EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
There is a domino effect there; if they don’t have the capacity in Rankin Inlet then Chesterfield Inlet can’t finish their full quota.
Do you anticipate getting proper facilities in Rankin Inlet so Chesterfield Inlet can fill their quota?
I’m sure we can look into it.
We’ll review the whole process and see what we can do about commercial fishing Nunavut wide.
The caribou commercial hunting is going very well and we’d like to see the same thing happen for commercial fishing.
Question 085 – 1(6): Call Iqaluit for Police Emergencies – Relay System
I think all the Nunavut communities have to call Iqaluit if they have an emergency.
If they have to dial the emergency number it has to go through Iqaluit first and then it goes back to the communities.
This is a growing concern for the communities.
What can we do to rectify this problem?
We have been using this process for quite a while.
It’s not only here in Nunavut.
All calls have to be answered and if it’s an emergency case, usually they get back to the RCMP right away.
I would like to urge the people out there to inform me if that’s not happening or if there’s a problem with the emergency relay system.
The people of Nunavut that we represent today are starting to say that since the creation of Nunavut there have been no solutions to the problems that we faced before.
It’s seems like since the creation of Nunavut there are more barriers and challenges that we see today. It seems like there’s more challenges now than before.
I can say that the operators are now bilingual and of course some of the members cannot speak Inuktitut, but they’re getting help when they receive the call through Iqaluit.
It’s progress in a way, but if you have any specific problems with this relay system, we’d like you to inform me so that we can look for solutions.
Speaker: Thank you. Mr. Iqaqrialu.
Some of the communities have bilingual RCMP members and there are some Inuit who are taking the RCMP training.
Is it possible to re-route those calls to the closer communities instead of to Iqaluit?
There are twenty four hour operators.
They also have the same relay system in Saskatchewan.
They have twenty four hour operators, we are on the same system and if there is an emergency the relay goes to the effected community as soon as possible.
If you have any solutions I can have a meeting with you and look for solutions if there are problems out there with the system that we are currently using.
Does that mean that the Nunavut residents can voice their concerns to your department if they have problems?
I would like to urge the residents to voice their concerns or problems to your department.
Have you made any arrangements for concerns or problems that people may come to you with?
Mr. Tootoo: I’ve changed.
Somebody’s home and there are no lights on.
Speaker: Bear with me Mr. Tootoo.
I didn’t hear a question but yes if there was, Mr. Premier if you care to respond to the comment or question that was put forward.
I almost forgot what the question was.
We are very receptive to any solutions and ideas.
If there are any specific problems employee related we’re more than open.
Only if we are told the problems and concerns of the people can we start looking for solutions to the problems.
Question 086 – 1(6): Clarify Budget Address – 2.8 Million for New Teaching Positions
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Finance.
I’d like to ask him a question in relation to comment he made during his budget address and I’ll quote from it, it under Education where it’s indicated, “as a result of the increase in enrolments our schools will receive an additional 2.8 million for new teaching positions.”
Mr. Speaker, we heard yesterday in Committee of the Whole from the Minister of Education he indicated that the 2.8 million dollars wasn’t all going to new teaching positions.
I’d like to just ask the Minister of Finance if he could clarify his comments in his budget address.
Mr. Speaker, from the perspective of global education teaching positions, I understand that in the teaching formulas that education uses there are aboriginal language specialists and other support individuals that are classified as teaching positions.
I’m not the expert on education formula matters, that’s why we have a Minister of Education that brings forward the estimates for the Department of Education and clarifies those types of more integral or specific education issues.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to find out from the Minister of Education first to ensure about that as was indicated in the Finance Minister’s budget address was new teaching positions.
I was hoping to be really happy to see new teaching positions in Nunavut.
I would like to ask the minister, the way that it is written in his comments in his budget address alludes to the fact that there is going to be 2.8 million dollars for new teaching positions but in fact that doesn’t seem to be the case.
I’d like to ask the minister, it is confusion and comments like that where people get excited and miscommunication goes out there to the public and to the communities and the schools.
I would like to ask the minister for more clarity like this in comments in the budget address or statements they make will be undertaken in the future so things like this won’t be misinterpreted.
Mr. Speaker the member does make a valid point.
There is no intent to have it misinterpreted.
Like I said it is based on education funding, enrolment funding formulas that they use and like I indicated that there are classroom support positions there.
There are aboriginal language specialists, school community counsellor specialists.
So I don’t know all the classifications or what are deemed as teaching positions within the Department of Education.
I am sure the Minister of Education will be able to identify that in the ongoing budget review.
Tabled Document 012 – 1(6): Names of Persons with Unmarked Graves in Churchill
I’d like to table a document.
First off I would like to thank Jean Simailak, and David Simailak for doing research and bringing the names to my constituency office of the graves that are not marked or unmarked or partially marked in Churchill, Manitoba.
And also I would like to take this time to tell my colleagues in here I think there may be some of their constituents in these 12 pages.
And also the public that if they need some sort of information that they may find names in here that may affect them.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters, Bill 6.
In accordance with the authority vested in me by Motion 02 - 1(6), the Committee of the Whole will stay in session until it reports itself out with Mr. Iqaqrialu in the Chair.
Before we start I would like unanimous consent to go back to Orders of the Day, item 5.
Speaker: The member is seeking unanimous consent to go back to item 5.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker and thank you my colleagues for the unanimous consent.
I would like to recognise George Tanuyak, the Mayor of Chesterfield Inlet in the gallery.
I would like to recognise one of my constituents.
He’s also NTIs Vice-President of finance; Paul Kaludjak is in the gallery.
Also the individual that was just recognised, we used to go to school in Chesterfield Inlet starting from 1959.
I saw him as elderly but he still hasn’t changed and he seems young so I would like to recognise him also.
Before we proceed into Committee of the Whole we’ll take a short break and we’ll go into the member’s lounge for coffee and bannock.
>>House recessed at 3.13 p.m. and resumed at 3.38 p.m.
Yesterday we were reviewing the Department of Education.
I will allow Minister Peter Kilabuk to go first.
We are ready to go down to the witness table along with my officials.
Then I can read my opening comments.
We’ll deal with Bill 6 and Main Estimates.
Do members agree we continue with the review of the Main Estimates and Department of Education?
Do members agree the Minister of Education can proceed to the witness table?
Do members agree to allow witnesses to enter the chambers?
Minister of Education please introduce your witnesses.
Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Legislature.
I had these officials here yesterday and they will be here with me again.
To my left is Tom Rich the Deputy Minister and to my right is Bob Loehr the Budget Development Manager.
I would like to remind members that you have 10 minutes to speak.
You can ask your questions in those 10 minutes.
Before we start, I want to respond to the concerns of the Member for Iqaluit Centre.
He mentioned the schools here in Iqaluit.
The teacher-pupil ratio fluctuates especially in the beginning of the school year.
With the schools in Iqaluit there is no teacher-pupil ratio of thirty or more to one.
At Nakasuk School, there is a teacher-pupil ratio of twenty-five to one.
Some have twenty students in one classroom.
At Joamie School, the highest rate of teacher-pupil ratio is twenty-three.
We have the highest rate of teacher-pupil ratio of thirty-three to one, but the staff had rectified the problem in the beginning of the year.
The teacher-pupil ratio went down to twenty-three to one.
In Aqsarniit School, the highest teacher-pupil ratio was twenty-six to one, but the other classrooms that are close by, the teacher-pupil ratio average is twenty-three to one.
The member stated also that they sometimes provide their own curriculum at the Aqsarniit School.
We went to go see the school and I can say I think that there are only seven percent of the students that are being instructed on the side with the independent curriculum.
At the beginning of the school year was the highest teacher-pupil ratio.
Some of the problems occurred from students not attending school due to their problem but they have been assisted by the staff of the school.
The operation of the school has improved quite a bit.
In view of the other schools, our problem is not as bad.
We were on page 9-5 yesterday and that is where we will start from.
Are there any general comments or questions to page 9-5?
We heard through CBC Radio, they used Kugluktuk as an example, the Chairperson of the DEA in Kugluktuk, he made an announcement on the radio that if there were 235 students, 100 of these students would have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
If the mothers were drinking while pregnant, and here we are not talking about a lot of drinks, the foetus would develop FAS and the children would only be diagnosed when they went to school.
In the past, the education authorities, approximately ten years ago, used to talk about the students who have very short attention spans.
They finally found out that these problem children are, in reality they were FAS children because they had been affected when their mothers were drinking during their pregnancies.
The foetus has no choice as they are tied to the mother.
So, my question is Mr. Chairman, if you will be working with Department of Health and Social Services on that because the education authorities have to talk with the parents in regards to this problem. If we are going to have a good education system the parents will have to be informed that the consequences of drinking while pregnant are that they will have FAS children who are affected their whole lives.
Is there a strategy or plan that has been developed to nip this problem in the bud?
The parents should be informed and cautioned.
Once it is evident that an individual is pregnant, they should be informed of the dangers associated with alcohol drinking and that it is dangerous to the foetus.
So I am wondering if there is funding geared to that.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Arvaluk. Minister Kilabuk.
If I understood his question correctly, within his comments he asked if we have any plans or funding in regards to mothers who are pregnant and at risk.
First of all, I would like to inform you that they are teachers, not health care professionals.
They are not qualified to give these tests if they are not doctors or medical practitioners.
These students have to be diagnosed by paediatricians or by medical personnel.
So these are the medical professionals that would have to diagnose these children with FAS.
I am not sure of the limitations within the law that relate to tests in school for these personal matters.
I would like to inform the member that we have been working with the Department of Health and Social Services and also the Standing Committee members from the west.
We have been working with them on making the information available on FAS to the public.
What I am trying to say is, as a parent, there is a parent-teacher day where the parent talks to the teacher regarding the student and the teacher talks to the parent about his child.
I am wondering if this is part of informing the parent of how alcohol could be dangerous to the woman who is pregnant.
If they are informed that drinking while pregnant could lead to their children having learning disabilities.
Just to prepare them and as an example, I know that cigarette smoking is bad for your health.
How do I know that, because I have used it?
Even if my children don’t smoke, I would inform them that cigarette smoking is bad for their health.
Ten years ago we didn’t know even if you are non-Inuk or an Inuk that the consequences of drinking, even moderately while pregnant leads to FAE and ultimately FAS affected children.
So I was wondering if they can inform these parents during the teacher parent days, either through using the DEAs or the principals, to inform the parents about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy.
We have to prepare all of our people for the future and this is part of the transferral of knowledge.
Yes, in regards to the member’s question, we recognize the fact that it affects the children in school.
Yes, we’re working with the Department of Health and Social Services and yes, they recognize the problem.
And we would want make the information readily available to the parents during parent-teacher days.
We can inform the communities about this issue as something to be available to the parents during the parent teacher days.
Perhaps this can lead to more open dialogue about the issue so that there will be a clearer understanding about this preventable problem and its effect on people.
Any general comments?
Mr. Chairman, I didn’t catch all of the minister’s report to my opening comments yesterday but one of them had indicated about the teacher-pupil ratio here in Iqaluit and that it was fixed.
I’d like to ask him and the staff, I’d like to ask how it was fixed.
Following what I stated earlier, perhaps the interpretation wasn’t in the right context.
In my opening statements, I talked about the pupil-teacher ratio problem in Joamie School where they had the problem of having 33 students in one classroom, it was rectified and it went down to 23 students.
This problem not only affects the students, it also puts a heavy burden on the teachers.
This was to alleviate the situation in that class.
I mean, regardless of the numbers, I’d just like to know, he said it wasn’t fixed, it was corrected.
I’d like to ask him how it was corrected? That was my question.
The teachers got together and looked at how many students were in that one classroom and reviewed the whole school’s situation and resolved it so that the average student-teacher ratio would be at 23:1.
This was the correction that was made by the staff at that school.
I was wondering if he could be a little more specific on that.
Like was there, did they just re-divide the students.
Did they move students from one grade to another grade; you know you can’t just move kids from one grade to another grade.
There are only so many classes of a certain grade.
So I’d like to ask him if he could be a little more specific on how they resolved or corrected, so called corrected the problem in Iqaluit not just Joamie School.
Hon. Peter Kilabuk: Unfortunately, I don’t have the full details as to the breakdowns or how the solution was found but I can assure the member that the teachers and principals, by working together, corrected the high number of students from one class.
But I’m more than willing to provide additional information regarding how this problem was corrected at this particular school.
Mr. Chairman, I know there were, and I’m not speaking specifically for Joamie School but schools in general in Iqaluit and if memory serves me correct Mr. Chairman, I remember discussing this very same issue with members of the District Education Authority here in Iqaluit.
They had concerns about the size of their classrooms.
They were told by department officials that it’s not a problem, that it’s been fixed.
When I asked how, I was informed that it was just a matter of sticking in some teacher’s assistants.
I don’t know what the exact term is for it, teacher’s aids or something like that.
If that was the case, I’d like to ask the minister to check and see if this is one of the ways in which this was resolved or not.
Because if that is the case, you’re still not, the teacher’s assistants still have to follow the instruction of a teacher, the one teacher that’s in there.
So basically it adds more work to the teacher that’s in the classroom of having to provide instruction and guidance they have to be under the supervision of the teacher that’s in the classroom at all times.
So I just want to make sure that that wasn’t one of the ways in which the problem was rectified.
Mr. Chairman, I said earlier in this House, on the fact that it’s our system, and again it’s the system that we inherited and I’m not blaming the minister, but the system that we inherited and the way that it’s funded and everything else, isn’t working.
As long as we continue to use excuses and jargon, I think was the term I used in my statement, by saying it’s not a problem, things aren’t going to get any better.
Just on this response on this particular issue, I think the PTR is a major concern throughout Nunavut and unless it’s something that is addressed, and viewed as a concern by the Department of Education and the minister, things are just going to stay the same.
The same isn’t good enough, Mr. Chairman, we need to improve on it so our kids can achieve all that they can and not end up getting a substandard level of education as a result of a system that sets them up to do that.
Again it’s no fault of the kids and it’s no fault of the teachers.
There needs to be fundamental changes to the system.
I look to the minister and the department for some innovation to try and make these things happen instead of just saying we’ve corrected that problem, it’s fixed.
That’s what I’d like to see from our government, from our Department of Education, look at some innovation and look at fixing and solving some of these problems.
As long as we keep saying it’s solved, it’s fixed no problem.
Take a look at those test results as one example, 50 percent of the kids going into grade 10 dropping out as another example.
There’s something wrong with the system and we need to change it.
If there are limited resources out there, then we have to find ways to become more streamlined and more effective so that the delivery of education in the schools gets the resources that it needs to be done adequately.
Throughout all of the comments, I didn’t hear a question but I noted his concerns.
If there are none on 9-5, we’ll move on to 9-6 after 9-5.
Just looking at the explanation under directorate, it recommends goals, objectives and standards of education to the minister.
I’d like to ask within this section of the department, does the Department of Education have a plan to look at improving the standard of education, objectives to meet that and improve the standard of education throughout Nunavut?
The educational standards work that we did during the Bathurst Mandate forms part of the plan that is to be used for about twenty years, that is an example, that we wanted our children to graduate school fully bilingual.
We also have a shorter term plan of ten years so that we can have a workforce with Inuktitut being the working language in the year 2020.
The mandate that we were given during the Bathurst Mandate, we are encouraged to work with organizations in the planning stages, such as the regional Inuit associations so that we can work to standardise education in Nunavut.
Yes, we have plans to improve our educational standards within the education system.
It’s nice to hear that we have plans.
I’m wondering if the minister could share those plans with us.
Which plan is he referring to?
Is it the educational system strategy or the work that we are doing with the Inuit and other organizations?
We are under directorate.
I just want to make it really clear that the plans that the department has to improving the standards of education in Nunavut.
We want to be able to work closer with different organizations such as District Education Authorities in communities, so the educational standards in each community can be improved.
We are working on updating our ten year plan and the work is continuing and when it is finished it will be tabled in the House.
If I have left anything out, my deputy will include them in his response to the question of the strategy within the Department of Education.
Mr. Rich did you wish to add to that?
Some of the particular areas that we’ll be working on are to work specifically, as the minister has said with District Education Authorities and communities to do school improvement plans.
It’s part of the way to ensure that DEAs are more directly involved and in the discussion paper that was released earlier this year on roles and responsibilities of DEAs, one of the particular issues was to suggest that we would wish to task DEAs to work with their school staff to identify specific goals for each school.
To use those goals then to develop plans that will address the sort of issues that the member has raised.
Issues such as graduation, school retention, to look at particular curriculum areas, for instance, as you mentioned mathematics.
We are also working with a group of teachers to develop support for mathematics education to address the math skills in the classroom.
That will suggest strategies not only for students but also for teachers to improve the teaching of mathematics in the classroom.
We’re working also through the professional development opportunities to look at how to better support teachers in terms of the entire curriculum and finally we’re working particularly in the area of Inuktitut instruction to develop the overall approach to language instruction and to better support that through curriculum materials.
In any plan to improve instruction there are three key areas.
Teachers are the first area and high quality teachers who are comfortable and ready to work with the curriculum.
The second area is the curriculum itself and we’ve mentioned the 10 year curriculum plan that’s being developed.
We will release shortly.
And the third area is resources to support the curriculum and we’re working on all of those areas to improve instruction.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Rich. Mr. Tootoo.
Mr. Tootoo: Mr. Chairman, I’d like to thank Mr. Rich for his response and maybe just to clarify, the curriculum I believe, I understand that we follow the Alberta curriculum and we have a lot of very good teachers out there.
So, the third area is resources. In the Alberta curriculum, to show how good it is they’ve scored top in some of those national tests, not only in math but in other areas they were ranked right up there and we’re using the same curriculum and we’re down at the bottom.
I don’t know if it’s the curriculum and I don’t, I know there are a lot of good teachers out there in the area of delivery of the English stream, everything should be the same.
The only thing missing, I guess, is the resources.
I’d like to hear or have the department or the minister provide us maybe call it a wish list.
What do they feel they need as far as resources to see the adequate resources to make and have the levels increase so that we can have a higher standard of education in Nunavut?
You know we have a good curriculum.
Alberta’s doing great with it.
There is no reason why we should be doing any worse than them.