EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
The information we have is that polar bears have drastically increased since 20 years ago, so we feel polar bears are not declining.
I thank the minister for his honesty.
I think we have a lot to share in terms of information with the world. Every year, there are nuisance polar bears, dangerous polar bears getting into our communities and garbage and dump areas.
We have, in Kugaaruk, harvested or put down nine polar bears before the season was open within this year, 2009. Will the minister share these things that happen in Nunavut, animals having to be put down because they are a nuisance and they’re dangerous, with the global management of polar bears?
I thank the member again.
I would like to assure the member that when I discuss polar bears with our northern jurisdictions and with the federal government in Canada that this is my position.
I explain how we’re having problems with polar bears, as the member states, in Kugaaruk and in Arviat right now with a similar situation.
So it’s unfortunate that we have to deal with these situations. We do have initiated in our department a polar bear deterrent plan, which we are setting up plans for communities to be safer when polar bears do arrive in their communities.
I would like to assure the member that our voice is being heard.
My second supplementary is: what happened when the nuisance bear is put down, what happens to the by-products like polar bear skin?
When a defence kill polar bear is taken, there’s a tag that’s applied on it usually from credits that communities have. Once an investigation is done by a conservation officer, then that information is found out that is a defence kill. The hide and the parts of that polar bear return to the HTO and it’s up to the HTO to dispose of that in whatever means they see fit.
Question 180 – 3(2): Bootlegging in Pangnirtung (Komoartok)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for the Liquor Licensing Board.
As people may be aware, just this past fall, our community held a plebiscite regarding liquor licensing in our community.
A large majority disapproved of this request and voted to continue their current status. We had a large turnout of voters who came to make their opinions known.
We also know, although we are technically a dry community, that liquor continues to be shipped in and it is still sold illegally, as evidenced by the large number of court cases where 70 to 80 percent of them are liquor-related offences. This has continued to be the case for many years.
Local residents would like to have another plebiscite with respect to how the Liquor Act can be better enforced, especially if our residents continue to vote for keeping the ban on liquor. To date, with the current way the legislation is drafted and enforced, there are gaps and leakage points where people can get away with liquor offences.
Sometimes, with last winter being a spike, residents of Pangnirtung would travel down just to buy bootleg alcohol for resale in our community. We have heard about this and it is hearsay. However, a modicum of truth is needed for rumours to get started.
We would like to know and I am asking the minister how we can better plug these holes in the legislation, especially so that our community is not adversely affected by the illegal sale of liquor, and to search for ways to decrease the number of cases related to alcohol abuse.
What options would our community have to ensure that the legislation is enforced more forcefully? That is my question to the minister.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Komoartok. (interpretation ends) Minister of Finance, Hon. Keith Peterson.
Hon. Keith Peterson: My microphone went to sleep on me.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for Pangnirtung for raising that important issue.
As I mentioned the other day in a response to Mr. Okalik, bootlegging is a serious issue in Nunavut.
It’s interesting that Pangnirtung is a prohibited community. It had the plebiscite and it’s clear from the residents that they don’t want alcohol in their community.
I was up in Pangnirtung a couple of months ago with the RCMP and I talked to the senior administrative officer there.
I also found it very interesting that the hamlet was trying to pass a public intoxication by-law in a prohibited community.
I mentioned to them that the Liquor Act is available to charge people for infractions against the Liquor Act. I have talked to the RCMP up there; great members, they do a lot of hard work in the community and contributing to the community. I told them that the simple fact is they should be charging people with infractions under the Liquor Act and they are charging people with infractions under the Liquor Act.
So I encourage the people in Pangnirtung, if they know that there are bootleggers, report them to the RCMP, report them to the mayor or to council, but support the RCMP in the community to take the community back from the bootleggers. It’s as simple as that.
People should not have to live in fear or worry of bootleggers in their community. The community should work with the RCMP and work with the officials to enforce the Liquor Act.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister. (interpretation) Your first supplementary, Mr. Komoartok.
I understood his response and wish to thank the minister for that information.
In some ways, our council that deals with this problem sometimes runs into a dearth of information about the Liquor Act. Can the minister agree to send staff to go to our community to ensure that the Liquor Act is understood? Some of them aren’t aware of the contents of that Act and want to know their roles.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for Pangnirtung again for that very good question.
I have officials who can travel to all of the communities in Nunavut when requested to explain the Liquor Act.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned the other day, I am shortly going to be announcing a review of the Liquor Act and there will be consultations with all communities in Nunavut.
All organizations of Nunavut that wish to make presentations to the task force will have an opportunity to do so.
Pangnirtung will be high on the list of communities to visit so people have an opportunity to have input in how to improve the Liquor Act so that we could address the issues of bootlegging in their community.
Question 181 – 3(2): Internship Program (Elliott)
In terms of the $2 million that was allocated in the O&M budget for the training and mentoring of people within his department, I was hoping that the minister could give us an update on how that program is going.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank Mr. Elliott for that question.
I suspected that question was coming my way. He was talking to my colleague in Human Resources.
Mr. Speaker, the $2 million was funding that our department found internally that we work with the Department of Human Resources and it’s funding that we moved over to their department.
I can assure the member that my understanding is the funding is fully committed for this year training government employees and other people who are linked to government departments to provide them with training by the end of March of 2010.
We’re hoping to continue that program after March.
I was wondering if the minister could be more specific in what type of training he’s talking about.
Is it training within his department, the Department of Finance, in terms of bookkeeping and computer programs or is it across the board of all GN employees for workplace safety?
If he could be more specific as to what types of training these employees will be receiving.
As indicated during the main estimates process, there will be training provided across all government departments in accounting and financial management. There will be training provided on administrative processes.
They will be skills a lot of government employees need upgrading in all government departments so that they can take the transferable skills with them from department to department.
We recognize the Office of the Auditor General recognizes that the Government of Nunavut needs to provide training and we want to provide training to all of our employees and give them better skills.
I appreciate the member’s concern for Government of Nunavut employees and I look forward to his continued support to train them.
My understanding of what the Government of Nunavut was going to do is a little bit different than the reality of what is happening.
My understanding was I thought that the Department of Finance was going to choose a few, in trying to live up with Article 23 of the land claims agreement, beneficiaries to hire, to pay them and give them a salary, and then mentor by putting them with another person within the department and work side by side with them over the years to train them and give them the skills to train that person to take on the position.
I’m not sure where the member gets his information.
I know he doesn’t sleep at all.
He emails me at two o’clock in the morning, which indicates he’s up thinking.
I don’t know where that information comes from.
It may be part of the process.
My understanding is, to provide training to the most numbers of employees in all government departments and agencies, we will offer training in classrooms.
There will be people going across Nunavut. I know the Department of Human Resources has training facilities in most Nunavut communities through Nunavut Arctic College and therefore, you can provide those training opportunities to Nunavummiut in the communities and you get more bang for your buck.
Thanks for the plug. I find my dedication hopefully allows me the time to do the research.
To me, $2 million is quite a bit of money. At the same time, it goes along with my whole idea of having the government accountable for where I’m asked to put capital and O&M dollars.
Could the minister commit to providing, probably in the next sitting, a list or a detailed report on where the $2 million has gone, who has received the training, and how many people have received the training?
As the Minister responsible for Human Resources has said, through the Auditor General’s report and whatnot, if we’re going to tackle and try and get more people hired, was that $2 million beneficial or not in terms of evaluating the situation?
I know the member has a long history of working with the people in his communities, and he and I have had discussions over the last 10 or 12 months about providing more training for Nunavummiut.
He has talked to me about something called PLAR, rating the prior learning assessment. That’s important.
So I talked to individuals in government departments about what kind of training they require.
I know the consultants who took the lead on the report card talked to people in the communities about some of the concerns they had in the Second Assembly. They indicated through the consultants that they required more training in all areas, they felt that they weren’t getting adequate training, and they weren’t getting recognition.
It was holding them back in terms of advancing in the communities, in the government jobs.
So the Government of Nunavut, this government, has listened to the people in Nunavut who work for us and we really value the Government of Nunavut employees.
We feel that they’re overworked, there’s a capacity issue, and that has probably led to some of the high turnovers, the lack of training and support. We recognize that.
I tasked my department and I have to complement the Deputy Minister of Finance for taking a lead on that. I asked him to find some funding internally that we can use to help all government departments across Nunavut provide training for their employees.
He worked with the Deputy Minister of Human Resources and they came up with this plan. So in order to implement it, we worked very closely with Human Resources and it has been very successful.
I can tell the member, Mr. Elliott, that we will provide a list of where the training is being offered in Nunavut.
In fact, I believe there is a list right now and applications are underway. So I can’t commit, but I will assure the member that the training money is going to be used for good purposes across Nunavut.
An Hon. Member: Good answer.
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Peterson. (interpretation) Please note that question period is now over.
Tabled Document 091 – 3(2): One Year Assessment of Fuel Consumption Performance for Government Ford Escape Hybrid SUV (Kusugak)
I am pleased to table the following report: One Year Assessment of Fuel Consumption Performance for Government Ford Escape Hybrid SUV.
Tabled Document 092 – 3(2): Supporting People to Succeed: A Council of the Federation Symposium on Labour Force Participation (Tapardjuk)
Tabled Document 093 – 3(2): 96th Meeting of Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) (Tapardjuk)
I have two documents to table. The first one is the 96th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education Canada, and the other document is Supporting People to Succeed: A Council of the Federation Symposium on Labour Force Participation.
Can we have the documents brought forward to the table, please.
Motion 014 – 3(2): Extended Adjournment – Notice (Ningark)
I give notice that on Monday, December 7, 2009, I will move the following motion:
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Amittuq, that notwithstanding Rule 4, that when the House concludes its present sitting in Iqaluit, it shall be adjourned until March 4, 2010.
Motion 013 – 3(2): Renewal of the Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative (Okalik)
(interpretation ends) WHEREAS the historic First Ministers’ Meeting of September 2004 recognized the challenges facing Canada’s northern territories in providing their residents with access to health care;
AND WHEREAS the 2005 federal budget committed $150 million in additional funding over a five-year period to strengthen health care in the territories;
AND WHEREAS the unique challenges facing Nunavut in the area of medical travel costs have been acknowledged;
AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada’s Northern Strategy, which was released in July 2009, notes the importance of “making progress to ensure territorial health systems are more responsive to Northerners’ needs, patient wait times are reduced and community level access to services is improved”;
AND WHEREAS federal funding for the Territorial Health Access Fund, Operational Secretariat and Territorial Medical Travel Fund expires on March 31, 2010;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Hon. Member for Rankin Inlet North, that that this House calls upon the Government of Canada to work with Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon to renew the Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative, including the Territorial Health Access Fund and the Territorial Medical Travel Fund, in a manner that recognizes the unique needs and circumstances of each jurisdiction.
It is readily apparent that the health department still faces difficult challenges today and on more than one occasion since the inception of the Nunavut government, we had to do supplementary appropriations for this department.
In that manner, we are trying to improve the department by offering more support since their pool of funds will wither once the federal funding is cut off and no longer available.
This is why I urge our government to liaise with the federal government on this matter during their meetings to fight for more funding.
I urge all of my colleagues to support the motion that is in front of us in the House and we would like to get a positive response from the federal government.
I know for a fact that our good ministers are working to their utmost to attain the extra funding from the federal government and for the benefit of Nunavummiut.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Okalik. (interpretation ends) To the motion.
This motion will assist our government immensely and I thank all of my colleagues, especially the member who tabled the motion, the member from Iqaluit West.
With respect to the funds that the government spent, the $150 million he referred to was initiated in 2005 and is going to be expiring on March 31, 2010. I wish to inform my fellow Nunavutmiut that this fund consisting of $150 million will expire in March and this extraneous funding has allowed our health department to provide more services.
As an example, although our current funding is never quite sufficient, this extra $150 million has been a boon to the three territories of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon and I wanted to clarify that.
As was indicated earlier in comments to the motion, it has been very beneficial to health prevention initiatives and assisted us in training employees who otherwise would not have been able to attend these training courses.
Mr. Chairman, due to the importance of this matter, I will be making some of my statements in English to elaborate on the reasons why we must deal with it as expeditiously as possible.
There are many people I would like to thank; Premier Aariak, who has written letters to our federal counterparts and is currently the Chair of the Northern Premiers.
She has corresponded with the Prime Minister and with the federal Minister of Finance, who previously had the health portfolio prior to my appointment to the health department. The Premier can speak to the details of that correspondence if she wishes.
(interpretation ends) I would just to highlight some of the points that I feel are quite critical.
The Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative, that’s exactly what it’s called. In the preamble it was alluded to that the Territorial Health Access Fund is about to expire.
That is one component of this complex set of THSSI and the other party, the medical travel aspect. This particular program has been instrumental in helping the Government of Nunavut to undertake initiatives that contribute to a long-term health human resource plan within our government.
This fund has given Nunavut the opportunity to train our health professionals in the areas of nursing, midwifery, mental health, and community therapy, for example. This training would not be possible without the federal contributions.
Mr. Speaker, this fund has allowed us to increase positions in specialist services in communities throughout Nunavut.
As well, the fund has enabled us to develop and begin to implement the territory’s Public Health Strategy, which will reduce reliance on the health care system over time.
As well, Mr. Speaker, the Nursing Recruitment and Retention Strategy, funded by this initiative, helped recruit 50 new nurses to Nunavut in the past 16 months.
The medical travel grant from Territorial Health System Sustainability Initiative has allowed our government to devote resources towards improving the management of medical travel and to help curb expenditures in the long run.
Mr. Speaker, in total, out of this $150 million, Nunavut has received $75.2 million during the last five years, specifically, $51 million for medical travel, $21.7 million for the Territorial Health Access Fund, and $2.5 million for pan-territorial projects throughout Nunavut.
All of this funding is set to expire on March 31, 2010.
If this funding is not renewed in the same manner, much essential as well as innovative work will come to an end.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, the programs and projects supported by this THSSI clearly address the goals of Tamapta to help individuals and families who are vulnerable, at risk, or disabled.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that this is a crucial time. Why?
It’s federal budget time. This is considered a federal budget item. Therefore, the lobby is really quite critical and we have been encouraged even by our own MP that it is important for us to lobby our colleagues in Ottawa.
I appreciate the help of our federal health minister. She is really up to speed on this issue and our new active Senator from Nunavut is also very aware of this situation and they’re speaking to our colleagues, friends, and counterparts in Ottawa.
I would very much like all of you to support this initiative.
Why? We may be the only legislature out of the three that can unite on this nature because we are a consensus government.
As the Minister of Finance and the former Minister of Health, I will be supporting Mr. Okalik’s motion.
It’s a very good motion and I appreciate his working with Tagak, the current Minister of Health, on this.
I know Minister Curley has a difficult job. I think all ministers of health across Canada, it’s not an easy task being the Minister of Health in any jurisdiction and I recognized that when I had to do the role.
I had a good chance to take a look at the health books and understand the issues that they face. I realized immediately that the funding from the Territorial Health Sustainability Fund was critical to Nunavut, particularly for medical travel, which it contributes $10 million a year.
I met with our federal Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq, in January and my territorial colleagues and we had a good opportunity to advance the case for funding in the north.
I know our Member of Parliament is working hard in Ottawa to raise awareness of the need for that funding.
As the Minister of Finance for Nunavut, I put my other hat on and wrote a letter to the federal Minister of Finance, Minister Flaherty, and stressed the need and urgency that the Government of Canada renew this funding for Nunavut and for the north, and I believe he is listening.
I had an opportunity as the Minister of Finance… . We have the federal/provincial/territorial ministers’ meetings.
We had one in Meech Lake in May, where my territorial colleagues, finance ministers, again raised the issue of extending or renewing this funding.
Of course, they say that it’s under review.
I have spoken to the federal Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq, several times on this important initiative.
I spoke to her in late August when she was in Cambridge Bay for the Nunavut Association of Municipalities meeting and stressed how urgent it was.
She showed me that it is a top priority for her and for the government.
She’s advancing it.
Mr. Speaker, I spoke again yesterday with Minister Aglukkaq and told her that we’re in our budgeting process. Our main estimates process is coming up in March of 2010.
It’s absolutely critical that we have some indication of whether funding will be extended or renewed.
I don’t know what kind of number they’re looking at.
I certainly hope that they at least renew or extend the same amounts that we have now. We would like more.
I know, in talking to my colleague, Minister Curley, the funding costs of delivering health services in Nunavut is increasing every year.
There are costs beyond his control; certainly out-of-territory costs and physician costs that we need help with.
I believe that we should get an indication very soon as to what the government can and intends to do.
I will be raising the issue again at the federal/provincial/territorial finance ministers’ meeting in Whitehorse in a couple of weeks. I believe my colleagues in the Northwest Territories and the Yukon will as well.
Again, I will be supporting this motion, and I express my appreciation to Mr. Okalik for his support. He understands that the Department of Health is in critical need of this funding and it will benefit all Nunavummiut.
We have a lot of important projects underway and that we believe should be continued.
We have a lot of dedicated health professionals working in the Department of Health who must be a little bit worried right now about their future.
I would like to be able to be in a position at some point very soon to assure them that their jobs aren’t in jeopardy and that the health programs will continue.
I will be in support of the motion for the reasons that have been spoken to and regarding the past set-up of the program.
I think some of us remember, at least those of us who try to read documents, particularly related to how the federal government treated Inuit and First Nations, I think it was back in the 1800s, just before I was born… .
They set up reservations for the First Nations and the government told them, “You will be using that reservation as long as the sun rises and the rivers flow.”
In that treaty, it states that the health care and medical care of the First Nations and Inuit will be included.