, but we are there as support and as observers to the process.
Again, as the minister explained, the GN does not actually play a role in terms of the development of the plan.
I’m wondering: has the GN made its views clear on this matter?
I believe the GN has made their view very clear on this matter and that is that we respect and need to ensure that the Nunavut land claims process is followed in wildlife management, including narwhal.
I didn’t have another question for that in terms of my question was going to be if he could make GN’s views known and he has answered that.
Question 197 – 3(3): Casual Employment in the Government of Nunavut (Ell)
I would like to direct my question to the minister who seems to not be asked very many questions and that is the Minister of Human Resources.
The amount of material I have to read has been quite thick from the time I was elected to this House and being new on many issues.
(interpretation ends) According to the public service annual reports and Inuit employment statistics produced by the minister’s department, there were a total of 512 casual employees in the GN as of March 31, 2009.
As of March 31, 2011, that number had increased to 757 employees.
Most of this increase is due to the Department of Health and Social Services, where the number of casual employees has gone up from 144 to 355.
Can the minister indicate if his department is concerned about the increase in the number of casual employees in the government?
Thanks for the question there.
Yes, there has been a great increase in the casual positions in GN and the majority of them have been in social services.
The reason for that is it’s hard to get qualified employees screened into those positions and that’s why casuals have been put in that position.
The government’s collective agreement with the Nunavut Employees Union provides that “The employer may hire casual employees for a period not to exceed 4 months of continuous employment in any particular division or department. Where the employer anticipates the period of temporary employment to be in excess of 4 months, the employee shall be appointed on a term basis and shall be entitled to all provisions of the collective agreement from the first day of his or her employment.”
I have heard concerns from constituents that there are casual employees who have been working for much longer periods of time and who have not been receiving the benefits to which they are entitled.
Can the minister indicate how his department ensures that the provisions of the collective agreement are respected across the government?
We try to get people into permanent positions and usually we try to keep it under the year, but there are exceptions to it.
Like I say, if it’s over a year, the DM for the department makes that decision. If the extensions are for more than a year, then it has to be negotiated with the DM for the HR with written endorsements from the union.
Ms. Ell (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I have also heard concerns that when some departments hire casual employees, they keep them on for just under four months, at which point they make changes to the job descriptions of the employees while keeping the same people doing essentially the same work.
To me, it sounds like the departments are trying to avoid the costs associated with converting their employment status.
Can the minister indicate if his department has received concerns from the union about this issue and, if it has, can he indicate what his department is doing to address the concerns?
Not that I’m aware of, but if there has been any complaints, I’ll make sure I forward it to the member.
Members will note that the time allotted for question period has expired.
Tabled Document 106 – 3(3): 2010-2011 Culture, Language, Elders and Youth Grants and Contributions Annual Report (Arreak)
I am very pleased to table the 2010-2011 Culture, Language, Elders and Youth Grants and Contributions Annual Report.
Tabled Document 107 – 3(3): Report on Current State of Solid Waste Management and Facilities in Nunavut and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Selected Solid Waste Management Approaches (Kusugak)
I am pleased to table the Report on the Current State of Solid Waste Management and Facilities in Nunavut and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Selected Solid Waste Management Approaches.
Tabled Document 108 – 3(3): 2009-2010 Annual Report on the Operation of the Medical Care Plan (Curley)
Tabled Document 109 – 3(3): Nunavut Report on Comparable Health Indicators 2011 (Curley)
Hon. Tagak Curley: Thank you. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I have two documents to table.
The first is, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table the 2009-2010 Annual Report on the Operation of the Medical Care Plan.
The second document, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table the Nunavut Report on Comparable Health Indicators 2011. (interpretation) Thank you.
Tabled Document 110 – 3(3): Report Respecting Benefits Paid to Ministers under the Ministerial Benefits Policies for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2011 (Aariak)
I am very pleased to table the Report Respecting Benefits Paid to Ministers under the Ministerial Benefits Policies for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2011.
Tabled Document 111 – 3(3): Article: Impact of the International Arctic SAR Agreement (Elliott)
I would like to table an article from the FrontLine Defence magazine. The article is titled “Adding an ‘I’ to Arctic SAR.”
The article is quite interesting and I just wanted to quote. It says, “If Canada is to become an Arctic superpower, as former Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon suggested on 1 July 2009, we need to bring all the parties together including the First Canadians – the Inuit.”
Tabled Document 112 – 3(3): Report on the Indemnities, Allowances, Expenses and Absences to the Members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2011 (Speaker)
Tabled Document 113 – 3(3): Report of Members’ Absences from Sittings of the House and from Meetings of Committees and Caucuses to the Members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut for the Period Ended June 30, 2011 (Speaker)
Tabled Document 114 – 3(3): Report of Members’ Absences from Sittings of the House and from Meetings of Committees and Caucuses to the Members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2011 (Speaker)
Tabled Document 115 – 3(3): Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act (Speaker)
Members, I have a number of items to table today.
The first item is the 2010-11 annual report of members’ indemnities, allowances, expenses and absences to March 31, 2011.
The second item is the interim report of members’ absences from sittings of the House and meetings of committees and caucuses for the period April to June 2011.
The third item that I would like to table is the interim report of members’ absences from sittings of the House and meetings of committees and caucuses for the period July to September 2011.
And the fourth item is the report of members who have made an election pursuant to section 7(a) of the Supplementary Retirement Allowances Act to participate in the supplementary plan.
Bill 22 – An Act Respecting the Constituencies of Nunavut – First Reading
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member of Rankin Inlet South and Whale Cove, that Bill 22, An Act Respecting the Constituencies of Nunavut, be read for the first time.
Bills 13, 14 and 15.
In accordance with the authority provided to me by Motion 15 – 3(3), the Committee of the Whole will stay in session until it reports itself out with Mr. Enook in the Chair.
>>House recessed at 15:18 and Committee resumed at 15:44
Chairman (Mr. Enook)(interpretation): I would like to call the committee meeting to order.
In Committee of the Whole, we have the following items to deal with: Bills 13, 14, and 15. What is the wish of the committee?
Mr. Aupaluktuq: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would like to complete the review of the capital estimates for the Department of Economic Development and Transportation, the Department of Health and Social Services, Environment, Justice, and Nunavut Arctic College.
Mr. Chairman, if time permits, we will proceed with CLEY and the Legislative Assembly.
Are we in agreement that we first deal with the capital estimates for ED&T?
On Monday, we were reviewing the Department of Economic Development and Transportation’s capital estimates.
We were almost complete with the review and there were no more names on my list for questions or general comments. For that reason, if we can go to the capital estimates on page I-2.
Department Summary. Detail of Expenditures. Economic Development and Transportation.
Total Capital Expenditures. $14,400,000.
Chairman (interpretation): Are we in agreement that we have concluded the review of the Department of Economic Development and Transportation?
Chairman (interpretation): We will move on to the review of the Department of Health and Social Services. (interpretation ends) Mr. Curley, your opening remarks.
Hon. Tagak Curley: Thank you. (interpretation) Mr. Chairman, before I start my opening comments, I just want to ask you, since ministers usually give closing remarks, if that will continue because the minister’s work is very important to Nunavutmiut. Perhaps you would like to ask the minister if he has closing remarks before I start.
I apologize and please forgive me because I overlooked that.
I’m the Chairman for the first time in Committee of the Whole. Thank you for reminding me. Mr. Taptuna, if you have any closing remarks.
I’ll keep my remarks very short.
I want to thank the committee for their scrutiny and patience in looking at the capital budget for Economic Development and Transportation. I also want to thank my staff and my officials for preparing all the material and assisting us with that.
Mr. Chairman, with that, I want to again thank the committee members for their assistance. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Taptuna. We will move on with the review of the Department of Health and Social Services.
Bill 15 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2012-2013 – Health and Social Services – Consideration in Committee
Hon. Tagak Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members.