EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
There has been a suspended development over by the Road to Nowhere subdivision that I think plan A and plan B have both been suspended, like I stated earlier, I’m assuming by cash flow issues with the City of Iqaluit.
Is there something that Community and Government Services or the GN as a whole would be able to assist the city on a short-term basis? As we all know, capital costs are recovered through a land lease program where, in some respects, it could be deemed as a loan.
What options have been explored? Maybe if the minister would be able to describe that for me.
During our discussions with the City of Iqaluit, they certainly did indicate that they had to postpone some of the development of some of their lots simply because it is a cash flow issue.
When you develop those sites, there’s quite a bit of infrastructure like the utilidor. It has to be expanded and upgraded in the city.
The city hasn’t out front approached us to see if there are any options that the GN could temporarily invest in assisting with those lot developments.
That’s something that certainly we can take under consideration and have a discussion with the City of Iqaluit the next time we meet with the new mayor and her staff.
We’re at Community and Government Services. Branch Summary. Community Services.
Welcome, Minister Mike and your officials.
I just wanted to get some updates on a few projects in my constituency. I guess we can start off with the Kimmirut Sewage Lagoon.
I understand that it has been set back. Can I get an update on that project, please?
Just a reminder, we’re barely maintaining quorum. No one is allowed out now.
My deputy minister will reply to the question.
The construction of the sewage lagoon in Kimmirut is complete. As part of the application for commissioning the sewage lagoon, the Nunavut Water Board requested a fish habitat study be done because the community indicated that the effluent from the new sewage lagoon may be discharging near fish-bearing habitat. That study has been completed and submitted to the Nunavut Water Board.
It was posted on their site for feedback on October 19.
The preliminary indications from the report are that there is no risk that the effluent would have on the fish-bearing habitat. However, we are waiting for DFO to respond back to us to determine if there is any risk or if we need to do a mitigation to change the flow of the effluent of the sewage lagoon.
Mr. Joanasie: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The construction is complete. Now we’re looking at what the impacts are; if it will impact the fish in the area.
The official stated that you’re going to wait for a response from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
When do they expect a response from them?
Hon. Johnny Mike (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My deputy minister will reply to the question.
I have asked my staff this week to reach out to the Nunavut Water Board and the DFO to see if they can’t provide us with their recommendation in terms of the outcome of that fish study.
I have gone to that nearly completed sewage lagoon.
It looks really nice and ready to be used.
Is CGS going to proceed with that newly constructed sewage lagoon and moving the project forward or if the risks and impacts are too great on the fish habitat, will they have to build a new sewage lagoon at a new location?
Mr. Green: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Once we know the outcome of the decision by DFO and the Nunavut Water Board with respect to the study, what we would first approach, after we know if this needs some mitigation, then it’s our intent to work with Dalhousie University under the existing contract we have now to find ways if we can redesign the wetlands to have the effluent flow away from that fish-bearing pond.
Just looking back, it was five years ago that this project was announced under the old Building Canada Fund. Now we have the New Building Canada Fund.
Before they proceeded to build this facility, did they do a study to ask some of the locals and say, “Do fish here? Do you hunt here?”
It might impact them. It seems like the project was built and now they’re asking how it is going to impact.
Again, my DM will reply to that question, please.
This project was approved through the GN capital plan and the Building Canada Fund using the old capital planning process. We were confident. We’re finding with the new capital planning process now that we have to do a planning study, which requires a rigorous gathering of information before we bring anything into the five-year capital plan for consideration.
Moving forward, we would be doing those types of site conditions and the fish habitat studies to prevent some of those situations from happening.
Unfortunately this sewage lagoon was approved with not the level of detail that should have been required at the time it was built.
I think, if I look at some of the correspondence, discussions around this sewage lagoon dates back as far as 2001 and it has been progressing over the years.
It’s unfortunate that the fish study didn’t get done.
You’re absolutely right. It should have been done before the construction occurred.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
When we became aware of it, we did commission a fishing study. We will see what the outcome of the fish habitat study is before we determine what the next steps are.
I’m confident that, going forward under the new capital planning process, those types of actions won’t happen moving forward.
Mr. Joanasie: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for that detailed explanation.
I encourage the department to work with the municipality on this.
Like I said, it has been five years since the announcement of that project. It’s a nice new facility that’s ready to be used, but it’s not commissioned yet.
I’ll move on to Cape Dorset. It’s almost the exact kind of circumstance, but it’s taking longer.
I asked questions on that in this House to the minister of the day. Can I get an update on the Cape Dorset Sewage Lagoon from the department?
Unfortunately this is another situation where, when this sewage lagoon was built back in 2006 I think, since its inception there have been ongoing operational issues with the sewage lagoon.
In order to try to, first of all, prevent the leaking underneath the new solid waste site and plus the fact that the condition of the road was something that we even brought to our attention after we did a feasibility to determine what the best solutions are for us to be able to commission this particular facility.
We are reviewing the options of the feasibility study that was completed this fiscal year and we’re going to try to determine what the most cost-effective approach is to solve this situation with the sewage lagoon and bring it into operation.
Once again, it’s unfortunate that this is a bit of a legacy issue that the current administration within CGS has inherited. We are certainly working with the community to try to find ways that we can address the concerns for the sewage lagoon so that we can get it commissioned through the water board.
Depending on the scope of work that needs to be done to improve access to this particular facility, it could be an expensive fix.
At this point in time, we’re just looking at the options and determining how we can best deal with this issue and resolve the outstanding issues.
Once again, I would reiterate the fact that under the new capital planning process those types of decisions would be avoided and certainly the amount of proper planning process would be done prior to introducing it into the capital planning process.
All I can say to the members is we are still working with the municipality to come up with ways that we can try to commission the sewage lagoon.
I sure hope so and I sure hope that in eight years from now, the new sewage lagoons that are being built today won’t have the same sorts of problems.
The department is well aware of the issue. The old sewage lagoon facility in Cape Dorset, just this past summer, there was a breach in one of the cells that compromised the integrity of the sewage lagoon cell and there’s leaking.
The department needs to address this issue moving forward.
I asked in the spring about this summer 2015, there’s supposed to be a dye study done. Have they got the results of that study to see if the new sewage lagoon is still leaking?
The issues we face in Cape Dorset and Kimmirut have existed for quite some time.
Ever since I was assigned the portfolio of CG&S, I have had the opportunity to visit various communities throughout our territory and witnessed examples of proper facilities being managed by municipalities. They face various challenges.
I can cite the example of Cambridge Bay as it seems to be a model for others to follow. They have constructed a solid waste and sewage facility with an excellent layout that I saw myself.
This is particularly when they are compliant with all legislation, codes, and regulations applied by various agencies and public bodies. The facility in Cambridge Bay seemed, in my eyes, a perfect example of properly constructed and compliant designs.
All municipal waste management facilities should be like that because one remembers examples of well-managed and designed facilities.
Nonetheless, not every community is blessed with favourable terrain, such as Cambridge Bay. Some are faced with steep and rough terrain in their adjacent lands.
Although suitable lands can sometimes be found elsewhere, it is not so easy in the case of Kimmirut and Cape Dorset.
Indeed, both the department and I personally know that in order to find suitable terrain for now and the future, we have no choice but to find the lands.
The only way to initiate this search for feasible territory within the proximity of the built up area is to put it into the capital plans posthaste.
Mr. Chairman, I wanted to respond briefly on my personal knowledge about this issue and would ask that my deputy minister respond with the actual details as he is more versed in the operational matters.
We did do a dye test on the new sewage lagoon and the dye test did determine that there is a leak within the new sewage lagoon.
Basically what we’re doing now is looking at the options of how we can seal the leak within that lagoon.
Just a reminder that we are on capital estimates 2016-17.
You jogged my memory with that.
Perhaps to end my limited questions while on this subject, the current facilities as they were constructed are yet to become operational. Again I reiterate my question about these existing facilities today.
In the past, they had to go through this capital planning process and today the rote answer is that they have to go through the capital planning process while we are asking that they be considered for next year’s capital plans now.
This seems redundant and makes that past work under those plans ill planned.
Also, what additional plans are there as contingencies for the particular communities of Kimmirut and Cape Dorset? I want to be kept abreast of developments from the Department of Community and Government Services.
That is my final comment. Thank you.
I didn’t hear a question. Do you want to comment? Minister Mike.
Hon. Johnny Mike (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My colleague has tersely managed to lay out the process of capital planning required for important community infrastructure. This is why, in my tenure as the Minister of CGS, I can state the following with regard to new capital items, let us say, for a five-year capital plan.
To the extent we can ensure proper planning, I can state here in front of you that it will follow all the procedures.
We will ensure it doesn’t degenerate to the way it was done in the past, where constant bureaucratic resubmissions result in costlier processes, with local decisions rendered meaningless and no adherence to published plans.
This eats up precious funding, spurious of the political statements of having no extra funds.
Respecting our management of capital plans that have followed this process, the best practice is to do that and review the process, and ensure checks and balances exist to ensure that priorities are respected to allow our communities to operate smoothly, especially important service-related infrastructure.
I wanted to clarify that while speaking to this matter.
The desire to be updated with developments in important local priorities has to result in close communications between bureaucracy and communities to ensure this process works as planned.
By having a close working relationship and communicating priorities on these capital items between communities and government and throughout the capital planning process, the projects can proceed as agreed to.
That’s why I am just responding. Although this isn’t included in our review, in reality, the question is relevant to our debate now, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: Thank you. We have motion on the floor to report progress and the motion is not debatable.
Clerk (Mr. Quirke): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a reminder to members, there’s a meeting of the Full Caucus tomorrow morning at nine o’clock in the Nanuq Boardroom, followed by a meeting of the Regular Members’ Caucus in the Nanuq Boardroom at 11:15.
Speaker: Qujannamiik, Mr. Clerk. This House stands adjourned until Wednesday, October 28, at 1:30 p.m.
Minister of Health; Minister of Justice; Minister responsible for Labour; Minister responsible for Immigration; Minister responsible for Suicide Prevention
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Pages 312 – 392
Members’ Statements 315
Returns to Oral Questions 318
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery 319
Oral Questions 320
Tabling of Documents 335
Notices of Motions for First Reading of Bills 335
First Reading of Bills 335
Second Reading of Bills 336
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters 338
Report of the Committee of the Whole 391
Orders of the Day 391
Wednesday, October 28, 2015 312
020 – 4(3): New Wildlife Regulations (Mike) 312
021 – 4(3): Video for Victims on the Court Process in Nunavut (Okalik) 313
022 – 4(3): Social Assistance Review (Ugyuk) 314
023 – 4(3): Handbook and Training for Ilinniarvimmi Inuusilirijiit (Quassa) 314
061 – 4(3): Respect for Elders (Akoak) 315
062 – 4(3): Baker Lake High School Graduates (Mikkungwak) 315
063 – 4(3): Congratulations to Whale Cove Soccer Teams (Kuksuk) 316
064 – 4(3): Problems with Boarding Home in Iqaluit (Keyootak) 317
065 – 4(3): Second Year as an Elected Member (Mike) 317
066 – 4(3): Congratulations to Elijah Tigullaraq (Enook) 317
067 – 4(3): 2016 Plebiscite on Land Ownership (Hickes) 318
Return to Oral Question 026 – 4(3): Update on Capital Plan for Francophone School (Mike) 318
075 – 4(3): Status of Social Assistance Review (Mikkungwak) 320
076 – 4(3): Public Service Management (Angnakak) 322
077 – 4(3): Elders’ Issues (Akoak) 324
078 – 4(3): Assistance for Disabled Hunters (Mapsalak) 324
079 – 4(3): 2016 Plebiscite on Land Ownership (Hickes) 325
080 – 4(3): 2016 Plebiscite on Land Ownership (Savikataaq) 327
081 – 4(3): Departmental Positions (Enook) 328
082 – 4(3): Certifying Specialized Medical Equipment (Sammurtok) 329
083 – 4(3): Handbook and Training for Ilinniarvimmi Inuusilirijiit (Joanasie) 330
084 – 4(3): Caribou and Polar Bear Surveys on Baffin Island (Shooyook) 332
085 – 4(3): Departmental Positions (Angnakak) 333
021 – 4(3): 2014-2015 Annual Report of the Nunavut Liquor Commission (Peterson) 335
022 – 4(3): 2014 Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission Annual Report (Peterson) 335
Bill 08 – Legislative Assembly Statutes Amendment Act – Notice 335
Bill 09 – An Act to Amend the Nunavut Elections Act and the Plebiscites Act – Notice 335
Bill 08 – Legislative Assembly Statutes Amendment Act – First Reading 336
Bill 09 – An Act to Amend the Nunavut Elections Act and the Plebiscites Act – First Reading 336
Bill 08 – Legislative Assembly Statutes Amendment Act – Second Reading 337
Bill 09 – An Act to Amend the Nunavut Elections Act and the Plebiscites Act – Second Reading 337
Bill 03 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2016-2017 – Community and Government Services – Consideration in Committee 338
Bill 03 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2016-2017 – Education – Consideration in Committee 357
Bill 03 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2016-2017 – Health – Consideration in Committee 381
Speaker (Hon. George Qulaut): Premier Taptuna, (interpretation) can you say the opening prayer, please.
Speaker (interpretation): Good afternoon, my fellow Nunavummiut. Members, ministers, and (interpretation ends) Premier, (interpretation) welcome to the House.
I would first of all like to say that we only have one page on my left. Please take it easy on her.
Stephen will be responsible for services for the Members of the Legislative Assembly and the ministers, and the page will not be able to go get documents from upstairs.
Minister’s Statement 020 – 4(3): New Wildlife Regulations (Mike)
Mr. Speaker, on July 1, 2015, the Government of Nunavut began the implementation of new regulations… .
Speaker (interpretation): Can you hear now?
(interpretation ends) Can you hear now? Okay.
Hon. Minister of Environment, please proceed.
On July 1, 2015, the Government of Nunavut began the implementation of new regulations under the Wildlife Act.
The regulations were made in Nunavut and developed in cooperation with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.
They replace the old regulations that were carried over from the Northwest Territories.
The new Wildlife Regulations consist of 10 sets of regulations that make some important changes to the wildlife management system in Nunavut.
Many of the changes are deregulatory and remove restrictions that were previously in place. (interpretation ends) Other changes include updated fees for licences, reporting requirements for wildlife-related businesses, and requirements for companies that are involved in wildlife viewing and filmmaking.
(interpretation) Conservation officers were trained in the new regulations prior to their release, and my department has worked hard to ensure that all Nunavummiut have been informed of any changes that may affect them.
Conservation officers will continue to work closely with communities to ensure that community members are well informed.
(interpretation ends) In addition to the regulations released in July, the Department of Environment released new muskox management regulations that came into effect on September 1, 2015. (interpretation) These regulations update the boundaries of the management zones for muskox and the total allowable harvests for each zone. (interpretation ends) The regulations were developed with the input and support of all co-management partners and stakeholder groups.
These new regulations better address current harvesting practices in Nunavut, as the old regulations had been in effect since the division from the Northwest Territories.
(interpretation) Mr. Speaker, I appreciate all of the hard work that our co-management partners have done with us in order to ensure Nunavut’s Wildlife Regulations reflect the realities and practices of our territory.
Minister’s Statement 021 – 4(3): Video for Victims on the Court Process in Nunavut (Okalik)
I’ll be making a statement from the Department of Justice.
Navigating through the criminal justice system can be overwhelming for anyone, but particularly overwhelming when one who has experienced a traumatic event. I believe that victims in Nunavut need more support.
I am therefore pleased to report that the Law Society of Nunavut and the Department of Justice’s Community Justice Division have been working collaboratively on a video to help victims understand the court process and to help them understand what to expect when attending court. The video illustrates various parts of the court process so that victims have an idea of what they will face and how the process works. It is also a valuable tool for support workers, who work with victims, to use when they are walking victims through the court process.
This video is expected to be released in November in all four official languages and will be distributed to community justice workers in each community. The video will also be available at the Nunavut Law Society.
I would like to thank everyone who worked hard to make this possible. This work would not have been possible without the support of the Nunavut Law Foundation, law society members, the Nunavut Court of Justice, and many volunteers.
Minister’s Statement 022 – 4(3): Social Assistance Review (Ugyuk)
I am pleased to provide an update on the community engagement component of our social assistance review.
In its Sivumut Abluqta Mandate, this government committed to reviewing our approach to social assistance in order to support strong and resilient communities.
In September and October, the departments of Family Services and Economic Development and Transportation travelled to Nunavut’s communities and held public meetings on social assistance.
The departments will complete the remaining communities in November.
I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to each community for your warm welcome of my colleagues and for providing invaluable feedback to the social assistance review team.
We will be visiting the remaining communities in the coming month.
Mr. Speaker, the community engagement process has provided an opportunity for us to identify ideas and actions to change social assistance, and to better support Nunavummiut through training, career development, employment, economic opportunities, and labour market participation.
My department will bring together the input we have heard from our communities during the Roundtable for Poverty Reduction meeting in December and aim to reach a territory-wide consensus on next steps.
We look forward to continuing to advance this work in collaboration with the Department of Economic Development and Transportation and other departments.
Minister’s Statement 023 – 4(3): Handbook and Training for Ilinniarvimmi Inuusilirijiit (Quassa)
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good day, my colleagues, my fellow community members and Nunavummiut.
Mr. Speaker, the recent suicide inquest has reminded us that it is essential to support our children and youth so that they will develop the social and emotional skills they need to cope with the many challenges of life.
We are committed to building the capacity of the ilinniarvimmi inuusilirijiit in our schools to support our students’ well-being.
We are developing an Ilinniarvimmi Inuusilirijiit Handbook to help provide more guidance and direction for this role.
The ilinniarvimmi inuusilirijiit will be consulted for input into the handbook.
Mr. Speaker, we are currently developing training for ilinniarvimmi inuusilirijiit in Children’s Grief and Children’s Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviour guided by Inuit culture and values.
(interpretation ends) The course on Children’s Grief explains the usual process of grief and how it is different for children and youth.
It will help the counsellors understand those losses for children and youth that may cause special problems.
The course will help them develop and practice skills needed to support children and youth who are grieving.
Mr. Speaker, the course on Children’s Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviour explains how feelings and thoughts lead to ways of behaving in children and youth.
It will help the ilinniarvimmi inuusilirijiit understand and provide support when children and youth feel lost and need help with their thoughts and feelings.
(interpretation) This training will be delivered in February 2016 at regional conferences for ilinniarvimmi inuusilirijiit in Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet, and Iqaluit.
This is very good news for the members.
Member’s Statement 061 – 4(3): Respect for Elders (Akoak)
Good afternoon, Nunavummiut and Uqhuqtuurmiut.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the importance of respecting elders.
Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday of last week, I tabled documents of resolutions that were adopted at this year’s annual general meeting of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.
One of these resolutions concerns the needs for elders.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all members to review these resolutions with care.
At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the appropriate minister on issues raised at KIA’s recent annual general meeting.