EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I’m sure that the minister has some things in mind for the elders and a lot of elders in my community would like to have access to some polar bear meat while they’re fat and I just wanted to tell the Minister that to consider the elders and provide some polar bear hunting.
They do studies on polar bears and we need to spend money on polar bear biologists and they always state that there is not enough bears left and I’ll use this as an example.
In Gjoa Haven, there was an moratorium put in place for polar bear hunting over there without the biologists really knowing if the bear population is declining.
I know that the Minister would like to help the people of Nunavut but I just want to give him a little bit of advice on the things that the biologists and do and what the elders want.
There is also some elders that would like to go out fishing for commercial purpose but they don’t have any assistance and also the char travel at a certain time in the season and the elders would like to be able to get to them and harvest them commercially and they’re just waiting around, sitting around at home not knowing which department to approach for help because they have been told that its not possible for them to do that and right away they give up.
But they should be encouraged to reapply and be told how to reapply if they want some funding.
I just wanted to make those comments, Mr. Chairman.
I will probably talk about various topics during my ten minute general comments.
I would like to thank the Minister and their officials because the department did not go way too over their budget and they represented the people of Nunavut well.
The one thing that I have been concerned about is the fact that the funding of $150 thousand if it is geared towards to whole of Nunavut and there is a reduction.
Personally the way I see it, every time the funding is geared toward to all of Nunavut, usually they seem to be the smallest amount.
That is what I have noticed so far.
Also I would like to say in regards to private businesses, and the development of private businesses.
I have to discuss these business opportunities to the department.
We can get further funding from the Banks, from NTI, and Inuit organizations.
We can apply for funding through those agencies.
I know that they should be benefiting Nunavummiut.
I know that I am a beneficiary and since I am enrolled in the Land Claims Agreement, but it is very difficult for me as a beneficiary to try and obtain those funds.
That is where some problems arise.
I do not want the department to be the same as the other agencies when they are working on behalf Nunavummiut.
The funding is quite small, and the cost of living is always increasing.
Every time you try to run a business, there are bills to pay in order to operate your business and this funding for $5 thousand dollars is inadequate, well that is provided through your department.
I wanted to touch that a bit that the Inuit of Nunavut or anyone in Nunavut should have access to the funding according to the needs of the community. Also in some communities, since this is not part of our tradition, economic development is not part of our tradition, but we are now finally starting to understand private businesses and how to run them.
Usually in the past business had gone bankrupt because they can no longer get additional funding from various agencies.
This needs to be reviewed again, because private businesses after they have gone through bankruptcy, they have experience in having to go through that, and then they would like to re-apply again.
Then they would be more experienced.
I think that this needs to be carefully reviewed.
And also moving onto another topic.
Mr. Alakannuark had touched up on it in regards to the polar bears in Nunavut.
When we do all sorts of research and surveys on our wildlife, and once they do a survey on the polar bears, we automatically are not allowed to harvest them.
Our polar bears are captured, live, and they are taken to the zoos.
They lose a lot of their fur down south. It seems like they are in cages when you are a native from the north you feel for those animals down there that are being kept in the zoos.
As when we see polar bears in the cage, in the zoos and they are sitting around concrete and they are not used to living on concrete or rocks.
Their natural habitat is on the ice.
When we see polar bears in the zoo, we feel sorry for them, but the southerners use that to make money, we aren’t doing that.
As Nunavummiut, we are treated as if we are ignorant about our wildlife, but we have lived here all our lives in the north and this is where we live and inhabit the land.
If we respect the wildlife, they will, in turn, grow in population and if we over-populate the wildlife, they die off and it is very difficult to bring them back to a sustainable population.
And my Colleague from Coral Harbour made a statement in regards to the caribou, if they over-populate, they tend to die off, but you need to harvest them carefully and to make sure the population does not over-populate or decline too much because this is our tradition and we know how to manage our wildlife.
But after some other developments on some wildlife, when we try to develop economic development through wildlife, that is when the problem arise with the wildlife management.
With all those rigid management regimes is not part of our culture as Nunavummiut, it is not part of our tradition.
We now have to operate with money and we should be, this is I think our right to get adequate funding because we are now getting used to managed funding.
And when we try to acquire funding and when the communities require some funding, they need adequate funding, they need economic development, not just on wildlife and I know that the Department is trying to support the communities, but the funding is inadequate to develop the small businesses in the communities.
I wanted to bring those issues up.
Before Mr. Nutarak sits down, we should bring some elephants up and keep them in the zoo, and see if they like the climate. (interpretation ends) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This is a great comment because our Chairman did very well in reply to your opening address.
I commend him for having foresight in writing up our report.
I think what is lacking in your Department, maybe in the Corporation; your Corporation is exploring potential developments, exploring potential businesses, whether it is collective in the community or individual.
We have given you a whole lot of information as to what potential involvements are for Coral Harbour for example.
Coral Harbour is already talking to Labradorimuit on caribou fur and skins, tanning for apparently for caribou tails and penises and horns, antlers, and things like that.
So something is developing but it would have been good if we would have been able to work with your department to find out what is the best way of approaching this.
Either we get a meat plant to process 6 thousand caribou there or this year again, because the problem with the boxes that we use to crate the meat, frozen meat, has a grain that is too weak to carry a full capacity that we’ll be catching, we have caught only 3 thousand caribou.
Although I think the Coral Harbour development corporation is trying to find out right now what that type of boxes will be more suitable to increase the quota.
But none-the-less we will still have 2 thousand caribou left this year from the quota of 5 thousand or 6 thousand.
I’m sorry Mr. Chairman; I correct myself, 3 thousand caribou left out of that quota.
Not having intercommunity trade or intercommunity programs of meat like Cape Dorset.
We are not able to utilize those extra 3 thousand caribou.
For the island of 1 hundred miles by 1 hundred miles, that is quite significant.
We are always afraid of over population in that so we are doing it for environmental purposes and also for economic purposes.
Mostly for environmental purposes.
When the caribou were populating, when I got to Coral Harbour, we were allowed half a caribou for each household.
That was only about 14 or 15 years ago.
The department keeps saying that there is not enough caribou yet to have free hunting.
Until it was too late when they found out, gee it’s getting over populated we better start hunting them down.
Of course 6 or 7 hundred people we could make a dent to the point that we initiated this project when we were in the GNWT, mostly for the purpose of conservation and economic possibilities.
Yet we are now unable to keep up or at least control the population growth in Coral Harbour.
So, we will probably need to do something very urgent to start harvesting 6 thousand or maybe even more but we have no means right now economically to do that because you already have a law in your wildlife act about wastage.
Because they are federally inspected, that they had to be killed in certain ways.
So, if there is a missed shot, including shoulder shot the meat is brought into town but 700 people, I don’t know how many tonnes of caribou that you can utilize all the meat.
We try to utilize them as much as we can by sending to our friends, and etc.
Perfectly good meat, but if the department can’t access some dollars to some communities like Hall Beach or Cape Dorset or other places that have no caribou near by, can’t benefit from that.
They can, using your few dollars.
I don’t think it’s going to take more than 100 thousand dollars to start brining the caribou from Coral Harbour.
I’m just talking about transportation.
Basically, I’m concerned about economic development or the lack there of it for non-decentralized communities.
There is a whole lot of potential.
I was just talking to the Minister of transportation about the need for better access roads program, not just in Coral Harbour but everywhere where it’s possible.
Hall Beach, Igloolik, Arviat, Rankin Inlet.
What I’m saying is not just your department is leading departments in trying to find a new way of making the community benefit from government funding.
Yes, government funding through education and health is important.
Economic and social wellbeing of the community, we’re going to have to start finding out what communities want.
What communities happy.
What makes communities productive?
What makes a community feel that money is being well spent; the government’s money is being well spent.
I don’t think it is fair that only government bureaucrats determine what is good for Nunavummiut.
I’m not blaming the government but we are three years old, four years old in our, but within that we are already alienated some of the communities that are not in decentralized communities.
We alienating them by providing them with the things we think are good for Coral Harbour or any other community, Whale Cove, Chesterfield Inlet, Grise Fjord, etc. I think it’s very important that we start recognising what hamlets want to do.
The hamlets life is not only within the hamlet boundaries.
Hamlet’s thought and foresight is the whole area of the community, the hunting, tourism, business development, recreation, etc.
They are not limited like us.
They don’t think of boundaries.
So, Mr. Chairman, I’m running out already, but the last point I’d like to make is I stress to you, to find out from the community what you think are good projects, that are economically viable, socially acceptable, that will make a difference in the lives of that community.
I will talk about various needs in our Nattilik riding area and also in the Kitikmeot and in listening to my colleagues general comments, and looking at the economic development opportunities under Sustainable Development and we like to see that, see us utilize those opportunities that way it can help or produce more jobs at the local level.
In Gjoa Haven in Government of the Northwest Territories days, I had supported financially to develop a fish plant and we have commercial quota in around Gjoa Haven and around main land.
The fish plant was renovated back in around 1990s and I think it was 1997 but it was renovated around that time and they got a very nice freezer and they have a very nice drying rack and it was enlarged but one thing that we requested from the HTO, with the support of the HTO they have supported the fishermen and it has really supported the harvesters but after the fish plant was renovated back in 1999 when Nunavut Government was created the fish plant has never been used since.
When the department is responsible for economic development, I don’t think we should be closing down these economic opportunities.
Every time these opportunities close, or every time these business start and then they close even, it’s very difficult for the communities to provide employment.
So, I would request that your department look into the fish plant.
I know that you have good plans for it but moving on to a different topic, the HTOs operations and maintenance; it was mentioned by one of the members here stating that the HTO funding is inadequate and the HTO and the office managers do their job very well.
The hunters are depend on those people and usually they coordinate these sports hunts and the sport hunters, those are the contact people by the sport hunters and their Operations and Maintenance funding is inadequate.
I think it was three weeks ago or four week ago; correspondence was given to me from the HTO to relay that information to the government.
They’re funded for Operations and Maintenance for the HTO.
They wanted to make sure that they are given adequate funding because their funding for Operations and Maintenance is inadequate and they are requesting that they be considered.
I think this situation has to be rectified because the funding for their Operation is in adequate and it’s depleted right away all the time.
Mr. Chairman, my colleague talked about soap stone quarrying in Taloyoak, Gjoa Haven, and I think in Kuugarjuk that there is a soap stone quarry.
Yes, back then I use to go soap stone quarrying and anybody could take soap stone from that area but there is nothing available any more all is left are big boulders.
But you have to work very hard to mine soapstone.
The soapstone quarry around Gjoa Haven is about 87 miles away from the community each from Gjoa Haven and also from Taloyoak, the soapstone quarry is about that far from the community and it’s very difficult to access the soapstone quarry mine.
Although I spoke with Steve Hanly, he said he was going to review this matter but I would request that your department look into this matter so that they can access this soapstone quarry by this summer.
I would like to see that completed.
Mr. Chairman, carvings and handicrafts and artwork, back then, we had a carver, and it’s difficult to market carvings now.
It’s not like the past anymore.
There are potential carvers out there too and long time carvers can’t sell their carvings and the market for carvings has dropped.
I don’t know why the market for the carvings has dropped.
I do expect to see something worked on this issue.
Mr. Chairman, for carvings, handicrafts and artwork, I was wondering if your department can look into that to make sure that they help market these things.
Mr. Chairman, I will conclude.
I have no one my list now.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): In the Minister’s opening comments; I would like to add to that.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On the first page of his opening remarks, these 1, 2, 3, in the middle of the page, and the three key areas, increase support for communities in their efforts to plan for a sustainable future.
The chairman of the committee stated that there should be more support for small businesses.
We know and it’s hopeful that for Nunavummiut, as Canadians, the small businesses is the biggest employer in Canada and we can make it that way in Nunavut.
For instance in the tourism industry, we can set up more outfitters, hotel operators.
And these small businesses could also be one of the biggest employers in Nunavut.
With that in mind, I’m wondering if the Minister is going to examine and review as to what development there can be for small businesses, for instance, a meat plant.
I’m wondering he can look into that.
Yes, the support for small businesses I’m sure are one of the biggest employers.
And with this statement during the conference in Rankin Inlet last week, that was one of the big discussions as to how much more support that we can give to the communities and to small businesses.
How we can increase funding and we will commit to working on that issue.
The statement regarding economic development we are looking into the matter and that we would like to work on it for the future so that smaller communities can have more job opportunities.
In Coral Harbour, I spoke to a resident from there, from the Development Corporation and told them that there was quite a success in caribou harvesting.
His question regarding the support for small businesses, we are hoping to support more of these businesses, and I am sure that we can do a lot more in that area.
In our budget we are hoping to distribute our budget to more of the communities and perhaps in the future for instance, we will focus on a certain community and then go on to the next community once we have created economic opportunities.
Mr. Arvaluk: That is good to know.
Community Government and Transportation has Regional Offices where they try to help the communities from that region, whatever problem they may have.
Maybe similarly, you could have more active civil servants in the region that can try to help the communities, not just from the bureaucratic point of view, but from the real sensitive want to achieve that kind of attitude to try to help those communities.
On page 2, Mr. Chairman, in the middle that in the Main Estimates 2003-2004, there is a 150 thousand reduction from 2002-2003.
However, you stated that you have put $295 thousand dollars for funding contribution programs, which is good.
Funding to contribution program, $495 thousand.
You must have a goal to reach your PY’s in your department.
I do not know if you have reached 100 percent yet, from 1999.
If not, did you have to reduce your PY requirements in order to come up with the $495 thousand, or did you have to reduce some of the positions that are vacant or not filled in order to come up with $495 thousand, and reducing $150 thousand at the same time from 2002-2003.
Where did you have to take that from, in order to achieve that?
Last year, for 2002-2003 we had one time funding for $650 thousand dollars, that was going towards the Nunavut Wildlife Act.
This year we did not get that, but during the Assembly that extra $500 thousand dollars, that is where that $495 thousand came from, so that is how we came up with these numbers.
In the Minister’s Opening Comment, towards the end, he stated that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, that they are working towards including it in every part of the department’s operations.
Can you elaborate as to what sections on your department Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit being used.
The Department of Sustainable Development hired an employee who will work on the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit section as to how our department can integrate Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit within the department and we look forward to progress that will be made.
For instance, polar bear management issue as to how we can use Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in the management and policy decision making and that is why we hired that PY and I’m sure it will be a great help to the department.
Also the Tuqtarvik Committee that the government will be setting up in the coming months will certainly help move along the issue of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in Department of Sustainable Development’s efforts to include Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): He stated he hired a staff member.
When did they hire that staff member?
Has it been a year?
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): It’s been 9 months that that staff member has been with the department.
They are reviewing some of the concerns in how to include for instance, in the Wildlife Act, there were consultation visits and we collected some Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and we are working to integrate those within the department.
That staff member has a lot of work to do within our department to ensure Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is used more within our operations in the future.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): When Nunavut was created, and the agreement was signed in 1993, on July 9th, I can’t say exactly what time it was because I wasn’t present at the signing.
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, what is being done to ensure it is being implemented in the Department of Sustainable Development.
Yes, we try our best to implement the land claims section in working with what needs to be done in implementing articles in the land claims
And regarding the wildlife act, we are working very closely with those organizations to ensure the land claims is being put into consideration.
We are also working with them, we work very closely with those organizations to ensure we are complying with the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
I’m just going through the business plan and the question I’m going to ask might not be here but, you could direct me to where it might be.
I know that you might not be responsible for the part I’m going to ask you about.
It’s about the employment officer position.
I know it’s not a government position.
At this point the local employment officer is hired by the hamlet, finding some other funds, not exactly sure where, but I was told that they would be running out and they wouldn’t have that position in place as April 1st.
So, I guess I’m asking for your assistance, if it is your department that maybe you could work with the other department, how we can have this position open.
Like I said earlier, that one of the mining companies is interested in funding this position up to 50% if the local hamlet or the government or GN is a partnership to this position, because like I said, it is a very important position to that community because it is a main communication office to that person, so I want to make sure we have this position in place.
Like I said, its been, I’ve been trying to updates for the last few days but I want to ensure that we have communicate this to our hamlet that we have some funding in place.
Is there a way that you can sort of lead this somewhere within the other departments or yourself.
I was an employment officer before I became an MLA.
That was one of my responsibilities; dealing with the Federal Government and Kakivak funding sources and perhaps the mining sector can contact either the Federal Government or the Land Claims organizations.
As the Department of Sustainable Development, we fund community economic development offices and perhaps I can speak with the HR minister as to how we can come up with those funds to keep that position open.
Perhaps we would have to apply to DSD funds if we do so, but I will commit to looking into the matter regarding your comments and questions as the Department of DSD.
It is kind of hard to say whether we can commit to funds to assist your community but I will look into the matter.
I would like to hear its trying to get around this some how within GN, not only with your department.
I just want to let you know that the Hamlet of Kugluktuk has tried every avenue so far to try and get funding even from the Federal.
The Federal funding ran out about a few years ago so they couldn’t get any funding at all from the Federal.
It was brought to our MP’s attention and saying that they couldn’t fund this, no longer funds this position in the hamlet’s office, although they recognized it is very important position to that community.
So they tried everything they could to find funding for this.
But, it is an interesting point that you that I want you to know again, I pointed out, these mining companies interested in funding 50% of the position so there can’t be too much more if you can find some other 50% of that.
I will leave that with you and its great to know that you will be looking through this a soon as you can as a lead to find a way to fund it.
That is all I have for now.
In the Minister’s Opening Remarks, in 2003-2004, the $150 thousand dollars is a decrease from $495 thousand.
I wonder if it is geared towards small business assistance, or what is it for?