EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
We also have over 80 community homecare workers now, working and trained in Nunavut in every one of our communities, who provide homecare to elders that are staying in their own homes.
And Mr. Speaker, we actually have now 15 nurses, 15 dedicated nurses, community home based nurses to help again provide that homecare for Nunavummiut in their own homes.
I would like to thank the minister for his response but do we know which elders don’t receive home care service at the community level.
The number of elders is increasing and the service care in Nunavummiut will increase as the age increases.
Can the minister tell me have you already made plans because of the population aging?
Are there more elders that need care 24-7?
Mr. Speaker I think we have right now the very best numbers in place in Nunavut for homecare clients.
Like I said before, in the last two years we rolled out programs in cooperation with the federal government, where that was 4 million dollars in community homecare programs.
However the Member is correct, Mr. Speaker, when we look at the numbers you see that population is aging and there will be a need for more services for patients, for elders who need 24 hours, 7 days a week coverage in their homes.
I’ve had lots of request, Mr. Speaker at our office here in Iqaluit, the Minister’s office, requesting space for patients, for elders, for 24 hours and 7 day a week care.
So we try to facilitate that, we only have three facilities again it comes down to the physical requirements and so on.
The facility we opened in Baker Lake last month, Mr. Speaker was the result of the fact that we had changed the profile so that we could actually put our elders in it.
That’s the first option that we would look at because of the limited dollars to build new facilities.
In the communities that have home care service like Baker Lake, Iqaluit, and other communities; who determines who needs home care?
Mr. Speaker, the home care is decided by an evaluation by the community health centre staff as well as through the regional community health care people.
In most cases, Mr. Speaker, what we’ve tried to do is to help facilitate elders staying in their own home and helping them with issues around the house; whether that would be domestic chores, whether it would be feeding, whether it would be other administrative support to their home.
However, the member’s correct.
In a lot of cases, Mr. Speaker, there are instances where elders, sometimes it’s a couple, through illness, through sickness, aren’t able to be in a home by themselves, in their own home.
And if there are no family members who are able to take care of them, then we need to be able to hospitalize them in an elder care facility.
Right now Mr. Speaker, that decision would be made with clinical consultations with the nursing staff and the health centre.
If those are not happening, how do we ensure that our chronically ill elders are given care?
How do we ensure that from a community perspective?
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we have the trained staff now in every community.
We have 15 home care dedicated nurses, we have a recent coordinator, for example in the community of Pang, we have a home care coordinator based for the Baffin region, and we have similar situations in both the Keewatin and the Kitikmeot.
Mr. Speaker, in the community itself, the nurses, as the members know, the community health centre staff, do actually go around and visit shut ins where needed and the health centre staff, on referral, would be able to ascertain if coverage is needed.
In most cases, Mr. Speaker, almost 90% of our cases, we can take care of the elders through our home care program and allow them the decency of staying in their own home, in their home community, close to their relatives and family.
However, Mr. Speaker, if the person needs to be sent to a home care facility, then that’s a critical diagnosis that is made in cooperation with the health centre along with doctors or whatever.
That’s the concern that we have right now, Mr. Speaker.
That indeed as the member pointed out, there is a demand for these types of facilities and we just opened up one a month ago.
We need to be able to move forward to be able to provide that type of assistance, for example, in the Kitikmeot where we have no coverage and we need more facilities in this region where the population is larger and that population is getting older.
Question 301 – 1(6): Bullying in Schools – Create a Child Psychologist in Regional Offices
Mr. Speaker, today my question is to the Minister of Education.
Mr. Speaker, on my statement about bullying today, you know, it seems to be an issue that starts to generate a little attention.
The issue of bullying in schools only and I’m talking about schools only, seems to be increasing, increasing, increasing and from my colleague from Iqaluit Centre Hunter Tootoo’s statements, it’s getting to be bigger than we think it is.
Now our communities are growing, yours is one of the largest and fastest growing communities in Nunavut and there’s more kids in the school system, and sometimes they get forgotten about by our health care professionals, our nurses, our mental health workers. They are overworked now and the demands that they have to deal with on an ongoing basis are just tremendous.
And unfortunately, the tragedy of this is that our kids in the school systems that are getting bullied, they have FAS, FAE, and they get overlooked.
So it’s down to the teaching staff to have to deal with them or allow the problem to happen in our schools today because the health care professionals are too busy outside worrying about what’s going on out there and trying to deal with it.
My question today to the Minister is has his department considered creating Child Psychologists in the Education Department?
At this stage we have not discussed the possibility of getting a Child Psychologist in the schools.
I can say that there are counsellors in the schools.
Especially this past winter, most of the schools are requesting counsellors.
Our schools, both our schools in Baker Lake currently have an approximate student population of 600 to 650 students, but they don’t have a school counsellor at this point.
I agree with the minister that it is something has to be done.
The issue here is our schools are getting bigger.
In the elementary end we have pupil/teacher ratios of anywhere from 25 to 35.
When there is a problem in a Kindergarten class or a Grade 1 class, and they have 30 kids, the teachers at this time are just trying to maintain decorum in the classroom.
Sometimes some of these kids that need help, the ones with different symptoms of whatever happens at home, sometimes fall through the cracks and the problem is not detected until later on.
My question to the Minister is will he consider setting up a Child Education Psychologist in the Regional Offices?
The bullying and threatening is one of the components of the problems that exist in the schools.
My colleagues that are raising this issue, I fully agree with them.
There should not be any kind of space for bullying within our schools.
Our schools are supposed to be a safe place because it is a learning environment.
A lot of the time, the parents don’t want to see their children being bullied, and none of us do.
As I stated earlier, those are not the only problems.
A lot of the times there is a constant request that the elders should have a role, or have them as teachers in their schools.
And I will inform the Members how we can work together in regards to this.
I would like to applaud the Minister on his work on that.
And I continue to support him in his endeavours to continue working with the elders in the schools.
Mr. Speaker, when we all agreed as a Government, and supported the Government in dissolving the Regional Education Boards, all that got dissolved was the elected officials.
At the time Baker Lake was a Regional centre and I think there are 12 or 13 PY’s there currently.
Times change, Mr. Speaker, things change; all of us in this House see different pressures put on the schools.
Thirty years ago we did not have a need for Psychologists or Psychiatric Nurses and etc, etc.
At this point I can honestly say in my community and I can speak for the region, that maybe it is time to look at that Regional Office there in Baker Lake and create out of one of those positions there, a Regional Psychologist for the Keewatin region to go around, to travel around to the schools and help the teachers and the principals deal with the problems that are starting arise now with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and stuff like that.
And I would encourage the minister and ask him, would he consider changing one of those PY’s in the regional office to an educational psychologist for the region?
Yes, I can agree with my colleague, if we can look into the possibility but I want my colleague to understand that I can’t say at this stage whether it will actually happen, because we will have to talk to the staff over there in Keewatin but I will keep him informed.
There’s nobody I think in this assembly that’s not affected by bullying in our schools and the other effects of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, you know whatever abuse it is, physical, sexual, neglect and stuff like this. Mr. Speaker, I know the minister will look at it but I think I can’t stress enough how important it is to consider setting up and looking at setting up.
So I’m very happy but will the minister commit to looking at converting one of those PY’s into an educational psychologist for our region as a pilot project? I know Mr. Speaker at this point once they see how well this would work out in the Kivalliq that each region would probably want one.
I can tell my colleague that I will check into this.
Yes I will do that with the different regions and I would like to inform him as I stated earlier, that bullying in any way shouldn’t be tolerated in our schools and I understand, because I used to be bullied when I was in school. So I fully understand that.
Question 302 – 1(6): Child Advocacy Legislation
Ms. Williams: I would like to direct a question to the Minister of Health and Social Services. In Pangnirtung he replied to me on the issue of the children’s advocate. He said and I quote, “I believe the draft of legislation has been completed that’s my understanding, however I cannot say at this time when we will be able to bring it forward in a legislative proposal because there is still some work that needs to be done.”
Mr. Speaker my question is, is this legislation almost done?
Mr. Speaker, in Pangnirtung as I said earlier on and this is quoted from the Hansard, we were looking at bringing forward legislation and to bring that legislation forward and make it to being a Nunavut based approach.
What I suggested at that time, we looked at other legislation that has come forward, for example the latest province or territory to bring forward is Newfoundland and Labrador and I said that we would look at a legislative proposal and also see what they have on a Child Advocate Act.
In most cases in smaller jurisdictions they haven’t brought a singular Child Advocate Act, they combine it with ombudsman type duties, and that’s what we were trying to look at here.
Earlier today I talked about five child and youth outreach workers, to actually work with children in advocacy roles, which is similar to what is being said, there not in the same legislative proposals that would have been brought forward.
Mr. Speaker, the legislation is not ready; it hasn’t gone to the committee according to the committee on legislation, and it’s still in the review stage.
I had hoped to have something ready for introduction in March, at that time to look at where the legislative proposal is.
Plus, Mr. Speaker, as the members know in this house, we had to wait till the O and M budget is approved, I don’t have a position dedicated to staff and salary dollars for it in my budget or organizational chart.
Those moneys would have to be approved by this house and we would have to do that when the O and M budget comes forward, so basically, that is where it is right now, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Ms. Williams
Can the minister commit to this House and to the members that this will be his priority? As we all know our children and youth are in, let’s say, in a bad stage of social issues.
Can the Minister commit to having this legislation put forward as quickly as possible?
I know that many members of this House and the public at large are very supportive of this proposal.
It came forward to me first at a public meeting I held in Cambridge Bay in 1999.
It has been worked on with members of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities as well as interest groups including mayors and various people from the Department of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I would hope to have in place a consultative legislative proposal to bring forward by March, to have the opportunity for a child advocate.
At the same time, your government has not sat by idly. That’s why I said earlier that we’ve actually put into place the child and youth outreach worker positions that we spoke about this morning.
So we are moving in that direction.
However, again, legislative proposals have dollar amounts attached to them and I know every member in this House, Minister Ng said at the House in Pangnirtung, there is an issue around a possible debt in my department this year and I don’t have the luxury of being able to create a position out of thin air.
So I have to wait to bring forward the legislation to look at the opportunity for an organizational chart change to see if this is a priority of the House and of the government.
Our children are our priority.
As the Bathurst Mandate states, we need to have a healthy community and the government is working towards that with this legislation being made in Nunavut, not from other jurisdictions.
Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated earlier, we have a penultimate proposal, a legislative proposal, an ultimate legislative proposal.
What we have looked at are our best case scenarios in other jurisdictions, again to be expedient, to see what other jurisdictions have done and to revamp and to advance, have that in place for the Government of Nunavut and that would be the program that we will bring forward.
The legislation would be drafted and available and made here in Nunavut as the member has requested, at the same time, taking the best of the other legislation in other jurisdictions.
We have a fully functioning government and we believe that they can come up with their own legislative initiatives here in Nunavut without going to other jurisdictions.
As I said in my statement, sometimes legislation is made outside of our jurisdiction and they don’t always work.
So I was asking the minister to ensure that all of it is going to be made in Nunavut and the legislation will be coming as soon as possible as our children are in need of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member bringing this issue forward.
I would agree with her and I’m sure the members of the House would agree that our children are our first priority.
As I said earlier, that’s why we put in place child workers.
And Mr. Speaker, we would move towards, like I said again, a penultimate proposal for legislation and it would be a made in Nunavut approach and I would hope to have something available for this House you know sometime this spring in March or April.
But again, there are dollar values attached to it and I’m not in a position to be able to create a new PY right now.
But Mr. Speaker, that’s something that we can look at when the O&M budget comes forward in the fiscal year.
Question 303 – 1(6): Adequate Benefits and Wages for Hamlet Employees
Mr. Speaker, today I made a Member’s Statement about the hamlet employees.
As an Inuk maybe it’s okay to get paid the way they are paying hamlet employees but I think they should be given more pay for them to be able to work properly.
I would like to ask the minister has this been looked into; their wages, the hamlet employees’ wages?
I understood the Member’s Statement about the hamlet employees that are getting inadequate pay and we feel that the hamlet employees should be paid accordingly.
I know that the hamlet employees tend to go to other jobs seeking a better wage and they have better benefit packages.
Some employees usually go to other jobs as well because they have a better wage and better benefits yet as a government we have to look at it and we have find ways to have a better package and wages for the hamlet employees.
Mr. Irqittuq (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I thank the minister for her response.
The only way to get employees for the hamlets is to give more money to them.
Does the minister anticipate that the hamlet employees will be paid better and given better benefits?
I know that the hamlet employees have a hard time even though they have worked for the hamlets for quite a while. Their wages are not up to par with the government employees.
We have talked about this and I talked about money being set aside to do the review on this because a lot of employees have stated to us that they’re not happy with the wage that they’re making right now and we’ll do something about it.
I know this review will take quite a while.
Is the Minister saying that this will be solved?
For instance, when we deal with the Budget for this winter, would there be some money set aside to increase the hamlet employees’ wages?
I have given it to my finance officials and they are doing some review right now.
It is part of their review at this time.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister stated that she has given it to her finance staff to review.
The question that I have, Mr. Speaker, does the minister expect that perhaps even after the Legislature dissolves, that they will increases the wages for the hamlet employees?
I would like to continue being a member of the Legislature.
Mr. Speaker, We have a proposal into FMB and this will have to go through the normal budgeting process.
I hope to see some positive movement on this issue.
Question 304 – 1(6): Federal Infrastructure for Nunavut
In the last few months he has asked for federal infrastructure funding for the territory of Nunavut.
Can the Minister provide this House with an update on their discussions with their Federal counterparts on the infrastructure funding for Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in Pangnirtung, in a quite detailed response to that question at that time I believe from Mr. Tootoo.
I believe right now I would say that we are being short-changed from the perspective of what we feel is appropriate for our needs from the Federal Government.
I know that the Community Government and Transportation Minister Thompson and her officials are trying to put together now a revised proposal for us to look at to see where we can maximize any potential.
I know that the Premier is still planning on bringing forward this issue in his next trip to Ottawa, as we all will be when we are given that opportunity.
Although we have nothing positive to report, I think that we will continue the work on it.
There is nothing right now that has been accessed.
Thank you too as well Mr. Minister for your response.
I just want to get a clarification as to how things are going because at times we like to be kept up to date with these important issues.
First of all, as you stated, you plan to go to Ottawa.
When will you be leaving for Ottawa on this matter?
Mr. Speaker, as members may recall as well, both the premier’s office and my own office have been trying to arrange meetings with the federal minister responsible, the Honourable Allan Rock.
To date, there hasn’t been any success whatsoever along those lines.
I would say it’s a non-response from the Federal Minister’s office and we’ll continue to pursue those avenues.
Thank you, for your response.
We all know that the federal government doesn’t always respond to issues that come from Nunavut and I suggest that you keep trying.
As well you have stated, your schedule has to, you know, when your trips are, when you’re planning your trips down, as you stated, when we had our session in Pangnirtung.
What issues have you taken to Ottawa in terms of our financial matters because as you know we need to increase our federal dollars in regards to our issues here in Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s safe to say that every one of my cabinet colleagues, the premier, myself, whenever we have had the opportunity to deal with our counterparts or any other federal minister in whatever capacity that may be, we’ve tried to articulate some of our needs on a broader scale.
Right now, we are still in the process of completing the fiscal review between the Government of Nunavut and Federal Finance in trying to again articulate some of our needs and to identify whether or not our resources are adequate given our circumstances.
Question 305 – 1(6): Capital Projects Funding
Mr. Speaker, in her Minister’s Statement earlier, she talked about community visits and meeting with Nunavut mayors in different regions that she went to.
Mr. Speaker, in the visit that the minister attended with the mayors for the Kivalliq in Coral Harbour, I believe it was, there were some reports at the time of projects that were announced for Coral Harbour and another, other, I think it was Chester, I’m not sure of the communities.
But these projects are capital projects and I’m just wondering if those projects were funded only through federal dollars?
Or are they partially funded by our territorial capital dollars?
Usually the money that we get from the federal government is cost shared with the territory and in this case we were able to do well in the negotiations with the Federal Government. We were able to just put 35% of the money and the Federal Government did more than their usual 50% cost share so, yes we are.
We usually do this and in this case we did negotiate it so that we were able to put in less than the Federal Government.
Mr. Speaker, I’d just like to ask the minister, I know we haven’t dealt with her capital budget yet but is our share of those funds going to be included in her capital budget when she brings them before the House?
These items were already approved in the last meeting we had in Pangnirtung.
Mr. Speaker, I’m wondering if these projects just popped into capital, I don’t know if they were ever outlined in the capital by the department or by the communities but I was wondering what criteria was used in determining what projects got funded under this program?
Mr. Speaker, these projects didn’t come out of nowhere.
They were based on need in the territory.
All the projects required a business case submission to the Federal Government and an environmental scan and they were in consultations with the hamlet 5 year capital plan and this was some money that the Federal Government said we can negotiate with them for projects. There was a very good case study for each project that was put forward to the Federal Government.
It was based on the highest needs in the territory.
I’m sure hamlets will be happy to hear that they have a 5 year plan now.
I thought it was the government’s 5 year capital plan.
Mr. Speaker, I’m just wondering, given how the whole process seems to flow through and as per my understanding in the past, the Standing Committee requested that information so things like this would not come as a surprise to some of the members. But would the minister commit to providing the list of projects and the priority and for ones that have been approved and ones that haven’t been approved on a regular basis to the Standing Committee for review itself.
Question 306 – 1(6): Supplementary Appropriation Approval
Last year or the year before, we had to approve 20 million dollars and just recently during the Pangnirtung session, we had to approve a supplementary appropriation for another X number of dollars.
I was wondering if the minister can elaborate on what the money was used for.
Speaker: That issue has already been addressed in the House with the minister. Would the minister agree to comment on it?
Mr. Speaker as members know, over the course of past years, and even the current year, we do bring forward supplementary appropriations based on expected needs, requests that are approved by the Financial Management Board for approval here at the House.