EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I know that things are developed with the best intentions at the time, but as you move on, things don’t always happen as they are planned, and through this process hopefully we will be able to identify things that can change in that to be able to help us out in what we need to do to do our jobs here in Nunavut.
My final question, the minister had indicated that they are waiting until the final report until the end of the month from Minister Prentice on devolution talks.
Is the Premier stating then that once that is done, that the formal talks on devolution will start after that report is received by Minister Prentice?
From what I understand, the representative has to report to the Minister of Indian Affairs, and once that is done, then the Federal Minister Prentice has to present options for a mandate to negotiate with Nunavut.
So once that is concluded then I believe there are discussions and negotiations can commence.
Question 088 – 2(4): Akitsiraq-Type Programs for Nunavut Professionals (Arvaluk)
I was very, very pleased to hear the Finance Minister say yesterday that he and his cabinet colleagues are examining, and I am quoting from page 12 of the unedited Hansard here, an “Akitsiraq-type program for accountants”.
I am aware that my colleagues in the Standing Committee on Government Operations suggested this approach in their report of last year.
Given that the Minister of Finance agrees in principle to the concept of an Akitsiraq-type program to produce professionals in Nunavut, for Nunavut, can the Minister clarify for this House how he envisions implementing this program?
I take it that question is directed to the Minister responsible for Finance.
Please state the minister you are asking at the appropriate time.
After $23 million is identified, we will look into this.
It may be a similar program, but we will definitely have to do more work on this to see if it would be feasible.
I would like to direct my question to the same minister.
As you know, I recently posed a written question to get some specific details of the overall costs of the Akitsiraq Law School Program.
Can the minister provide some clarification on the anticipated costs of his proposed Akitsiraq-for-accountants program?
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Arvaluk. Again, I take it that is for the Minister of Finance again, Minister Simailak.
As I mentioned earlier, we are just starting to look at that idea. We haven’t even started to look at numbers yet.
We are just now starting to look at the possibility of an Akitsiraq Law School type of program for accountants.
So as I stated earlier, we are just now starting to look at it and we haven’t looked at numbers yet.
Two weeks ago, the Premier indicated that the Akitsiraq program was a one-time program. I am very glad that in the short time between then and now, the Government has reconsidered its position.
Would the Minister of Finance agree that the significant investment in the program to produce Nunavut professionals, such as accountants, is a worthwhile investment?
We would not be looking into such programs if it was not worthwhile for Nunavut.
Can I count on the minister for support for Akitsiraq type programs for Nunavut’s nurses or teachers?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Arvaluk. (interpretation ends) I believe that the Premier will take that question. Mr. Premier.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) As I said, in my previous answers to the member, when we can find partners for such programs it would be just wonderful like we did with the Akitsiraq Program.
And, with my Minister of Finance’s response, I believe that the federal government is coming forward with a partnership arrangement for financial managers.
So that is something we were looking at and that is great.
So, we will get our Finance people to work on looking at a partnership for accountants and if we can find partners for the other programs, that would be just ideal. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 089 – 2(4): Plans for Cambridge Bay Ambulance Services (Peterson)
Mr. Speaker, in Cambridge Bay, the Cambridge Bay Fire Department is terminating their ambulance contract with the department of Health and Social Services at the end of October 31 of this year.
That service has provided vital assistance to Cambridge Bay for the past six years. In an emergency, they transport patients to the Health Centre and to the airport for medevac flights.
The question for the minister: what contingency plans will the department of Health and Social Services have in place to provide the same level of ambulance services as of October 31, 2007.
The staff are looking at what contingency plans we can develop.
Currently, the ambulance services in Nunavut are provided by the fire departments. The Department of Health does not directly provide ambulance services in every community.
So with that change in Cambridge Bay, the department in that community is meeting with the hamlet to see what we can do to try and address the gap.
I would like to thank the minister for the answer.
The fire chief in Cambridge Bay has stated in the media that there are liability issues associated with providing an ambulance service in any community.
In southern settings, most ambulances are fully equipped and they have emergency medical technicians who can treat or save the life of patients at their homes or at the accident site before transport to the hospital or health centre.
A question for the minister: in Nunavut, what are the liabilities associated with providing an ambulance service where emergency medical technicians are not part of the operation and they do not have fully-equipped ambulances?
I had mentioned earlier that we don’t provide ambulance services right now. We partner with the fire department in every community and those fire departments are under the hamlets and not under the Department of Health.
We are trying to address the situation in Cambridge Bay and ways we can try and address the burden on the community to provide that service. As it is right now, in our communities, we do not have ambulance services.
Of course, that puts Cambridge Bay in a bit of a bind if the Department of Health typically uses the fire departments and our Fire Department is saying they are not going to provide the service.
My question for the minister is: if in a typical Nunavut community setting where a patient is too sick or injured to walk to the health centre or requires urgent medical attention, how does or how will the Department of Health and Social Services respond to them if an ambulance service does not exist?
In most communities, if there is a need for a patient to be picked up at the community, the Department of Health has the transportation in the health centres to pick up sick patients to be transported to the communities.
We don’t have ambulance services in every community and presently, the service is provided on a case-by-case basis.
In many southern settings where there is an ambulance service, if somebody calls 911, an ambulance will be at your house in three to five minutes and in most cases, less than 10 minutes. I don’t think that is the case in Nunavut.
My question, Mr. Speaker: if a sick or injured person died because they couldn’t be transferred to the health centre in an ambulance or other vehicle in a timely manner, in most cases life threatening, what liability is there for the Department of Health and Social Services in these situations?
The Department of Health provides ambulance services in the case of air ambulance services.
We spend a lot of money on transporting our patients. In the north, the ambulance service is really our air ambulance service, from our communities to the nearest hospital.
In a case of a community where a person requires assistance to the health centre, we can provide that assistance to the health centre.
In most cases where the individuals require hospital care, they need to be medivaced. That is our means of transporting and providing ambulance services to get the person to the nearest hospital to get the treatment necessary for emergency.
In those cases it is more than 10 minutes. It is sometimes one hour, two hours, three hours before they are at the hospital but that is the system we work under in our communities in Nunavut. Our communities are spread out throughout the territory.
We have one hospital. To transport our patients, we use air ambulance to get them to the hospital.
In the community, again, if a person requires assistance in getting to the health centre, where there are no ambulance services through the hamlet, that assistance is available.
Question 090 – 2(4): Status of Health Centre Funding (Barnabas)
During my visits to my High Arctic constituencies, I met with the Municipality of Arctic Bay. The health centre that was planned in the five-year capital plan no longer exists.
I would like to ask the minister what the status is of the health centre planned for Arctic Bay. It has now disappeared.
I would like to remind the members to please indicate which member you are directing questions to.
The funding to do the project brief was approved a year ago. The project brief development is still in the works. We hope to have that completed in the 2006-07 year.
In terms of the design and so on, that is still in the works.
We have fallen a bit behind in trying to get that done to put our limited resources to the other projects that are in the works.
The funding has been approved before in the prior years.
I believe $15,000 was approved to start the whole project for the Arctic Bay Health Centre.
Perhaps you can inform the Hamlet of Arctic Bay on the completion of the plan.
I know that the funding is available there but, could you inform them as to how much money will be spent because the existing health centre we have in Arctic Bay is running out of space.
The nurses live upstairs; they live there 24 hours a day.
We don’t know where the lot is going to be. We don’t know where the site is going to be.
Perhaps you can consult with and inform the Hamlet of Arctic Bay in this regard.
As part of the process of developing and designing a new health centre I will have the staff meet with the Hamlet Council of Arctic Bay to discuss where the project is and to consult with the community as well as the staff in Arctic Bay on the whole design of that health centre.
Although I know that the government is no longer responsible for staff housing, but in the smaller communities we have no choice but to have staff housing.
What is the minister going to do about this?
A similar issue related to this as well at the Repulse Bay Health Centre was raised around designing a health centre that can include apartments.
During Committee of the Whole, I had committed to also reviewing that situation in those two communities where we have no staff housing.
So, as part of the design, I committed to the member, as well as to this House, to look at that option in the design of this new health centre.
So that will continue to be part of the Arctic Bay as well as Repulse Bay review and project plan.
Question 091 – 2(4): Construction of Public Housing (Arreak)
My question today is for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
Now, according to the season, the weather is starting to get nicer. As the weather warms up, the foundation of the land is starting to shift again.
The Housing Corporation is responsible for public housing.
Can the minister look into the matter of the shifting of the foundations?
Yes, we will continue to look at all the public housing to make sure they can be used as long as possible.
Question 092 – 2(4): Status of a New Community Hall in Arctic Bay (Barnabas)
I am going to direct a question to the Minister of Community and Government Services.
In regard to the community hall in Arctic Bay, the municipal council is confused about that community hall, likewise about the health centre.
The municipal council is confused about the plans of the community hall and how it will be set up.
I would like to ask the minister responsible so that my constituency will understand what is happening.
Hon. Levinia Brown (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I recognize the member’s question about the community halls, how important they are in the communities.
It makes the community strong.
To consider that question, in 1999 the hamlet submitted a written request to build a new community hall. The NCIAC and Community and Government Services have proposed a new community hall in Arctic Bay. That is a project to be funded under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Funding from Infrastructure Canada.
Mr. Barnabas (interpretation): Also, my question, will there be planning in place or if the community of Arctic Bay can raise so much funding and if the young people can be involved, would the government be able to match the funding for the community hall?
Minister for the Department of Community and Government Services, Minister Brown.
We already have the money available in the capital funding and it has already been agreed to build the community hall in Arctic Bay.
I feel that it would be cheaper if we as the hamlet can provide some funding during the construction and design part.
Can the minister let the hamlet know how much that project would cost, and how much of the funding that we can raise ourselves so we will know how much money we need to raise?
The construction of the community hall is going to be $3.6 million.
Question 093 – 2(4): Implementation Strategy for Suicide Prevention (Tootoo)
The Pinasuaqtavut document on page six says that an objective of the Second Legislative Assembly of Nunavut will be to, and I will quote it, “…implement the Suicide Prevention Strategy with the focus on wellness.”
And I know that a recent press release from the Premier’s office indicated that they set up a position within the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs to work on that.
So I guess my question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is, does your department have an implementation strategy for that commitment?
The Department of Health participates in the interagency group that deals with the issue around suicide prevention in Nunavut.
The department, through its current services, provides some services related to that around mental health, as well as counselling services through social workers in the communities.
But overall, we also work with the Embrace Life Council that was established through the department to address the issue around implementing the Suicide Prevention Strategy.
So the Department of Health is a member to that interagency and I believe that it’s the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs that coordinates the development of that implementation strategy for the Government of Nunavut.
I guess when you look at the Suicide Prevention Strategy and it’s all dealing with mental health, maybe if I could just get a confirmation.
I’ve heard that the Department of Health and Social Services is involved, the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs is involved and the Embrace Life Council is involved, mentioned in there. So I guess my question is: who is the lead department and who is looking after...is it the Department of Health, where mental health is under, that is leading the charge in that direction?
I’m sorry. Mr. Premier.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) We have been organizing interagency meetings.
Suicide is an issue that goes beyond health, unfortunately. We have to coordinate other departments like Justice and Education, and working with young people, and Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
So we have other agencies that are involved because we wanted to make sure that we have a real impact by working together.
So Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs has been very active in making sure that all of the departments are working together.
So we will continue to do that. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
They can decide who wants to answer this question, as I thought it would fall under Health and mental health.
What I’m hearing then is the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs is leading the charge on that to develop a strategy as part of an interdepartmental group on that.
What kind of timeframes are they looking at of having a strategy set up in place? I know it was part of the mandate of this Second Assembly as an objective to achieve and we have a year-and-a-half or so to go in it.
So is this a comprehensive strategy that’s something we’re going to have prior to the finish of the Second Assembly?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Yes, the group has had meetings and they’re working on a strategy, and we plan to table that in the spring session of this current Assembly. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Another line of questioning here, following the same lines, I guess. Again, I am not sure who wants to answer it.
I am just wondering if any assessment has been made on the adequacy of mental health care services in the communities when looking at this overall problem that we are trying to tackle.
There have been a number of attempts through various good projects. There was a pilot project done as well, a while back through McGill University, and so we are continuing to do work, and we have to have an impact. We will try any means to try and reduce the number of suicides in our territory.
As I said, we plan to have a strategy in place by the spring session.
So we will continue to work on this as something has to be done and will be done.
Question 094 – 2(4): Update on the Ed Horne Case (Kattuk)
In November of last year, I wrote a letter to the minister in regard to the Ed Horne case.
A number of new victims have come forward.
Can the minister tell me today when he will respond to my letter?
As this matter is before the courts, it is quite difficult to deal with this matter by way of correspondence, but I will continue to keep the member updated on where we are on the situation.
It would be nice to bring closure to all victims in this case. And if we can conclude it, it would be great, but when we find additional victims five years later, it makes it very difficult to deal with it. So if there are more victims on the situation, please come forward before this matter is closed so that we do not have to reopen it all over again.
If the member can assist us in that way, I would appreciate it very much.
Mr. Kattuk; Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I know that the Premier cannot talk about any matter before the court but there are victims in the community who are very much concerned and are not really appreciating what the government has done.
The government decided to go to court.
Can the Minister explain clearly why the government decided to go to court?
Minister Premier.
What we are going through right now is called the discovery process, where the victims are examined under oath, by way of discovery and to see how their case is.
And from there, the parties, the Government of Nunavut is not the only party; the Government of the Northwest Territories is the lead on this matter. We’ll then decide what the next steps are to proceed with.
So it is something that is ongoing and I know that it is very difficult for the victims and hope that the discoveries will be concluded soon so that we can reassess where we are with this case.
I thank the Premier but can he tell me what the timeline will be when the case will be done by the courts?
Hon. Paul Okalik: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot provide a definitive answer to my colleague, unfortunately, at this stage.
Once the discoveries are concluded and the parties will then, hopefully, look at ways of … if we can find a way to resolve this quickly, then we will.
Like I said we are not the only party so it is not our decision to make, but hopefully, the matter will be resolved.
As to when it will be finalized I cannot answer at this time but I’ll endeavour to look into this matter further and hopefully, we can come up with a resolution for all parties.
Maybe I should ask a question on the cooperation that the territories that are arguing, or taking off this case. Are they working on it cooperatively?
Are they cooperating? Are they talking today?
Hon. Paul Okalik: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As it was set out in the division of assets and liabilities before Nunavut was created, the Northwest Territories is primarily responsible for all liabilities that were created before Nunavut was created. So they are the lead in any defence that is submitted.
But we will continue to work with the Government of the Northwest Territories and see what we can do.
As I said the Northwest Territories is the lead counsel on this case as per the division of assets and liabilities but we will be there to cooperate and do what we can for this case in particular.
Just a minute. Thank you.
Question 095 – 2(4): Funding for an Air Terminal Building in Qikiqtarjuaq (Arreak)
The air terminal building in Qikiqtarjuaq was mentioned on the radio just recently.
Is the building of the air terminal set to be built this year?
We have been asking for money from the federal government to upgrade the air terminal buildings in Nunavut.
I can’t tell you at this time when we’re going to be able to build a new air terminal building in Qikiqtarjuaq.
I would also like to thank the minister for his response.
At this time when they were talking about the air terminal building on the radio they stated that the terminal building could be built for $100,000 but I don’t believe that it’s going to be approved by that community; if they’re just going to upgrade the building.
Is it possible to include this as a line item in this year’s budget so we can build a new one?
Hon. David Simailak (interpretation): Our staff is currently working on this issue, and I could look into the information and update the member.
Mr. Arreak (interpretation): Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There was $25 million made available by the federal government for infrastructure projects, and at that time the minister stated that some of this money would be used for the building of this airport terminal building.
Is it possible to commit some money so that Qikiqtarjuaq can get a new building?
As I’ve stated yesterday, this $25 million has been earmarked by the federal government.
At this time I cannot commit to anything as we haven’t seen this money yet. We have not seen the technical information, and with that information we will make a decision as to what projects will get underway with this money.
In the ... (interpretation ends) ... this funding will help territories build and upgrade their infrastructure, including that required to facilitate economic and resource development. (interpretation) So with that, I think it’s possible to use some of this money to build that building.
Would we be using part of this $25 million, or would we use another pot of money?
Well, we have to make a decision as to how this money is going to be used, and once we have the technical information we will then decide where it’s going to go.
Question 096 – 2(4): Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project (Peterson)
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, last week the minister tabled the Mineral Exploration and Mining Strategy. On page 35, Policy Statement 3-2, it refers to sustainable development. It states, “…will leverage the investment of private infrastructure required to support … assist in building infrastructure that will have permanent benefits for Nunavut.”
My question for the minister: how will the policy statement be used to lever infrastructure funds from the various levels of government to support the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project?
There are a lot of projects that we have to do in Nunavut and they’re going to be economically beneficial to our territory.
We will have to do a lot of projects. For example, Meadowbank outside of Baker Lake, they were building a road at that time and Baker Lake is going to benefit and so is the rest of Nunavut.
We will have to boost our economy and build projects in regard to the development of the mines and so on.