EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I know there are meetings that are set up in February. I’m a little worried with the meetings in February and the March 31 deadline. Is that going to allow them enough time to incorporate the information and the consultation that happens during that meeting to be incorporated into the regulations for March 31?
At this time, we are still working on the preparation. Even though we are close to that day, we are developing and progressing well. Once I table the report in regard to the language legislation, there will be clear information as to what still needs to be done.
Question 127 – 3(2): Funds for Kinngait Studio (Schell)
As I noted in my Member’s Statement on Friday, the Kinngait Studio in Cape Dorset is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The building that houses the printmaking studio is also 50 years old. Concerns have been brought to my attention with respect to the condition of the building, including compliance with the fire code provisions.
It is my understanding that the Government of Nunavut is looking at providing up to half a million dollars in support of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation for the construction of a new media centre in Iqaluit.
I am pleased to see this kind of initiative towards supporting culturally relevant endeavours such as those undertaken by the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation.
Given that the Government of Nunavut sees merit in providing funds to the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, would the Department of CLEY also be willing to consider setting aside funds towards a new building for the Kinngait Studio in Cape Dorset?
Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, Hon. Louis Tapardjuk.
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the member from Cape Dorset for asking the question.
The Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth has grants and contributions which could be applied by the members out there.
If we get an application from Cape Dorset, we will be able to consider the application. If we get one from Cape Dorset, there are some funds available, but you will have to go by way of an application form. I will be able to discuss this matter with the member on how we can deal with this in detail, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the minister’s answer to my question. I would like to just affirm here that the Kinngait Printmaking Studio has been a profound and positive influence on Cape Dorset’s art community and the entire Inuit art community. Given all of the hard work that the artists have done over the years, I believe that they deserve a new building.
I trust that the government also sees merit in providing support to a printmaking centre which contributes so much to preserving Inuit heritage and culture. I would just like to ask the minister if he would be willing to meet with officials from the studio in order to discuss this matter.
Speaker: Thank you. Minister Tapardjuk.
Yes, once we receive an application and correspondence, we will be available to meet.
We’re willing to meet with anyone because the museums and other infrastructure need funding. So if they want to have a meeting, then we’re willing to meet with them; we’re available, Mr. Speaker.
Question 128 – 3(2): Eliminating Violence against Women (Okalik)
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Last week, November 25 was International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
I recall passing a piece of legislation in the last term on how we can try and eliminate violence against anybody, family members in particular. I would like to ask the Minister of Justice how this legislation is being implemented today and how it can be improved to eliminate violence against women. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Okalik. Minister of Justice, Hon. Keith Peterson.
Mr. Okalik asked a very good question, asked two questions, actually.
It took some time to implement the Family Abuse Intervention Act. I know we have 23 folks working in the communities across Nunavut. I think there are two vacancies.
I don’t have the detailed stats, but I have talked to some of the committees and individuals in the communities when I travelled. As I said, there is good response.
In terms of improving, I guess there has to be a lot of education about violence against women and violence against families.
I recall, as a collective of the Legislative Assembly, we stood up unanimously in the Second Assembly to denounce domestic violence. I think that as leaders, we should continue to do that.
We should provide more support to workers in the communities and more education to all of the individuals and organizations which do the good work in the communities to help educate people.
There are a lot of community counsellors and volunteers who are involved. It has to start at the top, where we support the people who are in the communities.
I think that we have to continue that.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) It has been about two years since we passed legislation, so I would like an update perhaps in the next session on how the legislation is being implemented, if it’s having an effect, and see how we can build on it. So that’s what I would like to see perhaps in the winter session, for the minister to update the House on how much impact it’s having.
I know that we have tried to formulate it in a way that it could assist with our traditional ways of healing and moving on with our lives. So what I would like to see from the minister is an update during the winter session, if that’s okay. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, it was a very good piece of legislation. I said I have talked to people and I think it’s working well, and I will commit to providing that update in the winter session.
I’m sure there are a lot of stats being gathered as we speak.
Question 129 – 3(2): Capital Planning Process (Elliott)
My question is directed towards the Minister of Finance.
In regard to my questions earlier to the Minister of CGS, is this a sampling of what’s to come?
To me, I feel, as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I am voting on one thing in terms of capital of $280,000 for a bulldozer in Grise Fiord, which is part of the issue that that needed equipment is not there now, and I was under the assumption and the community was under the assumption that it would be coming.
At the same time, it has now been moved to mobile equipment, which is fine, but the bigger issue is the fact that during the sitting of the Assembly, we decided as members that this money was going to go to a certain line item, an allocation of that, and to date, I haven’t seen any appropriation saying it was going somewhere else.
So we will be passing some more capital this afternoon for the housing corporation and there’s a line item for secured storage.
Are we going to find out that’s going to a fence or something in the future?
To me, that’s not the way the process is supposed to work, unless I’m misunderstanding the process.
I’m not familiar with the specific issue he’s raising, but there is a capital planning process.
At the hamlet level, it starts. Hamlets work with the officials of Community and Government Services, they take it through the Nunavut Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee, and then it works its way up to the deputy ministers’ level where they hash it out, thrash it out, and determine priorities.
It then gets to the FMB where again the ministers do that, we will send it back to the deputy ministers, it comes back to FMB, we approve it, we take it to standing committee where the MLAs get their input, and then it comes into this House for consideration and approval.
That’s my understanding of the process, Mr. Speaker.
That was my understanding of it as well.
To me, what happened was in the House, it was presented to us and presented to myself as a regular member that there was $280,000 for capital that was going to be spent on a certain line item and that did not happen.
I’m just concerned. Why is this allowed to happen?
In terms of you being the Minister of Finance, I would hope that it wouldn’t be overseen. I imagine there are rules under the FAA, which you quoted before.
We’ve got airlines creeping into the north and you need to follow regulations for that and make sure that the lowest fare goes to whoever, but we can’t follow our own legislation that we passed in the House in June. I’m just curious. Could the minister maybe explain a little bit as to why we’re not following our own procedures?
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I again thank Mr. Elliott for his question.
He’s presuming that the government is not following their own rules. I can’t stand up here and say that we aren’t. There are rules, yes.
I can tell Mr. Elliott that if he wants to meet with me after the session or after the day to give me the details of his concern, I can give them to my officials and my officials can sit down and talk to the Community and Government Services officials, who will try and identify what his concern is and if we can work things out.
Question 130 – 3(2): Annual Sealift Resupply for Kugaaruk (Ningark)
I have received a list of things that the Hamlet of Kugaaruk wants and one of them is to bring the yearly sealift from Montreal by NTCL instead of Coast Guard.
I am not certain, Mr. Speaker, that this is the cheaper way of doing business for the annual resupply.
My question is directed to the Minister of Transportation. Will the minister commit to directing his staff to determine the cheapest way to bring the annual sealift to Kugaaruk?
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Ningark. Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Hon. Peter Taptuna.
I will certainly look into that, but I believe that NEAS operates out of Montreal rather than NTCL. I will have to work closely with my colleague from CGS to see how some of the concerns that you raised can be looked into, but I believe there are a lot of impacts there that you raised.
At this time, I don’t know if Coast Guard does deliver supplies into Kugaaruk.
As we speak, the goods are delivered either from Montreal to Nanisivik or Arctic Bay, I think it is Nanisivik, and then over to Kugaaruk.
I am not comfortable, at this point in time, to suggest that NTCL is the cheapest way to do business.
I would really want to make sure that we don’t pay more than we should, so I would really ask the minister to look into our request.
Speaker: Thank you, Member. Minister Taptuna.
I’ll certainly look into that, but as I indicated previously, there’s another department that would be involved as they do most of the procuring of supplies for transportation and that department is CGS. I’ll certainly work with the department involved and get back to the hon. member from Akulliq.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Oral Questions. Member for Iqaluit West, Mr. Okalik.
Question 131 – 3(2): Metal Waste in Iqaluit (Okalik)
I wish to direct my question to the Minister of Environment.
Within my constituency area, there exists a metal dump consisting of abandoned vehicles and other scrap metal waste. It seems that these waste metals are stuck in that area, although we initially had made arrangements to ship the scrap metal via the sealift to collection depots where they would be recycled.
However, with the price of scrap metal dropping to where it doesn’t break even, it seems that this project to ship the metals has been deferred to next year.
Now we’re hearing news that during this current fiscal year, it was left too late into the season and the icing of the bay didn’t allow for the shipping of the metals, so they are now just sitting in that metal dump.
We would like to be notified as to what the future plans of the department are with respect to this ongoing scrap metal project.
At this stage, I think everybody is disappointed that the vehicles never left Iqaluit this fall. Yes, it was due to the ice conditions and the weather, and it was also due to a lack of coordination and negotiation between the contractor and the sealift service.
So we are very disappointed.
They will be here for this year, but we will be committed to working with the city and with the contractor to ensure that they leave early on the next sealift season next year.
I would like to urge the minister to make sure that they get on the first ship of the season and to make sure that the whole process goes ahead.
It was a pilot project where we put the scrap metals together, but we’re seeing more and more.
What is going to be the process or what program does the government have to make sure that we get all of those out of the north?
I will respond to the member again in just saying that we are as interested in getting those vehicles shipped down south as everybody else is. Again, we weren’t involved in the brokering of the arrangements. That was between NEAS and the contractor.
Things broke down and then the weather came in due to the late shipping season.
I will assure the member that we will work with all of the parties involved to make sure that these vehicles get out on the first or the earliest they can next year on the shipping season.
My question was: this was just a pilot project, so what kind of program do you have for this growing issue?
More and more garbage is being generated as old cars get scrapped. My question was: what plans do we have for the community of Iqaluit and for all our Nunavut communities? What programs do you have in store to deal with scrap metal generated by old vehicles?
I would like to advise the member that first of all, once this project is complete, it has to be reviewed to see what the costs are to the Government of Nunavut.
We will be reviewing this process and seeing how worthwhile it is and how feasible it is that we can do this throughout all communities in Nunavut.
Question 132 – 3(2): Sale of Inuksuit for 2010 Olympics (Okalik)
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleagues for that early present.
I would like to pose this question to the Department of Economic Development and Transportation based on the Minister’s Statement regarding the Inuksuk figurines that were made in Nunavut.
I imagine that they are selling these items now and I would like the minister to inform us how the sales of these items are going down south. I would first like to find out how that is proceeding.
The translation broke down, so I never caught the question.
Please repeat your question, Mr. Okalik.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Very good.
At least the previous one wasn’t lost.
The minister stated that $300,000 was allocated to the community carvers however the Inuksuit were only for sale in the south.
I would like to know how the sales of these figures are going.
The statement I made was that Nunavut carvers made approximately $300,000 for their carvings of the Inuksugait Project.
At this time, I don’t have any numbers on the other artists who contributed to the VANOC and the amount of sales that were generated through this project.
Once I do get the numbers, I’ll update the House on that.
Question 133 – 3(2): Federal Funding for Medical Travel (Elliott)
My question is directed towards the Minister of Health and Social Services.
You mention about the medical travel. The contract for medical travel, in terms of deciding which airline receives that contract, when is that contract up for renewal?
Minister for Health and Social Services, Hon. Tagak Curley.
Hon. Tagak Curley: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question, but I’m not sure whether I indicated there was a review or not. He’s going to have to help me to update my memory first.
What I can say is that the current contract is still going on; we still have one more year after the current fiscal year.
One fiscal year, that would be 2011, is when the contract comes up for renewal and that leads to my next question.
By 2011, I imagine Air Canada will be well underway in terms of making its way into Iqaluit.
Will they be allowed to apply to that contract as well as our other two northern carriers?
I cannot definitively state whether or not Air Canada would be part of this. They will likely not be bidding for the air transportation contract. But I think our rules in Nunavut are really quite strong, that we do have various incentive policies that apply for northern contractors, including airlines, and so on.
If it comes about or shortly before, I’m sure that the cabinet or the government as a whole would be able to brief the caucus or the committees of the legislature.
I can say to the member that the current arrangement that we have with the northern airlines, I think, is pretty secure.
So in terms of the Financial Administration Act, which Minister Peterson was quoted as GN employees need to go with the lowest ticket fare, this is a contract, so you have to follow the NNI Policy. Is that what the minister is implying or saying?
Certainly, we will abide by the Financial Administration Act and contract regulations for any substantial contract that the tender is issued and based on.
What I can say to the member is that at this moment, we’re not in a position yet to announce exactly how the new RFP, or request for proposal, or the public tender would be shaped a year and a half from now. If it does, I’m sure that my colleagues here, including the cabinet, will have a final discussion first before we would make such an announcement.
It’s my understanding that neither airlines that have the contract now actually fall under the eligibility of NNI because of the location of their business, which, in turn, would allow any other carrier to have the same standing.
Is there any possible way that the minister could look into, since we know it’s a year in advance, to allowing our northern air carriers to be receiving the ability to have contracts and allow them to provide the services in the other communities?
I know for my three communities in the High Arctic, our costs to fly from Grise Fiord down to Ottawa for a medical travel visit range anywhere from $5,000 and $7,000.
Ultimately that translates into a big concern for how are we spending our money, where is the money going, and how can we actually lower some of these costs.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not the minister responsible for air transportation. I know my colleague is working hard to try and address all of the various airlines that have an interest in flying and serving Nunavut, including Air Canada or any other competitor that might come in.
In terms of medical travel, I think the government and previous governments have done quite well in supporting northern carriers.
I think that’s a commitment that my colleagues in cabinet are standing by and we will continue to do so to make sure that Nunavutmiut have the best medical travel and scheduled flights throughout the Nunavut communities.
Question 134 – 3(2): Implementation of New Language Laws (Okalik)
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, my colleagues.
It sounds like someone is celebrating Christmas.
I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Languages in regard to the Official Languages Act that is now in effect.
I would like to ask the minister how we can give further support to private businesses.
It’s very good to see companies that have the information out there in Inuktitut and also provide services in Inuktitut.
So I would like to ask the minister if he could recognize those types of business to promote the use of Inuktitut in the workplace.
After the bills were enacted, we just started working on the programs and services that are provided.
We recently had a meeting with the Taiguusiliuqtiit authority just this past week.
At those meetings, we had regional representation. We’re currently working on the plans, including Inuktitut and signs that are required to be in the Inuktitut writing system. We are currently working on those issues.
We are starting to get staff with the language authority.
After we have been established, we’re going to start the implementation process, Mr. Speaker.
Based on my recollection, the department of ED&T usually has award ceremonies or recognition of private media businesses that have surpassed their peers’ efforts.
I wonder if the minister could work with the departments of ED&T, CLEY, and others to look at the possibility of awarding excellence, particularly with respect to Inuktitut, as an example, to recognize businesses that showcase their Inuit language services, and whether this could be undertaken to recognize these businesses as promoting Inuktitut.
This could be a way to promote the businesses that work towards offering services in Inuktitut and provide incentives to businesses to emulate these recognized businesses, not just to scold or force businesses to utilize Inuktitut.
This is an option to consider, especially as we try to implement the Inuit Language Protection Act.
I would like to ask the minister if this idea could be taken into consideration by the Department of CLEY.
Indeed, this idea could definitely be a good option when we’re looking at this issue.
I will commit to having this idea reviewed by my staff and I will provide an update as we start to implement the different requirements listed in the Act.
I think the member has a very good idea and it’s something that we will look into adopting in our department, Mr. Speaker.
Question 135 – 3(2): Bilingual Bonus for Educators (Arvaluk)
When you don’t smoke, it seems that you are left alone.
My question will be directed to either the Minister of Finance or the Minister of Human Resources. As I am unsure of its applicability, it may end up being directed to CLEY or Education for that matter.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly whose portfolio it falls under. So at this time, I will direct it to the Department of Human Resources.
This is with respect to employees in our schools, specifically the teachers who are bilingual in both Inuktitut and English, as well as school counsellors who, as part of their duties, need to speak both languages.
Why is the requirement there for bilingual counsellors? This is so that the counsellors can speak to the parents of the students, specifically as it relates to the behaviour of the student and most parents are unilingual Inuktitut speakers.
Further, they have to speak to the principals in the main working language, English, as many principals are non-Inuit in the communities.
Why is it that these school counsellors are not under the bilingual bonus program? I would like to be informed as to what the reasoning is for these positions being left out of the bilingual bonus program.
I think the member is right. This question goes right across everybody, but maybe my colleague, Minister Tapardjuk, could answer the teacher and counsellor questions because that is mandated by the Department of Education.
However, when you refer to the bilingual bonuses, there are processes and stipulations in place for people who are allowed to get the bilingual bonus and they should be applied across the public service in Nunavut.
Yes, I understand his response and I’m aware of the background. However, what I’m asking about is it states that if the person is an interpreter or the position requires a bilingual staff member, then they will receive a bilingual bonus of $1,500.
However, if it’s not stipulated in the position, such as for teaching positions or student counsellor positions that are required to speak both languages but are not included in this program, they’re left out of the bonus program. I would like to ask why this stipulation is not included in these positions where we know that the requirement for bilingual staff members is prevalent.
Does the position require this bilingual bonus application or do we have to now list it under all positions that we may require bilingual speakers? Why can’t it be set up this way, where any position requiring a bilingual staff person automatically falls into the bilingual bonus program?
As far as the knowledge that I have on this is that it is up to the supervisor in the department of the person who is going to get a bilingual bonus to establish that fact in a job description.
If it’s warranted and the supervisor requests that it is a bilingual bonus position or bilingual position, then the bilingual bonus should apply.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Your second supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.