EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Actually with regard to the concerns held by the Cape Dorset MLA on the plan to complete the work, including meetings with Cape Dorset organizations such as the DEA and CG&S, the burnt rubble requiring the clean-up is the subject of the planning meetings.
This is where that concern was first voiced.
The statement just provides for the possibility, especially if it has to be cleaned up next year in Cape Dorset, as it is mostly the metal foundations that are left.
With respect to the question that is currently being raised by my colleague about a new issue related to crushing, it is something we will have to review.
I did ask the minister about the capabilities of this crusher in view that maybe it will work for Arviat too; if the same crusher will work well.
Just for clarity, is the minister stating that he will look into bringing a crusher or shredder into Arviat to deal with the metal waste there?
With respect to the capacity of the crusher or metal presser, I haven’t been briefed about the particular details with respect to that equipment and we are looking at that possibility of shipping a crusher to Cape Dorset to clean up the metal debris.
Yes, that is as far as we have gone in terms of planning, but I don’t have the details on the capacity or the horsepower of the crusher.
I haven’t received that level of detail yet about the equipment.
Further, for the request from Arviat coming from my colleague about that mindset, we can look into that, as I said.
Question 119 – 4(3): Total Allowable Harvest for Foxe Basin Polar Bears (Mapsalak)
Mr. Mapsalak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) My question today is for the Minister of Environment.
Mr. Speaker, I have raised the issue of total allowable harvest quotas for the Foxe Basin polar bear subpopulation on a number of previous occasions.
Mr. Speaker, it has been brought to my attention that more female than male polar bears have been coming into the community, sometimes requiring the community to kill the bear in defense.
As a result, the community is limited from being able to harvest female polar bears outside of the need for defence.
Will the minister commit to working with local HTOs to determine a method of allocating the total allowable harvest for Foxe Basin polar bears that will allow the community of Naujaat to harvest female bears beyond the need for defence?
With respect to the polar bear TAH and the polar bear management agreement, we use the MOU to make a decision in regard to harvesting female and male polar bears. We follow the polar bear management MOU and that’s what we use.
For that reason, perhaps my colleague can indicate or make suggestions if he can elaborate further on his question, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Mapsalak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) I’ll be asking my first supplementary question in English. (interpretation ends) I note that new regulations to amend the total allowable harvest for the Foxe Basin polar bear subpopulation were included in the July 2015 issue of the Nunavut Gazette, which indicates that the new total allowable harvest is now only 52 polar bears.
Can the minister indicate if this total allowable harvest includes any parameters of how many male and female bears can be harvested in the Foxe Basin area?
I don’t have the figures for the total allowable harvest of male or female polar bears.
I will have to look into that for the new decision that was made recently in regard to the Foxe Basin area, so I’ll have to get back to the member.
It’s evident now that there is an overpopulation of polar bears and the Foxe Basin TAH is only 52. That’s very small.
We know that there’s a high population of polar bears in Foxe Basin. That’s why I said that we usually run out of tags when the polar bears are just coming into town.
Can the minister commit to doing a full review with the co-management partners on how they can amend the issue of the TAH for female and male polar bears?
I also thank my colleague for his concern.
Yes, in Nunavut, polar bear management is up to MOUs and the MOUs stipulate the concerns. The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement stipulates that we have to work with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, as well as the HTOs and RWOs. We have to work with all of these organizations as well as other wildlife stakeholder groups on this matter.
That is also our general practice, and due to that, we are open to any suggestions to improve the management system and it will always be open for further improvement.
I will consult with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board to deliberate on our options, as well as alternatives that can be explored to resolve the concern we were informed about.
Question 120 – 4(3): Support for Search and Rescue Organizations (Mikkungwak)
Mr. Mikkungwak (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) My question today is directed to the Minister of Community and Government Services.
As the minister is well aware, his department provides funding to search and rescue organizations in Nunavut under its Community Search and Rescue Organization Support Policy and Community Based Search and Rescue Contributions Policy.
These policies both include provisions that require search and rescue organizations to prepare proposals that outline organizational goals, objectives, and timelines and complete financial reports.
Mr. Speaker, I note with concern that the versions of these policies that are currently posted on the department’s website are expired.
Can the minister indicate if these policies have been updated and, if so, when will the updated versions of these policies be made publicly available?
Yes, I will be able to look into when it was updated.
The financial reports for search and rescue do follow the policies.
Search and rescue organizations are very beneficial to Nunavummiut and we have to fund the search and rescue organizations. I can look into when we can put the updated version on the website.
I recognize the importance of accurate financial reporting when allocating public funds to any given organization.
Can the minister indicate what assistance, if any, his department provides to local search and rescue organizations in completing proposals or financial reports?
Yes, search and rescue is very important in Nunavut.
We would like to see these organizations funded. I can only report to you on what was used in the past.
Whether it is winter or summer, no matter the mode of transportation, fuel, food, and warm clothing are necessities. Yes, we can pay for all of that because search and rescue is very important to Nunavummiut.
We can only proceed with search and rescue when they’re funded. That is how it is set up.
It has come to my attention that a number of search and rescue organizations may not have the technology or software that is needed to complete these reports and meet the standards set out in the department’s policies.
Under these circumstances, search and rescue organizations may have to resort to using personal equipment to meet the reporting requirements and receive funding.
Will the minister commit to working with each search and rescue organization to ensure that they have the resources and capacity to meet the reporting requirements that are set out in the department’s policies?
Hon. Johnny Mike (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to thank my colleague for his question.
Yes, we work closely with the hamlets, particularly regarding their local resources and search and rescue capacity.
Yes, I can review this matter to see how it can be managed better in that regard.
Furthermore, the status of some search and rescue organizations are different as some are actual societies with (interpretation ends) society status (interpretation) while others are under the hamlets.
We have to work with the hamlet councils or with all Nunavut hamlets to resolve our challenges and we can work on the member’s concern at that time.
Indeed, financial reporting and accounting have to be completed and on time.
I will ask my officials to look into this matter further.
Question 121 – 4(3): Telecommunications Services (Enook)
People of Pond Inlet, good afternoon, especially to Tyrone, Nancy, and Jane. I am very proud of you.
They were the young people who were mentioned in one of the statements.
Mr. Speaker, as the House will recall, I have raised the issue of problems with telecommunication services in Pond Inlet on a number of occasions.
In recent weeks, concerns have come to my attention that technical problems have severely impacted the operations of the municipality’s offices. It has been occurring for approximately one whole month.
It is my understanding that the regional office of the minister’s department is aware of these issues.
Can the minister tell me what his department is doing with the Municipality of Pond Inlet to make it clear to NorthwesTel that the recurring problems with our community’s telecommunication services need to be fixed as a matter of urgency?
With regard to the member’s concern, this is the very first time I have heard about this problem and I have never heard the extent of the problem.
I will look into that in regard to NorthwesTel’s telephone system because the company had stated that they want to do improvement work in the communities.
I believe that before I became a minister, NorthwesTel had stated that they wanted to make improvements.
I would like to ask the minister to not just look into it. If you just look into it, it’s not going to do any good.
Could you instruct your staff to start dealing with NorthwesTel right away? It’s a major problem in our community, so we have to make sure that it’s fixed as soon as possible.
During the Legislative Assembly sitting of October 22, 2014, I asked questions to the Minister of Community and Government Services concerning the need for NorthwesTel to improve its services to Pond Inlet.
The response to my question was of the view that the company’s plans “don’t go far enough.”
If the company’s plans did not go far enough, what is the government’s view today?
I indicated to the member that I was going to look into it and not just look it, but get some action going.
I will make sure that I get all the information from my officials to see what types of plans they have for the communities in Nunavut and where the improvements were going to focus on.
Question 122 – 4(3): Standardizing the Inuktitut Writing System in Nunavut’s Education System (Akoak)
Mr. Akoak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon to the community of Gjoa Haven.
Mr. Speaker, in April, the minister wrote to all of the Members of the Legislative Assembly about his department’s plans to adopt a standardized writing system for Inuktitut in the education system.
I am sure the minister is aware that some Nunavummiut welcome the use of Roman [orthography] writing system while others feel very strongly about maintaining the use of syllabics.
Phase 1 of the minister’s implementation plan focused on resource development as well as on communications and consultations.
Can the minister provide an update on the current status of this initiative?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the member for asking that question.
This is a huge discussion in Nunavut and I’m very glad about that because they’re thinking about the writing system that is used in Nunavut.
We have indicated that we had plans to standardize the writing system through the education system using our teachers. The questions that we have brought forward to ensure we have enough resources in the schools are: how much Roman orthography written curriculum and documents are available now, and how capable are the teachers if we were to adopt the Roman orthography writing system?
We were looking forward to it and we knew that there was going to be some opposition.
We are going to be continuing with our consultations over the year 2016.
If you remember correctly, we had a meeting in January 2015 with the Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit and they approved the standardized writing system in the education system.
They supported the idea and that’s what prompted us to some consultations on the usage of Roman orthography.
We have not decided whether we’re going to be implementing the usage of Roman orthography or not. The members know that looking at the global picture and looking at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, within Nunavut, Northern Quebec, Labrador, and NWT, it has been a discussion at some point and there are other stakeholders involved.
To date, there are 17 out of 30 teachers that have responded to our questionnaire, and more schools have responded to the questionnaire and outlined their preferences.
Yes, we knew that there was going to be opposition, but I would like to reiterate that we are still going to be consulting for another year on the standardization of Roman orthography.
As I mentioned, there are many Nunavummiut who feel strongly about maintaining the use of syllabics to write in Inuktitut.
Can the minister describe what kinds of concerns have been expressed about continuing to teach the use of syllabics and how he proposes to address those concerns?
Maybe I didn’t understand your question. I think you were talking about syllabics.
We are still using Inuktitut syllabics today.
The syllabic ABCs are still in use because we have been using it for a long time.
I think I have mentioned that our schools are using the dual writing system.
Roman orthography is being used in the west and in the eastern side, we use syllabics.
We use a dual writing system in the schools.
As I indicated earlier, there has been no change to date; we are using both Roman orthography and syllabics.
Again, there are teachers in the lower grades especially who are opposed to the idea.
There is very little Roman orthography written curriculum in the schools, so we have to find out how much more we have to produce in order to have adequate resources.
Those were some of the questions that were asked, and that’s why they were opposed to standardizing the writing system. They were (interpretation ends) not ready yet (interpretation) for this change.
There are not enough resources written in Roman orthography.
These were some of the reasons for people being opposed to this idea in the initiative this department is trying to undertake or research.
Mr. Akoak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the minister.
Mr. Speaker, the minister’s letter to MLAs indicated that he had contacted NTI regarding the transition to using Roman orthography for written Inuktitut in Nunavut’s education system.
Has the minister received any response to date on this issue?
I am very pleased that my colleague asked that question because we did receive a response from Nunavut Tunngavik and we have been shown a motion that was passed which indicated that they will support the system only after they have consulted and reviewed the whole process.
That’s the letter we have received from NTI.
The Inuit Language Authority, again, wrote us a letter and they also sent a copy of a motion they had passed.
We have a copy of these two letters. We have support from Nunavut Tunngavik only after a thorough review.
That was the indication of the letter we received from NTI.
Question 123 – 4(3): Cancer in Nunavut (Angnakak)
Mr. Speaker, I am certain that we all know individuals and families whose lives have been affected by cancer. As with many diseases, the early detection of cancer allows for much greater chance of treating it successfully and to give survivors the opportunity to continue to live full and healthy lives.
Can the minister provide an update on what initiatives are undertaken by his department to screen for cancer and to prevent this terrible disease?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) There are various types of cancers. Unfortunately, we lead the country in a couple of areas.
Colorectal cancer is far too high, along with lung cancer, which are much higher than elsewhere. Those are two main causes that we have seen so far. There are other forms of cancer like cervical cancer and breast cancer that are also detected in our territory.
In terms of cervical cancer, we are currently creating screening guidelines and we’re having training sessions with our community health workers, and we hope to have that completed soon.
We are also currently reviewing our breast cancer screening policy. A colorectal cancer screening program is in development. Unfortunately, for lung cancer, there is no effective form of screening at this time that we know of.
Those are some steps that we are doing for cancer and detection of cancer in our territory. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I note that the NWT recently released its first ever cancer strategy. When they went to develop the strategy, the Department of Health and Social Services met with cancer patients to discuss areas of improvement in cancer diagnosis and treatment, from screening to patient support and wanted to find what kinds of information and services are most useful.
Can the minister explain why, here in Nunavut, we don’t have a comprehensive cancer strategy and when can we expect one?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) As I said in my reply, we are working on various stages of detecting cancer earlier. At the same time, we are reviewing our screening policies to make sure that we have the most effective means of screening for cancer in our territory.
Those are progressing and I hope that we can come up with a broad screening and detection strategy for our territory, as we need to have very good effective cancer screening and treatment programs in our territory. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I recognized that some forms of cancer are linked to lifestyle choices, but also, a lot of them are 100 percent curable if we can catch them soon enough.
There just seems to be so many cases where it’s not caught as fast as it should have been.
I’m wondering if the minister would commit to doing the same type of thing, to meet with the patients who are going through this terrible thing.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I believe that we are trying and that we understand that there are far too many cases, unfortunately, in our territory and we need to find better ways of screening for and treating cancer.
I hope we can come up with a good policy and strategy in the near future, and I hope that we can move forward and start having a more effective program for cancer patients. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 124 – 4(3): Implementation of Article 23 of the NLCA (Joanasie)
I would like to direct my questions to Premier Taptuna.
Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell us how frequently he, along with any of his cabinet colleagues, has met with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated regarding Aajiiqatigiinniq, specifically as it relates to Inuit employment within the government?
Mr. Speaker, we do have many programs that we try and increase our Inuit employment numbers within the government.
We have Inuit employment training programs, plans, and other internships that we talk about.
As members are well aware, we do work closely with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. In fact, the member has indicated the MOU that we work with.
In fact, I did meet with the president a couple of weeks ago on this.
I would now like to ask the Premier if he can explain how the Government of Nunavut ensures that their staff, particularly at the senior management level, is made aware of the constitutionally protected obligations outlined in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement with respect to Article 23.
Mr. Speaker, as Premier, I expect all the departments, corporations, and deputy heads to develop and implement Inuit training programs and to develop plans to support them.
As members are well aware, in the 2015-18 business plan, those plans have been incorporated into the government’s business plan.
Also, we initiated and established an Inuit steering committee which is chaired by a director of Inuit training from Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs.
The membership is all senior managers from all departments and corporations.
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the steering committee is to develop hiring policies and other training programs that will be beneficial in increasing Inuit employment within the government pertaining to Article 23.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank the minister for his response.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Nunavut likes to say that the Inuit employment rate is at 50 percent. However, if we look closely at the numbers using the Inuit employment statistics from December 2014, there are approximately 1,707 beneficiaries in the workforce out of 4,529 positions.
This equals 37 to 38 percent Inuit employment. Is this accurate?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) The Hon. Premier Taptuna.
The numbers aren’t accurate.
Mr. Speaker, the number of 50 percent has been stalled at that for several years.
As members are well aware, the labour force is very small in the territory of Nunavut and there are a lot of Inuit who are employed through the local housing associations and other Inuit organizations that are counted in these employment numbers.
As members are well aware, with these small numbers in the labour workforce, it’s very difficult to move above the 50 percent mark, but at this point, we have created and established programs and we have created policy where we can make efforts to increase the Inuit numbers within the government workforce.
In fact, the new Inuit Training Corporation that we established through partnership with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated aims to do that.
At this point, we haven’t had our inaugural board meeting yet, but once those are established with the help of our partners, not only Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated but the federal government, we will certainly expect these numbers to rise in our workforce.
Question 125 – 4(3): Update on the Action Plan on Children, Youth and Family Programs and Services in Nunavut (Hickes)
I would like to direct my question today to the Minister of Family Services.
On March 8, 2011, the Auditor General of Canada provided a report to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut and it was tabled under Children, Youth, and Family Programs and Services in Nunavut. This report contained 20 recommendations. In the following sitting on June 7, 2011, an action report was tabled dealing with the 20 recommendations from the report.
Mr. Speaker, on September 17, 2013, a progress report to the standing committee was tabled.
My question today would be: what is the status of that action plan, and has there been any progress been made on developing an implementation plan and work plan to follow up on it?
I thank my colleague for the question about social services.
The Office of the (interpretation ends) Auditor General (interpretation) has submitted 20 recommendations that are concise and clear to the Department of Family Services.
From that list, Recommendation No. 35 has been fulfilled.
If the Department of Family Services is going to train workers for social work or if they will hire social workers, there are minimum requirements they will have to pass in order to conduct social work without waiting for training to be completed.
For Recommendation No. 23.2, it recommends working with Nunavut Arctic College to design curricula for a course specific to social workers that is based on Inuit societal values, including IS3, which was completed in February 2015.
Action item No. 23.4 is to carefully monitoring the vacant positions within the Department of Family Services and this work was completed on March 15, 2015.
We know which positions in the communities have been filled.
The third item, which is Recommendation No. 50.1, is comprised of two parts. The processing of the cases ranges from 800-812 and 904-912.
With respect to Recommendation No. 50.2, which calls for a review and close monitoring of past actions, and to disseminate information that needs to be sent out, it includes review of the annual report and consideration of social services recommended for the Department of Family Services.
It was also completed in March.