EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
The importance of reducing the Nunavut Housing Corporation’s reliance on consultants and casual employees by identifying and eliminating the barriers that exist to the successful filling of its positions on a permanent basis.
During the standing committee’s hearings, the issue of capacity was raised on a number of occasions.
The Nunavut Housing Corporation advised that a third party organizational review was expected to have been completed in the spring of 2009.
Members look forward to the tabling of the results of this review in the Legislative Assembly.
The government’s recently announced “Report Card” initiative may also contribute to this process.
The standing committee also acknowledges the necessity of reviewing the corporation’s decentralized structure in order to improve its success in filling highly technical positions.
The importance of identifying opportunities to maximize the impact of Nunavut’s scarce housing dollars by pursuing cost savings in relation to the delivery of housing materials on the annual sealift.
Members encourage the Department of Community and Government Services and the Nunavut Housing Corporation to work together in this area.
The importance of tabling in the Legislative Assembly a copy of the framework for a strategic plan for housing delivery in Nunavut that the Nunavut Housing Corporation has indicated has been under development and which is expected to be finalized in the spring of 2009.
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Rule 91(5), the standing committee formally requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.
I would also like to take this opportunity to note that the standing committee looks forward to holding hearings later this year on the Auditor General’s recently tabled reports, one of which addressed the financial management practices of the Department of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I will conclude by moving that the report of the standing committee be received by the House.
The member is requesting that the report of the standing committee be received by the House.
Raise your hands, please.
The report of the standing committee is hereby received by the House.
Tabled Document 018 – 3(2): 2007-2008 Lease Activity Report (Kusugak)
I wish to table today the (interpretation ends) Lease Activity Report, 2007-2008. (interpretation) It identifies what the government has leased in terms of staff housing, warehouses and other facilities and what they cost.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister. (interpretation ends) Tabling of Documents.
Tabled Document 019 – 3(2): Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner Ending March 31, 2009 (Speaker)
Tabled Document 020 – 3(2): Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nunavut Ending March 31, 2009 (Speaker)
I wish to table the Annual Report of the Integrity Commissioner for the year ending March 31, 2009.
I have another document.
I wish to table the Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for the year ending March 31, 2009.
Motion 004 – 3(2): Parliamentary Concurrence in the Passage of Nunavut’s Official Languages Act – Notice (Okalik)
I give notice that on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, I will move the following motion:
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Amittuq, that this House strongly urges the Senate of Canada to swiftly conclude its study of this matter and adopt the motion for concurrence at the earliest opportunity.
Hon. Keith Peterson.
Bill 02 – Supplementary Appropriation (Capital) Act, No. 1, 2009-2010 – Notice
Bill 04 – An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act – Notice
Bill 05 – Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2009 – Notice
I have three Notices of Motions for First Reading of Bills which I will read back to back.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, that Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation (Capital) Act, No. 1, 2009-2010, be read for the first time.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, that Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, be read for the first time.
And finally, Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, that Bill 5, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2009, be read for the first time.
Motion 004 – 3(2): Parliamentary Concurrence in the Passage of Nunavut’s Official Languages Act (Okalik)
WHEREAS Nunavut’s new Official Languages Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly on June 4, 2008;
AND WHEREAS section 38 of the federal Nunavut Act requires that the Parliament of Canada concur in its passage by way of a resolution;
AND WHEREAS the House of Commons adopted a motion to concur in the passage of the Official Languages Act on June 1, 2009;
AND WHEREAS the Senate of Canada has been considering a motion for concurrence;
AND WHEREAS this motion has been referred to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs for study, which has been directed to report no later than June 11, 2009;
AND WHEREAS the Members of the Legislative Assembly and all Nunavummiut look forward to the coming into force of our territory’s new official languages legislation;
Before we proceed with comments to the motion, I have a few comments to make.
The mover of the motion has the right to speak once to the motion for a total time of 20 minutes.
The seconder will have an opportunity to speak next.
Mr. Okalik: Merci, Monsieur le Président.
I hope and dream of a territory that will be able to speak in three languages one day. (interpretation) I truly believe the importance of the new Official Languages Act.
In the past, we were told that even though we live in the Territory of Nunavut, the original people of Nunavut were treated like visitors whether they go to a retail outlet or to some of the service providers if they were unilingual Inuktitut speakers even though they were in their own territory.
We wanted to improve it and that’s the reason why we adopted the Official Languages Act. It’s open to all Nunavummiut whether they are English, French, or Inuktitut speakers.
We want the people of Nunavut to use the language that they are most comfortable with.
We would like the Official Languages Act to be concurred with.
The Senate of Canada will have to recognize our territory and show the people going into Nunavut that we are a friendly and open territory; it is for the protection of all Nunavummiut.
Through the Official Languages Act, we can do so and accommodate all people.
I urge my colleagues to support this motion.
We will be making an appearance in front of the Senate of Canada this week to lobby them to make sure that the Official Languages Act is concurred with. I would like to thank the Premier and the minister for all of their efforts.
I would like to extend my appreciation to our representative, Leona Aglukkaq, for passing a motion that was adopted by the House of Commons.
I know that we will be meeting with our Senator, Willie Adams, and it’s clear we have his full support.
If we have the full support of the House for this motion, it’s going to strengthen our case when we are appearing before them.
So I urge my colleagues to support the motion and I will keep my comments short as this motion is very important for us.
Seconder of the motion, Mr. Tapardjuk.
Just as a preamble, I truly support this motion that was introduced by the Member for Iqaluit West.
We may have to change the name of the riding, perhaps to another term.
Anyways, the Official Languages Act was passed by the House of Commons on June 1, with the Premier and Deputy Premier Taptuna. We were all in attendance when the House of Commons dealt with the passage of the Official Languages Act.
It was indeed a proud moment for all of us in the Gallery.
What added to the occasion was to watch the Liberals, NDPs, and Conservatives being urged by our MP not to be concerned about party differences and support the Official Languages Act. She worked extremely hard to make sure that it was concurred with unanimously. We should be proud of Leona Aglukkaq for her hard work in introducing the motion.
It has been of great importance.
On June 2, the Canadian government referred the motion to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, which again we will have to get a proper Inuktitut name through Taiguusiliuqtiit.
There was a motion was passed by Senator Comeau, seconded by the Senator for Nunavut, Willie Adams, whose last day will be June 10 after 32 years of being a member of the Senate.
On June 4, one of the Senators was worried that the constitutional rights of some Nunavummiut might be diminished, including the French language and other aboriginal languages.
Due to that, the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs decided to do a further study to make sure that the constitutional rights of the French and other aboriginal language users were not being extinguished.
As we know, the Official Languages Act was passed by this Legislative Assembly on June 4, 2008, and we were looking at celebrating the anniversary, but it seems like we’re going to be seeing a slight delay.
One thing that I would like to emphasize is that the Official Languages Act was passed and we also have another language legislation, which is called the Inuit Language Protection Act, and they go hand in hand.
That is the reason why we are lobbying with the federal government to make sure that it’s concurred with as the earliest opportunity.
There were concerns that the French language would be diminished, but I can clearly state, Mr. Speaker, that the francophone association had reviewed the Act in the spring.
They were in full support and even stated that this is the best Official Languages Act in all of Canada. The French are in full support of Nunavut and they’re also kindred spirits. The Inuit and the French in Nunavut are very helpful to each other.
For that reason and as the mover stated, we would like this motion to be supported by the members.
We have been told that 99 percent of the aboriginal people who live here are Inuit.
The Senate Committee was worried that the rights of Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, Gwitch’in, and Slavey language groups were going to be diminished. How will these language groups be protected in Nunavut?
We can tell them that there might be 1 percent of these aboriginal people in Nunavut, but we would like to urge the members to support the motion.
I would like to have a recorded vote and I urge the members who are in attendance to support this motion because it’s very important, especially for unilingual Inuit who are not getting the services that they properly deserve.
So let’s show our representation of this disadvantaged group.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) To the motion. Mr. Tootoo.
Merci, Qujannamiik, Ma’na.
I rise in support of this motion.
I was a member of the standing committee that reviewed this piece of legislation in the last Assembly. I know that at the end of the day, there were some concerns on both sides of the House at the time. Both sides of the House took the time to listen and identify the concerns that everyone had and they were all adequately addressed.
And I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, and anybody sitting in the Senate that one of the main things that I, myself, as the member of that standing committee did was to ensure that our Nunavut Official Languages Act didn’t diminish the rights of any of the language groups under the Official Languages Act that is required, being the English and French, that we have to follow.
What this does is it adds Inuktitut in there.
It does take away the rights because our Official Languages Act that we had before that was for the whole NWT, as my colleague pointed out, there were Chipewyan, Cree, Dogrib, and other aboriginal language groups that made up part of the Northwest Territories.
This is a Nunavut Official Languages Act made in Nunavut for Nunavummiut, and that was the whole idea in my mind of further creation of Nunavut so that we could develop legislation that suits Nunavummiut.
The language rights of those other language groups are still protected in the jurisdiction in which they live in the Northwest Territories.
The reason it was in ours, like I said, was because it, at the time, encompassed Nunavut as well.
I challenge any member of the Senate to find a way somewhere in there that this piece of legislation, our Nunavut Official Languages Act, diminishes the rights of French or English speakers.
As the member of the standing committee and as the Minister of Languages pointed out, the Association des francophone was heavily involved in consultations during the public hearings that we had on that particular piece of legislation and as the minister pointed out, they are in full support and do not feel that their language rights are diminished in any way.
And as a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, I think as this is pointed out, they probably feel that their language rights are strengthened within this piece of legislation over the past legislation that we had.
So I, too, would like to add my voice in saying that we have done our work, this is a made-in-Nunavut legislation, keeping in mind our obligation to follow and adhere to the federal Official Languages Act and all of those have been complied to.
I would certainly urge the members of the Senate to not play politics, semantics, and games with this and just do their jobs objectively.
I’m sure that the very review of this piece of legislation would show beyond any reasonable doubt that it doesn’t diminish the language rights of any English or French speakers in Nunavut.
I don’t have any more names on my list for comments to the motion.
I’m sorry, (interpretation ends) Hon. Premier Eva Aariak.
I believe that we and Nunavummiut have confidence in this piece of legislation and that they are able to be served and work no matter where they are, whether it’s in a boardroom or a school.
People are expecting to see this legislation being implemented after it has been passed.
Everyone is also aware that when Nunavut was created in 1999, many Inuit and non-Inuit believed in and were proud to have Inuktitut as part of our society and culture, and that it will be enhanced.
I believe that our elders are very pleased about the language legislation.
They have high expectations of it since it’s a very important piece of legislation for everyone.
Many youth out there would like to learn Inuktitut yet again.
Since April 1999, when the Government of Nunavut was created, they had many expectations.
Also, the organizations in Nunavut, especially the Association des francophones du Nunavut, NTI, and the Nunavut government along with all Nunavummiut would like to see the language legislation passed.
I am very pleased at this time that the Senate Committee is reviewing the legislation. I am sorry that they are kind of stalling right now, but I expect that they will get a clearer understanding if they didn’t understand it fully and they will get to understand how important this piece of legislation is for Nunavummiut.
I have no more names on my list to speak to the motion.
The mover of the motion has the right to the last reply which closes the debate. Mr. Okalik.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank my colleagues for their support to the motion.
That support is very significant.
As Inuit, our language is part of our identity and it is part of our culture. I know that we will protect it through legislation, but the strength of the language legislation has to be on equal footing with legislation for the English and French languages. Inuktitut is part of our identity and deserves equal treatment with English and French.
It will be a signal to all Canadians and everywhere else from those of us in Nunavut that Inuktitut is one of our languages and that everyone is welcome whether they speak English or French.
To our aboriginal brothers, we feel for you and we are not trying to diminish any of your languages.
It’s just that we want to speak our language in Nunavut and we want to be good role models for other places; it could be a good model for the other aboriginal groups to use.
So I am very pleased that we are able to move on with this legislation through this motion for Nunavummiut. I would like to have a recorded vote to mark this occasion.
You will now be voting on the motion.
There was a request for a recorded vote.
All those in favour of the motion stand and sit down when I state your name, please.
The motion has been unanimously carried.
>>House recessed at 15:31 and Committee resumed at 15:56
Chairman (Mr. Okalik)(interpretation): Good afternoon, my colleagues.
I would like to call the committee meeting to order. We have the following item to deal with: Bill 1.
What is the wish of my colleagues?
We would like to continue with our review of Bill 1 and the Department of Health and Social Services, followed by the Department of Community and Government Services.
Do my colleagues agree with that?
Chairman (interpretation): The members would like to continue with that.
We were about to begin with the opening comments of the chair of the standing committee responsible for the review of this department.
Mr. Aupaluktuq, do you have opening comments?
Mr. Aupaluktuq (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Members of the Standing Committee on Social Wellness have reviewed the 2009-2010 Main Estimates and Business Plan of the Department of Health and Social Services and I am pleased to provide you with my opening comments.
The standing committee notes that the 2009-2010 operations and maintenance budget for Health and Social Services is $258,192,000, which is an increase of over $10 million from the department’s revised operations and maintenance budget for 2008-09.
Given the department’s past history of over-expenditure, the standing committee hopes that the proposed budget is a realistic projection of spending for 2009-2010.
On April 1, 2009, the Auditor General of Canada’s report on the financial management practices of the Department of Health and Social Services was tabled in this House.
The committee encourages the department to continue its efforts to address the Auditor General’s recommendations for strengthening its financial management practices.
The committee has noted that a number of budget items have been restated for the 2009-2010 main estimates, including funding for Non-Insured Health Benefits, or NIHB.
This particular block of funding, which amounts to over $18 million, has been transferred from Vote 1 funding status, which is for direct expenditures on operations and maintenance, to Vote 4 funding status, which is for expenditures on behalf of others.
The standing committee was advised this change has been made in accordance with the terms of a specific contribution agreement with the federal government.
It is not entirely clear to the standing committee if this change has imposed more conditions on how this money is spent.
The standing committee is aware that negotiations for NIHB funding are carried out by a tripartite committee which is composed of representatives from the GN, the federal government, and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.
Members have heard a number of concerns from their constituents regarding NIHB-funded services, including transportation and accommodation for medical clients.
While it is not clear how or if the change in the vote categorization of this block of funding will affect the department’s role in managing NIHB funds, the committee urges the minister to bring the relevant issues and concerns relating to the delivery of NIHB-funded services to the negotiating table.
Mr. Chairman, the Standing Committee on Social Wellness is in full support of the department’s proposed focus on public health initiatives.
Members share the view that implementing proactive measures that focus on prevention will ensure long-term health benefits, as well as promoting cost-effectiveness for the department as a whole.
Committee members will be monitoring the development of new public health legislation in this area as well as the government’s efforts to address ongoing health challenges, such as tuberculosis in the territory, the threat of potential pandemics, or the unforeseen public health consequences of climate change.
It has been noted that Nunavut has not escaped the national threat of exposure to the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, with a number of confirmed Nunavut cases in recent weeks.
Members encourage the minister and his officials to remain vigilant in this area and to continue working with their counterparts across Canada to ensure that the public is as well protected as possible.
Mr. Chairman, the standing committee urges the minister to make sure that the appropriate levels of support are in place to deliver and maintain health promotion and illness prevention programs across Nunavut.
Mr. Chairman, following the dissolution of the divisional health boards, community health committees were established under hamlet authorities and funded by the GN. These community-based committees of council are one mechanism for engaging local populations in health related activities.
These committees can act as public health advocates in addition to helping deliver specific programs in such areas as suicide prevention and healing.
Current levels of funding for such committees are limited.
In addition, their exact mandates are often unclear and inconsistent across communities.
The standing committee encourages the minister to provide more support for the work of these committees.
The high cost of living in Nunavut’s communities is nowhere as clearly demonstrated as in the comparative costs of nutritious foods.
Good and adequate nutrition is a critical component of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The federal government recently released two reports concerning the Food Mail Program and has indicated it will continue to review the program.
The standing committee looks forward to the minister’s response to the recommendations brought forward in these reviews.
Mr. Chairman, committee members recognize that a key element of success in the implementation and delivery of health programs is the incorporation and inclusion of Inuit culture and language, not only in the areas of terminology and programming but also in the training, recruitment, and retention of Inuit into the health professions.
Members encourage the minister to continue working with his colleagues, the Minister of Education and the Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College, to prepare Nunavummiut for careers in the health care professions, including the areas of mental health, dental therapy, and social work.
The standing committee also looks forward to updates on departmental initiatives involving elders in the delivery of health care services, especially in the area of counselling.
While Nunavut Arctic College’s Nursing Program has been successful in graduating small numbers of nurses to date, the standing committee believes that more can be done to support nursing students through the program. The committee also recommends that the minister and his officials consider implementing further measures to guarantee that Nunavut-trained nurses will work in the territory after graduation.
Mr. Chairman, the committee has noted that some of the proposed increase to the department’s funding for 2009-2010 is due to rising costs in residential care, especially out of the territory.
With the upcoming opening of the two 24-hour care facilities in Gjoa Haven and Igloolik, members look forward to a reduction in services being provided outside of the territory.
Committee members have expressed concerns that policies, initiatives, and programs directed towards vulnerable groups in Nunavut’s society are not well coordinated and that individuals, especially children and youth, often fall through the cracks.
The committee encourages the minister to work closely with his colleagues, especially the Minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, as new initiatives relating to children, families, and other socially vulnerable groups are brought forward.
The standing committee notes that the department’s business plan indicates that one of its 2009-2010 priorities will be “establishing a Territorial Mental Health and Addictions Division.”