EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
This young person, through her own prerogative, and her name is Meeka Nangmalik, walked from Igloolik to Hall Beach, with a one way trip totalling 60 miles.
She undertook the return trip, which means that she walked about 120 miles and her reason for doing the walk was due to the lack of day care facilities in Igloolik.
This was also because of the demand for a day care facility, including residents who wish to work at a day care and those who wanted to work but had problems with babysitters or the lack of a facility.
The reason that I am so very proud of her, Mr. Speaker, is because Nunavummiut are not just sitting idly by waiting for these facilities or problems to be resolved, but are working hard to voice their concerns where they feel there’s a need. That’s why I want to voice my gratitude to those Nunavummiut who work to assist their fellow residents, Mr. Speaker.
Member’s Statement 438 – 2(4): Reflections on Freedom of Speech (Tootoo)
I rise today to offer some reflections on the issue of freedom of speech.
Mr. Speaker, one of the fundamental privileges that all Members of this House enjoy is the freedom to speak our minds.
As elected representatives, it is our responsibility to speak out on issues of concern to our constituencies and communities.
There are times when our words are warmly welcomed and other times when what we say may not be so popular.
However, each and every one of us enters this Chamber secure in the knowledge that the privileges of the Legislative Assembly protect us from reprisal for what we have to say on behalf of others.
Mr. Speaker, like many Nunavummiut, I was concerned to learn that the President of the Status of Women Council had resigned from her position.
As you and other members will recall, when the former president’s appointment was announced on March 25 of this year, the official Government of Nunavut’s news release stated, and I quote, “It is important to speak out when the territorial and federal governments propose policies or legislation that impact women and offer support and alternatives as the circumstances warrant.”
Interestingly, these were the exact same words that the government used in its April 12, 2006 news release announcing the appointment of the previous president.
Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the provisions of the Public Service Act that govern the conduct of public servants.
I fully recognize that public servants are necessarily constrained at times in terms of what they can and cannot say on matters related to government policy.
However, Mr. Speaker, I completely fail to understand why the government acted in the way that it did with respect to this situation.
On the one hand, the government tells the President and the Status of Women Council that it is “important to speak out.” On the other hand, it appears to gag them if what they say is not to the government’s liking.
Mr. Tootoo: Mr. Speaker, the government should not be placing the people it appoints to advocacy bodies in such an impossible position.
It should either appoint private citizens who are unburdened by the obligations of their employment, or it should make it clear that these rules will be relaxed when it comes to issues that they have been specifically chosen to address as council members.
Mr. Speaker, I can only hope that the government simply made an error of judgement in this matter.
I hope that the government did not intend to put someone in this position knowing that they would be unable to speak as freely as we can in this House.
And, Mr. Speaker, for myself, I apologize to the former President of the Status of Women Council for her being put in that situation.
Member’s Statement 439 – 2(4): Kiilinik High School Trades Shop (Peterson)
I rise today to thank the Premier and the Minister of Education for coming to Cambridge Bay on separate occasions earlier this month.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that our Cabinet Ministers visit Nunavut communities to hear directly from the public, particularly our young people.
Mr. Speaker, during his visit, the Premier had an opportunity to tour the Kiilinik High School and visit the trades shop.
This is one of the most popular programs in the high school, and the community is pleased that the students are finally able to take advantage of the facility.
Mr. Speaker, during our visit, we had an excellent question and answer session with the students. The entire school body turned out to ask the Premier questions about issues important to them.
Some of the questions were about:
Climate change;
Polar bear populations;
Arctic sovereignty;
Inuinnaqtun language and education materials;
The Bathurst Inlet Road and Port; and
Funding for Youth Centres.
We appreciated the students and teachers inviting us into their school and I would like to note that the snacks that they prepared for us afterwards were delicious.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education also visited the high school to tour the trades shop and see first-hand how well it is operating.
Mr. Speaker, as you will recall, the minister and I have discussed in this House for a number of years the importance of a fully functioning trades training facility located in the high school.
During our visit with the shop teacher and students, the evidence was clear that the students – both girls and boys – were very happy with the entire facility.
Mr. Speaker, we met with Principal Mike Simms who outlined some exciting ideas that the high school has brainstormed about to expand the trades shop in order to involve and benefit the entire community.
Mr. Speaker, in most Nunavut communities, we have a critical shortage of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, oil burner mechanics, and other trades.
Students who learn the basics of some trades will take practical skills with them when they graduate that will help them throughout their lives.
Others may be inspired to pursue the skilled trades as a career option.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that Nunavut leaders take the time to visit schools whenever possible to talk to students and encourage them.
It is not easy to be a student nowadays with all the pressures of daily life and worrying about your future.
When our leaders demonstrate sincere personal interest in their well-being, the students will open up to them, as they did to the Premier and me.
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with Minister Picco and the high school to continue to develop the trades shop into a state-of-the-art training facility.
Member’s Statement 440 – 2(4): Story about Falling in Cold Water (Okalik)
I would like to extend my welcome wishes to some of the members who have finally arrived here in my constituency.
It is my birthday today and I would like to relate a short story. I totally enjoyed hunting as a child and when I was quite young, I caught my first seal and caribou.
And I wish to relate my experiences as they occurred then, both to my constituents and everyone who is listening.
We were on our return trip home and we happened to be in an area of strong currents and rough seas.
Having caught my first animals, I felt that I was a really great hunter since I had caught food for the family.
I was walking on the side of the freighter canoe we were using, on my way to the stern of the canoe, since it contained caribou meat in the middle.
My mother was scolding me not to walk about the canoe as it was quite dangerous in the rough seas.
However, being emboldened by my successful hunting, I paid my mother no attention and continued to walk towards the stern.
I slipped on my way to the stern and the next thing I knew, I was falling into the raging ocean.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): It seemed like I had just taken a dive as my whole body went under. Even as I noticed that I was underwater, I also noted that I could hear my mother’s screams of anguish, even though my head was under the water, as she obviously thought I was done for.
Just like in the movies, when you see the actor underwater, they kick their feet to surface, so I started kicking my feet and sure enough, my head emerged out of the water.
There was a canoe that was just behind my father’s canoe. They happened to be in the right place as I surfaced and I was grabbed and lifted onto the canoe. It was Davidee Veevee, Sr. and his son, Joelie, who were in the following canoe and were able to grab me from the water.
As they told the story; as I was pulled out of the water, I was gasping for breath, crying in fear, but what they found so hilarious was that in the entire chronology of events, I had never stopped chewing the caribou meat in my mouth.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): It must have been quite comical to be witnessing the event in retrospect as I was scared out of my wits and I was no longer overconfident in my abilities and always listened to my parents afterwards. I never wish to repeat that experience.
The essence of this story is that all young people who go out hunting should always listen to their parents and elders so that they will not experience the scary episodes like I experienced when I thought I knew it all.
Someone should get him the swimming pool schedule.
If there are no more, we will move on with our Orders of the Day.
The Premier is still not very obedient right now.
Mr. Mapsalak (interpretation): I would like to welcome and recognize on behalf of the members, my CA, Louise Ningark, who is behind me, from Kugaaruk.
She has been very instrumental in my work and she is currently assisting my office. She is organizing my office and it is getting very clean. At least I’ll be leaving after the session with a clean office to work in.
I would like to thank and welcome her to the Gallery.
Hon. Levi Barnabas (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge an individual with whom I spent my childhood years in Arctic Bay, Joanasie Akumalik.
He is working with James Igloliorte, the very first Inuk judge from Labrador.
They are on the truth commission on the dog slaughter issue.
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last Saturday, we went to Cape Dorset for a meeting held there by an organization that has assisted Nunavummiut greatly. Graham White, who attended that meeting in Cape Dorset from the Gordon Foundation, is in the Gallery.
I would like to welcome him to the Gallery. Thank you.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Akesuk. (interpretation ends) Welcome to the Gallery. (interpretation) Item 5.
If there are no more, we will move on with our Orders of the Day, but I would like to welcome everyone in the Gallery.
Question 542 – 2(4): Status of Inuktitut Curriculum (Curley)
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question today is for the Minister of Education.
Firstly, I would like to thank him for attending the graduation of Arctic College students in Rankin Inlet.
They were very pleased to have you attend that graduation ceremony, so thank you for having taken the time to attend.
Mr. Speaker, many of us have heard from teachers in our communities that many of them are greatly concerned with the significant lack of Inuktitut language materials for use in the classroom.
Many teachers are forced to translate their teaching materials and some have to photocopy their own materials in order to be able to teach their students in Inuktitut since there are no materials.
Can the minister report to this House on the status of Inuit language curriculum materials that are supposed to be under development and whether any materials are currently available for use in all grade levels in our school system?
The area that the member raises has come up several times over the last few months, especially on my visits to different communities.
What we have been doing, as the member knows, in each region of Nunavut, we have what we call a TLC, or a Teaching Learning Centre, where we have on an ongoing basis, on a daily basis dedicated staff for people creating resources in Inuktitut specifically for our schools and our classrooms.
Much of this information has now been assembled and put on CD ROMs.
One of the issues in the past has resulted in, I think, a real way of looking at things electronically but also with the new computer age, how we’re able to adapt to that.
A good example is in Arviat. We have several teams of elders and curriculum specialists in Arviat putting out new curriculum results and materials.
Let’s say for example, in Arviat, they use, instead of saying like here, we would say, “Sulijuq,” they would say, “Hulijuq.”
So when you get that CD ROM and if you’re in Clyde River and it says, “Hulijuq,” they say, “We don’t use the H,” for example, in Inuktitut. Now, with the beauty of the CD ROM, when this resource material comes out, the teacher in Clyde River, for example, can take the “Hulijuq” on the CD ROM and make that correct and say, “Sulijuq,” and that’s a great advancement for us.
So it’s ongoing work, Mr. Speaker, and it has been.
We spend several million dollars a year right now on curriculum and curriculum resources, and we have been trying to Nunavutize other material in the high school level.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to thank the minister.
However, with respect to his response, the materials he mentioned, we will take that into consideration because the CD ROMs are now old technology, at least to the younger generations.
Our youth are really into the iPod these days and due to this, many of them may not be able to utilize this resource and it may be a waste of funds.
If the Inuit people are going to be learning Inuktitut, they should be able to read or write Inuktitut wherever they travel, and they should be able to read and write Inuktitut.
Can the minister clarify what is delaying the development of Inuit language teaching materials that are urgently needed in our schools at this time?
These are very critical and are needed now. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
The member has again probably raised one of the most important issues when we talk about developing Inuit-specific, Inuktitut-specific curriculum and resources.
There is no one, Mr. Speaker, in Nunavut, whether in this House, in the classroom, in the school, across Nunavut, and in any of our communities that can show anyone or demonstrate to anyone what a grade 7, a grade 8, a grade 9, a grade 10, a grade 11, or a grade 12 writing is in Inuktitut in Syllabics.
So if we’re trying to introduce, for example, a bilingual education system across Nunavut from kindergarten to grade 12, we need to have those Inuktitut standards in place and one of the frustrating things for our Inuit educators is how we identify that standard.
How do you demonstrate what writing should be in grade nine and what curriculum resources can be translated into that grade 9, grade 10, grade 11, or grade 12 academic standard?
We have the dedicated people right now who have done tremendous work.
For example, in Mr. Alagalak’s home community of Arviat, Mr. Mark Kalluak has recently produced, with the Nunia Qanatsiak and their team, several award-winning curriculum books and so on.
In Inuvik, just a few weeks ago, Mr. Kalluak and Ms. Qanatsiak were recognized by their peers, by Inuit educators from across Canada, for their good work in curriculum resources, but we need to be able to move a little bit faster and we need a better framework for the standardization of Inuktitut.
The minister asked a question, “How can that be provided to provide materials to each community?”
It’s very simple, Mr. Speaker. The minister has the authority to provide to local education districts.
He can provide funds to local organizations and DEAs to ensure that they translate materials and provide them. That’s the way to standardize them; it may not be throughout Nunavut.
The minister has indicated that the government has already identified an additional $14 million for the implementation of the new Education Act, including resources to be allocated for the delivery of Inuit language instruction.
Can the minister clearly explain why that money, $14 million, which has already been set aside for this purpose, cannot immediately be directed to develop Inuktitut language materials in each community?
I thank the member and I thank the House.
If the members are saying right now that they want to give the Department of Education $14 million without having the passage of that legislation in the House itself, it would be fantastic, but we do have priorities and processes in place.
I can’t access money from the House unless it’s been voted on.
To vote on that money, there has to be, in this case, we have legislation in place that states that over $1 million would be used, as Mr. Curley has indicated, for curriculum resources, curriculum material, and for extra salaries to actually have more people devoted to preparing that information and those materials for our students.
The minister answered a series of questions earlier and one of them is: how are we going to develop?
One is to commit and provide authority to local authorities and also, Mr. Speaker, the minister is the only one who has the authority to provide funds.
Mr. Speaker, in the private sector world, that kind of position would be seen as bribing the consumers if a certain amount of funds is allocated until they do a certain action. My last supplementary is this: will the minister commit to immediately allocating all or part of the $14 million that has been set aside to the development of the Inuit language teaching material, instead of holding it hostage until the passing of Bill 21, the proposed Education Act, and if not, why not?
Hon. Ed. Picco: Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that I know Mr. Curley and the member is a strong advocate for education, and I thank him on behalf of the Department of Education and again, our students.
It’s not as easy as just saying, “Why doesn’t the minister give us the money?” We have processes and legislation in place and if any minister, for example, thought that they could put $5 million or $10 million at any given time in their budget, we could do that and we would love to do that.
But we do have a process, it’s called the Legislative Assembly, we have to come in the House and then we have to vote on these based on different plans, programs, supplementary bills, or in this case, legislation.
The member is correct again that when the Education Bill goes through the House, there will be $14 million directly invested into the Department of Education and I think that’s a good news story, so I thank the member for his support.
Question 543 – 2(4): Resignation of President of Qulliit Status of Women Council (Peterson)
Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, Mr. Tootoo, I was very disappointed when the former President of Qulliq Status of Women Council resigned the other day.
Mr. Speaker, on March 25, the government’s official news release stated that when they appointed the next president, and I’ll quote here from the statement, “It is important to speak out when the territorial and federal governments propose policies or legislation that impact women and offer support and alternatives as the circumstances warrant.”
We have now learned that the president has had to resign after receiving a warning from her employer, the Government of Nunavut, for having spoken critically about certain matters.
I wish to note, Mr. Speaker, that I never heard her criticize the Government of Nunavut and I have known this lady personally, it was a difficult decision for her to have to resign.
My question for the minister: can the minister clearly explain to the House why the Government of Nunavut would appoint a Government of Nunavut employee to this kind of advocacy role if it had no intention of allowing her to speak freely in the first place?
Minister of Human Resources, Minister Barnabas.
I can’t elaborate more on her resignation because she resigned, but we learned about the Code of Ethics and Conduct that are in place. If we’re going to appoint somebody to the government, we expect that there are things that should stay within government, and that’s what they have to follow.
That’s the only response I can give at this time.
Mr. Speaker, again I wish to note that the former president did not criticize the Government of Nunavut.
I know this lady personally and she’s a very dedicated and strong advocate for women’s issues in Nunavut.
My question for the minister: would the minister explain to the House why the president was only informed about potential conflict of interest issues more than one month after she was appointed as president by Cabinet and only after she spoke out about the election of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association President?
This transpired even before I became a minister, and I can only state again that according to the Code of Conduct, they have to follow the guidelines and there should be bonds.
I didn’t have an opportunity to see the letter because, like I said, it transpired before I became a minister, so that’s all I can say that this time.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister Barnabas.
The former President of the Qulliit Status of Women Council was appointed on March 25, 2008 and I believe the minister was appointed as the Minister in the Cabinet before that date.
My question for the minister: can the minister state, for the record, that he did not know that his departmental officials were issuing a written warning to the president and that, as a GN employee, she could find herself in conflict of interest problems if she criticized the Government of Nunavut?
I did not see that letter, so I wasn’t aware of that and that’s the only response I can give.
Mr. Speaker, the Qulliit Status of Women Council has a number of individuals sitting on the board, some are from the private sector and some are from the Government of Nunavut.
Can the minister tell the House if he intends to issue warnings to the other Government of Nunavut employees on the Qulliit Status of Women Council that they cannot speak out or discuss issues that affect women if, by participating, they may criticize their employer, the Government of Nunavut?
Yes, this is a learning experience for us. If we’re going to appoint or make direct appointments to boards as MLAs, especially as ministers, we should be more aware and more cautious what positions we appoint them to because they have to know that they have to be professionals and follow the Code of Conduct.
This has definitely been a learning experience and we will make improvements.
Member for Tunnuniq, Member Arvaluk.
Question 544 – 2(4): Public Housing Units with Leaking Fuel Tanks in Pond Inlet (Arvaluk)
We have heard from various sources and I also received a letter from the Pond Inlet Housing Association saying that nine units, and if he wants the actual house numbers, I can readily provide them, but I’m hoping he will take my word for it, I believe that there are nine units with their fuel tanks leaking.
Today, there are no replacements available to resolve this issue of the leaky tanks. At this time, a band-aid solution is being used where they are using screws to plug the leaks in the tanks.
Based on their maintenance records, they are expecting further tanks to develop leaks prior to the summer sealift and they apologize since they cannot fix them readily.
Some of those units are not that old, but they develop leaks in the fuel tanks and they do not know why this is occurring.
There are approximately ten tanks that will be arriving this summer, but they expect that this will not be enough to repair all of the problems.
Can the minister tell me whether or not his department is aware of this and if they’re prepared to bring in more replacement materials during the summer sealift season to remedy the problems?
I was advised by the Nunavut Housing Corporation that a lot of the fuel tanks in these units are quite old and they will be shipping more fuel tanks to the various communities this summer.
Is the minister aware of how many tanks they will have to bring in to each the communities? I believe there are over 19.
We suspect that in the community of Pond Inlet, with ratio of leaky tanks compared to the number of units, then how many more communities are experiencing the same problems in all of Nunavut?
I’m pretty sure maintenance and status reports are sent to NHC.