EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
As we all know, co-operation is key for sharing ideas amongst innovative and self-reliant communities.
(interpretation) Mr. Speaker, these workshops are an example of one area that I am proud to say my department has been supporting as we improve and expand training opportunities throughout Nunavut.
We look forward to continuing these training opportunities and working with the communities in order to help them achieve a greater level of self-reliance.
Minister's Statement 121 - 1(5): Response to the Income Support Policy Review Final Report
I tabled the Income Support Policy Review Panel's final report in this legislature in May during our time in Cambridge Bay.
The report contained 46 recommendations based on consultations with the public and stakeholders.
They called for changes to the Income Support Program to make it more relevant and flexible.
I have undertaken to seek other departments', communities' and organizations' thoughts and ideas on the panel's recommendations.
We have heard from the Nunavut Social Development Council, and from government departments that may be effected by the panel's recommendations.
I met with the Standing Committee on Health & Education to see how the recommendations could be implemented.
I have now developed a response that I believe addresses the priority programs in the Income Support Program in a meaningful and substantial way while recognizing the fiscal realities that Nunavut faces.
The document I will be tabling later today speaks to three priority areas for changes to the Income Support Program.
Improving client services, program changes and community capacity building.
While we will be able to recognize several of the changes through the reallocation of present resources, I will be coming forward in the coming months with requests for additional funding that will provide my department with the resources to address important initiatives.
Some recommendations go beyond the scope of my department alone.
While I will lead the overall implementation of recommendations, my colleague, the Minister of Community Government & Transportation will be speaking about the panel's recommendations concerning community development and what his department will be doing to further the discussions of the issues identified.
Mr. Speaker, the document I will be tabling also introduces a new change for the program to Ikajuqtigiit.
I believe that Ikajuqtigiit better describes what the Income Support Program is and what it shall become.
The program will become a truly made in Nunavut program based on the needs of the people of Nunavut.
I welcome the opportunity to hear from my colleagues in this Assembly and all Nunavut on the proposals we make today to work towards helping change many of our citizens lives in a positive way.
Minister Responsible for Community Government & Transportation.
Minister's Statement 122 - 1(5): Bathurst Mandate Planning Obligations
Allow me to begin by congratulating the Minister of Education for working hard and their efforts on this project.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that we as a government work for the people of Nunavut.
The Bathurst Mandate directs us to put people first, and that what this effort is all about.
Mr. Speaker, in attempting to put people first, the Bathurst Mandate directs the Government of Nunavut to develop three plans that are critical to the development of Nunavut and the well-being of Nunavummiut; a capacity plan, a wellness plan and an economic strategy.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, achieving the broad goals of these plans lies outside the efforts of a single department.
As a result, these plans are being developed by the inter-departmental wellness and community development steering committee.
The committee is made up of staff from;
the Department of Community Government & Transportation
the Department of Health and Social Services
the Department of Sustainable Development
the Department of Education
the Department of Justice
Together we are working to establish community specific plans that will benefit the citizens of each Hamlet.
Mr. Speaker, through the inter-departmental wellness and community development steering committee, the Department of Community Government & Transportation will be co-ordinating discussions around the circle of support concept that was identified in the Department of Educations' Income Support Vision.
We will determine what kind of project will be required in each community to ensure that the objectives of the three plans are met.
These objectives are;
Designing a one window service delivery approach to ensure the co-ordination and consolidation of departmental wellness and community development funding for Nunavut;
Building community, regional and territorial networks; and
Implementing the Bathurst Mandate initiative principle in Inuqatigittiarniq, or healthy communities, which identifies a clear agenda for collaboration across and between departments.
Mr. Speaker, it is inter-departmental co-operation like this that will contribute to the development of Nunavut and the well being of Nunavummiut.
Minister's Statement 123 - 1(5): Culture and Heritage
Mr. Speaker, later today I will be tabling the NSDC report, "On Our Own Terms."
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize this important work of the Nunavut Social Development Council and their dedication to Inuit culture, language and social development.
The issues addressed in this NSDC report are issues that we all care deeply about.
They are the pieces of our culture and heritage that we all work to preserve and promote for all ages.
They are the issues that hit close to home and Inuit closer to the heart.
Yesterday the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Task Force began their meetings.
For many of us, discussion of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit raises memories of our traditional upbringing.
For many of our youth it is a connection to culture and learning through stories.
The membership of the Task Force is made up of Government of Nunavut, NSDC and elders' representatives.
I would like to thank our elders and the generations of others that came before them for their teaching, for their wisdom and for their care and co-operation that helped our people to not only survive, but from them we have learned about the importance of community.
Today, our sense of community has grown.
Just as our elders taught us to work together for the strength of the family, we need to reach out and work with the communities like NTI and the Federal Government to work for the strength of our cultural identity.
I hope you all have the opportunity to read the NSDC report and I look forward to exploring ways we can all work together to present a strong sense of culture and heritage for future generations of Nunavummiut.  Nakurmik, Uqaqti.
Member for Uqqummiut, Mr. Iqaqrialu.
Member's Statement 334 - 1(5): Elders’ Assistance in Suicide Prevention
Mr. Speaker, I will speak to the issue of suicide in Nunavut.
I would like to make a comment on ways that can help us prevent suicides in Nunavut.
We have a very huge problem.
I believe it’s time that we give the elders an opportunity to help us with this problem.
I think it’s time that we as elected members get the elders to help prevent suicide at the community level.
I would like to see an organization of elders who could help the youth and the elders get together to work on the prevention of suicide.
The communities in Nunavut will have to come up with ideas and strategies and we will also have use Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit to prevent suicide.
There are solutions out there that we can look for and to date we have nobody who is working on prevention.
The Minister of Health and Social Services and the Department of Culture, Language, Elders & Youth have to get together to work on preventative solutions and also look at how there could be a closer working relationship between the elders and the youth in the Nunavut communities.
There are things we can do, there are measures that we can put in place.
We can no longer pay lip service when we’re talking about suicide prevention.
We have to set up networks at the community level in order to slow this down.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Members' Statements.
Member's Statement 335 - 1(5): Youth Abroad Program Funding Cuts
I rise today to draw attention to an excellent youth program in Nunavut that is now in the fifth year of operation.
The Nunavut Youth Abroad Program is an excellent opportunity for youth to cultivate leadership, cross-cultural awareness and develop individual career goals.
The program promotes students participating in education by providing work and travel experience that can change their lives.
The success of this program is so far reaching.
Forty four youth from across Nunavut have participated to date and the majority of these participants have gone on to graduate from high school and or are in their final year of high school.
At the beginning of this year my honourable colleague from Nattilik made a statement on this same program and at that time he noted the funding support from the Department Culture, Language, Elders & Youth had been essential in leveraging additional funding from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
But sadly Mr. Speaker, the amount of funding provided by Culture, Language, Elders & Youth has decreased drastically from 50 thousand dollars in 1999, 59 thousand dollars in year 2000, and 15 thousand dollars this year.
Mr. Speaker, support from the Government of Nunavut is essential to ensure that this meaningful program is available to the youth of Nunavut.
Earlier this week I spoke about the difficulties facing my community of Kugluktuk and I spoke of an increase in rates of youth crime.
Participation in an activity such as this program may be the key to turning a young person’s life around from boredom and hopelessness to education and learning.
I agree with all the members who have risen in this House to speak to the merits of the Nunavut Abroad Program.
My colleagues Mr. Puqiqnak, Mr. Anawak and Ms. Thompson have also spoken in support of this program.
I urge this government to encourage the Department of Culture, Language, Elders & Youth in particular to commit support to this uniquely worthwhile program.
You were right on your time limit.
Member's Statement 336 - 1(5): Recognition of Counsellors Without Certificates
Today I would like to make a short comment about how capable and able we are as people.
We have been elected by the people of Nunavut, given their trust and placed in the highest level within the government.
We have appointed members of our own to sit as ministers, therefore giving them the responsibility of running the government.
There has been more than one time through oral questions that we have been making requests to get more Inuit to work within the government.
We can use ourselves as an example.
We do not have diplomas or certificates but we are still sitting here as Members of the Legislative Assembly.
And you are sitting here as ministers.
If I have to hire a mechanic of course you have to get a red seal or trade certificate.
And if you are a pilot you will need your papers.
But the people that counsel others out there in the communities are very capable and they should be given the opportunity to take on positions of employment.  There are a lot of counsellors out there in my community and other communities.
But of course they do not want to move to other communities to take on those positions.
I would like to urge the government to hire counsellors even though they don't have the required diplomas or certificates.
Of course the elders know and you know that there are very capable and experienced counsellors out there.
Many are older then we are.
This is why I am trying to urge the government to recognize those people who are very experienced counsellors and very capable.
This is one thing that I would like to urge the government to do.
Member's Statement 337 - 1(5): Planning for Healthy Communities
I would like to make a few comments on planning the future of Nunavut.
We need to do proper and careful planning for our future generations.
As Members of the Legislative Assembly we need to work hard at ensuring any future planning is well thought out.
This is the key in ensuring that we have healthy communities for generations to come.
Member's Statement 338 - 1(5): Significance of White Ribbons
Mr. Speaker, in Rankin Inlet there is a program that assists individuals that are victims of crime.
The significance of the white Ribbons that we wear today is to show that we do not condone violence of any kind.
We are working towards preventing abuse against women.
Abuse usually happens when individuals have consumed alcohol, a lot of the cases have to do with alcohol.
Alcohol may not always be the cause but it can be a trigger for underlying issues.
We have to work towards dealing with these problems.
Some women end up having to leave their homes or community and take their children with them.
As individuals that have never been kicked out of your own home, we wouldn't know how it feels to have to take our children out.
Abuse doesn't solve anything.
We need to work on preventing abuse against women.
It doesn't only affect the person that is being abused.
The children get affected and I feel the people in Nunavut have to start talking about how these problems can be solved.
And I'd like to thank the Minister for Culture, Language, Elders & Youth for recognizing this.
Member's Statement 339 - 1(5): Iqaluit Participants on “Smart Ask” Quiz Show
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pose the following question to the House or to whoever can answer it.
Which three students at Inukshuk High School are going to be competing shortly in a nationally televised competition.
The answer Mr. Speaker, is Anna Stenton, Shaun Doherty from the grade 12 class and Markoosie Arsenault from the grade 10 class, who are on their way to Toronto on December 6th to take part in a very popular CBC National high school quiz game.
Ask Smart.
Mr. Tootoo: I should say Smart Ask, Mr. Speaker, I didn't want to say it that way.
Just in case someone made a mistake.
It’s a Smart Ask competition.
Mr. Speaker, students who compete in Smart Ask have to have a wide range of general knowledge.
To do well they need to know about Canadian history, geography, sports, arts, science and literature.
Smart Ask is not only fun but an excellent learning experience for the students.
Markoosie, Shaun and Ann have already demonstrated their skills.
In October they competed twice against teams from Whitehorse and from Yellowknife and they won all four of their games, Mr. Speaker.
The Nationals run from December 6th to the 14th Mr. Speaker.
I ask all members to join me in wishing these three young representatives of Nunavut the very best in this competition.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Tootoo. Members' Statements.
Member's Statement 340 - 1(5): Health Committees Funding Allocation
Mr. Speaker I rise today to bring up a concern of mine regarding the population based funding of Health Committees of Council.
On November 23 the Minister for the Department of Health and Social Services made an announcement on this.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, I am aware that the Members of the Standing Committee on Health and Education and Members of the Legislative Assembly and the Mayors of our Nunavut communities have all raised concerns over the original amount of funding, a mere 5 thousand dollars that was allocated to the community based Committees of Council.
While I welcome the minister’s announcement that this amount would be increased, I was quite dismayed to learn how the additional funding would be allocated.
Mr. Speaker, this government has spent a lot of time and effort in trying to convince the federal government that the funding formula based out on population also referred to as per capita capital funding formulas are grossly unfair to Nunavut.
When it comes to infrastructure dollars, the remoteness of our communities and the extreme weather conditions pose special challenges to the development of our community infrastructure and a per capita funding formula cannot hope to meet the needs of our communities.
Especially the smaller or more remote ones.
Mr. Speaker the circumstances faced by our communities and working towards health and wellness are no less challenging.
Providing funding to communities based solely on the population of each community does not properly address the needs or the health and social issues faced by each community.
A larger community for example may have more local resources to call upon, while a smaller community may be struggling with overwhelming issues such as youth crime and a wave of suicides and the committee does not have adequate resources to begin to address the issue.
One of my colleagues asked the minister the other day about how the other communities could get more funding.
But we know that it is not necessarily the size of the population that determines the needs of the population.
I’d like unanimous consent to complete my statement.
Speaker (interpretation): The Member for the High Arctic is asking for unanimous consent.
Continue Ms. Williams.
We have made this argument ourselves about jurisdiction many times over.
Mr. Speaker, the minister indicated that he would be reviewing the funding formula for committees of council again in the near future.
I would like to urge the minister to carry out this review sooner rather than later and I encourage the minister to incorporate practice and assessment needs or health status into the formula for allocating funding to the committees of council.
Member's Statement 341 - 1(5): Coral Harbour Caribou Harvest
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about meat plants.
It is something that I have raised a number of times and the members are probably tired of hearing about it, but it is something my constituency is concerned about.
I will raise it now and ask questions about it later.
The Minister for Sustainable Development talked about the meat plant in Rankin Inlet and the fish plant in Whale Cove.
I am not against these communities having these plants in fact I am happy to see them there.
The minister said that people outside of Nunavut don't have a high demand for country foods, whether they are in southern Canada or in Greenland or elsewhere.
There is no demand because there is no product to demand.
We have a quota of 100 thousand pounds of char in Chesterfield Inlet and we can never finish the 6 thousand caribou quota in Coral Harbour.
We have no place to store or process the products.
I can tell you if we had meat plants in all 26 communities we could find markets around the world for the meat.
I don't understand how, if there is a meat plant in Rankin, we can't have one in Coral Harbour.
Carvings were sold at one point by the Co-op stores in the 1960's and they are still being sold today.
I feel that once we start selling country foods this can be very successful.
So I urge the government to build a meat plant for the community of Coral Harbour since they harvest up to 6 thousand caribou as a source of meat and these can be sold as well.
Greenland has told us that they can finish 6 thousand caribou in three months and still ask for more.
I urge and implore the government to do something about this.
Member's Statement 342 - 1(5): Recognition of Middle-aged Persons
Mr. Speaker, my statement will be brief.
I would like to thank the other members, I am very glad to be here with them.
I am very thankful that members have a very high regard for the young people and the elders.
I think we also need to remember the people in between.
If we want them to respect us, we have to respect our adults and it doesn't matter if you are an elder or a youth, everybody, all the people of Nunavut need help at one time or another.
Our youth are very capable just like the elders are and they’re very capable of taking care of themselves.
So we have to work with our youth.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Alakannuark. Member for Sanikiluaq, Mr. Kattuk.
Member's Statement 343 - 1(5): Global Warming and Effects on Hockey Ice
Hon. Peter Kattuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about something that is important to me and my constituents, regarding the effects of global warming.
Each evening we see the forecast for around Nunavut.
In Sanikiluaq I often see the forecast and my concern is that I often see my colleagues here talking about other people from their constituency joining different activities such as hockey or other sports.
In our community today in Sanikiluaq it’s about minus two or three and the lakes have about five inches of ice.
A lot of our young people like to play hockey but it’s been so warm it might take a while for them to play the sport that they enjoy.
This is a concern in my community because it affects our wildlife and the activities in our community.
Because I know hockey, the people in my community enjoy the sport and it’s healthy for their bodies.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Picco.
Member's Statement 344 - 1(5): Recognition of Doug Lem’s Contribution to Iqaluit
Hon. Ed Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Nunavut Catering and Consulting Services is a private business that started in 1996.
Mr. Speaker, today the company employees over twenty three people here in Iqaluit and is in the process of expanding it’s business with the opening of a Chicken and Ribs restaurant in a few weeks.
Mr. Speaker, the owner of Nunavut Catering is Mr. Doug Lem, well known to many members in this House.
Doug served on our city council here in Iqaluit Mr. Speaker, and is well known for the generous support he provides to volunteer and community organizations.
For example, some of the organizations that Doug supports include the crisis-line, the library, the museum, the women’s shelter and the homeless shelter as well as our fire department.
Doug hires many young people and always answers the call when support for our youth is needed.
Mr. Speaker, Doug’s father is quite ill right now and has gone south and he was here in Iqaluit for a long time.
Doug said that the support, guidance, and advice he receives from his dad, Bark Jong Lem, has been a major factor in his success to date.
Mr. Speaker, the other day Mr. Tootoo mentioned the generosity of Nunavummiut.
Doug Lem is a perfect example of the generosity and community involvement of our local businesses all over Nunavut.
I know that Doug would prefer to remained unmentioned but on behalf of the many Iqaluit residents, youth groups, volunteer organizations and various charities Mr. Speaker, I would like you to join with me in thanking Mr. Lem for his unselfish support to our community, to Nunavut.
With monetary contributions as well Mr. Speaker, we should add many food contributions to the organizations and the homeless shelter and the other groups that I talked about.
Mr. Speaker I would like to recognize some people here from Iqaluit from my department.
Wildlife Officers are very important in Nunavut.
First it is Russell Akeeagok, Johnny Nowdlak as well as Jane Cooper, my executive assistant.
Please feel welcome as you witness the proceedings. Member for Sanikiluaq, Mr. Kattuk.
There is a group here from the Nunavut Social Development Council.
Monica Itusarjuaq, Mary Alainga, and Lora Idlout.
I would like to welcome them to the House.
Speaker (interpretation): Please feel welcome.
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to welcome to the Gallery someone behind me, Mr. Johnny Nowdlak. Johnny is an old friend of mine, Renewable Resource Officer and former President of the Amarok Hunters and Trappers in Iqaluit.
He told me not too long ago about how much I've given him his hunting skills.
Mr. Speaker I helped with his boating skills this past summer.
I would like to welcome Johnny and also Russell to the Gallery.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome to the Gallery a businesswomen.
An employee of the Nunavut Social Development Council.
A well known community activist, Mary Alainga and also sitting next to Mary, Mr. Speaker a lady that used to work in the Health Department and last night I tried to recruit her again to come back.