EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
The GN hired contractors to address EPCOs starting in 2014. Detailed designs, shipping schedules, and icing conditions delayed the arrival of construction material in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Whale Cove, and Sanikiluaq.
As of now, construction material is on site in all the four communities tagged with Environment Canada’s EPCOs.
More than 70 percent of the work to address EPCOs in Iqaluit and Sanikiluaq is completed.
Construction work was suspended in the winter of 2015 with a tentative date to commence early spring of 2016.
The tentative date to [completely] address EPCOs in the communities of Sanikiluaq, Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, and Whale Cove is set as fall of 2016.
Once completed, Iqaluit, Sanikiluaq, Rankin Inlet, and Whale Cove will be in compliance with Environment Canada regulations.
A new storage tank system in Cambridge Bay is 95 percent complete.
The Cambridge Bay tank farm is the only tank farm built in compliance with Environment Canada regulations.
The tentative date for substantial completion of the tank farm is scheduled in the fall of 2016.
PPD is anticipating the five facilities (Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit, Whale Cove, Sanikiluaq, and Cambridge Bay) will be Environment Canada code compliant by the fall of 2016.
FMB has approved $17.75 million in the next five-year capital plan starting in 2016-17 to bring 13 tank farms to be Environment Canada code compliant.
These 13 Nunavut communities do not require capacity upgrades in the next 5 to 15 years.
That is the reason being put on priority.
The rest of the Nunavut communities will and may come for capacity upgrades in the next five or ten years.
The GN will address the code compliance of the rest of the communities during capacity upgrades.
This is cost-effective and required funds will be addressed in the coming years with no or little impact on future capital plans.
PPD has shared with Environment Canada officials approval of $17.75 million in the next five-year capital plan.
PPD has further advised Environment Canada officials on PPD’s future plans to address and bring remaining PPD facilities to be Environment Canada code compliant.
Environment Canada officials are satisfied with the progress made by PPD to bring PPD facilities to be code compliant.
Question 281 – 4(3): Hudson Bay Consortium (Rumbolt)
Mr. Speaker, the other day, I tabled some documents regarding the Hudson Bay Consortium and today, I would like to ask a few questions to the Minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs.
As the minister is aware, efforts have been underway for some time to establish an inter-jurisdictional body to implement a large-scale monitoring program for the James Bay and Hudson Bay ecosystems.
This work follows from one of the key recommendations contained in the Certificate of Authorization for the Rupert River Eastmain-1A Hydroelectric Project.
Can the minister outline what support and funding the Government of Nunavut is currently providing to the Hudson Bay Consortium?
Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of entities involved in the newly formed Hudson Bay Consortium. In fact, there are over 30 communities involved in this new consortium that has been formed.
I appreciate the fact that Sanikiluaq Arctic Eider Society has been involved in this.
Mr. Speaker, I can recall that there have been many initiatives that have been set forward by Sanikiluarmiut through that organization.  Mr. Speaker, at this point, the Nunavut government is involved as a member of the Nunavut Hudson Bay Interagency Working Group and there’s a lot of work yet to coordinate through that before the Nunavut government can identify funding for this consortium.
In the meantime, the process of setting up a secretariat or a committee from that consortium to coordinate all the issues that the community faces, there are many organizations that are involved in this, including Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, and Canada where several departments are involved; the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, Indigenous and Aboriginal Affairs Canada, Health Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and I appreciate the fact that there are many inter-jurisdictional partners in this.
Once we have a group that can identify what is needed for the consortium, the consortium goes to ensure that there is environmental stewardship in one of Canada’s, if not the world’s, biggest inland seas. At this point, we’re quite aware that there is no environmental governance or developmental governance within this vast area, so we would be working very closely as we are involved in the interagency group.
In its recent letter to the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, who is also Nunavut’s Member of Parliament, the Hudson Bay Consortium noted that, and I quote, “One of the main issues that has impeded progress to date is the inter-jurisdictional nature of the Bay, including the most complex region of jurisdictional overlap in the Arctic.”
As the Premier has mentioned, “This includes [the] governments of Nunavut, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, several Federal Jurisdictions, 30 Cree and Inuit communities, and the overlapping land claims agreements and management board of Nunavut, Nunavik and the Eeyou Marine Regions,” Eeyoo as in E-e-y-o-u, not EU as in European Union, Mr. Speaker.
Can the minister indicate if he has raised this issue during any of his recent meetings with the federal and provincial leaders?
I have just seen the letter once the document was tabled and there are very good points in that. I’ll certainly be discussing with the Nunavut MP on this, as the Hon. Minister Tootoo is also, of course, everybody knows that he’s the Minister of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and he’s involved with that federal department. I’ll be talking to him about that.
I am pleased that these letters have been copied to our transboundary coordinator and our transboundary advisor on this.
Once we have established some communications on this with the federal minister, I’ll certainly be talking more about this initiative.
One of the objectives that is contained in the mandate letter that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans received from the Prime Minister is to, and I quote, “work with the provinces, territories, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders to better co-manage our three oceans.”
Mr. Speaker, Hudson Bay is Canada’s largest inland sea and I support the work being done by many residents in Sanikiluaq in this area.
Can the minister confirm that the Government of Nunavut supports a more active and engaged role by the federal government on this issue?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) The Hon Minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Taptuna.
Mr. Speaker, it’s a directive letter from the Prime Minister to a minister responsible for a certain department. Of course, we will be looking at that and working with federal ministers.
Many departments are going to be involved in this, including the Kivalliq Inuit Association, Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and Grand Council of the Cree. There are many parties that are involved in this.
Through good coordination, we will certainly get to a point where we can actually have our communities be a participant in discussing whatever the case may be that affects their daily living, whether it’s environmental protection, environmental stewardship of the ocean, or being a participant in discussions on development.
There are many things.
It does have an effect on the surrounding communities that the hon. member has indicated. There are many avenues. This government is going to be working with the federal government to ensure that our communities in Nunavut are environmentally protected and are participants in any kind of discussion that may affect their livelihood from day to day, activities that may be out there.
I’m sorry. He’s not here. I will go to the next name.
Question 282 – 4(3): Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action (Joanasie)
As the minister is aware, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report on December 15, 2015.
Mr. Speaker, these calls to action were made in order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation.
Will the minister commit to providing a formal response to those calls to action that are related to justice and that have been addressed to the territorial government?
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Nunavut commends the hard work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and we support the federal government in their efforts to right the legacy of the residential schools.
I, myself, spent a bit of time in a residential school way back when, not during the really difficult years, but the time I spent there, I thought I had gone to jail, so it was a real eye-opener.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Nunavut has coordinated an interdepartmental review of the recommendations and calls to action to see what kind of areas the Government of Nunavut needs to improve on and what areas we are doing well to address some of the recommendations and calls to action.
On January 21, 2016, the federal Department of Justice issued a news release with information on the most recent federal/provincial/territorial meeting of ministers of justice and public safety.
This news release indicates that “Ministers discussed the issue of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, informed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and agreed on the need to address related issues, such as First Nations Policing.”
Can the minister indicate what were the specific outcomes of these discussions?
Unfortunately, I wasn’t at those meetings.
I’ll have to get a briefing from my department to see what the discussions were with the former minister, and then I can report back to the member.
My final question is, one of the Truth and Reconciliation’s calls to action is that the Federation of Law Societies of Canada “ensure that lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training” that will “require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.”
Can the minister indicate if individuals that are hired to work in the Government of Nunavut’s legal services currently receive any cultural competency training and, if so, what specific training do the individuals receive?
Of course, the lawyers that we have in the Department of Justice, the legal and constitutional lawyers, do a lot of work for client departments in the Government of Nunavut.
Our other lawyers, the legislative division lawyers, review legislation.
We do have people working in that department, an elder advisor, who works with the lawyers and I believe there is some orientation.
We do want our lawyers and, in fact, all our employees to be sensitive to cultural and traditional issues in Nunavut.
Question 283 – 4(3): Nunavut Energy Management Program (Okalik)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Community and Government Services in regard to his Minister’s Statement. I was glad to hear the statement. I recall that in 2007, the previous minister, Levinia Brown, initiated the policy and I am thankful for that.
Now I would like to direct my question to the minister based on his reference to his wish to spread this program to other communities. This is specifically to lower power usage related to increasing costs to lights and fuel.
I would like to ask exactly which communities the minister is planning to implement these energy-efficiency measures.
We have not finalized in which communities we will be laying out this pilot project in, but if we go with the same thematic scheme, it would in communities where we own our own office buildings and where there is a potential for more savings.
It is becoming more obvious that we could reduce the costs of energy consumption and it would decrease the use of fossil fuel.
When does the minister expect to table the plans and which communities will bear the benefits in Nunavut?
As this is a pilot project and we are still working on it, I can’t commit to when any documents will be tabled, but I will look into it further.
It’s still a pilot project.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) As this pilot project has proven to be quite successful, I would like to see if we can spread it, as the minister committed to spreading it to other communities.
If the minister can at least provide a schedule during the spring session explaining how we can spread this wonderful program to other communities, if the minister can commit to that, I would appreciate it. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
No, I can’t commit to that. We want to spread it to more because there are monies involved. There is an initial investment and through the savings, we get our investments back.
There are financial dollars attached to it, but in the end, the monies are paid back through the savings we receive.
We will be rolling this out in other communities because we want to lower our greenhouse emissions and we want to save costs.
This will be looked at once it’s all completed. The goal is to roll it out in other communities.
Question 284 – 4(3): Joint Federal/Territorial Funding for Sports (Sammurtok)
Mr. Alexander Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Community and Government Services.
Last week on March 10, the minister, along with the federal Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, announced that “The Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut have signed a bilateral agreement that will allow Nunavut to expand the scope of its projects and programs related to sport participation.”
The press release accompanying this announcement indicated that “The agreement provides a total federal contribution of up to $1,006,900 to be matched by the Government of Nunavut over a period of four years.”
Can the minister indicate how his department will ensure that this funding is distributed throughout the territory?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Minister of Community and Government Services, Mr. Joe Savikataaq.
We will have no problem distributing these funds throughout Nunavut because it is not enough.
The government will be spending even more than the matched share by the federal government that we receive.
We appreciate all the money that we get from the federal government. In fact, $100,000 of this money will already be spent to help with the transportation costs that we have with the Arctic Winter Games that we co-hosted with Greenland.
There will be no problems to make sure that this money is spent within the four-year timeframe within Nunavut.
Mr. Sammurtok (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Can the minister describe the process by which the schools or municipalities may apply to access this funding for local sports programs?
I don’t know of the exact process, but this funding will be distributed through our Nunavut sports department.
There are what I think are called rec. coordinators in every community.
They can speak with Sport Nunavut, which is located in Baker Lake.
It’s not a vast amount of funds, so I would encourage people to look into it to try to get the funds.
We will have no problem spending the funds that are allocated.
On March 10, 2016, the press release indicates that the federal minister, and I quote, “also took the opportunity to highlight the Government of Canada’s commitment to supporting construction of recreational infrastructure that will allow more Nunavummiut to be active for life.”
Can the minister clarify if this funding will be used to retrofit buildings in Nunavut to improve their accessibility?
I can’t comment on what the federal Minister of Sport meant in her comment, but the funds that will be used to renovate buildings and arenas are in a different form of funding with the Small Communities Fund.
These funds will be used mostly to give Nunavummiut access to sporting events. We’re talking more about children so that they learn to be fit and if they want to play sports.
There is a saying that for every dollar you spend to get someone fit and in physical shape it will save you five dollars in the health bill. This is a program to encourage and also to make accessible more sporting events and more activities for the younger people of Nunavut.
Question 285 – 4(3): Search and Rescue (Akoak)
Mr. Akoak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize for not being here when you first called me. I had to get something from the Hansard.
Mr. Speaker, good morning to the people of Gjoa Haven, Nunavummiut, and fellow MLAs.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, I spoke in the Legislative Assembly about the importance of supporting search and rescue organizations.
I want to clearly state that I applaud our new minister for his willingness to make changes to his department’s policies and I also applaud him for his willingness to clearly explain these changes to the listening public.
In the statement which I made earlier this month, I suggested that the time is right for the minister to convene a search and rescue summit in Nunavut, which would bring together federal, territorial, and local representatives to address issues of concern.
Can the minister indicate if he will follow this advice?
Hon. Joe Savikataaq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member for bringing up a very important topic.
I’m willing to take any advice and look at any suggestions in any subject.
As a government, we should be open and willing to look at any ideas that might help the people of Nunavut.
I’m not committing to having a summit on it, but I’m open to listening to ideas and to look at what the member would want.
I’m free and willing for him to come and see me in my office any time to discuss this issue.
Mr. Akoak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the minister for his answer.
Mr. Speaker, it has been reported in the news that there will be an expansion of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary’s presence in Nunavut and the north.
I anticipate that the minister has discussed this issue with his federal counterpart, who is no stranger to this House.
Mr. Speaker, can the minister indicate how the Government of Nunavut will be working with Coast Guard on this initiative?
We have been having discussions and the Coast Guard, which is in charge of search and rescue for marine, has committed to $500,000 annual funding for the new Arctic region, which includes Nunavut and Nunavik. This is funding to train search and rescue workers in that field.
I would like to briefly revisit the issue of developing emergency plans.
Can the minister update us on when the Territorial Emergency Plan will be ready for tabling in the Legislative Assembly?
If the member is referring to the Emergency Management Annual Report Plan, I plan to table it today.
Question 286 – 4(3): Baker Lake Housing Authority (Mikkungwak)
Mr. Mikkungwak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hello to the people of Baker Lake and all Nunavummiut.
As the minister will recall, he wrote to me on December 7, 2015 concerning appointments to the Baker Lake Housing Authority.
At that time, he indicated that an election would be held in the community in early January of 2016.
He also indicated that, and I quote, “the individuals who receive the top [number of] votes will then be forwarded on to me for recommended appointment to the Authority.”
Mr. Speaker, these names have not yet been published in the Nunavut Gazette.
For the public record, can the minister confirm who he has appointed to serve on Baker Lake’s housing authority?
Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation, Mr. George Hickes.
Hon. George Hickes: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member for bringing up this question.
This has been a bit of an arduous task. We have put out a number of calls for nominations in the community over the past few months.
Our intent was to have the election to be held in early January. Unfortunately, we didn’t get enough nominations at that time to move forward with the election process for me to vet through the people with the most votes.
I am happy to announce that we had six names put forward very recently when we attempted to have the election last week.
Unfortunately, due to the tax season, we had some difficulty finding a venue, but I am pleased to inform the member that the election will happen in Baker Lake at the arena on March 24.
Last week, the minister agreed with my colleague from Gjoa Haven that it is important for local housing authorities to encourage residents to make their housing needs clearly known to their local housing authority.
The Nunavut Housing Corporation’s most recent annual report indicates that a total of 14 homeownership program applications were approved in Baker Lake during the 2014-15 fiscal year.
Can the minister indicate how the Nunavut Housing Corporation will be working with Baker Lake’s local housing authority to publicize and explain the corporation’s homeownership programs to residents of the community?
Again, I applaud the member for bringing forward this important issue of having people put forward their names to the needs list so that we can accurately measure the needs of housing across this territory and in his own home community of Baker Lake.
Mr. Speaker, when I was in Baker Lake a couple of months ago, I met with Mr. Joedee, who is the Chair of the Baker Lake Housing Authority, along with the board members and the member himself.
I was stressing the fact that we need to engage the local people in the decision-making power to move forward in recognizing the actual need.
With the centralization of the homeownership programs to our headquarter office in Arviat, we have streamlined the application process and are looking at identifying different communication methods to make sure that all the information is available to Nunavummiut.
I recognize that not everyone has access to Internet.
We are looking at having local information methods being explored, but I do want to assure the member that the information he’s looking for is on the website. We are exploring different methods to get that information out to all Nunavummiut.
The Nunavut Housing Corporation’s most recent annual report indicates that there has been an improvement in the rate of public housing rent collection in the community in recent years.
Can the minister describe what specific initiatives the Nunavut Housing Corporation has introduced to help local housing authorities and organizations to improve rent collection rates?
Again, I applaud the member for bringing forward this very important issue.
LHOs are funded based on the amount of rents that they collect.
It can put hardships on them if there are challenges within the community regarding collection of public housing rents.
That being said, moving forward, as we have in the past, I’m going to say approximately two years, we have created a collection division within the Nunavut Housing Corporation that works on a daily basis with local housing organizations throughout the territory to assist them with their collection methods, information sharing, and best practices.
As well, we have undertaken a couple of different programs within NHC itself. Like I mentioned during my Committee of the Whole appearance, there have been some advances in looking at garnishments and CRA communications. We have outsourced some of our harder-to-collect clients to an outside source with some limited results.
Going forward, we do continue to work with the LHOs to assist them in whatever means necessary that we can help them to increase their collection percentages and numbers.
Most communities have shown some dramatic increases in the last couple of years since this collection division has been created, and I applaud the work they are doing with the LHOs in establishing clear collection methods and the success that it has shown to date.
Question 287 – 4(3): Supporting Our Elders (Enook)
Good morning to people of Pond Inlet and our fellow Nunavummiut.
Mr. Speaker, as a preamble, I am very proud of our elders and I would like to make it clear that I am in full support of them participating fully in the development of our government’s policies and practices.
If we truly want to respect Inuit Qaujimajangit, then we must ask those who know it best to guide us.