EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I would like to recognize them, although they are not here because my wife and I are here in Iqaluit, I pass my sincerest love to her and our children are at home.
I would like to recognize them because they are becoming more independent now and I am proud of them that they have reached this stage.
This evening, they are going to be playing with Qikiqtarjuarmiut and Pangnirtummiut.
My three children, my oldest daughter and my son who is older and the younger one will be competing against those communities.
Sheila Iqaqrialu, Josah and Jazzie Iqaqrialu and my other daughter and my son and my grandchildren.
I would just like to recognize them and I love them and am grateful for their being well while my wife and I are here in Iqaluit.
It’s not very often I get to recognize people from my constituency of Baker Lake.
So I would like to recognize Chris DaSilva Assistant Director of Kivalliq School Services, I think that’s the new name.
Mr. Speaker, you have had an opportunity to recognize many of the pages that are here from Arviat this week and I would like to take this opportunity to recognize them too, but also one of the pages from Iqaluit is a constituent of mine, the daughter of the EA to the Minister of Sustainable Development, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Sammy to the gallery today.
There she is, thank you Sammy.
Question 145 – 1(6): Special Needs Assistants in Nunavut
I rise today to speak about the needs for additional special needs assistants.
I want to direct my question to the Minister of Education.
During the committee of the whole on May 6, he responded to one of the questions by saying that there are slightly over 20 counsellors in the schools and on top of that there were 80 assistants working with special needs people.
I just want to ask the minister which communities have those assistants.
I just wondered if the minister could give us a breakdown of the 80 assistants that are working in Nunavut.
The 80 assistants that I talked about are all in Nunavut schools in different communities, according to need.
Mr. Havioyak: Maybe I can ask in another way.
Is Kugluktuk on that list of the positions of assistants that are required for special needs children?
Hon. Peter Kilabuk: Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to try and elaborate a little bit on the definition or the term we use as a classroom assistant or a special needs assistant.
At this time Mr. Speaker, I do apologize to the member that I do not have a breakdown of which assistants, or assistant teachers, or assistants to the teachers may be in Kugluktuk.
Thank you for your response, I just wanted to find out a little more because I know the Chairman of the District Education Authority has wanted more special needs assistants in the classrooms there.
They wanted classroom assistant positions put there and I wanted to know if some of these positions will be allocated to Kugluktuk.
I just wanted to know if there were going to be some positions allocated there.
Well if Kugluktuk, depending on the increase of positions that Kugluktuk may get, the District Education Authority will have the final say as to where or what type of assistants the schools will need for the community.
So the end responsibility of putting more assistants in the classroom will be in the hands of the District Education Authority.
Question 146 – 1(6): How Many Suicides Since April 1999
Mr. Speaker, as MLAs we have gone through tough times and have experienced many things.
We usually attempt to help others based upon that knowledge.
There are times things happen that we don’t understand because it is not in our experience and we lack that knowledge, and we cannot assist our peers due to our lack of knowledge or experience in the matter.
I often talk about the issue of suicide and I keep bringing it up because this sad practice has continued to this day.
Could the Minister responsible for Justice provide us with information from the Coroner’s Office as to how many suicides have occurred in Nunavut since April 1, 1999 and bring this information to the House and table it for our information?
I can look into this matter and if the Coroner’s Office has this information, I will provide it to the House.
I know that this is not an easy or pleasant task, especially when you see the affected relatives of those who commit suicide.
I know that the minister does not like this issue; you can see it in his face.
But having experienced instances where people have committed suicide and I have numerous relatives who have committed suicide.
We hear about cases where people have killed themselves every month, maybe not every month but this is an ongoing matter.
So I would just like to get some information from the minister’s office as to how many people committed suicide since April 1, 1999.
Perhaps armed with these statistics, my colleagues, who may not have as much experience in the matter as I, can at least use this information to intervene with those individuals who may be contemplating suicide.
I would like to ask the minister again when he would be able to provide that information.
I am not exactly sure when I would be able to provide the information but if it’s available I will be able to table it during this session.
I do some work for the Coroner’s Office in my community, so I know that the information is accessible, and I myself could provide some statistics, but it is within the minister’s realm of responsibilities, and I would like to ask him if he is able to provide the information in the House based on his comments and I would like to ask him whether he will be providing it to us next week?
If it is readily available and if it could be compiled then I will be able to provide it to the House, but I can’t really respond to the member at this time.
I have to look into it.
Question 147 – 1(6): Scheduling of Airlines – Translation of Federal Legislation
I was asking questions of the Minister of Community Government and Transportation yesterday.
I would like to resume my line of questioning in that regard.
It’s in respect to the scheduling of airlines.
I know there are a lot of business people who travel on the airlines and there are a lot of different airlines out there but, they have to follow the regulations of Transport Canada as well as the relevant territorial legislation.
I believe that all airlines have to show that they are abiding by the current legislation in order to be able to conduct their business in Nunavut.
With that, I would like to petition the minister on the federal government regulations for the airlines, whether they’re translated into Inuktitut or not.
If the document from Transport Canada can be made available, whether it’s in Inuktitut or not, can the minister provide us with a copy of the regulations, or better yet, authorize the translation of the document into an Inuktitut copy?
Speaker: I’m not quite sure if that is the responsibility of the minister but, Ms. Thompson.
I cannot provide authorization for a translation of a federal government statute, as I have no authority over the federal mandate.
But, Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member could let me know exactly which part of the regulations of the federal government’s Transport Canada could, which part he wants the translation done for, what sections, and there are a lot of areas covered under these regulations.
I’m not exactly sure which part of the regulations he wants translated.
Perhaps if he could let me know which part he wants done, I could respond to him.
It’s too bad, it should be the responsibility of the Government of Nunavut Transportation Department to provide some information even though it’s a federal regulation, perhaps they can use these regulations as a base for our own regulatory scheme.
That’s what my understanding is.
My supplementary question is, because the minister asked me which part of the regulations that I want translated, there are a lot of people that are bumped off because there is no room on the plane, and they cannot appeal to the manager, only to the frontline staff.
They cannot make any managerial decisions and are only there like a brick wall, refusing any changes and they are not willing to refer the matter to their superiors.
That is one of the areas that I want to be able to comprehend, and I cannot understand the present regulations as I do not read in English, but if I were to be stonewalled, I would like to be able to know which provision has been broken or the particular regulation.
There is no one to talk to so I would like to be able to get some information on the regulations.
I just want to be able to see their regulations to see whether the people that are supposed to be flight attendants have the right qualifications or whether they have to be able to speak Inuktitut.
These flight attendants are almost always unable to speak in Inuktitut and we can only hear the emergency procedures via audio tape.
If there was ever to be an emergency, for those people who are unilingual this would be very complicated because we wouldn’t be able to understand the procedure that they want followed.
That’s why I want those regulations translated into a language Inuit can understand.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation, which is my department are more than capable of the job that they’re supposed to do and a member should not be saying that we are unable to do these things.
They are able to do our jobs as described within their job descriptions.
As I stated earlier to the member, these airlines are private and they, like any business, set their own prices and I can only respond by saying that there are Inuit airlines flight attendants that are bilingual who work at First Air and some in Canadian North.
It’s up to the airlines to be able to provide bilingual flight attendants.
There are a lot of companies that are providing bilingual speaking employees but it’s up to the airlines to be able to provide that.
They are like the government in that they want to hire Inuit workers, and they are in the process of training future Inuit flight attendants.
It is obvious that the majority of the flight attendants are still mainly non-Inuktitut speakers, but the airlines try to work with my department as much as possible and we try to assist them.
If the plane is full and the seats are at a maximum, they cannot add any other rows of seats because they have a regulation whereby if the plane is full then you can’t have any more passengers aboard the plane, that is why a lot of passengers are bumped off, when the combination of freight and passengers meet the maximum load.
Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, if I could tell the member that there’s also Inuktitut speaking office workers at the First Air counter and Canadian Airlines who are open and able to discuss the concerns that the member may have.
I am pleased with the response that I just got from the minister as she assured us that her department has some control over some of the issues that I raised in regards to airlines and the regulations that the airlines have to follow.
My other question, if that’s the case, if your department has the mandate to do so, I would like your department to talk to the airlines about these concerns I have raised so that the information that I’ve requested can be released, perhaps at a later sitting as to your role as it pertains to airlines and transportation.. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Miss Thompson.
If the individual passengers have any concerns about the availability of space, the price of a ticket or about the services provided, they can talk to the airlines themselves.
There is information available that you can get from the individual airlines and the member can, if he wants to, talk to the airline agents.
I would be more than pleased to make an appointment for the member so that he can talk to them in regards to the concerns he keeps raising.
(interpretation ends) Just to say, Mr. Speaker, we are doing the Nunavut air services study.
Maybe this was not translated the way I said it yesterday.
I was saying yesterday that we are going to do our air transportation study which will be read by the airlines that are involved in Nunavut and Mr. Speaker; we have a very good working relationship with the staff of the airlines.
They’re a private company and they have services to explain to the client where there are some complaints.
Mr. Speaker, as a transportation department we can make contact with the airlines, with the member involved, and let them explain their standby regulations and also their airfares into communities.
That’s what we can do as a transportation department.
Supplementary. Final supplementary. Mr. Iqaqrialu.
I’m not only talking about the standby passengers.
After asking questions, yesterday and today, I am being led to understand that part of the responsibilities are under her department.
I want to know from the minister about what kinds of regulations the department has regarding transportation in Nunavut, and which are amendable.
I think that’s my question, based on the understanding I am getting provided by the minister.
What kinds of changes have been made in regards to the transportation policy or act or their application therein.
I think that’s my question.
I know that was an excellent response the minister gave but I’m not only talking about standby passengers.
I want to find out about the airlines that service the north and how the Nunavut Government can establish the kinds of rules and regulations that we are going to apply to the airlines, so we can service the clients better.
Hon. Manitok Thompson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) The Department of Transportation is not only responsible for the airlines.
We’re also responsible for the roads, the maintenance of the roads, the issuance of driving licenses and airport services and we are also responsible for marine vehicles.
We’re also responsible for ports and marshalling areas.
We’re also responsible for access roads for hunters.
The regulations that we deal with regarding airlines are not simple and we are not responsible for airlines.
The Department of Transportation is not only airlines and roads.
Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to say is that there is existing information available out there at the airports and from the airlines at the member’s convenience.
You can talk to the people who work at the airline so that you can get your information and the member knows that the information is readily available.
Question 148 – 1(6): Number of Judges in Nunavut
Could the minister inform the House how many judges are in Nunavut who are from Nunavut?
From what I know we have two judges here in Nunavut.
The judges are not paid for by the Nunavut Government but there are some judges who come in from the outside and some of whom are extremely old who come to provide services.
How many are imported from outside of Nunavut?
I don’t know exactly how many provide their services from the south as we contract some of the services out, but I can say that I will try to find that information out.
From what I know we utilize about seven judges when we need them from the south.
I could find the information for the member but if we have any problems there are times when we are required to get judges from the south.
It is the responsibility of the federal government to provide these judges, but we are lobbying them to get more up here.
It has been a long time that we’ve been trying to get a third judge up here in Nunavut.
We have a large jurisdiction here in Nunavut and it is imperative that we get another judge.
Are we going to be getting three judges now and when and how long is it going to take?
I know that we’ve been working on this for a fairly long time.
The staff is working hard to get an additional judge but since this is the responsibility of the federal government, I have been trying to make an appointment so that I could have a meeting with my federal counterpart.
I think it’s going to be next week that I’ll have the opportunity to have a meeting but of course it’s quite hard to make arrangements because of the high workload that he has to attend to.
Speaker: Oral Questions. Oral Questions, Mr. McLean.
Question 149 – 1(6): Build New Facility in Nunavut
Mr. Speaker, today my question is to the Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, it’s no secret in Nunavut that incarcerations are getting higher and higher and I don’t think that there’s a community in Nunavut that doesn’t have somebody that is incarcerated in an institution in the south or in the north.
I’m just wondering, has the minister got any plans, are there any plans to build any additional facilities in Nunavut?
As members are aware, we set aside some money for planning for institutional facilities last year.
A large part of that work has been done.
I’m just awaiting a report that was put together; it is a rather lengthy report from what I’ve been told.
I look forward to reviewing it and hopefully making decisions in the near future about a facility or facilities.
I’m glad the Minister of Justice is looking at that and I’m sure the members on this side of the House will be very anxious to see that report.
What does it currently cost and I don’t need the minister to give me the exact dollar, but what does it currently cost Nunavut now, to incarcerate people in Yellowknife?
I don’t have the current information at the moment but I believe I can provide it at the appropriate time perhaps during my committee appearance, I could have it available for members.
I know it’s a lot costlier than having our own facilities so, we try and discourage our inmates from going to YCC and try to have them in our own facilities and in outpost camps where we have them.
Speaker: Oral Questions. Supplementary.
I’m glad the minister is looking at that issue.
The outpost camp issue is an issue in my community for the last number of years.
There are individuals interested in setting them up but there seems to be financial constraints and the operators finding the necessary funds to build the cabins and purchase the snow machines.
In this report, will that be identified that there could be funds accessible through some other source to pursue the operation of an outpost camp?
What we are doing right now through our new budget hopefully, that will be approved by the legislature, we’ll be hiring a full time supervisor that will manage all outpost camps in the system and their operations.
So we are hopeful that we can get that going this year and find ways to accommodate concerns.
Question 150 – 1(6): Helping People Understand Criminal Law
This question is to the Minister of Justice. These are some of the things I have heard, I do not know if they are all true.
In Rankin Inlet, I was approached by an elder in Rankin Inlet who was a victim of the court system, although that elder had unintentionally broken the law by touching a person’s belongings from the south.
On talking with that elder, this hurt my feelings and I want to be able to see what kinds of plans you have on helping the people in the communities. This elder I’m talking about can’t hear too well and the road was not conducive to avoiding parked vehicles. That person unintentionally bumped into somebody’s vehicle.
He wasn’t trying to make any trouble. He got into trouble by not knowing that you cannot leave the scene and that person is going to charge him by stating that it was that person’s fault and that it was intentional. This tears at my insides when elders get into trouble with southerners who do not seem to care.
What can we do to help the people who don’t know the customs of the outside that get into trouble because they are charged, not knowing what is expected of them, how can we protect our elders from these frivolous cases?
Speaker: Minister responsible for Justice. Premier Okalik.
I haven’t heard of this case and I do not know any law that prohibits you from touching a vehicle.
It is not supposed to be like this, that people can get charged for that type of action.
I do not know of any law that applies to this case.
Up to date, we are trying to get Inuktitut speaking police officers in the communities and we are in the process of training Inuit.
At present we have twelve recruits attending the course in Regina so that these individuals will be able to know the culture and communicate with the people in the communities in their language.
This option really is very beneficial to the communities.
Speaker: Supplementary. Mr. Iqaqrialu
Our elders are not intimately familiar with the policies and laws applicable today, especially if they have not been included in the drafting of these laws and policies. And they don’t know how to protect themselves because they’re not familiar with today’s policies and laws.
If the person is charged because they are ignorant of the laws or regulations, how can we help these people to know more about what is expected in the law, so that our elders are not taken advantage of?
Whoever is charged and if that person can’t pay the lawyer, we can help them in that regard.
There are ways to help them in Nunavut.
And also, we are trying to train Inuit people who will be our lawyers in the future.
That’s our plan for the future and eventually we’ll get Inuktitut speaking lawyers.
I haven’t seen any law that relates to what the member is talking about so I really cannot answer the question he asked in relation to the vehicle.
The person who charged the elder should be the one locked up for invading the elder’s privacy.
Speaker: Oral Questions. Supplementary. Mr. Iqaqrialu.
I really want to find out more about this matter and this is an issue that hits close to home. Perhaps you can look into this matter and I have discussed the matter with this elder in Rankin Inlet and perhaps your department can talk directly to that person I’m talking about so that it can be cleared up and clarified?
Question 151 – 1(6): Number of Active JPs in Nunavut
There is presently an employee within the department who is working on the court system in Nunavut and especially the Justice of the Peace process.
To date, within the department, how many JPs do we have who can preside over trials?
Speaker: Minister of Justice, Premier Okalik.
Like I said, we’re training people on what their responsibilities will be and we will continue to train JPs within Nunavut.
There are presently 65 JPs within Nunavut.
I’m not sure which area the training is being held for, but this is something that I can have researched.
Speaker: Supplementary, Ms. Williams.  Ms. Williams (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Those 65 JPs within Nunavut, they are responsible in their communities when there is a trial going on.
Sometimes the communities don’t have any judges or lawyers.
What are the plans to get legal aid workers in the communities who are able to provide assistance in these matters?
The JPs are responsible for summary cases in the communities.
These types of cases are used everywhere within Canada, where the local authorities deal with these minor cases.
We are trying to get more Inuit JPs and sometimes they require help from the legal aid system and they get this assistance when it is required.
It’s like this everywhere; Nunavut is no different from other places.
JPs can’t do their work when there is no lawyer even if the case is a minor one.
Is it true when I state that when there is no lawyer available that JPs can’t work on the cases?
To my knowledge, the JPs, where they require assistance from the legal aid system, they have support either through legal aid workers in training or court workers, but there is training going on with the JPs and that is what I know of the situation.
Final supplementary, Ms. Williams.
What I’m trying to ask is that some communities don’t have a court worker.
So, the JPs that are being trained at this time, what I want to know is, if the JPs are getting more training, the court workers also have to get some training, because they are dealing with sensitive issues.
My question is do they require the same type of training for JPs and court workers?
Yes, the court workers have to take training as well, whenever there’s a change in the laws or regulations and they’re always informed whenever there are changes.
Question 152 – 1(6): Student Suspensions
I’d like to direct this question to the Minister of Education. It’s in regards to students that get suspended from school.