EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
At that time, I had the pleasure of pointing out that in 2004-05 Qulliq Energy turned in its lowest operating deficit since 2001, demonstrated significant management capacity to review operating expenses, and truly showed that this was the beginning of a turn-about for the corporation.
Today, the additional materials in the annual report show some of the highest levels of Inuit employment, increased plant efficiencies, a stable workforce, and one of Nunavut’s most successful decentralized locations in Baker Lake.
The management of the corporation appears to have been able to work within the guidelines provided by the Government of Nunavut to build an increasingly stable and successful utility.
You will also notice that the opinion of the Auditor General is provided without reservation for the first time in several years.
The un-audited results for Qulliq Energy in 2005-06, the current year, show this operating trend continuing with new revenues supporting the corporation, even as we all face increasing fuel costs.
I expect that the members are aware of the work the corporation is currently doing on the initial site work for a hydroelectric generation facility near Iqaluit.
You should also note that Qulliq Energy is seeking external funding to continue and expand this work in order to conduct a Nunavut-wide survey of appropriate alternatives to diesel generation.
Mr. Speaker, I anticipate shortly referring to the URRC a number of issues related to the residual heat projects, which we expect to see coming on line this year in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.
This will assist the company and the public in understanding the financial and the environmental value of the projects and in defining their accounting treatment.
These financial statements show remarkable and commendable improvements in the financial health of Qulliq Energy Corporation, but they do not yet show revenue capable of sustaining a conventional operating and capital program. A healthy company has the means to invest in new plants and to improve equipment and engines, especially when greater energy efficiencies can be achieved.
The staff and board continue to move forward with increased efficiencies and with a careful eye on our bottom line.
Mr. Speaker, the corporation is moving in the right direction.
Minister’s Statement 082 – 2(3): 2006 Arctic Winter Games – Day Three (Netser)
Halfway through the 2006 Arctic Winter Games, Team Nunavut has won a total of 28 medals to date.
For our most recent wins, I would like to congratulate:
Bradley Iasutisluk of Gjoa Haven who won gold in the Alaskan High Kick with the height of six feet four inches.
Silver medal winners went to:
Joe Audlakiak of Arctic Bay in the Junior Men’s Finger Pull, Inuit Games.
Susie Pearce of Iqaluit in the Sledge Jump, Inuit Games.
Our Junior Male Doubles won silver in Table Tennis while our Junior Female Doubles won Bronze in the same sport.
Team Nunavut will be bringing home additional medals from the Dene and Inuit Games. Athletes who won bronze medals in these games are:
Tom Naqitarvik and Thomas Levi of Arctic Bay for the Stick Pull in their respective categories.
While Steven Klengenberg, Sandra Nuliayok Ruben, and Sean Nipisar for the Triple Jump in their respective categories.
Member’s Statement 204 – 2(3): Prospectors Mining Meeting – Toronto (Peterson)
Mr. Peterson: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to report to the House on my recent participation in the Prospectors’ and Developers’ Conference that I attended in Toronto earlier this week.
Mr. Speaker, PDAC is the largest annual mining conference in the world. It is well attended by individual entrepreneurs, companies and representatives of nations involved in the mining sector. There are around 13,000 registered delegates.
One of the reasons for my participation was to attend a meeting between Wolfden Resources and the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Technical Committee, which is headed by the Kitikmeot Corporation. The news media have reported recently that the two companies’ infrastructure projects in the Kitikmeot are in competition with each other. I am pleased to report that the two parties actually had an extremely positive meeting.
Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity to visit many of the exceptional display booths that promoted the mineral potential and business opportunities in our regions of Nunavut.
Our territorial representatives were working very hard on our behalf to explain to visitors the vast mineral potential in Nunavut.
When I stood in the Nunavut section and looked up at the banners of China and Brazil, I realized that we have some serious competition in attracting mining companies.
Mr. Speaker, in only a few short weeks, Tahera Corporation will officially open Nunavut’s first diamond mine. The display case at their booth exhibited an impressive collection of polished diamonds from the Jericho pipe. Visitors were lining up to view them and I’m sure that once they’re selling on the global diamond market, Nunavut will gain a reputation as a world-class source of diamonds.
Mr. Speaker, Miramar Mining also had a booth at PDAC. In fact, while I was talking to their representative, an individual from New York came up and announced to us that she was the happiest Miramar shareholder in Canada that day. Apparently, she is a significant shareholder of their stock, and, along with all investors and shareholders, she was waiting for a positive recommendation from NIRB to the INAC Minister.
The NIRB recommendation came on Tuesday. I might have been the happiest elected official in Canada on that day.
Mr. Speaker, one common message I heard from most folks involved in the mining sector in Nunavut is the requirement for an educated, skilled, and trained workforce to work at the mines or for companies supplying goods and services to the mines.
They wanted me to convey a message that they are prepared to do their part in assisting Nunavummiut to acquire skill sets and education to actively participate in Nunavut’s growing mining sector.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the Government of Nunavut to make this a priority area and support their training efforts. There are no shortcuts: training programs must teach real skills that will enable our constituents to take advantage of real opportunities. Mr. Speaker, the time is now for all of us to do our part.
Member’s Statement 205 – 2(3): Lack of Job Opportunities in Clyde River (Arreak)
At this time, I would like to talk about Clyde River.
As we are well aware, the capital of Nunavut has the most job opportunities and we have now heard that $2.3 million has been set aside for the building of the hospital. I’m not exactly sure where this is coming from, but there are absolutely no job opportunities in Clyde River and there are no outside monies coming in.
For example, in my community, if they were asking for a gas attendant, the salary would be at minimum wage and there would be approximately 35 people who apply for that position.
It’s not a very good job and it’s not a very high paying job, but you get that many people applying for that same position.
The government keeps saying that they would like to be closer to the people, closer to the communities, and repeatedly, I’ve been trying to get some money to be used for the operation of a visitors’ center.
I have asked for approximately two percent, if you look at the total operating costs, but when the government refers to us being closer to the communities, I think that they should give more financial support.
If we are looking at $ 2.3 million, it seems like they were easily accessible and it seems like they didn’t have to go through the negotiating process.
I heard from a member that they are setting out $ 2.3 million for the hospital.
Now that that the information is public, it makes me think about the have-not communities; we are told that we do not get the financial support because they are a volunteer group.
Mr. Arreak, please proceed.
This is something that I am seriously concerned about. The smaller communities that are non-decentralized have been left on the back burner for way too long.
Even when we are asking for employment opportunities, you have to repeatedly keep asking for it and we are not well off.
We are not as comfortable as the larger communities. We also do not have the human or financial resources that the larger communities do have or receive.
Member’s Statement 206 – 2(3): Lack of Employment Opportunities in the High Arctic (Barnabas)
Again, what I would like is to make a comment on the lack of employment opportunities in the smaller communities.
When Pan-Arctic, in the 1970s, was up and running, there was ample employment opportunities in Arctic Bay and in the outlying communities like Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord, and Resolute Bay.
There were people from the communities who went back and forth from their community to the Pan-Arctic side and we can still see that.
I think we are still able to create those job opportunities.
There are mining opportunities or possible opportunities up in the High Arctic area and these smaller communities are always looking for the creation of job opportunities.
I will be directing my questions to the Minister of Energy at the appropriate time.
Member’s Statement 207 – 2(3): Lack of Job Opportunities (Kilabuk)
After consulting with my constituents, I have been urged to make a comment and to remind the government about the agreement they made, and again, like my colleagues, it is in regard to the lack of job opportunities.
There is an increase in the population of Pangnirtung and, of course, we are proud of our students who are graduating from the high school and we see more and more graduating, but then again, there are no job opportunities and there are more and more people unemployed.
(interpretation ends) There is an opportunity this government can act on, unlike my colleague from Clyde River and the situation he faces; this is to open the community-decentralized positions to Pangnirtung residents.
Pangnirtung has many people willing to work, but just does not see government moving fast enough to finalize its plan.
Well, Mr. Speaker, we have a growing number of people looking for jobs in the community.
Just to give you a couple of examples of the number of people willing to work, fisheries alone saw over 200 people involved in the fishery activities over the course of the winter when the ice conditions were good because there was simply nothing else to do.
Today, it is rare to see any more than 20 people involved in the actual fishing activities over the course of the winter because of the poor ice conditions.
Parts of plants that depend on the fish resource is dependant on the fish coming in to keep the 50 employees a day that are holders of seasonal jobs when there is fish to process.
Mr. Speaker, this clearly calls for the government to live up to its commitment and identify the jobs that were stated for Pangnirtung and make them further available to the residents of Pangnirtung and not just hope that the people can be found from outside sources while we have the unemployed numbers in Pangnirtung.
Sure, if the concern is lack of qualified people in my community, tell us where those jobs will be and we will give the people time to train to become qualified for those positions.
Mr. Speaker, years have come and gone already while we could have been training constituents of mine for these jobs.
Member’s Statement 208 – 2(3): International Women’s Day Event (Tootoo)
Today, I’d like to rise and acknowledge the efforts of the Qulliq Status of Women Council for events, the crafts sale, and the coffee house that they held last night in celebration of International Women’s Day.
I had an opportunity to attend the crafts sale. I had to leave prior to the coffee house.
It looked like a tremendous turnout for the craft sale and I hope that the individuals that were there selling items sold what they wanted to. I am sure that the coffee house was a big success as well.
So I would just like to take this opportunity to acknowledge their efforts in putting together those events and commemorating International Women’s Day.
Member’s Statement 209 – 2(3): Fuel Delivery Salaries (Kattuk)
I rise today in regard to fuel.
In the communities they have fuel contractors. I do not know how they operate, but I have heard and have seen that when the price of fuel goes up the delivery contractors’ salary does not increase and also their assistants who deliver gas and fuel stay at the minimum wage level.
Even though the price of fuel is increasing, their salaries do not increase and this should be considered more by petroleum products.
At the appropriate time, I will be raising questions to that.
I would like to recognize and welcome at this time one of my constituents, Nadia Ciccone.
Question 239 – 2(3): Qulliq Energy Corporation Funding (Tootoo)
My questions are for the Minister of Energy.
First off, Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the Energy Minister for his rather illuminating presentation this morning to the Standing Committee on Government Operations.
I believe that we had a very productive exchange of views and that there is a lot of fuel for thought after that meeting.
Mr. Speaker, we know from this year’s budget address that the Government of Nunavut is projecting that it will need some $51.6 million in supplementary requirements in the coming fiscal year.
The budget papers indicate that uncertainty over the price of oil is a part of it. In recent years, this Assembly has been asked to approve millions of dollars in direct funding to the Qulliq Energy Corporation to offset its losses.
Can the minister enlighten the House today as to whether or not he will be bringing forward requests for such funding in the near future? And if so, how much will be required? And will there be a supplementary appropriation bill for us to consider during the upcoming spring Assembly?
Speaker (interpretation): That was more than one question.
Minister for Energy, Mr. Picco.
For the enlightenment of the member, and not to be facetious or even vociferous in my response to him, my responses are to his five questions; no, no, no, no, no.
The minister probably doesn’t realize how many people he made happy by saying no.
It’s our understanding that the Utility Rate Review Council has rejected outright the Qulliq Energy Corporation’s request for a capital stabilization rider, or the new plant-funding proposal.
In light of this, what is the Qulliq Energy Corporation’s capital shortfall? What projects may not proceed as a result of that decision? And, how does the corporation plan on securing sufficient capital funds?
Speaker (interpretation): When you are raising questions, can you please ask one question, not three different ones. You are only allowed three separate questions.
On the member’s first question, and the member has been informed, and the public in general; the capital stabilization rider application by the Power Corporation was rejected by the Utility Rate Review Council.
That means that the Power Corporation has to fund, within its own resources, the capital budget proposal for this year, which amounts to a little over $7 million.
In any given capital program that is brought forward, there are always deferrals on certain items and you are trying to prioritize the items that need to be brought forward based on specific needs.
That prioritization has been done and it falls within the context of the stated $7 million in the capital budget for this year. It has gone to the minister for sign-off and it has also been approved by the board of directors.
I appreciate your comments and it’s always worth a try.
Can the minister indicate, as he has said, the budget has been approved for the capital budget, around $7 million; does the corporation have the financial capacity to meet that capital plan?
I’ll just leave it at that and won’t ask a second question.
As I indicated earlier, the capital plan has been approved, a little over $7 million, by the board and signed off by the minister.
There are some other projects that we would like to bring forward within the capital project framework.
We are, as I indicated to the members this morning in the briefing with the committee, we are trying to access federal funds for those.
I’m endeavouring, right now, to confirm meetings in the week of March 20 with different federal ministers to bring forward our requests. Those include some geo-technical projects, additional residual heat projects, and so on.
In light of the minister’s comments, I appreciate them looking for extra federal funding, and as the Minister of Finance said in his budget address, there’s now a lot of hope in our federal counterparts listening to us down there.
So hopefully they listen to him.
Regardless of this additional funding coming in or not, can the minister indicate, for all the Members in this House and the listening public, how much, if any, of an increase in their power bill they can expect to see in the next 12 months, aside from the fuel stabilization rider that has already been in place?
The amounts budgeted and allocated for the Power Corporation, under its revenue stream, have to go back to last year, to the process under the Utility Rate Review Council.
The Utility Rate Review Council allowed, at that time, a 3 cent increase to power rates.
It indicated, at that time, that anything over a 15 percent threshold would be a rate shock for Nunavummiut.
So in that Utility Rate Review Council, last year, they allowed for 15.8, almost 16 percent increase, and a 6.3 percent after the external review, and some other work that the Power Corporation had put in place and would be able to document.
I have not received, officially, the external review yet, as an example. Once I receive that external review, I review it myself, I give it then to the Utility Rate Review Council, who will review it, and then there’s an ask available to the Power Corporation of 6.3 percent for this fiscal year, which would be about 1.8 cents, or 2 cents, a kilowatt hour.
This is all up to the Utility Rate Review Council; they provide a check and balance to the corporation.
We do know that they had approved the 6.3 already, as everyone knows; it was in the Utility Rate Review Council report from last year.
Now, the Power Corporation has to substantiate its need for that 6.3 percent, and that’s part of the process of the external review, and so on.
Question 240 – 2(3): Oil and Gas Exploration in the High Arctic (Barnabas)
Under Member’s Statements, I mentioned I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Energy. (interpretation ends) In the High Arctic, there is a lot of natural gas and oil.
Can the minister explain why no work is being done there?
In questioning over the last couple of days in the House, I did allude to the fact that as the Minister of Energy, at the last Ministers of Energy Meeting that I attended, we had raised with the federal minister responsible that the federal government has leases on certain parcels of land in Nunavut, especially and including in the High Arctic, where there is at this time around 35 percent of all known natural gas and oil reserves belonging to Canada, and that there has been no activity in these areas because the federal government has not pushed the leaseholder, in this case PetroCanada, to actually option and act on their leases in the High Arctic.
That’s the reason why there has been no activity on these leases and in these areas. This is probably the major reason for that.
Will Nunavut include this as part of devolution?
Absolutely; devolution will be the key to the economic success of Nunavut.
The amount of monies that we see for example going to the Province of Alberta from royalties from oil and gasoline has put that province into such an enviable position recognized across North America.
We’re now seeing where the Newfoundland Government with its offshore oil resources is also benefiting from these oil and gas wells.
Through a devolution process we would hope that the Government of Nunavut would also benefit from that type of production.
Is this a federal government issue or a Nunavut issue?
This is part of the excellent work that the Premier has been showing leadership on, on the national level, and on the national stage.
Right now, it is a federal responsibility and the federal government will recoup the royalties, but they also have control over who moves forward to develop these areas within the Nunavut boundary.
So the key on this would be devolution.
I also wrote the federal minister responsible about six months ago indicating to them that we would like to see some movement by the federal government to either got to the leaseholder, in this case PetroCanada, and say, ‘Are you going to actively explore your options on our land, or if you’re not, then relinquish them and come out to bid, and give other corporations, entities, and businesses an opportunity to do so.’
Maybe the minister can ask the federal government to move on the oil and gas exploration in the High Arctic.
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some of the studies indicate that over the next 20 years that royalty regime could be over $500 million on the Melville Island side alone if that goes into production.
Again, when you’re holding almost a quarter of all known natural gas and oil opportunities it bodes well for Nunavut’s future, but what we don’t know, Mr. Speaker, is if we did more exploration wells and so on, would we find more? And the answer would probably be yes.
So that’s why, for us in Nunavut, we see global warming, we see climate change, we hear about more traffic through the Northwest Passage area, and the opening up of areas that, right now, may not be conducive to more exploration. So we need to be able to move forward.
So we are pushing the federal government.
We have written letters.
Again, as the Minister of Energy, I am seeking a meeting with our federal counterpart and I would hope to be in a position the week of March 20 to be in Ottawa. I have confirmed some meetings today and I would hope to be able to enlarge on those in the coming days.
Question 241 – 2(3): Update – Arctic College Letters of Expectations (Curley)
Yesterday, your answers to questions on Arctic College were very informative, but we didn’t have a chance to ask you any questions on...last year, you wrote a letter in April, a letter called, ‘The Letter of Expectations for Arctic College.’ I think the letter was four pages long.
Maybe the minister can answer me on whether those letters have been tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
I think the idea of bringing forward the letters of expectation, it was a good one.
It followed on the Auditor General’s Report of last year and it was followed up with the creation of the Crown Agencies Council. The letters of expectations for all Crown Agency Councils were tabled here in the legislature.
Like the other Crown agencies, including QEC have already tabled their letters of expectation and their responses.
In the minister’s view, has the college complied with at least six objectives that the minister asked them to focus on, as well as a number of management issues that he outlined in his letter?
I did table the annual report of the college, which updates the member, the members, and the public at large on some of these issues.
I can say in the affirmative that they have been carried out.
Secondary to that is the external review we did on the college. There were 75 recommendations there, some of them were overlapped within the letters of expectation, and 90 percent of those recommendations now have been complete or are ongoing.
The biggest issue that the college faced other than the management side of things, and I think we have addressed those and we have answered some of those questions for the members over the last few days during the budget debate, were issues around the fiscal situation of the college, which wasn’t very good, and I think we have explained that at some detail in the House where the deficit was reduced down to about $300,000; from a little over $1 million.
The lion’s share of that reduction came from the supplementary appropriation through the FMB.
I appreciate the minister referred to the annual report.