EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Speaker, I extend a very Merry Christmas to all the people of Nunavut and a Happy New Year.
Member’s Statement 371 – 2(3): Christmas Greetings (Arreak)
I would like to wish a very Merry Christmas to the people of Qikiqtarjuaq because I go there on occasion and also to the people of Clyde River, I extend a Merry Christmas to all the people: to my mother, my grandchildren and to my family and to my immediate family members.
Again, to the people of Kuujjuaq I have two sisters and brothers-in-law and nieces and nephews. Even though we are not together we will be together in thought and we will be celebrating all for the same reason.
One person I was very proud of was Adrian Thomasie, little me.
I wish a Merry Christmas. He was one of the members of the Youth Parliament and I was extremely proud of how he conducted himself in the House at that time.
And for the people who feel like they’re going to be alone during the holidays, we wish them well and convey our love to those people. They will be on our mind.
Member’s Statement 372 – 2(3): Christmas Greetings (Arvaluk)
I would like to also say something about Christmas and again, we will be going home, so my sons keep calling me.
It is happy occasion to think about Christmas and your family members and you also remember the good times and the bad times that happened in your life.
I would like to say Merry Christmas to the Council of the Disabled who we had a meeting with; you will not be forgotten by this government.
And I also wish the best to the people who don’t have much and who are hungry; they will be in our minds during the season because they will have absolutely nothing during the holidays.
To the members of this House I would like to also like to say something about Chris Merkosak, who will be in Whitehorse for the Canada Winter Games.
Member’s Statement 373 – 2(3): Long Service Awards (Tootoo)
Before I get into my Member’s Statement I’d like to wish everyone here, all of my constituents and everyone listening, a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season.
I like to take this opportunity to rise and pay tribute, as the government did last night to some of its employees that they received long service awards. I’ll read off the names. Bear with me if I make any mistakes in pronunciation.
For 15 years:
Leesa Mikijuk
Ralph Hammond
Diane Buckland
Marcelo Perangao
Those were the recipients of the 15 years of service.
For 20 years of service. There was:
Naulaq Arnaquq
Leslie Serkoak
Peter Geikie
April Kownirk
Scott Merriott
Mary Lou Sutton-Fennel
Rhoda Ungalag
Oloota Maatiusi
Eva Noah
Those were the individuals that were recognized for 20 years of service.
Individuals recognized for 25 years of service include:
Clark Wolfe
Jeetaloo Kakee
Suvinai Mike
Sandy Teiman
Mary Cousins
Jane Cooper
Tim Neely
Noel McDermott
Believe it or not it goes on for people that have been here for even longer. For 30 years of services there were two individuals that were recognized for 30 years of service. That was:
Jeannie Iou
Paul Reddy
There is actually someone recognized for 40 years of service and from what I heard the Premier’s comments about this individual last night, I think it would be safe to say that we call her the ‘grandmother of the public service on Nunavut’ and that is:
Ms. Maggie Gordon
I would like to ask all members to join me in congratulating them for the years of dedication that they’ve put towards the public service and the people of Nunavut through their careers.
Member’s Statement 374 – 2(3): Long Service and Volunteer Appreciation Awards (Picco)
I too would like to begin by acknowledging two presentations that were made yesterday here in Iqaluit. As Mr. Tootoo just mentioned the long-term service awards for the Government of Nunavut were handed out last night.
There were several recipients from five to 40 years of service and employment from the government.
A constituent of mine, that Mr. Tootoo just mentioned, Ms. Maggie Gordon, was the only employee to receive the 40 year long-term award. Maggie is the longest serving employee of the Government of Nunavut in Nunavut.
Maggie is originally from Northern Quebec and has been a resident of Iqaluit since the early 1960s.
She started work in the laundry in the old Government of the Northwest Territories. Since 1989 she had been an employee of Joamie School here in Iqaluit.
At Joamie School she is an acknowledged leader and a key team player. As you know she probably makes the best bannock in town.
Every time they have Joamie School fun nights, her bannock is well appreciated, and needed. She makes the best hunting Pualuks that you could get in Nunavut. I have two pairs as Christmas presents from her.
Also last night the City of Iqaluit handed out its volunteer appreciation awards to dozens of Iqaluit residents, who volunteer their time to make Iqaluit a better place to live.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the volunteers, and Maggie Gordon, for their award win last night. At the same time I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you Mr. Speaker, and your family, the House, the staff of the Legislative Assembly, all the residents of Iqaluit, and the people of Nunavut a very Merry Christmas, and most importantly, a very safe and Happy New Year.
Member’s Statement 375 – 2(3): Remembering the Women (Aglukkaq)
I also want to wish Nunavummiut a very Merry Christmas today. (interpretation) I wish people living in Taloyoak a Merry Christmas, Gjoa Haven. (interpretation ends) I also want to thank my staff in Taloyoak, Johnny and Helen, as well as Phil and Annie upstairs, and wish them a very Merry Christmas, (interpretation) and also all members will be going home, (interpretation ends) safe travels and enjoy your time with your family and friends.
(interpretation) And also to Tagaq and also to your family to say Merry Christmas.
(interpretation ends) I also want to remember three people who can’t be with us today this or any other day.
Earlier I spoke about remembering: I want to remember three people and to put a face to December the 6th and what that means to me personally.
I want to remember my friend Sylvia Lyall who I think you all knew worked for me, and we lost her to violence three years ago. I don’t remember her just today, but I remember her everyday I go to work because she’s not there with us.
I also want to remember my best friend’s sister, who we lost to violence and that’s Donna Kusugak of Rankin Inlet.
And another person I went to college with and we lost to violence and that’s Rhoda Maksagak of Cambridge Bay.
It’s a sad day in Nunavut when we have accomplished so much through our land claims, through our new territory, and our new government when women continue to fight for the basic human rights and that’s to live safely in our society.
As legislators, we cannot do it all.
Safety starts from within us through our homes, within our families and in our communities.
So let us continue to voice out against violence so people like Sylvia, Donna, and Rhoda can be with us to celebrate Christmas.
Member’s Statement 376 – 2(3): Thank Panniqtuumiut (Okalik)
I would like to welcome the people in the Gallery.
Today I would also like to stand up and say that my sister had a hard time and I would like to thank the people of Pangnirtung for helping out my sister and the people of Pangnirtung for helping out with my sister’s children.
I am very proud of my sister, she was very strong, even though she worked so hard and she loved her children was able to get through.
Eeleeseepee Kooneeliusie, I would like to thank my colleagues here in the House for assisting us; my brother-in-law is getting checked up by the medical personnel.
I would also like to thank everyone in Pangnirtung and everywhere for helping me and helping my sister.
Have a very Merry Christmas to the people of Nunavut.
Member’s Statement 377 – 2(3): Christmas Greetings and Thank Constituents (Akesuk)
I would also like to wish my constituents of Cape Dorset and Kimmirut a very Merry Christmas for them to be able to let me speak on their behalf and to have trust in me to represent them in the House.
A lot of people recognize us from Nunavut communities and it is very important people recognize us, even though we have a lot of work to do as a government.
We were given encouragement by the people out there.
I’d like to say a very Merry Christmas to all the people of Nunavut and a very Merry Christmas to Nicotye Kolola and Michael and his wife and children and Akalayuk Qavavou, Sandy Kelly and his children.
I would like to give my appreciation to them for helping me out when I go back to my community and Karen Kabloona, and Susie Alainga, who works for me at my office upstairs.
And I would also like to wish a Merry Christmas to you Mr. Speaker and all my colleagues.
Member’s Statement 378 – 2(3): Christmas Greetings (Brown)
I would like to say very Merry Christmas and have a good flight to the members who are leaving tomorrow and for them to enjoy their family when they get back.
I would also like to say that we miss Tagak Curley who was not able to sit with us this time around.
And I would like to say very Merry Christmas to my colleagues and I also have a grandchild who is 18 years old and is attending university and was born December 19, 1988 and they were born on the same day as Janet and Wayne Gretzky’s children. And so they have the same birthdays and I always remember Wayne Gretzky’s daughter whenever it’s my granddaughter’s birthday. My grandchild is trying to become a doctor and has been going to university for two years.
I would also like to acknowledge the Woman’s Day tomorrow and to remember with Leona Aglukkaq the people that died of violence. Everything passes, is what I hear from my elders. They always tell me not to be sad for so long but we like to remember all the women that died of violence and we love all the women in Nunavut.
Return to Oral Question 366 – 2(3): Number of Polar Bears Tranquilized (Netser)
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): I didn’t hear you.
I have a Return to Oral Question 366 – 2(3), asked by the Member for Quttiktuq on November 27, 2006 concerning the tranquilization of polar bears.
Mr. Speaker, this return is quite detailed. So I have given a copy to the Clerk for the Hansard for the public record.
There are two people I would like to recognize from Taloyoak. They’re here for the disability meeting and they finished yesterday.
I was learning sign language.
She’s from Taloyoak, and I was practicing this yesterday: Jessie Idlout and his wife, from Taloyoak.
Welcome. I would like to welcome them to the House. Thank you.
First of all, ever since I became a Member of the Legislative Assembly, this is the very first time this individual has been able to come to Iqaluit and to the House as well.
I have been with her for 28 years. Next year, we will be celebrating 29 years. I would like everyone to recognize my wife and to welcome her to the House, Elisabeth Mapsalak.
I hardly recognize anybody to the House. There’s someone from Sanikiluaq that I would like to recognize.
I respect the young person and I have known her ever since she was a child.
She is with the Qulliit Status of Women’s Council, Christine Eqilaq, please stand.
I would like to recognize an individual in the Gallery today. He is also known in the Baffin region and across Nunavut, the Senior Administrative Officer for Kugluktuk, Paul Waye, welcome to the House.
Welcome to the Gallery. (interpretation) Member for Quttiktuk, Mr. Barnabas.
I would also like to recognize individuals that have been able to come to the Gallery.
First of all, I would like to recognize the Senior Administrative Officer from Resolute Bay, Joshua Hunter.
Also, beside him is his daughter, Christine Iqaluk-Hunter.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize my cousin Simon Nattaq.
I would also like to recognize some people in the Gallery.
The first person works for the Qulliit Status of Women’s Council, Stephanie Williams, and also my constituent Rhoda Palluq. Welcome to the Gallery.
I too would like to take this opportunity to welcome to the Gallery Ms. Kathy Hanson, a long-time constituent of mine in Iqaluit East, and a leader with the issues regarding women with the Status of Women’s Council.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome my Levi’s cousin, my friend, Councillor, Simon Nattaq.
I’d like to take this opportunity a couple of individuals here in the Gallery. One of them is a constituent of mine, and no stranger to the House, I’m sure, and that’s our Law Clerk, Ms. Sue Cooper.
I’d also like to recognize, sitting next to her, a gentleman by the name of Paul Mettle. Paul is a new lawyer working for Maligarnik Tukisiniarvik.
He may be a stranger to this House but he is not a stranger to a House; he is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. He was first elected in 1996 representing Prince George/Walmeenika, again reelected in 2001. He served a total of nine years.
No stranger to a House, but a stranger to this House, hopefully, not for long, but I would like to welcome him here. He will be working in the capacity as a poverty law counsel with Maligarnik Tukisiniarvik, so I would like to welcome him to Nunavut and to the Gallery.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Tootoo, and welcome to the Gallery.
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. I don’t see anyone. If one of you was missed please feel welcome to the Gallery.
Oral Questions. I don’t think there are Oral Questions.
Question 420 – 2(3): Power Bill Payments (Alagalak)
I thought there was going to be lots of arms going up at the same time.
There is a growing concern in regard to the power bills.
For that reason this past winter it was brought up to the Minister of Energy and a lot of times the people who pay the bills it takes them a long, long time to go to the destination. Sometimes they go to Rankin Inlet, or Baker Lake.
If they haven’t received then they might have their power cut off. That’s the circumstance that they have experienced.
I’d like to ask the minister if he has done anything about this.
As we all know, the very higher energy costs over the last couple of years have caused extreme fiscal pressure on this government. I’ll just give a quick example: in 2003 oil was at $22 a barrel, and when we bought it this year, two and half years later, it’s at over $68 a barrel when we had to buy it.
On the bill-paying stuff, the member is correct. We have facilitated the payment of power bills.
Any person can go to the local Co-op, or the Northern Store to pay their bill.
If they pay their bill on Tuesday, and the Northern Store sends that payment into the power corporation that Friday, usually the amount is paid to the bill on Monday.
The problem we have right now - and I always pay my bill, as an example, by mail - and the reason I do that, Mr. Speaker, is to see how long it would take, as the member’s saying, to see how long it would take to be credited to the account.
On average, Mr. Speaker, when I send a check in the mail it takes between three and four weeks before I see a credit on my account.
That has been brought to the attention of the Power Corporation. We have tightened up the accounts receivable at the office when people pay their bills. And I would expect to see a quicker turnaround on the member’s constituents and the people of Nunavut paying their bills and seeing that bill payment on their statement very quickly in the new year.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.  Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister.
Yes, that’s what you said before but those envelopes that are written, it’s a self-enclosed envelope and it states that Baker Lake Box 40 is the address, so what they do is they go to the payment agency.
I believe Co-op and Northern are paying agencies they collect, they wait quite a while to send them all at once, and if it’s going to Rankin Inlet, it’s wrong.
If they use the enclosed envelope the problem increases and then they end up looking for the envelope where the payment is.
I would like the minister to really check into this because we haven’t seen any changes even though it has been brought up lots of times in the House and in winter time it’s even more dangerous.
When can we see improvements?
We are seeing improvements, and I apologize to the member if he’s not seeing improvements in his constituency.
We have relocated all the accounts receivable, accounts payable, and the billing functions for the Power Corporation to Baker Lake, where 80 percent of the employees have been trained and are from the community of Baker Lake.
At the same time, we have closed offices in Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit; the people have taken other positions so that we can consolidate all of our billings in the community of Baker Lake.
If a person goes into the Northern or Co-op and pays their power bill, the store under direction of the Power Corporation has a set time to send in those accounts and they may be on a seven-day or ten-day turnaround.
If you receive your bill on the 25th and you go in to pay it on the 27th or 28th, within that ten-day period, within that week, or that three-week period, it would be sent off to Baker Lake.
The concern that we see right now, Mr. Speaker, is exactly what the member is saying, and as I explained earlier, is that when we’re mailing out payments, whether it’s being mailed from Iqaluit, and I have, Mr. Speaker, on purpose mailed power bill payments from Toronto, recently I just did one from Calgary to see how long it would go when I was down for a meeting with you for the MFP.
So, Mr. Speaker, again that seems to be the concern is the bill payments that are coming in through the mail, and I’ve asked the office to look at that. My understanding is, Mr. Speaker, that by the New Year we should see that tightened up.
Again, I have no control over snail mail with Canada Post.
Yes, thank you that you will be doing something, but I believe that there is a mistake. (interpretation ends) I think that was the biggest mistake of all time but what some of those envelopes in account statements addressed to Rankin Inlet, all these forms were relocated to Baker Lake at the same time the office was relocated.
(interpretation) For that reason, I think there’s confusion over there so they have to get rid of those old envelopes or paper that they have.
Maybe they should just disregard the old invoice forms and envelopes.
This may be the last day of questioning and I was trying to have some levity there with my colleague from Arviat.
The member is correct. The forms have been changing. We’ve actually gone to a new form this past spring, after questions being raised in the House, there is, as the members know now, Inuktitut and English on the form.
There is no postage pre-paid envelope in the bill that you receive from the Power Corporation. There is however, the address, and the address now for the billing is to the P.O. Box number in Baker Lake.
I agree with the member, that when people are mailing in those payments, that they use the return address that is on their invoice at the top of the bill, which is the Government of Nunavut office in Baker Lake. That is where the Power Corporation billing office is found.
Question 421 – 2(3): Medivac Contract Services (Tootoo)
Mr. Speaker, yesterday and earlier during the sitting, I questioned the minister in regard to the medivac request for proposal that was put out last December for the Baffin region.
Again, my understanding of a request for proposal is you’re looking for the best proposal not necessarily the best price. That’s why you’re choosing the request for proposal process rather than strictly a tender.
I’ve been informed by the minister that she wasn’t aware of all the factors on how things were weighed in that, but my question to her is: I understand that they had one company that was using southern-based companies to provide the service for them and another company that is 100 percent based, and has all their equipment right here in Nunavut, why that wouldn’t be given much more of a factor.
And also, a fact, I understand that one proposal could have brought a patient from any given community in Baffin to a critical care centre, anywhere from three to twelve hours quicker than the contractor that the contract was provided for.
So I guess my question to the minister is: given that the time difference in being able to get someone to a critical care centre could mean the difference of life or death. It could mean the difference of permanent damage.
Is the minister aware of what kind of waiting factor that was used of providing that service for the patient in reviewing the request for proposal?
In responding to that question yesterday, I mentioned that I had stated that I was not involved in the review of the request for proposals for the medivac contract.  I said yesterday that I don’t know the criteria and the percentages used to apply for allocation of points to award a contract.
So in terms of responding to the individual yesterday, I said I would look into getting that information and the criteria and present that.
I also said yesterday that there are a number of pieces that are identified and those would be in areas of service, the professionals that provide the service, cost is a factor, and so on. And, to respond to the question he is asking, I don’t have the criteria and I’m not directly involved in reviewing the file to award a contract, therefore I don’t have that information before me.
And, I committed to the member to provide it, and I will do so once I have it.
Yesterday the minister also acknowledged the fact of going against past practice where these contracts have gone to Cabinet for approval, and I think for precisely these types of reasons that everything was looked at.
I know in the past this government has even disregarded its own contracting practices to provide a contract to local, locally based companies in the past.
So I guess my question to the minister she said yesterday, even though it didn’t go to the cabinet because the budget was there, that has always been the case.
So I’d like to ask, in this particular case, why this particular contract was not brought forward to the Cabinet prior to being awarded.
I mentioned yesterday the file is being reviewed. There is an appeal through the NNI process.
The appeal is still in place so the final recommendations coming out of that will be presented to the Cabinet and FMB for final approval.
As it is right now, it’s still in appeal stage and the review is being done on the recommendations coming out of the NNI.
What those are, I don’t know.
I’m not involved in the file, and for those reasons, I’m not able to present the answer to his questions.
The NNI review process, which is independent from the department, after reviewing all of the recommendations coming out of the review of the contract will be presented to FMB and the Cabinet.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Ms. Aglukkaq. Your second supplementary, Mr. Tootoo.
It’s kind of like yesterday when I was questioning the Minister of Economic Development, and he said he didn’t have the information.
When an issue is brought forward, one would assume that the minister gets briefed by the department on that, and I’m hearing I’m not involved, I’m not involved.
This is a contract that was issued by the Department of Health and Social Services and I would say that the minister should be aware of some of the circumstances around it, and maybe ask her then that this is something that has been raised over the last week and a half, why she has not been briefed to be able to provide the information on it.
The RFP process is in place to allow organizations to put forth proposals to have a committee independent from government, Cabinet, to review proposals.
The proposal was reviewed by the committee.
The process has been appealed through NNI.
That’s independent from government, Cabinet as I should say.
That process is what I have been advised. The process is it was advertised; submissions were reviewed; they looked at the files, the process has been appealed through NNI.
The NNI Committee has put forth recommendations, those recommendations are being reviewed and those are the circumstances around the file that I’m aware of. I am not directly involved in the allocation of the medivac contract to a specific company.