EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Once it’s completed, we will know exactly how much it cost.
The member also asked me when the power plant in Cape Dorset would become operational. We’re expecting it to be completed by 2020.
Your new power plant should be operational at that time.
That’s the estimated completion date.
Question 759 – 4(3): Senior Care Services (Sammurtok, A)
Mr. Alexander Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, fellow residents of Rankin Inlet, and Nunavummiut. (interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Premier.
Mr. Speaker, on March 9, 2017 the Premier made a statement about streamlining senior care services in Nunavut.
As well as announcing the transfer of three elder homes from Family Services to Health, the Premier also indicated that the Department of Health is doing an assessment of current and future needs for long-term beds for elders.
Can the Premier confirm whether that assessment will use the information about how many elders are being sent away from their home community in order to determine whether or not an elders facility should be established in that community?
Hon. Peter Taptuna: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again I’ve got to thank the member for being persistent on that. Absolutely it’s something that, as a government, we want to ensure that there are avenues where seniors/elders can be taken care of at home.
The strategy is still out there. I have been working with my colleague, but there are no numbers and at this point they’re still trying to come up with how it’s going to be dealt with.
Although there’s a strategy, it’s just a matter of actioning some items and that hasn’t been dealt with yet at this time.
In October of 2016 I tabled an appraisal report of Nanuq Lodge in Rankin Inlet, a building in Rankin Inlet that could easily be converted into an elders facility.
Can the Premier indicate whether he has directed the government to consider the potential of converting Rankin Inlet’s Nanuq Lodge into an elders facility?
Again I thank the member for that.
Mr. Speaker, I’ll rephrase my first response here on having it being dealt with yet.
It’s still being looked at. There haven’t been any concrete action items that have come out of this. Certainly there are multiple departments that are looking at this, led by the health department.
Surely we will be looking at this very closely to ensure that we find ways to deal with this situation.
We’ve got to find ways to get some budgeting, come up with a plan and action items to ensure that our elders are looked at.
Mr. Speaker, we know for a fact that there have been a couple of proposals already at the table here within the government and we want to make sure that these are looked at very carefully.
Again, on how to increase the number of beds and increase the level of care, as you know, there are five different levels. We want to find ways to make sure that we come up with third party parameters and finding ways that we can involve other people, other organizations, and find the best possible avenue to move forward on this file.
Your final supplementary, Mr. Tom Sammurtok. I’m sorry. Alexander Sammurtok.
Mr. Sammurtok: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, at the end.
The Premier indicated that the Government of Nunavut is working to make it easier for seniors to access government and community services.
Can the Premier describe what initiatives, other than the transfer of the elders facilities between departments, have been undertaken by the government since March to improve senior care services?
We funded the Nunavut elders society to ensure that there is collaboration and needs are being met by the government. We need information to press and lobby the federal government and ensure that we get funding for these types of initiatives.
Mr. Speaker, again, at times we do need help within our departments. From what I understand, there’s a third party organization that’s helping the health department in looking at the Nanuq Lodge that you brought up previously in ensuring that it’s something we can use eventually somewhere down the line.
At the end of the day it’s always a challenge to find budgeting. Again, we put in budgeting to the Nunavut elders society, ongoing funding going into the future to help us along with these initiatives that are identified in the strategy.
Question 760 – 4(3): Contracting and Procurement (Sammurtok, T)
Mr. Tom Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I was kind of hopeful that I had one extra question there.
My question is for the Minister of Community and Government Services, whose department is responsible for the government’s contracting and procurement functions.
Concerns have been raised with me by businesses in the Kivalliq regarding the awarding of certain as-and-when service contracts issued by the minister’s department.
The specific concern raised with me is that companies located outside of Nunavut have been able to take advantage of their lower cost environment in order to submit very low bids on certain government contracts. As a result local firms in the Kivalliq do not get the work.
However, once a southern firm gets a contract, significant costs are incurred by the government to cover travel to and from Nunavut by their employees.
There are also concerns that work can be delayed because of the need to fly employees in and out of Nunavut.
Can the minister indicate if these types of concerns have been raised with him directly?
I can inform the member that yes, these concerns he is talking about have been raised to me. We are looking at them and we will be dealing with it.
On top of that, any local Inuit Nunavut firms with the old NNI standards would still have a 21 percent advantage, if they are an Inuit-owned, Nunavut business on an as-and-when, as with all other government contracts.
Yes, that issue has been raised to me.
When the Department of Community and Government Services evaluates tender and proposal submissions from companies, it calculates bid adjustments based on such factors as Inuit ownership and local ownership.
Section 17 of the new NNI Policy now provides for additional bid adjustments for Inuit firms with higher ownership levels.
To illustrate, the new NNI Policy provides that a firm with 100 percent Inuit ownership level will receive an additional 5 percent bid adjustment above what firms with lower Inuit ownership levels are entitled to receive.
Can the minister confirm if NTI has provided the Department of Community and Government Services with an updated listing of firms, including their new Inuit ownership ratings?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) The Hon. Minister of Community and Government Services, Hon. Joe Savikataaq.
The NNI Secretariat takes care of that and I believe it is under ED&T.
The new NNI Policy was effective April 1 of this year. Any new procurement process as of April 1 would fall under the new NNI.
As we do procurement, we apply the NNI, but CGS is not in charge of NNI. We do procurement on that.
The NNI Secretariat would be better to answer that question.
It sounds kind of unfortunate that there are no communications between the department responsible for NNI and the department that awards the contracts.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that the government needs to get value for money and that it needs to stretch its limited resources.
However, I also believe that we need to always be looking at ways of growing our local economy and workforce capacity.
Can the minister describe what new incentives his department is looking at to support the ability of local businesses to successfully compete for government business?
The new NNI Policy is to do just that.
The new NNI Policy is there to give local and Inuit and Nunavut businesses an advantage and a foot in the door to do business with the government, whether it be procurement or contracts with the government.
That is the goal of the new NNI Policy.
It took a few years to come up with a new NNI Policy. The government worked on it with NTI.
I’m sure there were many long nights debating what should or should not be in there. They have come up to an agreement and that’s with the new NNI Policy.
I’ll state to the member that the new NNI Policy is there to try to nurture Nunavut-owned, Inuit-owned and locally-owned businesses.
Question 761 – 4(3): Baffin Island Caribou Management (Keyootak)
Mr. Speaker, I have been asking questions about caribou hunting in the Baffin and the fact that we have a limit of 250 caribou per year.
Mr. Speaker, who handles the allocation of caribou quotas to the communities?
Is it handled by the local hunters and trappers organizations or the renewable resource officers?
Who manages the allocation of quotas to the communities?
I thank the member for his question about caribou.
The quota of 250 caribou is given by the government to the Qikiqtani Wildlife Management Board and they decide on how many tags each community will get.
Everyone is aware in the Baffin that the 250 tags are male-only tags and cows are off limits. The hunters can only harvest male caribou and this number is high for the number of males.
Some hunters express concerns about the one-sided harvests without consideration of cow harvesting in our future.
I wonder if this concern has even been considered.
Can the minister elaborate further?
I am asking on behalf of our elders, who grew up with seasonally selected animals and not just male caribou, as we all know bulls tend to have tougher meat.
We are also aware of Inuit who grew up traditionally, subsisting only on their harvested meat, chose their prey based on their knowledge and the season. They made their choices freely.
To analogize, polar bears are also harvested selectively. We can only harvest a set percentage of female sow bears. I ask if this type of ratio harvesting has been discussed at all.
I want to know if a ratio will be adopted in the future where Inuit prefer to harvest bull caribou in the summer and fall, when they become ready for the rut. Inuit want male caribou at that time and season as hunters.
It is in the winter season when Inuit don’t want to harvest male caribou due to their seasonally-based ancient knowledge of tender meats.
I would like to know if caribou cows can also be harvested, with a set ratio or if this is coming from left field. This ratio would only apply during the winter season, as per my scenario. Has a winter non-quota limitation ever been considered?
I have heard requests to hunt non-male caribou, but I don’t think it has been considered.
If we look at caribou the way we look at polar bear management, if there are two tags, either two males or two females can be harvested.
It’s the same case with caribou.
If we allowed them to hunt female caribou, then we would have to decrease the 250 limit that we have right now for male-only caribou. However, the local hunters and trappers organizations can write a letter to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board to consider this.
Does anybody know how long this 250 limit per year will continue? Have you set a date as to when this moratorium will end for the residents of Baffin Island?
The limit of 250 caribou for the Baffin region will stay until another population survey is done. Right now there has been no decision as to when the next survey will be done.
The limit of 250 caribou will remain until another survey is done.
Question 762 – 4(3): Mould Infestation, Assessment and Remediation in Public Housing Units (Akoak)
Good afternoon, colleagues, Nunavummiut, and community of Gjoa Haven, Kitikmeot, Nunavut.
As the minister is aware, mould infestation in public housing units is a serious problem.
In July of 2016 the Nunavut Housing Corporation issued a request for proposals for mould assessment and remediation in public housing units across the territory.
The RFP indicated that ten units in Gjoa Haven would be inspected.
Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks the Nunavut Housing Corporation has issued a number of tenders for the mould remediation and restoration work to begin in different communities.
Can the minister update me today on the status of the tender for Gjoa Haven?
Mr. Speaker, with respect to his question about mould infestation in housing units, the housing corporation has included Gjoa Haven as one of six communities identified in the tenders.
The work will proceed and I can tell him that the contractors are starting to work on the mouldy units in Gjoa Haven.
The Nunavut Housing Corporation’s 2016 request for proposals indicated that inspections of approximately 241 public housing units across Nunavut would take place.
For the record, can the minister confirm the final number of units that will require professional contractors to undertake mould remediation and restoration work?
I thank him again for the question.
As to which units will require professional contractors to deal with the mould or which units the LHO staff will be able to work on after they have received training, the housing corporation has been working with the LHOs on that.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell the member that in 2017 there were 22 communities inspected to identify which housing units require professional contractors.
The housing corporation is working with local housing organizations to identify the units.
They still haven’t identified which units will be dealt with by professional contractors. I still don’t have that information.
I can tell the member that the mould restoration work is on schedule, either through professional contractors or through local housing organization staff that have received training.
Work on some of the units requires special equipment and that’s why we needed professional contractors.
I can’t give the member the exact numbers at this time.
I’m expecting to get that information during the sitting of the House.
I would like to provide that information if I get it before the end of the spring sitting.
Can the minister indicate the approximate amount that has been budgeted to undertake this important work?
Regarding the M&I budget for home renovations and repairs, we apply for funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
We will use part of the M&I budget for mould remediation.
There is $2.65 million that will be spent on mould remediation.
We will receive that $2.65 million in funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
My colleagues, you may have noticed that the time for question period has expired. Moving on.
Committee Report 027 – 4(3): Bill 39, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2017 (Sammurtok, T)
I wish to report that Bill 39, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, has been reviewed by the Standing Committee on Legislation and that the bill is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) The member is seeking unanimous consent to waive Rule 68(6) and have Bill 39 immediately moved into Committee of the Whole.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) Bill 39 is now before the Committee of the Whole.
Committee Report 028 – 4(3): Report on the Review of the Auditor General of Canada to the Legislative Assembly on Health Care Services in Nunavut (Angnakak)
I have the honour today of presenting the report of the standing committee… . I’m getting used to sitting down. …of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Independent Officers and Other Entities on its review of the Auditor General’s 2017 Report on Health Care Services in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, issues relating to health and the delivery of health care services to Nunavut residents are of great interest and concern to Members of the Legislative Assembly and the residents whom we represent.
While many different aspects of health care service delivery in Nunavut would benefit from review and analysis, the Auditor General’s report focused on primary health care in our community health centres and on whether frontline health care staff and personnel were receiving the support they needed.
The Auditor General of Canada, staff from the Office of the Auditor General, and Government of Nunavut officials appeared before the standing committee from May 8 to May 9, 2017 in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly to address the findings and recommendations in the Auditor General’s report.
The standing committee’s hearings provided an opportunity for the issues raised in the report to be discussed in a public forum as well as giving government representatives the opportunity to address those issues and respond to recommendations.
While a majority of the issues raised were addressed to the Department of Health, a number of them also involved the Department of Finance.
For this reason, witnesses from both of these departments participated in the hearings which were televised live across the territory and were open to the public and news media to observe from the visitors’ gallery.
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General’s report addressed the types of support that are provided to frontline health care personnel in such areas as training and orientation, methods of ensuring and improving the quality of health services, safe work environments, and the recruitment and retention of personnel.
The overall conclusion was that Nunavut’s Department of Health did not adequately manage and support its frontline health care personnel to deliver services in local and regional health centres in Nunavut.
The Auditor General’s report also addressed the Department of Health’s need to adequately plan staffing and resources for community health centres.
A newly developed comprehensive plan or model for service delivery across Nunavut’s communities could certainly help to address many of the key issues identified by the audit.
I would like to take this opportunity to note that the Auditor General’s report as well as testimony from government witnesses during the hearings clearly demonstrated that a number of initiatives have already been undertaken by the Department of Health to address the issues raised in the report.
Mr. Speaker, one of the central themes which emerged during the standing committee’s review of the Auditor General’s report to the Legislative Assembly was the need for the Department of Health to improve its implementation of policies, practices, and procedures which support the delivery of health services in Nunavut’s communities and to ensure that the implementation is tracked and monitored in order to enable adjustments and measure improvements over time.
It was noted on several occasions throughout the hearings that while policies and procedures may have existed on paper in such areas as quality assurance, recruitment of staff, or addressing safety aspects of the workplace, they were not always carried out in practice.
The audit also noted the absence of mechanisms with which to track and monitor the successful implementation of various policies.
Mr. Speaker, it can be said that for any system the breakdown of one component affects many other components within that same system, as each relies on the other in combination to achieve effective results.
The delivery of such a complex system as health care is no exception.
Members of the standing committee noted, for example, a number of findings in the Auditor General’s report regarding workplace safety.
Several safety-related incidents and safety-related risks were identified at community health centres while it was noted further that many community health centres with more than ten staff members did not have functioning occupational health and safety committees as required by legislation.
During the hearings, members learned that one nurse had in fact resigned due to an incident of violence in the workplace.
In this case a breakdown in the management of safety risks had an impact on the retention of staff and this in turn put further pressure on the staff recruitment process.
Mr. Speaker, another theme which emerged during the standing committee’s review of the Auditor General’s report to the Legislative Assembly was the need for improved communications and the sharing of information.
With respect to the staffing process and the observed length of time between identifying a vacant position which needed to be filled and actually filling that position, it was noted that communications between the many different personnel responsible for the various steps in the staffing process as well as communications between the respective divisions of the departments of Health and Finance were often delayed, resulting in some positions not being filled for over 500 days.
Such delays would certainly be reduced with improved communications and exchanges of correspondence.
In addition, members of the standing committee learned of instances where the Department of Health had brought forward business cases to the Department of Finance to request funding for specific initiatives which would have addressed some of the shortfalls in supporting health care service providers and these requests were either denied or only partially funded.
It would appear that there could be some improvement in the sharing of information which would allow the Department of Finance to better determine the various cost drivers faced by the Department of Health and to better assess the merits of specific business case requests.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, the standing committee recognizes that the Department of Health has already initiated a number of activities and programs to address the observations and concerns highlighted in the Auditor General’s report.
One major initiative, which members also addressed during the legislative’s recent review of the department’s proposed 2017-18 business plan and main estimate budget this past February, is the department’s proposal to redesign its service delivery model.
As discussed throughout the hearings on the Auditor General’s report, the Department of Health’s “Model of Care” redesign is anticipated to determine what types and levels of health care services would best meet the current and future needs of Nunavut residents while at the same time ensuring that health care service providers are well supported in the delivery of those services.
A revised service delivery model could be the key to addressing a majority of the shortfalls identified in the Auditor General’s report.
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General’s 2017 Report on Health Care Services in Nunavut included 17 recommendations directed to the Department of Health with five of those recommendations also directed to the Department of Finance.
Departmental responses included in the Auditor General’s report indicate agreement with all of the recommendations.
As indicated previously, a number of initiatives addressing issues raised in the audit were initiated subsequent to the audit being completed and are identified in the report.
In addition, at the outset of the standing committee’s hearings, Department of Health representatives provided members with a follow-up report on programs and activities being delivered by the department which specifically address the Auditor General’s recommendations in the areas of training and orientation, recruitment and retention, and the delivery of health care and workplace safety.
The standing committee appreciated the level of detail and information included in the Department of Health’s follow-up report.
Accordingly the standing committee makes the following recommendations:
That the Department of Health establish and maintain a system to record, track, and monitor the delivery of orientation and training programs to health care staff; to record the status of certification and recertification of health care staff in specific competencies; and to flag training or certification requirements for both new and current personnel.
Mr. Speaker, during the committee’s proceedings, members raised a number of concerns with respect to the potential risks of health care services being provided to Nunavut residents by staff who have not had adequate training or certification.
It was noted that clerk interpreters did not necessarily have training in medical terminology and that this lack of training could compromise their ability to ensure clear and appropriate communications between English-speaking health professionals and Inuit language speaking clients.