EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Particularly, what I am talking about is when we see, for those that watch television, watching the Nashville Predators, when they see the people that are role models as Inuit, they will not forget them throughout the year.
He also signs and his signature is immensely wanted.
We welcome them so much and want the people to know that young people don’t forget when those kinds of famous people come up to their communities.
Member’s Statement 151 – 2(4): Assisting People to Obtain Mining Jobs (Alagalak)
Mr. Alagalak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, thank you so much.
What I am going to bring to you is a concern to me, particularly, for those Inuit that are able to work that have no disabilities. Sometimes they are able to work and sometimes they are not able to be hired. Some of them do not even hunt.
For those that like to come to work, they will come to my office; they have no telephones or faxes, and they’re not able to make phone calls when it’s important, so they come to my office. When the employment division calls them from mining companies in Iqaluit and they have no telephones to call them back in Rankin Inlet for job opportunities.
In Ferguson Lake, when you phone those people, they don’t answer back and they’re not able to even contact them for three months.
I rise today because our government has not done a lot for those people, and I think we really need to assist and help them. We say we have mining in our areas and that there will be many job opportunities, although we say those things, we just sit back and not help, although we can help.
We are not showing anything. (interpretation ends) Absolutely nothing to show what we do to help those who are looking for jobs in the mining field.
(interpretation) For this reason, I stand here today, they need assistance; even the hamlet council could work with the Government of Nunavut to progress in this area.
There are lots of opportunities financially for the people and we are hiring people from outside of Nunavut. The mining companies have no choice except to hire people from the south because they can’t find those people that have no telephones in the communities, and the smaller communities have no resources.
You need to seek unanimous consent from the floor.
Mr. Alagalak (interpretation): My fellow members, if you could extend my time.
Speaker (interpretation): Mr. Alagalak is seeking unanimous consent to extend his time.
Go ahead, Mr. Alagalak, nobody opposed.
This has never been exposed through the media or on local radio in the communities, or there are no pamphlets or news letters that are coming into the communities that the mining is going to be open in a certain area or a certain jurisdiction.
If you could maybe contact this person because there’s no such thing written in the communities or in the regions. There’s no contact person from the government if you have any experience or if you have concerns. We need to assist those people that are seeking jobs in the communities.
If we don’t do something about it, it will not stop, and they will never be able to have experience in the communities.
Although we say these mining opportunities are open, and if we don’t do anything about it... if you have a portfolio in these types of mines in the communities, please help your people in your jurisdictions.
Member’s Statement 152 – 2(4): Incandescent Light Bulbs (Barnabas)
This is one of the best statements from Arviat.
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, because our government states that the energy in Nunavut... concerning the change in the weather as well in the arctic; climate change and for those that are not using more of the energy-efficient appliances in the communities.
Up in the High Arctic we have no sunlight for almost four months, and we use up more energy but it’s cheaper to use those incandescent light bulbs that want to be banned by the new government.
You were saying that they will no longer be in effect in 2012 and those new energy efficient light bulbs will be used, and I think all Nunavut and Canadian people will be affected by this.
I think we use the most light bulbs in the High Arctic, so I would like to find out if these light bulbs are banned up to now. Our power bill is the highest in the High Arctic.
For this reason, I stand, Mr. Speaker... maybe I can ask this again when we get to Oral Questions.
Question 186 – 2(4): Support for the Development of Nunavut Health Professionals (Arvaluk)
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like the minister to know that I support every and all efforts in the training and developing our team of Nunavut health professionals.
I was pleased to hear last month’s announcement of the federal program aimed at establishing patient wait-time guarantees.
I know that the Northwest Territories will be using some of their share of this funding to implement training programs for community health nurses.
Can the minister clarify how much additional funding has been provided to Nunavut, and how it will be spent?
After the session in March/April, the three Health Ministers signed an agreement with Minister Clement in Yellowknife in regard to reducing wait-time initiatives. The new funding that was announced was $4.5 million over the course of three years.
Can the minister clarify whether any of these funding will be specifically directed towards training Nunavut health workers, and if not, why not?
His question beat my Minister’s Statement, I was going to do announcement on this.
The wait-time initiative that was announced for the three territories was the federal government’s recognition that the wait time challenges that we have in the north was very different in that what was agreed to three years ago as initiatives to reduce wait time were services that we could not provide in our territories.
Recognizing that, the three territories put forth a proposal to address wait time initiatives specific to the north. And those categories include training of our nurse practitioners, and secondly, is to invest in more equipment so that we are able to do diagnoses in our territory.
I am sure that the minister will recall that at our last sitting I tabled a press release announcing an Aboriginal Health Human Resource Initiative in partnership with the Métis Nation.
Can the minister update this House on what steps have been made by her department to access funds from the federal Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative to support the development of Nunavut health professionals?
In addition to the funding that we have received from the federal government due to wait time initiative to train our existing nurse practitioners, the Department of Health has received territorial funding from the Territorial Health Access Fund.
Later this coming week I’ll be doing an announcement on how that funding has been allocated in the north and how that’s being spent in the north in training Nunavummiut for various, different levels of healthcare profession.
One example I will give is the whole Mental Health Training Program that’s being offered here in Iqaluit; development of our Community Health Therapy Assistance Program, as another example.
There are a number of training programs that we are delivering in the north, through Nunavut Arctic College, to train Nunavummiut for health professions with funding from the federal government, which I will go into further detail on Monday or Tuesday’s statement.
I hope that she will also explain when she makes a statement my next and final question, that I note from the government’s Return to Written Questions that a total of $2,576,000 was spent on agency nurses to support those nurses who were hired internationally but were unable to work independently.
At the same time I note, also from the Return to Written Questions that the government’s investment in the Akitsiraq Law School Program was $3,041,680.
In my view, our limited resources are better spent on developing home-grown professionals of throwing good money after bad.
Can the minister update this House on what efforts, if any, has been made to secure sponsorship for an Akitsiraq-type of program for nurses?
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Arvaluk. (interpretation) Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Aglukkaq.
For the record, and just to correct the member’s comment: agency nurses are required whether we have training programs or not when we’re dealing with a number of vacancies.
At this point in time we’re looking at trying to reduce the dependency on agency nurses. A request for proposal has been put forward to narrow our usage of agency nurses in the north, along with the Northwest Territories.
We need to fill positions whether we’re training individuals or not when there’s a vacancy because of essential services. It’s essential that we do not disrupt the level of services for providing healthcare services in our communities. And due to the national shortage of nurses, we are dependent on short-term and usage of agency nurses or casuals.
The efforts that we have put in, in terms of developing a Recruitment Strategy, I had hoped to table that information in the House this session but that will not happen until some time over the summer or the early fall and that’s the Nunavut Strategy for Nursing Recruitment.
Unfortunately, I don’t have that information to table today, but steps are being taken to look at how we can recruit nurses, not just at the tail end of filling a job, but at the very beginning of recruiting students graduating and promoting them to go to college, and so on, and various, different levels of incentives.
We’re also looking at putting in place how we can keep our nurses and some of the challenges that nurses face in the communities, in the delivery. One of those things that we’ve heard from our nurses in the communities is that they want to develop their skills further, which the wait- time initiative funding will go towards professional development of our nurses at the community level.
So those are some examples.  In the Nursing Recruitment Strategy I hope to pull all that information together and table it in the House hopefully early this fall.
Please make your questions and responses as brief as possible.
Question 187 – 2(4): Heat Problems at Nuiyak School (Kattuk)
Mr. Speaker, the Sanikiluaq District Education Authority has raised a concern about the extreme heat in the school.
This school has no air circulation due to the lack of funding. It is very hard for the teachers to work in this condition. The students have no cold air to breathe, or often get sick.
Is the minister aware of this situation? If so, what has he done to address it?
As the member is aware, we are in the process of developing a capital plan and moving forward with the construction of a new building in Sanikiluaq.
I am not aware of the particular concern that the member has raised.
Now, that the member has raised it we will be able to follow it up.
I would like to ask the minister when he’s going to be able to do any follow up on this concern.
I just heard about it now, so I would commit to the member to have more information on what we can do to rectify the situation.
Again, it’s very important to have a safe and a good work environment.  So I would suggest to you, as soon as Question Period is over today, we will be working on it.
The district education authorities voiced their concerns in their May 7 meeting. The teachers and the students have to work in a safe environment and I think that it’s critical.
I didn’t hear a question, but Mr. Picco, if you would like to make a comment.
Again, I’ve checked over the information that I have with me in the House. I don’t seem to have any information on the concerns that have been raised. Again, it’s the first I’ve heard of it from the member.
I commit to the member to follow it up immediately, and I’m sure as we’re speaking right now, our staff are looking over what has occurred in Sanikiluaq to see how it can be addressed.
Question 188 – 2(4): Kugluktuk Road Problems (Evyagotailak)
In my Member’s Statement I raised the issue of the need for repairs to the roads in my community.
In the fall I enjoyed the minister’s visit and the opportunity for her to see firsthand the challenges facing my constituents.
I showed her the thinning roads.
Can the minister tell me how she will address the road problems in Kugluktuk?
Yes, I was in Kugluktuk, and it’s a very beautiful community.
During that visit I learned, and I did see similar situations in lot of Nunavut communities.
Kugluktuk does not have an adequate gravel supply, and there are not enough different grades to build proper roads.
Kugluktuk is one of those communities, and ever since I have visited your community we have been working on it on an ongoing basis.
There is money that is being made to Nunavut communities so that they can maintain their roads.
Question 189 – 2(4): Funding From the Federal Government for Search and Rescue (Curley)
I would like to direct my question to the same minister with regard to search and rescue.
She made a comment about her department getting $1 million that will be expended over a three-year period with the three territories: the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Nunavut.
If we divvied it up over three years, there is going to be approximately $33 million that will be expended by the Nunavut Government and I’m assuming it will be about $10 million per year.
My question to the minister, and I support her fully about making sure the information is made available to the youth, the aboriginal communities, and also for the tourism sector; as that is the case, are these monies going to be used just by the headquarters, or is it going to be divvied among the Nunavut communities?
It is $1 million and it’s going to be used for Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon.
There are more and more monies that are being made available for search and rescue. Over the winter we had very high winds here in Iqaluit, and one of the questions that were posed by the Member for Clyde River was about the possible tsunami situation.
So we’re going to have to make preparations for all search and rescue operations and safety measures, and so on.
We are very sure that the tourism sector is going to be involved, be it in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, or Nunavut.
I’m sure that they are going to be able to access some of these monies to make sure that tourists are aware.
With regard to aboriginal youth, could the minister make sure that the elders are also informed and not just to used those monies consultants?
Certainly, we are focussing on the youth because they are starting to go out there and they are going to have to use safe practices.
The elders will be used and I agree with you wholeheartedly.
We will be expecting that.
The reason I brought it up is when we were visiting in Nunavik, this individual, an Inuk did all the work by himself and he had a little notebook as to what they should bring when they go out on the land.
He hands them out to the young people.
I know the regions are different, like here in Baffin I encounter during freeze up, which is different from Kivalliq.
So, if you can do that I am sure you would get a lot of appreciation from the public and we certainly can work together.
Yes, we utilize the Search and Rescue Committees in the communities because they know more about their communities.
I would very briefly like to say that a person, who has passed away, was in Winnipeg. When he was in Winnipeg, he was putting little markers so that he will not get lost. That is the traditional way.
Question 190 – 2(4): Incandescent Light Bulbs (Barnabas)
Under my Member’s Statement in regard to the incandescent lights, I would like to ask the minister; those light bulbs that the government doesn’t want to use anymore and according to the Energy Efficiency Act it states that the incandescent light bulbs... the government is expected to save about $73 million.
Because of the global warming, maybe we will use less on fuel.
In my constituency, as I stated earlier, it is complete darkness up to four months.
What will our government be doing if they are going to ban those incandescent lights?
I did notice of legislation in the House and we have not done first or second reading of the bill.
What I can say on the legislation, very quickly, Mr. Speaker, is that we believe that this is a very good move by Nunavut.
We are looking at about 130,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions that would be cut by the introduction of the small fluorescent bulbs that we have been talking about.
I think it is important to point out that Australia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and even the Federal Government of Canada have also announced that they will be banning the sale of incandescent light bulbs.
The energy-efficient light bulbs cost a little bit more than the incandescent light bulbs. Are there any plans to reduce the prices of the energy-efficient light bulbs?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister of Energy, Minister Picco.
I guess, fairly quickly, the plan is, and again, as we roll out the legislation, under the Eco Trust Funds that we have received from the federal government, the Government of Nunavut is looking at an opportunity there to provide the bulbs to householders, to people across Nunavut.
The life expectancy on one bulb is anywhere between 8,000 to 10,000 hours and we’ve seen the price of these bulbs coming down. So the good news is that the Government of Nunavut will be providing each individual in Nunavut with a light bulb.
We’re not going to ban light bulbs, for example, incandescent oven lights, outdoor lights where you need them because of the cold. We’re not banning those kinds of things.
We’re mostly concerned with the indoor light bulbs and try to be efficient where we can with that type of regulation.
So that my constituents and Nunavummiut will know, what kind of lights are they banning because there are different kinds, and the light bulbs were not so great. What kind of light bulbs are being banned?
Again, I find it difficult answering the question because as the member knows I don’t have the legislation in the House and we’ve already announced it.
So in broad-stroke terms what I would like to say that the ordinary light bulbs that we see in every house, in most cases, that’s the bulb we’re talking about. The ordinary one that you could buy, the 60 watts, or 80 watts, or 100 watts, that’s the bulb that we’re talking about; it’s not energy-efficient.
The new bulb we’re talking about is the small spiral bulb that people and members have seen.
The Government of Nunavut will provide each household with those bulbs.  Mr. Tootoo has made a good point, and that’s when you see those old cartoons where there would be a light bulb above someone’s head, which doesn’t happen here very often with the member, those are the type of light bulbs that we’re talking about.
Again, it’s important that we’re not going to ban oven lights, sewing machine lights, outdoor lights, mechanic lights, medical equipment lights, night lights, those of types of incandescent bulbs. We’re mostly focusing on indoor lights.
Sometimes our bulbs go out.
I would like to ask the minister, this Act was introduced by the federal government. Why is the Nunavut Government duplicating it?
Sometimes they’re on the leading edge.
We announced our plans long before the federal government announced their plan. Their plan is to ban the bulbs by the year 2012. They actually have not introduced that legislation yet.
It’s still an idea that they’re moving forward on. Ontario and Nova Scotia, for example, have also announced that they will be doing the same thing, and so has Australia.
We believe if we move a bit quicker we can save more energy. We all know what the cost of energy is. By reducing 130,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, we believe, as a jurisdiction dealing with global warming and climate change which we see every day here, we need to step up to the plate as it were, and that’s the reason why we decided that we would move forward.
I think it’s a good initiative. When the legislation comes into the House next week, the members will have an opportunity to debate the legislation and bring it forward.
Mr. Curley is indicating that there is some money involved in it, and that’s correct, Mr. Curley.
That is why we’re using the Federal Eco Trust Fund.
Question 191 – 2(4): Recognizing DEA’s Hardwork (Peterson)
Mr. Speaker, every Nunavut community has district education authorities who are democratically-elected citizens. They are elected to represent the interests of parents in local education. They play an important role in shaping the education content and programs for our children.
In Cambridge Bay, we certainly appreciate our district education authority’s hard work and dedication.
My question for the minister this morning: would the minister confirm to the House that his department recognizes DEA’s as significant partners in education, not simply rubber stamping organizations for education policy?
When I won the MasterCard Challenge, and then because of my dedication of having to be in the House and not attending, I felt that the Premier would not rubber stamp something for me, and I apologize for that.
The member is correct; the Government of Nunavut believes that strong DEAs mean a stronger education and stronger communities. That’s why we’ve been instrumental in helping facilitate the DEA Coalition across Nunavut.
I did have an opportunity to meet with all DEA representatives here in Iqaluit two weeks ago on the new Education Act that we’ll be bringing forward this fall.
I commend the minister for his dedication to education. I understand he’s foregoing the game on Saturday in Ottawa that he won through MasterCard to attend his son’s high school graduation. That’s a commendable thing to do as a minister and as a parent.
Most district education authorities that I am aware of make wise and considered decisions about education issues and policies that will benefit and improve education content and programs in their respective communities.
My question for the minister: would the minister outline to the House the limit of the district education authorities’ authority within their communities with respect to regional school operations, who have responsibility for all schools in a region?
Just for clarification purposes, I was actually supposed to be in Anaheim this week with tickets all paid for but the House was sitting and I wanted to be here to answer questions like that for Mr. Peterson.
Mr. Speaker, that is a very complex question.
The regional operations office for the Department of Education, or regional school operations offices, or in the member’s case, it’s the KSO. In that case they look over the management, the personnel issues, the human resource issues, and in many cases, the overall structure of the school, monitoring, and so on.
The DEA is concerned with the local issues at the local level. That includes being involved in the hiring process, setting the time of hours of instruction, looking at the schedule for the school itself, and the day-to-day operations of the school.
Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell the House what recourse or avenue to appeal does a DEA have if they make a decision or a recommendation that a regional school operation opposes, or factor their decision is against the decision that the regional school operations wants or tells them to make? Should the DEA members all resign? Or, should they call the minister?
I know that Mr. Quirke, being the Table Officer, noticed that that was probably a leading and hypothetical question because that hasn’t occurred.
I would suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, in answer to the members question, is that each situation is based and judged on its own merits. I can’t really say what would happen or occur given the scenario that the member has outlined, well I can’t…
Speaker: Minister Picco, I would like to draw your attention to your comments, and I want to emphasize the fact that some comments are not appropriate in responding to some questions. Please stick to answering the question being asked, Minister Picco.
Again, the situation outlined hasn’t occurred. But if such situation did occur, then you would be in a situation where you would have to look at what is outlined in the District Education Authorities Act and the legislation and the regulations in place.