EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
They were able to organize the dog team races using traditional lines for the dogs.
It is extraordinary that they were able to set that up.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, while they were trying to solicit funds, they had square dances, not necessarily every day, but there were some good prizes.
Are there any nays? (interpretation) I did not hear any nays.
Please proceed, Mr. Shooyook.
Mr. Shooyook (interpretation): As I was saying, there were some good prizes.
During one of the dances, we were able to get there when the prize was a 24-foot sled, which is where we sit when we’re out on the land. One of the prizes was a snowmobile. There were three prizes.
When the day of the draw came, my wife’s younger sister’s name was pulled out for the sled.
I was very gladdened by that and after more square dances, they had another draw.
All of us naturally wanted our names drawn. The same person’s name was pulled out again for the sofa and chesterfield.
After another hour or so of dancing, the third winner to be drawn for a snowmobile was her once again.
She was so happy that it became funny how the same person’s name was drawn. I won’t say her name because she is my sister-in-law.
She was overcome with joy. I was near that place and people were dancing and it was a joyous occasion for all of us.
I would like to express my happiness of these traditional games with the people of Nunavut and my colleagues.
Members’ Statements. Member for (interpretation ends) South Baffin, Mr. Joanasie.
Member’s Statement 074 – 4(2): Cape Dorset Graduates of NTEP (Joanasie)
Good day, colleagues, the people watching the TV and listening on the radio.
I would like to share my happiness with you, Mr. Speaker and colleagues, about the graduates from the Teacher Education Program who are from Cape Dorset.
I will mention the first two who graduated from the teacher training program from Cape Dorset. Their achievements will be recognized this afternoon for successfully completing their program. All together, there were six people, but I will mention the names of the first two graduates, Saimaiyu Akesuk and Rebecca Hutchings, and they will be here this evening in Iqaluit.
Arctic College provided their way down.
The other graduates are Silaqqi Alariaq, Saizula Putuguq, Mary Taukie, and Jefferson Uttak.
These people have completed the Teacher Education Program this year and I would like to share my happiness with all the members here.
I went to school with Mary Taukie and Jefferson Uttak at Nunavut Sivuniksavut, which they also completed.
I am very proud of all the graduates and the fact that they’re Inuit and were able to go on to higher education.
We want to see teachers and nurses graduate and be able to work in various capacities among our people within Nunavut. I would like to add my additional support and encouragement to those who would take the challenge of pursuing those programs.
I would like to share my appreciation for these successful graduates and hope that we will see a lot more graduates in the future.
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. (interpretation) Member for (interpretation ends) Rankin Inlet South, Mr. Sammurtok.
I would like to recognize my wife, Michelle Sammurtok.
I am very pleased to recognize, right behind me, my wife, Elizabeth Mapsalak, and our daughter Lucy Agalakti Mapsalak, named after my mother. She was my mother’s favourite granddaughter, as well as her first grandchild. I would like to welcome them to the House and I am extremely happy that they were able to be here.
I welcome the visitors in the Gallery.
Question 100 – 4(2): Support for Nunavut Daycares (Akoak)
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s Statement, I noted that governance and financial management difficulties at the Gjoa Haven Pairivik Daycare may mean that the daycare can no longer operate.
Can the minister confirm that he has received correspondence from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association on this issue and whether he has had an opportunity to review the situation?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the hon. member for that question.
I can say that we have received correspondence from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association in relation to the Gjoa Haven Pairiviik Daycare.
We have received correspondence on that. The district education authority has provided financial assistance throughout the operation.
We are able to provide assistance for centres that are having difficulty.
The staff usually go there to provide education and financial services in terms of how they should be operating so that their society status can return to good standing. We are able to provide financial assistance to get them back on their feet. We can provide financial assistance as to how they can administer their finances much better than they had previously.
He answered my second supplement.
It is very important that the Gjoa Haven Pairivik Daycare continues to operate and provide much needed child care in the community.
Will the minister commit to directing his officials to assist the Gjoa Haven daycare in getting back on its feet so that the board can continue to receive outside funding and continue operating, yes or no?
I agree with the hon. member wholeheartedly. As I stated, we can provide assistance for daycare centres that are no longer running properly.
We can provide assistance to them administratively because daycare centres are important and we will be able to have our staff provide assistance.
I, too, have grandchildren who need to be in daycare centres.
We consider that very important. Yes, we can provide assistance so that they could operate in a better fashion.
Question 101 – 4(2): Baker Lake Integrated Community Infrastructure Sustainability Plan (Mikkungwak)
(interpretation ends) As the minister is aware, Baker Lake’s integrated community infrastructure sustainability plan was produced in 2010. This important document outlined a number of priorities for the community.
Can the minister indicate how frequently his department meets with the municipality to review progress on implementing Baker Lake’s integrated community infrastructure sustainability plan?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Minister of Community and Government Services, Mr. Sammurtok.
My department meets with any community on a need-to basis. (interpretation) Thank you.
As the minister is well aware, Baker Lake is a decentralized community that has experienced significant growth in recent years.
One of the main priorities in Baker Lake’s integrated community infrastructure sustainability plan is the development of a new water and sewage utilidor, which would service the community’s downtown core and some residential areas.
Can the minister indicate if his department will bring forward capital funding later this year towards the development of a new utilidor for Baker Lake, as recommended by the integrated community infrastructure sustainability plan?
Hon. Tom Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Every hamlet in Nunavut has been given a toolkit called “Building Nunavut,” where they can identify their priorities.
However, any priorities that are identified by a community are, in turn, reviewed by the Nunavut Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee, who then prioritizes the infrastructure needs at the various communities in Nunavut. (interpretation) Thank you.
As the minister is aware, the Government of Canada recently announced a new Building Canada Fund.
It is my understanding that projects which address drinking water and wastewater may be eligible for federal funding.
Will the minister commit to approaching the federal government to determine whether a utilidor for Baker Lake would be eligible for funding under the new Building Canada Fund?
Hon. Tom Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) We are in the process of finalizing that agreement.
Question 102 – 4(2): Piqqusilirivvik Centre (Savikataaq)
My questions are for the Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College and they concern the Piqqusilirivvik Centre in Clyde River.
The 2013-14 budget for the Piqqusilirivvik Centre was $3,663,000.
As of today, how many students are currently enrolled at this facility?
Thank you for asking that good question. We should be very proud of Piqqusilirivvik because it provides a place to teach Inuit culture.
In the 2013 school year, there were 18 students at the Piqqusilirivvik Centre.
They have a summer and fall program. They have another winter and spring program where they had 35 students.
They have different seasons. They split courses up into different seasons. There is a winter program, spring program, summer program, and fall program.
They had 18 students in the fall season and they had 35 students in the winter/spring session for the 2013 school year.
One of Nunavut Arctic College’s ongoing priorities has been to expand the cultural school’s satellite communities in places like Baker Lake and Igloolik.
As of today, how many students are enrolled in programs in these two satellite communities?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) The Hon. Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College, Mr. Quassa.
Thank you to my colleague for asking that good question.
Igloolik and Baker Lake are satellite communities. Maybe I’ll speak in Inuktitut. They are part of the college.
I can’t say right off the bat how many there are, but I know that in Igloolik, they teach caribou hunting, fishing, and the traditional Inuit way of making clothing. They use the skins from caribou harvested by the students.
In Baker Lake, they have the same program. They take a caribou and use the caribou skins to teach how to make clothing.
In Baker Lake as well, they have three cabins that they wanted to build for the coming year to use for cultural programs through the Piqqusilirivvik program in or near Baker Lake. They will be building three cabins at some point.
In reviewing the list of programs that are offered at the Piqqusilirivvik Centre, I note that they include such courses as how to go fishing, how to play traditional games, and how to raise your children.
As a father, I think I did a pretty good job in these areas.
Can the minister indicate what kind of certification graduates get from the Piqqusilirivvik Centre? What can the certificate be used towards?
I again thank my colleague for asking another good question.
I’ll try to give you a good answer.
They teach different aspects of Inuit culture. It doesn’t run like a normal school per se.
We don’t envision Piqqusilirivvik students to fail or not pass or not complete. They don’t look at it that way.
It’s not run like a normal school; it’s run the Inuit way.
Even though students don’t receive a certificate per se, they get more proficient, for example, if they’re going to be hunting or if they’re going to be making something by sewing or other means. They become much more proficient in doing things like that.
That is basically what they learn. They’re not told, “If you don’t do this, you’re going to fail,” at the Piqqusilirivvik.
Question 103 – 4(2): Update on Iqaluit Landfill Fire (Hickes)
I’ve got a question today for the Minister of Community and Government Services.
Mr. Speaker, a week ago on Monday, I had asked the minister some questions regarding the fire here in Iqaluit at the dump and he had updated me that there are a number of consultations that are going on at the federal and municipal levels.
Unfortunately, there’s a limit of questions that I can ask at a time. I didn’t get to do all the questions that I had on this topic.
Would the minister be able to inform me what type of actions his department is taking alongside with the City of Iqaluit and his federal counterparts?
Hon. Tom Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) What we’re doing as a department is we’re providing support and advice to the City of Iqaluit in monitoring the situation. (interpretation) Thank you.
My office has received a number of phone calls and a number of emails over this past couple of weeks since this incident has been occurring.
A number of the concerns that are being addressed and of which we were impacted in this House is that the fumes from the smoke and the toxicity of the materials that are being burned right now are a concern.
What I would like to know is if his department is planning on doing any air quality testing to make sure that the particles that are in the air don’t pose a health hazard.
I am working with my colleagues in the Department of Environment and the Department of Health in determining what needs to be done.
I think we all realize that there’s some consultation that needs to occur amongst different departments on the actual action of what needs to be done, but base thresholds and base measurements of what is actually in the air that we’re breathing when the wind comes our way need to be addressed.
I would like a commitment from the minister that these air quality tests will take place in the very near future.
As we all know, the City of Iqaluit and the fire department of Iqaluit is taking the lead role in this matter.
However, I can commit to talking with them and see if there’s any other support that we might be able to provide.
Question 104 – 4(2): Management of the Public Service (Angnakak)
Last week, the minister tabled the most recent public service annual report.
According to the report, there are a total of 54 formal grievances filed by employees of the government during the 2012-13 fiscal year.
The 2013-14 fiscal year ended a couple of months ago.
Can the minister indicate if the number of grievances is increasing or decreasing?
I’m afraid I don’t have that level of detail. Something tells me that the level of grievances is decreasing, but I just don’t have that in my briefing note.
Thank you, minister, for the answer.
The new Public Service Act requires the government to promote the incorporation of Inuit societal values in its operations.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that the issues of conflict management and dispute resolution are very challenging, especially in the workplace setting.
Can the minister provide the House with one or two specific examples of how Inuit societal values are being incorporated to improve the process by which disputes and grievances are managed?
Mr. Speaker, as I think I have indicated on a number of occasions in this House beginning in the winter session, we did pass the Public Service Act. We do have the various collective agreements. We do have the Human Resources Manual.
Within all those documents, we do incorporate respect for each other, employer/employees.
We do have, through the appeal process, the ability for people to be heard, get a fair hearing, and get a fair decision.
Of course, we also incorporate through the Public Service Act, as you said, we do promote it, we hire based on merit and you’re promoted on merit.
We’re hoping to eliminate nepotism so that everybody knows it’s a fair process and everybody is treated with respect.
We provide training to our employees where we can. We do show that training is available. We’re also getting very strict on performance management for employees so that they know how they’re performing, what training they need to do their jobs, and possibly even get promoted to higher jobs when they apply for those, Mr. Speaker.
The new Public Service Act includes provisions that will allow the ethics officer, once he or she has been appointed, to refer a matter to an alternative dispute resolution process.
Can the minister outline what types of alternative dispute resolution processes are contemplated under this section of the new Public Service Act?
As I indicated, our department is working very diligently on the regulations to govern and help the ethics officer, whoever that person is, to do their job.
We are doing cross-jurisdictional reviews of what’s incorporated in other jurisdictions in Canada, but at this time, I can’t tell Ms. Angnakak what’s being contemplated. There are obviously many alternatives.
Question 105 – 4(2): Determining the Need for Medical Client Escorts (Sammurtok)
Mr. Sammurtok: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Health.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, a number of my constituents have had the experience of travelling down south to have a medical procedure done only for the doctor to refuse to perform the procedure because the patient does not have an escort to help them after the operation.
The patient is sent home again, without the procedure being done, and the only result is a total waste of money by the government.
Can the minister describe how the opinion of southern doctors and specialists, who are booked to provide medical treatment to Nunavut patients, is taken into consideration when determining whether or not a patient requires an escort?
I heard two questions, but I’ll try to respond to one of them.
When patients going down south for a medical procedure see a doctor or nurse, either the doctor or nurse has to make a decision of whether or not the patient needs an escort.
If they need an escort, it needs to be approved by the regional directors.
When patients go down south for different medical procedures, I can’t assume why some escorts were denied.
I kept stating that if patients want to appeal, there’s an appeals process in place for patients to use, not just for plane tickets. For example, if you need to find out where the birth certificates are, you can contact the Office of Patient Relations and you can make an appeal to them in any form.
I did hear one question.
Please proceed with your first supplementary, Mr. Sammurtok.
I have heard of several cases where patients have returned home without a medical procedure being performed because they did not have anyone to assist them after the operation.
Is the minister aware of these types of cases and, if so, can she update this House on whether she and her officials have determined how much these wasted trips have cost the government to date?
I believe we discussed this issue when we appeared before the standing committee. When there are many patients going down, only a few of the patients, approximately 1 percent of all patients, their appointments are not done properly.
Mr. Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) The minister must recognize that denying an escort to someone who is booked to have an operation in the south is a waste of time and effort when the patient has to return home without treatment.
They simply have to be sent out again to get the treatment they need.
Will the minister commit to reviewing this aspect of the Medical Client Escort Approval Policy and changing it so that the doctors who are delivering a medical service can have a say in determining whether a client should have an escort?
Thank you to the member for that question. I have said several times in this House that we are committed to reviewing the Medical Travel Policy after the one year has come up, which will be in June.
We have already started the process of reviewing the Medical Travel Policy. Senior officials from the department have already met and discussed the Medical Travel Policy and we will continue to do that.
Question 106 – 4(2): Capacity Issues in Education (Joanasie)
Mr. Speaker, it is understandable that schools in some communities, as with any other organization, may experience some capacity issues during the year.
Given that education is a top priority identified in Sivumut Abluqta, the mandate of this government, and in ensuring that the classrooms in Nunavut schools stay open for business, can the minister describe what kinds of capacity issues his department faced during the 2013-14 school year?
I would also like to thank my colleague for that question. I can immediately respond by saying that we lack bilingual Inuktitut-speaking teachers, although we are now starting to graduate more bilingual teachers. There are capacity issues with the number of bilingual teachers that are available.
During the 2013-14 school year, was any school in Nunavut forced to cancel classes due to a lack of teachers and/or substitute teachers?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister of Education, Mr. Quassa.
I have not heard of such issues where they had to cancel classes due to lack of teachers or substitute teachers. I have not heard of any cases if we ever had to cancel classes.
Many of our students have to attend school because education is very important.
We are very cognizant of this. I have never heard of any schools being forced to cancel classes due to lack of teachers or substitute teachers.
Can the minister confirm whether all positions for teachers and support staff for the 2014-15 school year have been filled?
To date, as far as I know, we are now starting the selection process for the teaching positions in the Baffin region. I haven’t heard of where the positions are in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions, but in the Baffin region, we needed to find 95 teachers.
I believe there are 63 substitute teachers, but we are still in a shortage for teachers for 2014-15, but we are looking to hire teachers before the school year starts.
Question 107 – 4(2): Homelessness in Nunavut (Enook)
Good afternoon, fellow residents of Pond Inlet and Nunavummiut.
Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for Homelessness regarding her Minister’s Statement yesterday.
I need clarification on what was stated yesterday. It states that “93 people completed surveys,” but that there were 98 homeless people.
Mr. Speaker, I have a question on the Minister’s Statement. Yesterday, the minister informed the House that her department’s recent homelessness study was undertaken in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, and Cambridge Bay.
As the minister will be aware, the Nunavut government’s 2010 Nunavut Housing Needs Survey indicated that approximately 1,200 residents of the territory are homeless.  This report also indicated that Pond Inlet was one of the three communities in Nunavut with the “highest proportion of temporary residents without a home elsewhere.”
I thank the Member for Tununiq for asking about the survey that was done in Nunavut.
We did a survey in the three regions of Nunavut.
I just want to let the Member for Tununiq know that I’m not exactly sure how many people are homeless in Tununiq.
The government’s Long-term Comprehensive Housing and Homelessness Strategy, which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly over a year ago, indicated that 32 percent of households in Nunavut had “housed temporary residents in the past twelve months.”
I would now like to ask the minister this question: can the minister explain how her department’s latest survey is intended to improve on the information that we already have concerning homelessness?
I thank the Member for Tununiq for asking important questions about homeless people.
Some live in tiny tents and some live in shacks. That’s the type of survey we did in Nunavut.
We did the survey to help the people of Nunavut’s communities as to how we can make improvements and how we can work with Nunavut Tunngavik to alleviate homelessness. We’re also working with the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
The survey reveals that we have a lot of problems. Ever since we got Nunavut, one of the things that has been very important is having study done and to address homelessness in Nunavut.
The minister stated that they are looking to solve this problem.
You did a survey and there are not enough homes in Nunavut. Now that you have done the survey, what is going to happen with the department in trying to find homes for those people?
Minister responsible for Homelessness, Ms. Ugyuk.
With respect to his question, the member wants to know what is going to happen after the survey has been done. We are going to be doing some stuff so that the homeless people can get some assistance.
There are homeless people in Yellowknife, Winnipeg, and Ottawa and there are many people out there without homes.
The NWT government has also stated that there are homeless people in their communities. We did a survey here in Nunavut.
We want to help them out, to try and get some help for the people who are homeless in Nunavut within five years.
Question 108 – 4(2): Provisions for Local Hires in Government Contracts (Mapsalak)