EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Speaker, being diagnosed with breast cancer must be a frightening prospect, as is any type of serious disease. However, early diagnosis and treatment offers the hope of beating cancer and living a normal life.
Mr. Speaker, in the 2008 Walk to End Breast Cancer, Ms. Phillips joined over 1,000 other participants to walk 60 kilometres over two days.
That might seem like a short distance but it isn’t when you consider the 35 degree Celsius temperatures and that the walkers must walk on concrete and asphalt.
I understand that the first day was very hard for Angie.
The walkers are a highly motivated group and supported each other along the way. Hot temperatures and hard surfaces are easy obstacles to overcome when you’re walking for a worthy cause.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to inform the House that Ms. Phillips, cheered on by the crowds and her friends, completed the walk and was the number one fund-raiser, raising over $20,000 to help fight breast cancer.
Our community and her many friends who supported her with donations and words of encouragement are very proud of her.
Mr. Speaker, I support programs and initiatives that are designed to help early detection of breast cancer.
Mr. Speaker, I would like the House to join me in congratulating Ms. Phillips in doing so much to raise awareness about breast cancer and being an inspirational leader in the Annual Walk to End Breast Cancer. Together, we can beat cancer.
Member for Rankin Inlet South, Ms. Brown.
Member’s Statement 542 – 2(4): Happy Anniversary to Bobby and Sandy Oolooyuk, Happy Birthday Rose Tootoo (Brown)
I am glad that you are back in your usual spot and further, I am grateful to see my brother, Alagalak, here as well. This makes me joyful.
Today, I rise to speak to two matters.
In my constituency of Rankin Inlet, today marks a special day for Sandy and Bobby Oolooyuk.
I am extremely proud of their joyous occasion. As well, today is someone’s birthday, so both of these dates coincide.
My very best friend, Rose Tootoo, is celebrating her birthday, and I cannot recall her exact age, but apparently that will be known once all the candles have been placed on her birthday cake.
She has told me previously that she would be turning 48, but she was coy about it. I cannot recall whether it was 48 or 68, or was it 58?
Actually, I do know her age.
A note to my friend, please do not over-celebrate and please wait for my return so that I can partake in the celebrations.
So please hold off on the celebrations until my return and that is to both Sandy and Bobby, as well as to my best friend, Rose Tootoo.
Return to Oral Question 631 – 2(4): Use of Foreign Vessels in Nunavut Waters (Brown)
Hon. Levinia Brown (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Asked by: Mr. Tagak Curley on September 11, 2008.
Currently, there is no Government of Nunavut official policy on the use of foreign vessels.
As this is a federal jurisdiction, the decision to allow or not allow foreign flagged vessels is the jurisdiction of Transport Canada.
The Government of Nunavut does not have carrier contracts for sealift services. I’ll rephrase that, Mr. Speaker; I think I made a mistake here.
The Government of Nunavut does have carrier contracts for sealift services. The contracts do not disallow the use of foreign flagged vessels. The carriers must own or charter the vessels at the time of loading and they must operate under a “Coastal Trading License” administered by the federal government.
I am so happy to be here with the Mayor of Baker Lake, David Aksawnee. Please welcome him, Mr. Speaker.
First of all, let me say a very strong and warm welcome to yourself as well as Mr. Alagalak in the Assembly over the last few days.
Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure today to introduce to the Gallery a man, first of all, who has worked with our hospital patients for over 30 years in Edmonton, Winnipeg, and now in Ottawa. He has been probably the number one person, not only in the Eastern Arctic but in the Western Arctic, who has stepped up to the plate and has provided care and after hour contributions to our patients.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome to the Gallery Mr. Bill Davids.
Also, Mr. Speaker, next to Bill I believe is our old friend.
She’s running the Larga Baffin and many of the members here would recognize her. She is really from Labrador, Trudy Metcalf. Trudy, welcome to the Gallery.
If there are no more, I would like to welcome everyone here in the Gallery.
Question 664 – 2(4): Inuit Representation on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Curley)
I hadn’t planned on being the first one.
My question is with respect to representation and it’s directed to the Premier.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this year during springtime, I raised the issue of the lack of Inuit representation on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This commission was appointed by the federal government to study the impacts of residential schools.
We have heard of many instances now of our Premier in the Prime Minister’s company and the last one we heard of was most recently in Inuvik.
With these additional opportunities to meet with the Prime Minister, it is clear that our Premier had an opportunity to express the Inuit position and their desire for representation.
Can the Premier inform this House of whether or not he has raised the issue of Inuit representation with the Prime Minister on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that is dealing with northern and aboriginal peoples’ experiences in residential schools?
Did the Premier discuss this issue with the Prime Minister and if not, can he inform the Nunavut public why he didn’t raise this issue?
I also welcome you and Mr. Alagalak.
Upon learning of this matter, I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking why there’s no Inuit representation on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
I have not heard anything back from the Prime Minister as to why Inuit have no representation, but we are concerned about the lack of Inuit representation on the commission.
Mr. Speaker, the reason for this line of questioning is because of the many people who went to residential schools from the Kivalliq and Baffin regions, especially from Igloolik, where they form one of the largest groups.
They want assistance to deal with this, but since they’re not voicing it publicly, I’m posing the question to the Premier so that he can use all of his powers to lobby for Nunavummiut and request answers from the Prime Minister on this issue.
It’s still not too late at this point as they will be holding public meetings.
I wonder if he can inform the House on any answers and lobby for Inuit representation in the commission. There has to be Inuit representation, especially now that the federal government has issued an apology to aboriginal people on the subject.
Inuit are also suffering the ramifications from this era. Can the Premier please ensure that he requests more action?
Instead of just awaiting a response from the federal government, he ought to demand Inuit representation in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
As far as I can tell, many of the students, of which I was one, and some people sitting next to me suffered in comparison to what I went through.
The federal government apology ought not to be lost. It was accepted by many survivors of the residential school era and I don’t want the issue buried by this new commission. This apology was the starting point for many students to commence on the road to healing.
The commission will be conducting research on what other issues have to be dealt with.
I would like to work with the Prime Minister to plan on the representation, not just on the commission but how we can provide concrete assistance to the survivors.
I have asked the Prime Minister on how we can move forward from this point.
Now that the apology has been issued, we can look at better methods of preparing for the work required under the commission.
This will assist more people rather than just reviewing the experiences of the students.
This is an important issue, but how can we ensure that all parties plan towards the future steps required?
As most of you know, we are in the midst of a federal election and we can lobby all of the candidates to push for this representation issue because I cannot deal with it by myself.
The federal government is responsible for the commission and I would like to encourage candidates in the upcoming federal election to help push to have a representative from the Inuit.
I thank the Premier for his efforts and I understand that we have to move forward.
However, Mr. Premier, these are our people from Nunavut, who have been hurt by this process, and they have concerns about the lack of representation.
Some of them cannot talk about their experiences yet and with that being the case, the aboriginal people down south have had that policy for over 100 years and some experienced this the whole time.
However, the meaning behind this is healing.
They want people to relate their experiences, especially the abuses that they suffered. This is so we can move forward in the Inuit homelands. Inuit want to start healing and it would be much easier to have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission representative instead of just interpreters because that’s the beginning of their healing process in order to move forward.
For these reasons, particularly the healing process, and in order to move forward, perhaps the Premier can inform these survivors where they can email or write their stories to. I would like them to work with you, to contact and email you. I was already getting many emails from survivors with respect to this issue.
Can the Premier please find out if there could be Inuit representation with that commission so that we can move forward?
With respect to this issue, I believe that this matter will be dealt with further down the road. ITK has requested a stance from all political party leaders and for them to provide a response. We will not be working alone; we will be working with ITK and other Inuit organizations, as well as our elected federal representative to discuss the issue of Inuit representation.
Be that as it may, I feel that the healing process is very important and if we are to move forward with progress, we can only do that after the commission has completed its work. It’s only with the resolution of these issues can people open up to healing and I know this for a fact. With that being the situation, I would like to plan with the federal government and others as to what steps we will identify to progress from this point forward and provide concrete measures.
Question 665 – 2(4): Medical Travel Office in Pangnirtung (Arreak)
This has been an issue ever since the transportation office was moved from Iqaluit to Pangnirtung and it continues to be a cause of concern for Baffin Island residents. Further, the government is incurring greater expenses as a result of this fiasco.
We were informed that this situation would be resolved, but nothing has changed to date.
Again, today, I was informed of further difficulties experienced by medical patients who are trying to call the office from Iqaluit since it’s a long distance call from here.
If this office had been situated here, those medical patients would have already travelled home, but they are stuck once again here in Iqaluit.
Has the issue of the medical travel office been reviewed by the department and will this issue be resolved?
Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister Akesuk.
I had a meeting with my staff to find what problems exist with having a transportation office in Pangnirtung and provide recommendations. My staff are reviewing the problems encountered by the people of Nunavut and this process is ongoing.
I cannot state what the recommendations will be as it’s still under review.
My supplementary question is: was this position moved to Pangnirtung due to the lack of office space here in Iqaluit? This position’s location in Pangnirtung is causing numerous unnecessary issues for our constituents.
We followed the government policy of decentralization to the communities when dealing with this position.
Like I said, what we are trying to do now is keep the office in Pangnirtung and add one staff member here in Iqaluit to assist that position.
Yes, the government identified a course of action, but it seems that even though a backlash arises against that course of action, the government proceeds with it anyway.
I don’t condone that, especially when this government is supposed to be representing its people and when its bureaucracy unilaterally acts in opposition to the people.
Further, there was the one territory, one standard time debacle that the government ought to have learned from as it showed what happens when people revolt against a government measure.
This issue is as controversial as that particular issue was. Enough concerns and issues have been forwarded to effect the change of that position from Pangnirtung to the Baffin Regional Hospital. So can the position be moved to be more conducive to medical patients’ travel requirements?
Like I stated earlier, we will review the issue thoroughly. I also represent two communities in my riding and it has been a concern for them as well.
I raised the question to my staff as to how we can resolve the problems that medical patients are facing and they were going to review it. Perhaps the issue of medical travel requires a director or manager to make decisions and someone who can be tasked to resolve the problems so that medical patients face no more travel issues.
Question 666 – 2(4): Additional Benefits Package for Nurses (Tootoo)
I believe I will direct my question to the Minister responsible for Human Resources and it relates to my Member’s Statement I made earlier.
I’m just wondering if he could inform me, the Members of this House, and the public out there if it was the intent of the government to exclude those individual nurses that I mentioned about in my Member’s Statement from the additional benefits package that frontline nurses get or was it something that was just overlooked.
Hon. Levi Barnabas (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker (interpretation ends) and welcome back. And Mr. Alagalak, welcome back.
(interpretation) The Nunavut government is trying to proceed with its mandate of an effective and efficient public service to be provided to its residents through a review of the departmental services and the selection of best practices.
The Nunavut Employees Union, or NEU, is involved in the inclusion of the nurses as well as correctional staff, including the teachers and staff at the schools here in Iqaluit, not just here as we know that there are approximately 12 positions in Nunavut with those types of duties.
The NEU is an independent body and runs its own affairs. As well, the employees in question are pretty much at the same levels.
Further, here in Iqaluit in particular, the staff represent themselves at the union meetings. They have meetings to deal with the mandate of the union and they have an ombudsman that deals with employee concerns and grievances.
But the employees in this category were omitted from inclusion into the union and that is regrettable.
However, we, as the Department of Human Resources, have to deal with the Nunavut Employees Union to deal with and resolve employee concerns and grievances.
I know that it’s recently been argued. For example, I know during our public hearings on the proposed Education Act, that I think is going to get introduced maybe tomorrow or maybe Friday... I’m just kidding.
I’m just pulling the leg of the Minister of Education.
Mr. Speaker, in those hearings, it was argued that anyone in a position that requires a teaching certificate should be considered a teacher and therefore, a member of the Nunavut Teachers Union and even if their actual position is an administrative one.
In this case, we have nurses that have done their time on the frontlines, have stayed, and have moved on in other capacities to help the new ones coming in and help the department provide that badly needed service to the communities, are not being treated the same.
I’m just wondering if the minister is of the view that similar criteria should be applied to the nursing personnel.
The nurses have an association such as that of the Nunavut Teachers’ Association and we could meet with that association to deal with this issue.
The employees have to make their concerns known to their association and we have to deal with this issue with their association. This is similar to the Nunavut Teachers’ Association where we have to deal with the body representing its members to resolve issues.
I want to go back to my first question, I guess and I’m just realizing that I’m not sure if I caught the minister in his response is: was it the position of the government, in collective bargaining, to exclude those positions out of those bonuses, or was it something that was overlooked, or something, like I had mentioned in my statement, that just fell through the cracks and wasn’t thought of?
Hon. Levi Barnabas (interpretation): Thank you.
I will have to conduct a detailed review prior to answering the member’s question.
I appreciate the minister committing to looking into it and getting back to us.
Will he also commit to looking into this issue of giving consideration to allowing nursing managers, who have moved into their jobs from frontline positions here in Nunavut, the same benefits as frontline nursing personnel?
You can almost guarantee that there’s just a handful, if that, of these positions, of these people there.
Would he commit to working with the union to come to a way to resolve that issue so that we don’t lose the corporate knowledge and that dedication from those individuals?
We’re all aware that the long-time employees are very well known by Inuit in their respective communities and we know and feel their commitment to the people.
As I stated earlier, I will look into this issue, Mr. Speaker. I will also look at what the union’s position is in relation to this issue.
Question 667 – 2(4): Who Owns the Dock in Baker Lake (Simailak)
I would like to pass along greetings to my youngest son, whom I believe is home at this time. He is apparently experiencing stomach problems and he is only three years old. He was returned from the day care centre where he went to this morning.
I will be posing my question to the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation.
Last year but primarily this spring, the issue of the barges that arrive to offload supplies became a bit too numerous. When developments occur, the corresponding increase in barges reflects that change.
The matter of the numerous barges became an issue to the boat owners of my community in Baker Lake. Since the barges were in the ramp area, they had difficulty launching their boats into Baker Lake as there was no more room on the dock. It became rather difficult to try and launch a boat at times.
I personally experienced this when I tried to launch my boat, so this issue is familiar to me.
Whose property or responsibility is the dock in Baker Lake, especially when we are talking about the need to expand the dock to accommodate our needs? Can this question be answered?
With respect to the existing docks, we have some funds for their repair and maintenance in our annual budgets. I cannot state with certainty but I believe that our department deals with docks.
Mr. Simailak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to thank the minister for that clear and concise response.
I am very pleased that there’s money available. With the current dock unable to handle the extra cargo and with many barges arriving to the community, it creates a problem. The mining companies have made their own dock to use for their cargo after this summer.
However, we had some icing issues due to the excessive number of barges coming in late in the season.
Last year, a large barge came late in the season and it was iced in. It even had a cabin on it. This spring, another very large barge arrived and it was left out on the lake all spring and summer.
With the arrival of the winter weather, the winds were tossing around these barges and they were blown onto the beach near the airport. They are currently onshore and have been for about a month.
They attempted to drag them out twice but in each case, they didn’t succeed.
When situations such as what I just spoke to occur in the communities, can the Department of Transportation assist the hamlets in those cases?
I did learn that the hamlet and NTCL were working to resolve it.
However, I would like to know if the Department of Transportation can assist the communities and what type of assistance is available. I would like to understand if there are any such programs.
From what I understand of his comments, he is asking what kind of support our department can provide for beached barges. Was that his question?
Mr. Simailak, please clarify your question. Mr. Simailak.
Yes, that was my question: what kind of assistance can the government provide when transport vessels get stuck outside of their community? It has an impact on our waters and it is clear that it will be a difficult salvage operation since they are stuck on a sandy beach.
I would like to know what your department can do to help those communities in these situations.
We are concerned about the safety procedures of the shipping companies that go to the communities. They have to exercise good corporate citizenship and try to retrieve their equipment. We are concerned about their lack of ownership with what they leave behind in the communities.
Question 668 – 2(4): New Nunavut Arctic College Campus for the Kitikmeot (Peterson)
Mr. Speaker, in the last four years, I have been raising the urgent need that we have in the Kitikmeot to acquire or construct a post-secondary education facility to train and educate our residents in the Kitikmeot, in particular for careers in the mining industry.
A few years ago, I proposed that the Government of Nunavut acquire the Lupin mining assets and in the last few years, I have been urging the Government of Nunavut to construct a new Nunavut Arctic College Campus and make it a priority to get that done.  The minister told me on February 21 of this year that it is a priority in his department.
I wonder if the minister could update the House today on the status of the Government of Nunavut’s priority planning for a new Nunavut Arctic College Campus in Cambridge Bay.
What we tried to do a few years ago, when we were looking at process for planning a new trade school for Nunavut, was to look at having auxiliary facilities in Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay and indeed we did spend a few hundred thousand dollars upgrading the shop program at the new high school in Cambridge Bay to facilitate that.
But at the end of the day, we didn’t think that was conducive.
The good news, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that we have moved aggressively as a government and indeed have allocated monies toward the design and build of a new facility to be available in the community of Cambridge Bay.
The minister wasn’t clear when I asked a question about a new Nunavut Arctic College Campus.
Yesterday, the minister had mentioned, in the question I asked, that he’s looking at opportunities to put a mine training facility in Cambridge Bay.
My question for the minister: would the minister provide some clarification about the type of facility that he’s proposing in Cambridge Bay and timeframes for construction?
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The program that we had scheduled to run in Cambridge Bay includes several mine-related training programs.
One of them, and probably the major one, was to do the Millwright Training Program in Cambridge Bay. As I said earlier, initially, we thought we would be able to facilitate that through the high school by enlarging the shop class and doing some work there. However, the second look at that proceeded with some problems, including ventilation issues and so on, and so we had to look at an alternative.