EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I am most likely mispronouncing this individual’s name. Iqsuqtuq Eetuk from Coral Harbour is not here, right?
Gamailie Kilukishak from Pond Inlet.
Peteloosie Qappik from Pangnirtung.
Jacobie Iqalukjuaq from Clyde River.
Qabaroak Qatsiya from Cape Dorset. I may be mistaken here.
Those are the individuals who have arrived to Iqaluit.
We also have three individuals who haven’t made it into Iqaluit: Andre Tautu from Chesterfield Inlet, Anaoyok Alookee from Taloyoak, and Marie Anguti from Kugaaruk.
Those are the members of the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit government employees, Andrew Tagak, Jonah Kelly, Anne Mullin, and Rhoda Cunningham. Mr. Elijah Erkloo is here from the Inuit Language Authority, who is sitting at the other end. Our staff are here as well, Shuvinai Mike and Oleena Nowyook, who are responsible for the authority and council.
I would like to welcome them to the Gallery, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Welcome to the Gallery, our esteemed elders.
I would like you to know that you are always welcome to sit on the seats that have been designated for you.
(interpretation ends) Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. Mr. Elliott.
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to thank you for introducing Ms. Ningiuk and Mr. Oyukuluk, but I also have Zipporah Oyukuluk and her son Gabriel from Arctic Bay.
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. Mr. Curley.
Hon. Tagak Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am quite satisfied with the appointments.
Before I acknowledge these elders, I want to refer back to my experience in 1986. I had an advisor who was an old man, a person whom James Arvaluk also knew, and his name was Marty Martin. He accompanied me to Pangnirtung and Cambridge Bay in my past work for ITC.
Just prior to his passing, I went to see him in Nain, Labrador for a week. Just before I left, he advised me to never forget Inuit from Labrador.
At this time, I am thusly very pleased and honoured to recognize two individuals from Labrador, Sandra Hope and Caroline Michellin, who are from the Labrador Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Please stand up. Welcome.
Welcome to the Gallery. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. Ms. Aariak.
Hon. Eva Aariak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize an individual from my constituency, Ms. Natsiq Kango. Welcome.
I think everyone from Nunavut recognizes Jonah Kelly.
I recognize all of them, but I especially wish to welcome Laisa Ningiuk, who was a fellow board member with the Nunavut Development Corporation.
It was very hard to access funds from the Assembly and the GN for that corporation.
But anyways, I thank you all and I recognize everyone.
If there are no more, we will go back to the orders of the day. Item 6.
Question 094 – 3(2): Qulliq Energy Corporation’s Inuit Employment Plan (Okalik)
Yesterday, I tabled a document in regard to QEC’s Inuit Employment Plan.
I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation how they are going to be increasing the Inuit employed within the corporation from 2009 to 2013.
It is apparent that many beneficiaries don’t possess the confidence or the belief that they can be successful in undertaking the kind of training needed to move into positions with more responsibility.
It seems like we are going back to the ‘60s.
My question to the minister is: what is he doing about the corporation’s Inuit employees in improving their skills to advance within the corporation?
I think I would first off just disagree.
We’re not going back to the ‘60s; I think we’re moving forward into the 21st or 22nd century.
Mr. Speaker, I know that the corporation continues to be a dedicated employer of Inuit throughout the territory.
I believe we have one of the highest Inuit employment rates throughout the government.
Overall, as a department, I believe we are at 56 percent.
There are a number of different things that the corporation is doing; training programs, succession plans, mentoring positions for Inuit employees.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I just want to correct your record.
As of right now, the corporation does not have an Inuit employment plan.
It’s developing one and I would be more than happy, once that plan is developed and approved by the board of directors, myself, and cabinet, to be able to provide it for all members to see.
The document, as prepared, states this and delineates what will be undertaken, and that this is the corporation’s document.
My question previously was in regard to whether the minister has seen the document and whether or not to accept the document as written. I would like to know what his position is on this and if he has agreed to this issue.
I would like to inform the member that I saw the tabled document this morning.
I know that the corporation has not provided any Inuit employment plan or a draft plan or anything to the board of directors or me for approval, so I know that it’s work in progress.
The corporation, in the spirit of being open and transparent in developing their Inuit Employment Plan, has been proactive in involving as many of the employees as possible, getting feedback from them on what they think should be included in that plan.
But as of yet, like I said, the corporation doesn’t have a plan in place.
To answer his question, the document that he is referring to, the one he tabled yesterday, I would assume that that was probably a draft revision.
I know that there have been more revisions since then.
So I would be leery to even comment on that document because some of that information has changed since then.
In reading the document, it is even frightening to an Inuk when it states that their Inuit employees are not interested in advancing in their careers.
It’s quite disturbing to see that.
Further, it states that this is just a draft plan, yet it seems to be more than that.
Who was the author of this draft?
If the minister didn’t see the current business plan, who wrote or published them?
This type of condescending theme is something we surpassed.
What we would like to see is a new plan that highlights the capabilities of our Inuit employees because Inuit are quite capable when they want to be.
I didn’t hear a question, so if he could clarify if there was a question there.
Mr. Okalik, can you rephrase your question.
This document doesn’t indicate that it is a draft, so it’s not a first draft.
Who put the document together?
The minister indicated that he didn’t see this document.
Who approved this document?
I can see that the name of the president is on the plan, so did that person approve this document?
If you look on the bottom left-hand corner, it says revision 4, so I would say it is work in progress.
As I indicated, the corporation is developing one.
They have been seeking input and feedback from employees throughout the corporation on what they keep bringing forward, and I believe they’re actually on revision 6 right now.
Like I said, even though he tabled a copy of something that probably doesn’t even look the same now as it did then, this is work in progress.
The corporation, like I said, instead of senior management working in isolation, which sometimes seemed to happen in the past, has been proactive in involving all of its employees to be able to have input and feedback on such an important document as the Inuit Employment Plan for the corporation.
It is not clear who authored this document, although it seems it was one of his employees. Whoever authored this document should be sent packing because that kind of mindset is no longer acceptable.
Inuit are very capable in many areas, including advancement in a corporation. This type of condescension is not at all acceptable.
What I would like to say is that individual who wrote this should be fired.
Who drafted this document?
I don’t think anyone should be fired for doing their job.
Mr. Speaker, I enquired into this after the document was tabled. I believe it was about three years ago under the former president then at the time, Ms. Crawford, who, I believe, the member appointed as the president, who had indicated to the staff at the time they had put together to start working on developing a plan.
One of the things that they were directed to include in the plan is some of the challenges that they have run into in being able to attract, retain, and move Inuit and beneficiaries further along in the corporation.
I think the member is looking at it in isolation.
I think some of the things that have been identified are actual circumstances that the corporation has run into in the past.
I think the reasoning behind that, in order to address some of the challenges that are being faced by the corporation so that we can recruit, retain, and move Inuit up through the ranks in the corporation, is to be able to know the challenges that we faced in the past and that’s what that is for.
In this administration, if we don’t like someone doing their job and giving us the hard facts, we don’t just fire them.
If someone is doing their job, they are doing what they have been instructed to do and I don’t think that anybody should be fired for that.
Question 095 – 3(2): Escorts for Patients (Ningark)
On behalf of my constituents in Akulliq, the communities of Kugaaruk and Repulse Bay, I would like to thank the minister for the funding we receive for medical travel through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, including the territorial and federal governments.
However, the gist of my earlier comments is that those patients who require more assistance, Mr. Speaker, the less capable patients, are being sent out alone even though they require more assistance when travelling.
Some are quite capable of travelling alone, yet they seem to be able to get escorts while less able patients are sent without an escort.
I would like to ask the minister this question: when patients are sent out through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, which office makes the decision on escorts?
Who approves the individuals being able to bring escorts? Is it the local nurse who decides that or, for example, if it is in the Kitikmeot, is that decision made in Cambridge Bay? Conversely, for Repulse Bay, is that decision made in Rankin Inlet?
I would like to know how decisions are made regarding escorts.
Before I let the minister respond, I want to remind the members to state which minister they are directing their questions to. Luckily for the member, I understood who he was referring to.
With respect to his earlier statement, it is true that Inuit have their medical expenses paid for by the federal government, along with all aboriginal people in Canada, and Inuit get the funds under the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program.
As part of your statement, you referred to people who require escorts but were not allowed to bring one.
It’s not all like that in Nunavut. If an individual is incapable of looking after themselves or are unilingual, then it’s a requirement for this individual to bring an escort.
It doesn’t necessarily mean getting the approval from the nurse or health centre as the policy states specific cases that they are supposed to follow.
However, with respect to the condition of their health, their physical abilities or lack thereof, or their being unilingual means they are required to bring an escort.
Even in cases where they are bilingual but have physical disabilities, they can be sent out with an escort.
However, in some cases and possibly because they don’t understand the policy or haven’t seen the policy, the medical personnel don’t allow patients to bring escorts. You can relay any issues to the territorial health coordinator in Cambridge Bay and feel free to call that individual to get the policy. Andrew Tagak, who I thank for being here, is also available to give you the information on the medical escort policy and you may also bring to his attention any complaints about escorts.
I apologize because I forgot to mention who I was directing my question to and it was indeed meant for the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Curley.
I don’t know whether or not he responded to this question: whose discretion is it and who is responsible to say whether or not an escort is required? Is it the nurse in charge or is it dealt with on a regional basis? Using our region as an example, is it dealt with out of Cambridge Bay?
Who makes the ultimate decision on escorts when they are dealing with emergency matters or less urgent matters?
With regard to the question, I can state that for emergency cases in the community where the nurses are unsure and they are in the Kivalliq region, for example, they can call the regional director in Rankin Inlet or their medical staff counterparts.
However, in the first place, it is the nurse in charge who makes the recommendation. The nurse in charge has to ensure that the patient fully understands the situation and whether that patient requires an escort. We want the patients to fully understand what is required.
For example, if you’re denied an escort and you’re in the Baffin region, you can call the Pangnirtung office.
But the first case scenario is the nurse in charge recommends whether or not an individual should bring an escort.
Mr. Ningark (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank Minister Tagak Curley.
My second supplementary is in regard to a case where I was informed about a patient who, when preparations were being made for his medical travel, was told that an escort was approved since he was suffering from a back problem.
A month after being apprised of an approved escort for his travel, he was informed that an escort hadn’t been approved, which begs a question.
So I would like to inform the minister that in cases where patients are told in advance that an escort has been approved, it leads to expectations which allow them to no longer be fearful of their trip. However, at the end of the day, these patients are told that an escort wasn’t approved and they don’t have any further choices since their travel dates are already set.
Could the minister ensure that health professionals are adhering to the escort policy at the community level?
I understand your concern. If you have additional concerns in regard to patients not receiving proper care or services, you can forward those complaints to the appropriate managerial staff. If these concerns can’t be addressed at that level, then the concerns are relayed to the regional offices that are responsible for making these decisions.
We don’t receive very many complaints at the headquarters level.
But we wish to inform the member that escorts are only provided for patients who really require additional assistance. This is due to the fact that it is very expensive to provide escorts for all patients. Last year, there were 46,000 patients booked to be seen at hospitals outside of Nunavut.
If we were to provide an escort in all of these cases, we would eat up the budget instantaneously.
So we do have underlying financial implications that sometimes cause issues.
However, I can tell the member that if there are complaints about the lack of providing escorts in cases where they are clearly required, we would like to hear about them so that we can rectify them in the future.
I would like to thank the minister for providing that clarification.
I would like to highlight another case where a patient expressed their concerns to me about their situation. A patient who was going to the hospital with no prior history of operations was found to have an illness and thus required an operation. The patient wanted to bring an escort from their nuclear family but wasn’t approved.
In those cases, the mental distress can be just as harmful as the actual illness, especially in such stressful situations as a first operation. It would make the matter a lot easier if the patient had an escort.
I’m just commenting on this situation and not asking a question.
Question 096 – 3(2): Inuit Employment Plan (Elliott)
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have similar questions to what Mr. Okalik was asking, so I’m directing my questions towards the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
You said that we have a copy of the fourth revised one, and then there is a fifth and a sixth of this employment plan for QEC.
I’m just wondering: is that the understanding?
Is this a working document that every year or every quarter, they go through it to sort of update and track the progress for it?
Oh, sorry, wrong department.
It’s QEC, the energy minister.
I almost grabbed my other binder. He’s trying to catch me off guard.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, the power corporation doesn’t have an Inuit employment plan right now; they’re developing one.
It’s work in progress.
I would imagine the document that the Member for Iqaluit West tabled was probably an internal document used.
As I said, the corporation and the administration of the corporation is developing it and putting it out there for employees to be able to provide input and feedback on.
As I indicated also, I believe, we’re hoping by mid-winter or spring to have a final Inuit employment plan.
At that time, when it is a final document, I would be more than happy to provide it to the members or table it here in the House once it has had the board of directors’ approval and approval by me and the cabinet.
I apologize for getting the wrong department. I didn’t want to scare you.
Actually, I was kind of shocked that it mentioned that some employees were actually afraid to advance and even afraid to take up employment within this corporation because of family ties and whatnot.
It says that in 2010, the plan is to deliver a respectful workplace workshop. With 2010 being so close, do you guys have a schedule of when it would be going out or when it would be happening?
I know you said that it was a plan that continues to be revised, but if it’s such a problem, then… .
And it says here that by 2010, something is going to be done.
I’m just wondering if it has been planned.
As I indicated, this is work… . The final draft might not have anything like that in there.
I would assume that this was an internal document meant to be put out there for employees to provide feedback so that they feel that they are a part of the development of a plan for the corporation.
That hasn’t happened yet.
As I indicated in my response earlier also, one of the things that staff were directed to include in the plan is to identify some of the challenges that they have actually faced over a number of years. Once we know and compile what are the challenges we’re facing, how do we come up with a plan to be able to overcome those challenges and I think that’s where some of the stuff has been included into the document.
An example of a respectful workplace may be one way of trying to overcome one of the challenges that have been faced within the corporation.
In the document, it also talks about the possibility… . One of the big or major concerns they had too is that funding is not available; they’re a small corporation.
In terms of training, mentoring, and apprenticeships, they don’t have a lot of money.
With our O&M coming up probably in January, has the department come to you seeking funding or increased funding as part of this as well?
The corporation is a little bit different than a government department.
The board of directors develops and approves the budgets for the corporation.
I would like to mention, as I mentioned in my Minister’s Statement earlier today, that there has been great collaboration and partnership between the corporation, the GN, and the Department of Education, along with the federal government.
I would say the boot camp that was just provided here last year, I think, was an initiative close to $300,000.
The majority was received through a grant or program from the federal government.
So this is the first time that the corporation didn’t have to fork out all the money for developing and running the boot camp.
Like I said, that was a good example of working together and being able to tap into additional resources that we don’t have to be able to provide those training opportunities for Nunavummiut.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Elliott.
He answered part of my next question, which was if there were any other successes that he could actually elaborate on in terms of mentoring programs.
I know he mentioned the boot camp, but were there any other sort of successes that he could tell us about?
I generally mentioned some of the other opportunities that are provided to Inuit employees within the Qulliq Energy Corporation.
But I will commit, as I already asked my staff, to put together a list of some of the success stories that have been out there and some of the initiatives that the corporation has undertaken to be able to improve, attract, retain, and promote Inuit within the corporation.
Mr. Speaker, one of the other things, as far as involvement in the development of an Inuit employment plan that wasn’t there in the past, was that our employees felt that it was just somebody in an office somewhere coming up with the document.
The corporation’s executive right now has decided, like I said earlier, with openness and transparency, they want to involve the employees in developing that plan.
I was just informed this morning that they’ve got the terms of reference for an Inuit employment planning committee. I know two Inuit employees based here in Iqaluit have already agreed to sit on that committee.
So anything that deals with the development of the Inuit Employment Plan for the corporation will flow through that committee and they will be able to provide recommendations for changes or additions or anything to that before it goes any further.
So I guess another example administratively of how the corporation is involving its employees so that they have a say in the plans that are being developed is the Inuit Employment Plan is being developed for them.
Question 097 – 3(2): Inuit Employment Plan (Arvaluk)
My question is directed to the Minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation, the electric shock company.
I would like to pose this question in relation to the report in English which states that it’s the fourth revision, environmental scan on page 13. It means that this has been perused by management staff and it’s the way it is. It states that this is how Inuit employees are perceived and it states that right there.
With respect to the report, the body of the text or even the recommendations may change, but the first part which was reviewed would not change and that is how it would be perceived.
I would like to ask this question since I didn’t fully comprehend the answer provided to Mr. Okalik when he was asking about the report which is currently under review.
Did you approve of this report for dissemination even though it erringly infers that Inuit don’t want to be part of the management or that they are not interested in being promoted?
It states that Inuit employees are not interested in higher positions as they are content in their positions, which includes other assumptions made in the environmental scan.
Were you involved in the drafting of this scan and did you approve and sign this report for dissemination?
If it wasn’t you, then who approved this document for release? Who made the decision about including this perception of Inuit?
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Arvaluk. Minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation, Hon. Hunter Tootoo.
Hon. Hunter Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In response to the member’s question, if he could refer to the first page, the signature block is there and nobody signed it.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister. (interpretation) Your first supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.
Is that his guarded response, stating that he didn’t sign the document, that he didn’t approve the document as it is drafted, and that it was a document drafted entirely by QEC without his involvement?
Is he saying that as the minister, he didn’t sign it since he didn’t have a chance to review it? Is this what I am to read into his response?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Arvaluk. Minister Tootoo.
I just want to clarify for the record that this wasn’t a document that was published outside the corporation.