EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
In my riding, they are going through a very hard time right now. There was an individual who went out hunting on Thursday and hasn’t returned.
They have suspended the search for this individual for the time being due to the weather.
We hope that everything is okay and we hope that he will be found.
I would like my colleagues join me in expressing our hopes with the people of Sanikiluaq as they go through this period of worry and concern.
Myself, I have a cold and I will have to leave some time during the day.
My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Sanikiluaq. I know that they’re doing all they can for that individual and their family.
Member’s Statement 358 – 2(4): Importance of Fire Prevention Measures (Barnabas)
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the importance of fire prevention in our communities.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, a number of communities have suffered severe losses in recent years as a result of fire. We have lost schools, hamlet offices and housing units.
In my community of Arctic Bay, we have lost a number of housing units in the past year as a result of fire.
Given the severe housing shortage in Nunavut, we cannot afford to lose even one unit.
Mr. Speaker, a concern that has been raised in my community is the location of pumping station.
At present, our firefighters get their water from a location that is some distance from town. This slows the reaction time for fighting fires.
In Grise Fiord the holding tank is experiencing problems with its levels of water.
Mr. Speaker, when fighting fires, every second counts. I urge the Department of Community and Government Services to work with the municipality to identify a solution to this issue.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to address the issue of arson.
We have seen incidents in which fires were caused by children and youths.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Repulse Bay rose in the House last week to speak about the DARE program, which fights drug use in our schools. It is important that the Department of Education also make efforts to fight arson.
Member’s Statement 359 – 2(4): Avataq Hockey Tournament at Rankin Inlet (Curley)
I rise today to bring up the issue of the hardship that was experienced by Rankin Inlet. Because of that emergency, there has been a delay in the Avataq Hockey Tournament, which is a very important event.
Over this past weekend, the Avataq Hockey Tournament was able to proceed. We had a lot of youth from the Keewatin and it seemed like they had a most enjoyable experience.
Mr. Speaker, when I was in bed, I turned on the radio and I heard the play-by-play in Inuktitut when there was just five minutes, it was just between Coral Harbour and Rankin Inlet. There was a 3-0 score for Rankin Inlet and before the end, Coral Harbour had a penalty, and in the power play, Rankin Inlet scored.
I am very proud of all the teams, not only the winning teams but all the teams that were there and the youth who participated. I send my congratulations to all of the individuals, players, and participants in the tournament.
Return to Oral Question 427 – 2(4): $89.1 Million Contingency Fund (Tapardjuk)
I wish to table my Return to Oral Question 427 – 2(4) asked by the Member for Iqaluit Centre, Hunter Tootoo, on February 27, 2008, regarding the $89.1 million contingency fund.
Mr. Speaker, on February 27, 2008, the MLA for Iqaluit Centre asked me during Question Period if the cost of implementing our pending legislation for education and languages is contained in our $89.1 million contingency.
Mr. Speaker, after reading the interpretation of my response in Hansard and receiving a more thorough briefing on our fiscal plan, I realized that my responses should be clarified.
Mr. Speaker, the $89.1 million contingency contains four elements:
The Nunavut Teachers Association and Northern Employees Union negotiating mandates;
A reserve for fuel costs;
Funds identified for the Strengthening Financial Management and Building Canada Fund Initiatives; and
A small general contingency.
Mr. Speaker, when substantial legislation is being reviewed by this House, we do not prejudge the outcome of that review.
The final cost of implementation depends on what specific elements of each piece of legislation are agreed to.
Return to Oral Question 422 – 2(4): 2008 Federal Budget – Gas Tax Fund (Tapardjuk)
I wish to table my Return to Oral Question 422 – 2(4) asked by the Member for Cambridge Bay, Keith Peterson, on February 27, 2008, regarding the Gas Tax Fund from the 2008 Federal Budget.
Exactly how much would Nunavut receive every year on the Gas Tax Fund if the fund becomes permanent?
In the budget speech, Minister Flaherty announced the permanent extension of Gas Tax funding after 2014.
No monetary amount for this funding was provided by the federal government.
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) I would like to recognize all members of the Qulliit Status of Women’s Council. I will say their names, and when I do, please stand up so that they can be recognized by Nunavummiut.
(interpretation ends) The first person I would like to recognize in the Gallery today, a new board member, is Neevee Wilkins (interpretation) from Iqaluit.
The other one is Annie Iqalukjuak from Clyde River.
(interpretation ends) Another person from Iqaluit, Trista Mercer, welcome to the Gallery.
(interpretation) From Cambridge Bay, Anne Isnor.
(interpretation ends) Another board member recently appointed, Bernadette Dean (interpretation) from Rankin Inlet.
Another constituent of mine and one whom I’ve known since I was a child, a woman named Anaoyuk Alookee from Taloyoak, who is also well-known.
And also, the staff members who are here: Rhoda Palluq; Shylah Elliott from Iqaluit, an employee from Health and Social Services and works closely with the Qulliit Status of Women Council, Rian.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, lastly, I would also like to recognize Stephanie Williams, who I understand is also leaving the Qulliit Status of Women Council, and I want to take this opportunity to thank her on behalf of the Government of Nunavut and the Qulliit Status of Women Council for her contributions to women’s issues and to the organization.
I, too, would also like to welcome someone who is not my constituent but someone who is from Iqaluit, across from us, who is on the Liquor Board, Jesse Mike. Welcome to the Gallery.
I also would like to recognize someone who is not my constituent, Mr. Pauloosie Akeeagok, who is from Grise Fiord, but we work closely together with them on school planning. I want to thank and recognize Jesse Mike and Pauloosie Akeeagok.
I also would like to recognize someone who is from my constituency, Bernadette Dean.
Her daughter, Ashley Dean, is doing studies in town and we are very proud of her.
She represented Nunavut when she was in the beauty pageant about two years ago and she is very beautiful.
She also has a son here in Iqaluit, Cody Dean.
We often visit them and they were once very close to us, so I would like to recognize Bernadette Dean.
Members, please note that we only have two pages at this time, so they’ll have to do tasks only within the Chambers.
If we get more pages, then we would be able to ask them to go outside the Chambers.
Question 448 – 2(4): Review of Qulliq Energy Corporation Emergency Preparedness and Practices (Curley)
Mr. Speaker, the emergency situation in Rankin Inlet has stabilized and it is now time for accountability.
Mr. Speaker, tough questions are being asked in Rankin Inlet about the circumstances that led to this situation occurring in the first place and I believe that my constituents are entitled to clear and candid answers.
As the minister knows, three out of four generators in Rankin Inlet failed within a short period of time.
Replacement parts for one of the generators were not available in the community.
There were significant problems in locating and flying in a new generator.
Can the minister explain why the QEC was not better prepared for this situation?
Very quickly, what occurred in Rankin Inlet was a catastrophic failure of three engines. We had four engines which gives us more than enough power generation when needed to deal with the peak load in the community.
What occurred first was the first engine went down, as the member is aware, the second engine then because of the load pickup and some other concerns with the motor parts itself within the engine failed, and then we lost a third engine when there was a small fire in the engine in the turbo charger. We were left with one out of four engines.
In any other reasonable expectation, Mr. Speaker, we never see a case where you would lose three out of four engines like this; it was an unforeseen circumstance. What we are doing right now, after we have now put the new generators in place, is we have secured the power, and over the next couple of weeks, we will be looking at the reasons and causes for the failure of the engines that we just spoke about.
I thank the minister because the residents of Rankin Inlet want to find out why the emergency generator was so far away when there could have been one flown in from the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, my constituents are asking me whether the QEC is devoting adequate resources and effort to maintaining equipment in our communities.
I have heard concerns that the QEC is spending too much time and too much money on its hydro studies in the Iqaluit area and trips to Greenland for photo opportunities.
Will the minister commit to putting a freeze on unnecessary travel and studies until such time as he is satisfied that the quality of equipment in all of our communities’ power plants is reviewed – yes or no?
As I just pointed out, this was a catastrophic failure. It had nothing to do with the capital expenditures.
For example, one of the engines in the community was brought in brand new last year in 2007, then the other engine set was 2003, it’s only four years old, so indeed, Mr. Speaker, two out of the four generators were less than four years old. One was practically brand new, and as the member knows, it goes by the number of running hours on the equipment itself.
In this case, it was 7,700 hours.
No, we will not stop trying to access other opportunities for developing other alternatives for energy, which includes hydro. Right now, we’re in the process of doing a desktop study for hydro development in the Kivalliq region; we’re in the process of putting out a tender for that.
So we want to look at that and we want to look at opportunities with wind. We’ve had contact this past week with a wind consortium, and indeed, someone from the Energy Secretariat will be going down there.
So we want to continue to look at alternative energy, but at the same time, we want to continue to keep our capital purchases up and keep the generators up to stock and up to date.
I think that’s what we’re doing.
There was no emergency generator available in Kivalliq and there is none available.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my supplementary: the service that QEC provides to Nunavummiut is literally a matter of life and death.
It is essential that QEC’s personnel be fully trained and fully qualified to do their jobs.
This is an area where shortcuts must not be tolerated.
Will the minister commit to ensuring that the QEC fully reviews its training plans for all of its employees?
The Power Corporation is the largest employer of apprentices in Nunavut and we have ongoing training. One of the good things that happened in Rankin Inlet during this outage was that we actually had a training workshop on the go with some of our people. So we actually had extra staff in the community.
What happened here, again, was very unique, and in reviewing some of the information that has been provided to me since the outage and so on, is that with the lineup of the four engines that we had in place, we were at over 110 percent of peak load with the largest engine out of service.
So we were way more than compensated for if we lost an engine but no one would have foreseen losing the three engines.
So it isn’t a matter of training. Our people are trained to the highest standards and quality, Mr. Speaker, and indeed, our apprentices regularly pass the Inter-Provincial Red Seal which means they are nationally certified.
Again, what we will do is appoint an independent review of what has occurred in Rankin Inlet and be able to bring that forward to the members. We will do a debriefing with the hamlet and mayor, and go through what has occurred on the file.
I would also like to thank the mechanics; they work very hard. A lot of the time, the operators are not certified mechanics, so they must be trained properly.
My final question to the minister is this: given that the Qulliq Energy Corporation cannot be expected to investigate itself, and the minister alluded to that, will he commit to commissioning an independent and objective third party review of the circumstances leading to the recent Rankin Inlet situation, including the QEC’s management of the situation, and if not, why not?
Let me say in the House publicly and on behalf of the government, and I’m sure indeed the people of Rankin Inlet in particular, the hard work by the Power Corporation’s staff during this emergency. They put in over 18 hours a day for almost five straight days, they worked in some of the worst kinds of weather conditions, and they did that above and beyond the call of duty.
So I want to take this opportunity, first of all, to thank our dedicated staff.
There’s no one, and Mr. Curley is correct, there’s no one suggesting anywhere that staff are at fault in this case.
I will commit, on behalf of the Power Corporation, to hiring an outside agency, a third party, independent organization to review the total operation before and after the emergency in Rankin Inlet to find out what the causes have been. I also commit to having the Power Corporation do a debrief with the mayor and the hamlet in Rankin Inlet.
We would do this in course, like we did in Pangnirtung a couple of years ago, Mr. Speaker, as standard practice, and I commit to do that.
Question 449 – 2(4): Status of Small Craft Harbours for Nunavut (Arvaluk)
I was going to make a statement but I’ll just ask some questions first.
If it gets difficult, then I’ll elaborate later.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, I was very disturbed to note that today’s News/North is reporting that a spokesman for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has stated that the resources available to the department “do not permit the department to build additional harbours in Nunavut at this time.”
Mr. Arvaluk: Can the minister indicate to the House whether or not he has been formally advised of DFO’s position on the issue of providing funding for the construction of new small craft harbours in Nunavut?
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I have not been approached by the DFO based upon the member’s question.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) The GN’s capital estimates, which I stated before, for 2008-09 includes $1 million in funding for small craft harbour contribution. This represents our 10 percent contribution towards small craft harbours.
What are the government’s current plans for the use of this money that was approved last fall by the Legislative Assembly?
That $1 million that we have in our current budget for the small craft harbours was going to be a down payment on the small craft harbours funding we were asking for the seven communities. We also used that fund to repair docking facilities across Nunavut.
The minister has stated that he has not been told by his federal counterparts about their decision.
I understand then that there is no discussion going on between the federal government and the GN. As the minister stated to me earlier, there was continuing dialogue, continuing discussions, and continuing lobbying, and yet, the federal government announcement in the media without actually telling the minister or the government.
In this case, are there any plans he has now of what he will do in the immediate future?
I meant to say that my staff have been in dialogue with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in particular to that file, but we were never told that only one community of the seven communities that we were asking for would be approved.
I will consult with the Cabinet on what we want to do with the Small Craft Harbours Program.
I’m not really shaky; I’m just angry.
The Baffin Fisheries Coalition had generally warned that Nunavummiut should not accept just one.
We are happy for Pangnirtung, but what are the minister’s plans now to force the federal government, especially the Prime Minister, who has been saying that we will defend the arctic sovereignty.
What will the minister do now, to assert that we want to participate in economic development, for the federal government to have a sign that they have sovereignty on these arctic islands?
All dialogue between the Prime Minister’s Office is best with the Premier’s Office on that that may be able to answer that question.
Question 450 – 2(4): Announcement in Budget Address of Outfitters Assistance Program (Barnabas)
Mr. Barnabas: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My questions today are for the Minister of Finance.
In his Budget Address, the minister announced the creation of a new Outfitters Assistance Program to help Nunavut Outfitters “obtain suitable liability insurance coverage at a reasonable cost.”
There are a number of commercial outfitters in my riding, and this will be welcome news.
Can the minister indicate which department will be responsible for administering this new program?
It is my understanding that the insurance coverage for outfitters is under the portfolio of Economic Development and Transportation.
In the minister’s budget package, he indicates that “a single organization will represent the outfitters in the territory.”
Can the minister indicate to the House how this organization will be established?
I don’t know if there will be a single organization for the outfitters in the territory as it has not been fully considered of whether it will be established yet.
I think this would be under the portfolio of the Economic Development and Transportation.
The government has stated that its financial commitment under the program will be limited to a maximum of $2 million per year.
Can the minister indicate from which department’s budget this program will be funded?
I was just reminded that that was your second supplementary.
It is identified in our 2008-09 budget that the $2 million is for the insurance coverage of this program.
Can the minister indicate how the GN will communicate the details of this new program to wildlife officers in our communities and tourism operators in Nunavut?
There has been a great deal of discussion on insurance coverage for some of our sports hunters coming into our communities.
It will be used to assist the outfitters in the communities in getting insurance coverage, and it is also recognized that outfitters are required to have business licenses when they’re guiding sports hunters and so on.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say that the Departments of Finance and Economic Development and Transportation will be starting discussions on the development of this new program.
Question 451 – 2(4): Options Paper on Inuksuk High School Forwarded to DEA (Tootoo)
Mr. Speaker, on February 19, the Iqaluit District Education Authority had its annual meeting and there were a number of parents that were there. They were hoping to be able to look at different options that had been presented to the District Education Authority in regard to the renovations to the Inuksuk High School.
Mr. Speaker, in early November, the District Education Authority had indicated that over the next several weeks, they were going to be looking at all of the options presented by the department.
The deputy minister, at the meeting, said that that meeting would have to wait until mid-March to be considered.
Can the minister responsible indicate when the options paper was finally provided to the DEA?
The member is correct. The DEA actually held their Annual General Meeting, the AGM. In that meeting, the Deputy Minister Ms. Okpik was in attendance and actually gave an overview to the parents that were there on the schedule, the timeframe, and so on, of the work on the Inuksuk High School renovation, so that work went forward.
Mr. Speaker, the department put together an options paper with nine options for the renovation of Inuksuk High School and that was presented several weeks ago to the DEA.
Indeed, Mr. Speaker, we met here at the Legislative Assembly with the full DEA members. I gave a PowerPoint presentation to them; we had some further discussions; we had to work on some of the logistics, as well as working on the administrative; and some of the costs entailed with some of those options.
I think in a correspondence that was sent out by the DEA at the beginning of November, I believe around that time, the department had indicated that they would be, very shortly, providing that options paper to the DEA.
Can the minister indicate why several weeks turned into several months?
There are several reasons and just quickly, in this timeframe, I could go through just to give you an example of why there was a delay.
We wanted to look at how we would be able to renovate the new Inuksuk High School and how we would be able to do that. Would we close down one wing, and if we closed down one wing, could we work around the students? If we couldn’t do that, then we had to look at alternative places to place the students.
For example, we had to look at the Ukiivik Residence and when we looked at that, we had to see how many classes were there. If we actually went in there, could we bring it up to code?
So there was a whole range of construction and logistic issues that had to be dealt with and that caused the delay in finalizing the options paper.
Once the options paper was finalized, and there were nine options available, after they came back again to the minister’s office to review, we then scheduled a meeting with the DEA several weeks ago and actually sat down with them.
And, Mr. Speaker, the next step now would be to hold a public meeting here in Iqaluit in the next couple of weeks to go through the options with the parents, educators, teachers, and DEA members.
That will be a full and open meeting and we will be able to have a discussion then on the timeframe and what seems to be the best option for our students and for the school.
Mr. Speaker, in the correspondence that was sent out by the District Education Authority, they had indicated that they planned to meet with the parents to go over all of the options and much of the decision making would occur once they’ve received guidance from the community.
Mr. Speaker, I understand that, basically, there’s just one option being favoured by the government is to move and what option to look at.
Can the minister indicate if they have made a final decision on the preferred option that the government has or not?
At the AGM, Annual General Meeting of the DEA and in the last two weeks, all of the options were discussed, and the member is correct, we went from nine options down to actually three.
Therefore, an option out of those three options, there is one option that is preferred and there has to be some more work on that last option, option number one, to see how that works logistically again, as I said earlier, with the timeframes and so on, and that’s part of the delay that we have talked about with having the public meeting because we need to get a firm handle on dollar values and as well as timeframes.
I guess my last question to the minister is: would he confirm to me and to the parents here in Iqaluit that have students at Inuksuk High School and the DEA that, indeed, no final decision will be made until they have some input?
Would he confirm that if the decision or the option that the community chooses isn’t the option that the government chooses, would that be something that they would consider? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.