EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
As a matter of fact, through the workplace wellness programs that the department is offering, available to all GN employees, we are in discussion through these programs.
We’re discussing with the staff, what areas of the employment workplace or stressful situations they are encountering and we’re working in a group setting to try and deal with these but we will definitely commit to talking to more employees out there to try and identify the reasons which may cause employees to think of finding employment with other groups or organizations.
To hopefully try and keep our employees within the GN. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, maybe just another question I’d like to ask the minister, he talked through the workplace wellness program of trying to identify from employees things that have to do with wellness like stress and things like that.
Mr. Speaker, to coin a phrase my colleague Baker Lake always uses, it ain’t no secret that one of the main reasons people are leaving the Government of Nunavut is because of the pay and benefits offered by the Government of Nunavut are much lower than some of the other organizations and groups and levels of government can offer.
Would the minister commit to also consulting with the employees and asking how can we improve the, what ideas do you have that we could improve our pay and benefit package given the limited resources that we have.
I think all employees understand that we have very limited resources.
There could be an innovative way to try and find ways in which we can do things to enhance the pay and benefits package of our employees.
I’d like to ask the minister if he could commit to that as well.
Well I will commit to definitely holding more discussions with my colleagues at the cabinet level heading the different departments.
I want to provide this opportunity so that we can put in the initiative of putting out a government wide effort of all our employees.
I will commit to providing at the earliest time possible, what the recruitment and retention strategies will consist of.
Written Question 001 – 1(6): Iqaluit District Education Authority Budget Allocation
Mr. Speaker, I have ten written questions for the Minister of Education.
I will read them off.
Did the Department of Education seek input from the Iqaluit District Education Authority for the development of their annual total school and District Education Authority budget for the upcoming 2002-2003 school year?
If the department did seek such input, when did it do so?
What form of consultation did the department use to seek input from the Iqaluit District Education Authority?
Did the department request a written response from the Iqaluit District Education Authority on its budget submission?
What input did the Iqaluit District Education Authority provide to the department regarding the development of its budget?
What method is being used to allocate funds to the Iqaluit District Education Authority for staffing and operations of the Iqaluit Schools for the 2002-2003 school year?
Is the method being used to allocate funds for the Iqaluit District Education Authority for staffing and operations of the Iqaluit schools for the upcoming school year based on a per student basis or on a program basis?
How will the amount of funding that will be available to the Iqaluit District Education Authority for staffing and operations of the Iqaluit schools for the 2002-2003 school year differ from the amount that the Iqaluit District Education Authority would have received by applying the previously used GNWT formula?
When does the department anticipate providing final 2002-2003 budget information to the Iqaluit District Education Authority?
Is the department’s formula funding review being undertaken independently of the GN wide program review?
Tabled Document 015 – 1(6): IDEA Letter to Parents on Proposed Education Act
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to table a signed copy of a letter that was sent home from the Iqaluit District Education Authority with all the students informing them of some of the significant changes in the proposed Education Act that would have a direct impact on the students and the parents.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters; Bills 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Minister’s Statement 020 - 1(6).
According to the authority vested in me by Motion 002 - 1(6) the Committee of the Whole will stay in session until it reports itself out with Mr. Puqiqnak in the chair.
Before we proceed with Committee of the Whole, I’d ask the members to join me in the lounge for a break.
Five minute break members.
>>House recessed at 4.56 p.m. and resumed at 5.11 p.m.
Chairman (interpretation): We will resume the meeting.
We are now in the Committee of the Whole.
In the Committee of the Whole we have the following items to deal with; Bills 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Minister’s Statement 020 - 1 (6).
I would like to start with Bill 6, Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
Are we in agreement to deal with Bill 6, the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth?
I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Culture, Language, Elders and Youth to make his opening remarks.
Hon. Jack Anawak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee of the Whole.
I would first of all like to thank my colleagues and also the Department of Health and Social Services Minister for giving me this opportunity.
The Nunavut Sivuniksavut graduates are going to be graduating in Ottawa and of course I will be making my presentation.
If you have anything or any comments to make to the Nunavut Sivuniksavut graduates, please hand me your statements before Tuesday.
I would like you to make your submissions prior to Tuesday as that is the date that I am leaving.
Last month I had the pleasure of making my first appearance before the Standing Committee as Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
I am equally pleased to be making my first appearance before the Committee of the Whole.
As most of you know, Inuit culture and language are a passion of mine and something that I have worked to protect and promote in most of my life, and in various capacities.
As I noted in my appearance before the Standing Committee, protecting and promoting one’s culture and language help instil pride and hope in people.
My job, with your help, is to ensure that Nunavummiut benefit from a government that reflects their culture, their language, and their values.
As some of my Legislative Assembly colleagues have pointed out to me, this department is the very reason Nunavut was created.
The task before us is large.
The Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth is vital to the people of Nunavut.
It has been charged with leading the Government of Nunavut in its attempts to protect and promote Inuit culture and language.
This is not an easy task especially in an era when most of our youth are distracted by mass culture which is made easily accessible by today’s technology.
For example, the television, the internet, and satellite television make it necessary for us to expose Nunavummiut to our culture and language as much and as often we can.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, the department’s 2002-2003 budget which you have before you is a start.
The additional 1.9 million dollars allocated to Culture, Language, Elders and Youth will help us begin to address some of the most important issues without raiding the department’s other programs, or repeatedly making Financial Management Board submissions for ongoing unfunded activities.
We will also be able to fulfill our obligations under legislation, such as providing stable funding in the amount of 100 thousand dollars for the Nunavut Historical Advisory Board.
As a result of the budget increase, the elder’s and youth program, will receive 125 thousand dollars each to help communities promote the well being of Nunavut elders and youth.
This will be accomplished through the development of programs that promote traditional lifestyles and enhance traditional knowledge amongst Nunavut youth.
Our goal is to give elders the opportunity to pass on their knowledge of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit to our youth and to help keep Inuit customs and traditions alive.
This was also the case with the Archaeology Program, the Archives Program, and the Toponomy Program.
This new funding will give the Archaeology Program 100 thousand dollars this year to examine archaeological sites that may contain important cultural artefacts.
In addition, the new funding for the Archaeology Program puts into practice the Bathurst Mandate requirement that every element of the government budget be viewed as a potential training budget.
These funds will allow Nunavut youth to work on archaeological digs, providing them with valuable training and work experience, while at the same time instilling them with a sense of pride in their own heritage.
The Archive Program will be receiving 100 thousand dollars this year.
This will allow us to work to preserve rare historical documents that record important events of our history for future generations.
This is particularly important with the recent creation of our Territory.
It will allow us to record and preserve this important time in our history for those who follow us.
The Toponomy Program, which deals with geographical names, will receive 320 thousand dollars this year.
This program will help Nunavut regain its Inuit identity by providing Nunavummiut with a mechanism to change community and geographic names to their traditional Inuit names.
It will also give us the opportunity to interview elders and record their knowledge about traditional place names.
Work in all three areas is time sensitive.
The longer artefacts and historical documents go without protection, the more damage they suffer.
And the longer we wait to talk with our elders about traditional place names, the fewer elders with knowledge there will be to interview.
(interpretation) As we all know, elders are a very important resource in our efforts to preserve Inuit culture and language.
They provide a vital link to the past and are the keepers of Inuit traditions.
Therefore, in order to give elders a way and means to provide input in the government initiatives, we will be establishing an Elders’ Council.
Three hundred thousand dollars has been allocated to this important initiative.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is one of the Government of Nunavut’s most important initiatives.
However it is also one of the most difficult to define.
The Elders’ Councils, once they are established, will play a role in their attempt to determine how the government should implement Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and it will also review government programs and services for Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit content.
The Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth will co-ordinate the relationship between the government and the Elders’ Council and will provide the council with the support it needs.
The projects I have spoken about have all been allocated new funding.
However, I would like to add a note of caution.
Money alone will not guarantee that these initiatives are delivered successfully.
The success of my department depends upon the dedicated work of its staff.
The Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth is desperately understaffed.
Without a concerted effort to staff more of its positions, the department will continue to lack the human resources necessary to meet its mandate.
The department has embarked on an ambitious attempt to ensure that adequate staffing levels within the bounds of our budget are met.
As I recently pointed out to the Standing Committee, it is remarkable that the few people currently working at the department have been able to maintain the level of service they have.
The recent addition of 405 thousand dollars to departmental staffing will add 4.9 PYs.
In addition, we must, and will, define precisely what the department’s new programs and policies will entail.
Mr. Chairman, the strength of the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth is essential to the health of Nunavut’s future.
A strong department will contribute to the growth of Inuit culture, traditions and language and will promote the wellbeing of Nunavummiut.
We are committed to strengthening the department’s programs and in doing so hope to foster pride in all Nunavummiut.
The new funding we have received is a move in the right direction.
You can rest assured that these new funds, as well as the rest of the department’s budget, will be used for the benefit of all Nunavummiut.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
You can now proceed to the Witness Table.
Sergeant-At-Arms would you bring in the witnesses please?
Mr. Minister please introduce your witnesses, we are all aware of who is up there but Mr. Minister if you would introduce your staff please.
On my right, David Kolot is the Director of Policy and Planning, and we also have on my left, Leona Aglukkaq, who is now the Deputy Minister of the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
Welcome all.
I would also like to especially welcome Leona Aglukkaq who is now the Deputy Minister of the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
We haven’t seen her for a long time since she left us.
Welcome back and we’re very proud of you.
I would like to ask Mr. Iqaqrialu if he has any opening remarks for the Committee of the Whole.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to be able to give the committee’s opening remarks as we begin debate on the 2002/2003 Main Estimates for the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth. Later on, members of the committee will have an opportunity to ask questions regarding these estimates.
The Standing Committee Ajauqtiit has had the opportunity to meet with the minister and his staff.
The minister was able to give an update on his department’s proposed expenditures.
Mr. Chairman, members feel this department to be a critical one as it deals with exactly those things that we value highly as Inuit, our culture, our language, our elders and our youth.
Mr. Chairman, members noted that the department has had a difficult time in filling all of its positions due to the lack of staff housing.
Because of this some PYs have been frozen.
Members were pleased to see new funding for elder’s programs as this has been an area of concern for members in the past.
Members were pleased to hear of the department’s plan to establish a council of elders.
This council will provide elders with an opportunity to be more involved in the government’s decision making processes and to ensure that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is considered in the development of the Government of Nunavut programs and policies.
Members look forward to hearing more substantive details about how this council will function in practice and how elders will be selected to be on the council.
Members also hope that this council will also work closely with the youth.
Members were pleased to see additional funding for youth programs.
However, members note the potential for confusion given that some of the department’s funding programs are classified as grants and some of them are classified as contributions.
Members would like to see more funds slated towards the preservation and promotion of the Inuktitut language.
Members were also concerned that a substantial amount of the funds received from the Federal Government for the French language are often returned because they’re not being fully utilized.
Members look forward to seeing the annual report of the Status of Women’s Council being tabled in this House, so that all members can be more aware of their activities and initiatives.
We also look forward to the minister tabling an update on the work accomplished to date by the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit task force.
Members were pleased to see new funds for the Toponymy program.
Some members suggested that the Council of Elders would be very helpful with this program.
Members would like to see a list of all grants and contributions made in the 2001-2002 fiscal year to be tabled in this House.
Members would like to see the department ensure that groups and individuals in all communities and regions have a fair chance of applying for funds from the department.
Mr. Chairman, members note that although the department has received a large overall budget increase this year, the total amount of funding for grants and contributions has not increased from the amount in the 2001-2002 Main Estimates.
In the event that lapses in the department’s operations and maintenance funding occur during the course of this year, members would wish to see funds re-profiled to grants and contributions programs.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my opening remarks.
Members were generally satisfied overall with the department’s progress and I anticipate that individual members will raise their own comments and concerns on the department’s 2002-2003 Main Estimates.
I would like to close by reinforcing the comments made by members over the past several years regarding the importance of ensuring that this department has the resources and tools necessary to fulfilling its important mandate.
Those are my opening remarks.
Those were very interesting opening comments.
We will be dealing with bill 6.
We will now open the floor for general comments and of course we’ll be giving you ten minutes per member to make your general comments in accordance with Rule 77 (1), which gives you an opportunity to have ten minutes to speak.
According to Rule 77 (2), subject to the discretion of the chair, a member may speak more than once on a matter under discussion but not until every member wishing to speak has spoken.
Please recognise the chair during the proceedings. I will now open the floor for general comments.
I would also like to thank Minister Anawak and his officials.
Thank you very much for making an appearance in the Committee of the Whole.
I’m very pleased to be talking about the Culture, Language, Elders and Youth and the implementation of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit within the government.
We are pleased to see that the budget has been increased, not very significantly government-wise, perhaps it is rather large to the average Inuk, but there was approximately 2 million dollars added to the department.
These monies are slated for the youth and for Inuit activities and programs. For those of us who are over 40, I don’t think that we’re included in any of these programs because we’re concentrating mostly on the elders and the youth and the middle aged people are left out.
Nonetheless, it is a very important department, and I think that we have to promote this department as it has already helped a large number of people out there.
There are also Grants and Contributions that are accessed by the people of Nunavut, especially by the communities who use these monies for training and also for promoting the Inuit language, culture, and everything else.
Especially this past winter, there was a program in Hall Beach as well as in some other communities where they taught the youth how to make traditional outdoor clothing.
They were taught to make clothing in the traditional fashion.
There was also money used from this department on the environment and survival out on the land.
For example, they taught them how to build igloos, net making and other essential survival skills and techniques that have to be learned by the youth.
It is also a way of preserving and promoting our culture.
I am sure that this department will become a very important element of the Government.
It is sometimes very hard to do such promoting with all the rules and procedures that we have to follow.
With this department, I was wondering if we could get some instructors who could teach the skills and the traditions and culture of the Inuit.
I would want to see an increase in the CLEY department’s budget because of course there are twenty-six communities in Nunavut.
If there were Cultural Instructors it would be a good beginning for this department.
Of course, we know that this is a new department and I am sure that it would be easier to make policies for a brand new department.
For example, the Department of Education has had existing policies for a long time and they are quite hard to change, but I am sure that it can be done.
I think we also would have to recognize that since this department is going to become the foundation of this government, especially if we are using it to store Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit archival materials, so we will have to concentrate on it.
I could say a few more words, but I would like to thank you Mr. Chairman for giving me the opportunity.
You did not finish up your ten minutes, but if that is all you want to say that is okay.
The Speaker said that we would stay in the Committee of the Whole until we report ourselves out.
I just want the members to realise that we have the opportunity.
I have some names on the floor.
Speaking of languages, I am starting to lose my dialect as I am finding it easier to say Nakurmiik instead of Qujannamiik, which is in my dialect.
In regards to the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, because this department is to be the foundation of the Nunavut Government, just as the minister so succinctly stated, because we had to ensure that our traditions would not be lost within Nunavut.
I just want to say that the NWT government did not really think seriously of the department at the time but our new government is starting to realize that it’s very important for the protection of our Inuit traditions that this department have the resources to deal with the issues facing it.
There are a lot of things that are very difficult to do especially since funding is essential to all things, but there are supposed to be things like training and education and the promotion of traditional knowledge and its preservation.
It is important that we look at ways of teaching traditional Inuit skills, secrets and other knowledge, all the while remembering that only with funding would they proceed.
It’s very good to see that the department has some increased funding to do all those things and this is just the beginning.
We would like to see enough money for it to provide services, but we know that we don’t have enough money in Nunavut’s budget to meet all of the wishes of the people, so I would like to just tell the government, that this department should be provided with enough funding to promote Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, cultural pride and values.
The minister also said that there are some funds set aside to consult with the elders and this is a very good start for the department.
For those of us that are not knowledgeable enough of Inuit traditions, this is very, very good that the information be gathered for our use and for the benefit of the youth.
There are also some things out there on the land that even my age group doesn’t know about, such as the survival skills and the dangerous ice patterns and weather patterns that we have to learn to navigate in our environment, and the youth especially have to learn this knowledge.
Before our elders are gone, I was very pleased to hear that those kinds of things will be started because they don’t usually provide these types of programs as training tools in the schools and it’s good to hear that the elders will be consulted to train young people and the middle aged people how to survive on the land.
If it could be managed that more funding is slated for those programs, it would be very beneficial to our people.
I have Mr. Iqaqrialu.
It’s not that I have a lot of comments to make but I just want to congratulate the department for initiating the things that the minister mentioned in his opening comments and hopefully the funding for all those activities and programs will continue from year to year.
I would also like to say that when we have a session at the Legislative Assembly, our language and our writing system is used along with the simultaneous interpreting, but when the translations are transcribed, it has been a problem that we have encountered as members even though we speak in our language here in this House.
When the interpreters translate our words into English, and then the transcribers turn it around and translate the English back into Inuktitut, this has been a problem we have encountered, because the actual words in Inuktitut should be written as we stated them.