EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
My question for the minister was, could he tell us what impact the Government of Nunavut anticipates that this new staff housing policy will have on the recruitment and retention of doctors, teachers and nurses across Nunavut.
We’re not going to find out what kinds of effects it will have at the beginning of this change, but I’m not exactly sure how, what kind of change it will have on the wait increases for one, two, and three bedrooms.
But, we will monitor the process and once we have an indication of what change it has and what affect it has, then the government will have a better understanding of what kind of effect it has on the doctors, nurses, and teachers.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer.
I’d feel a lot more comfortable for this Government of Nunavut Staff Housing Policy if the Government of Nunavut knew before they permitted the policy what the impacts were going to be rather than implementing a policy and finding out three to five years later that it was a bad policy to implement.
My final supplementary for the minister Mr. Speaker, is, can the minister tell the House if the new Government of Nunavut Staff Housing Policy applies equally and fairly to all Government of Nunavut employees, including employees working for our crown agencies?
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): Everything will be included and we will have to work closely with the crown agencies, but the way I see it, this change to the housing policy... we’ll probably see something positive in the future.
We’ll be able to bring more benefits to the people of Nunavut and to the Government of Nunavut employees.
I could also inform the member about what kind of effect it will have on the crown agencies.
Question 051 – 2(3): Environmental Review Timetable (Tootoo)
My question is for the same minister in his capacity as the Minister of Environment.
Mr. Speaker, last Thursday I asked the minister some questions in regard to review periods.
My last supplementary question, last Thursday I asked him if any of these reviews had been ordered to have been done in less than the 60 to 90 days that he had indicated they were required to be done by law.
He didn’t answer that, so I would ask him again today if any of those reviews have been ordered to have been done in less than the 60 to 90 days that he had indicated.
To date, we will have to review these but we will try to make sure that we review them within the 60 to 90 days.
We would like to be able to follow the rules of the law because these laws are very important and we would not like to break the law.
As ministers, we would like to be able to follow the rules and we will be trying to keep up with the 60 to 90 day review.
I guess my response in this; the minister indicated they are doing their very best to try and not break the law and do their reviews within the 60 to 90 days which makes it seem like some of them have been taking longer.
But my question was, have any of these reviews been ordered to be done in less than 60 to 90 days, yes or no?
Yes, we have to do the review on these.
The review system that we have...and we would like to be able to abide by the legislation as a government. Like I said we will try our best to do the reviews within those time periods.
Speaker (interpretation): Your first supplementary. I’m sorry. Your second supplementary, Mr. Tootoo.
I liked it better when you said first supplementary.
If I may state the same question, the minister still hasn’t answered other than he has already indicated that they tried to work within the law, if one would read between the lines, he had indicated that they don’t.
But my question was, have any of these reviews been ordered to be done in less than the 60 to 90 days?
How hard is that to answer, Mr. Speaker.
Like I said earlier, our department is looking into the documents that were given to us.
It’s going to determine how long it’s going to take us to look through the environmental impact statements that have been given to us by the mining companies.
I believe that we could make sure that we meet the law at 60 to 90 days, that’s what we are going to do. If it takes 60 to 90 days, we will do 60 to 90 days, and if the papers were well done, we can make the decision, but we are going to make sure that we go to the regulations that we have to meet as a department.
So, again, as a government, as a Department of Environment, we are going to do our very best to make sure the environmental impact statements are well done and that we have put forward some comments if we have any concerns.
Again, if we could do it in less than 60 to 90 days, that’s something that we could look into.
But then again, I have not been asked to do less than 60 days yet, if I am, we are going to do our very best, but then again, we are going to make sure that we follow the procedures or the regulations that are applicable to Environment.
I think in all of that, we finally got an answer, we have not been asked to do that, but it’s my understanding that he had indicated; was there one review that was ordered to be done in less time, and say ask if it was ordered to be done in less time, and I’m just wondering if he could respond to that; if the department had been ordered to do this review within a 30-day period.
I don’t think 30 days is a fair number.
If it’s going to take 30 days, it’s going to take my staff to review the work for 24 hours, seven days a week to look into the binders that were given there. But then again, we’re going to make sure that we work closely with the water board, review board, or planning commission to make sure that we meet the criteria that’s been given by the board.
So, we are going to do our very best and, as a territory, and a lot of development going on in our territory, we want to be the champions of the environmental protection. So, we’re doing our best to make sure that we meet the criteria, and also to make sure that we review all the environmental impact statements as carefully as we can.
Question 052 – 2(3): Repulse Bay Power Outage Update (Mapsalak)
Mr. Speaker, earlier today I spoke about the unacceptable number of power outages in the community of Repulse Bay. They have experienced power outages again just recently.
And, it’s not strong enough so that the community can have full power, so they have been alternating.
Can the Minister tell me what has been done to date to investigate and fix this problem?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Picco.
The member is correct. Earlier this morning a feeder line went down in the community of Repulse Bay.
Mr. Speaker, because the feeder line went down, there was a power outage. We tried to get a line crew in from Rankin Inlet but the weather is down in Rankin Inlet, and indeed the airport was closed down, so we were not successful.
We have arranged now for a charter to leave Iqaluit with a line crew and a repair crew to ascertain exactly what is occurring with the feeder. That crew will be in the community shortly; will ascertain what needs to be done to rectify the problem and at the same time, look at some of the issues while they’re in there, on the concern that has been raised about increased power outages.
If you can count how many times we’ve had power outages in Repulse Bay, I think we would be the community with the most power outages.
That being the case, there has been a loss of home appliances. What would the corporation do in regard to the damage done to those appliances?
Like almost any utility across the country, there are instances where power surges on line and so on, cause shortages and malfunctions to electronic equipment, whether they be radios or TV’s and so on.
On a case by case basis, the precedent has been that the utility is usually not liable for those types of losses but again, it depends on a case by case situation and so, if there are issues that have arisen based on concerns with, usually there are surges, or power surges that have occurred on the line, then that’s something that we have to look at.
But, generally speaking, Mr. Speaker, in cases across the country, power corporations in general are not liable for those kinds of losses.
What about the people that own their own homes and have a power outage and the appliances that are damaged cost a lot of money for those homeowners?
Would the homeowners be able to get compensation from the Power Corporation and can they get a discount of some sort in their power bill?
Mr. Speaker, from time to time this question has been raised across Nunavut not just specifically by power outages, by equipment of the power plant, but there could be other atmospheric situations that occur which cause power outages and so on.
As I said earlier Mr. Speaker, in most cases the Corporation is not liable for those types of losses and we do look at it by a case-by-case basis to ascertain what has occurred.
So I would suggest for the Member when the crew gets into Repulse over the next several hours and makes the necessary repairs that there may be an opportunity to look at what losses occurred. In the meantime, if the Member can get some information from his constituents on what losses they have suffered in Repulse then I’ll have an opportunity with the Power Corporation to look at it.
Again in most cases the Corporation is not liable for those types of losses.
Speaker (interpretation): Final supplementary, Mr. Mapsalak.
Can the minister report back to me on what sort of problems cause the power outage, because the generator is not that old and I don’t feel it had anything to do with that generator because it is quite new.
Can the minister get back to me on the problems that we have been experiencing?
As the member has said earlier in the House there seems to be some history of power outages recently in Repulse.
So when the crew get into the community they will be looking at the factors that caused not only the current situation with the feeder line but the ongoing issue with the engine or the generators that the member is referring to.
Mr. Speaker, I would be very pleased to update the member in a formal letter if the House is not in session at that time or if the House is in session.
I will speak with the member and update him on what has occurred and what we will be able to do to rectify the problem.
Question 053 – 2(3): Funding for Community Based Programs (Evyagotailak)
I would like to question the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Can the Minister tell me what funds are available through the department for a community-based program that addresses addictions?
Mr. Speaker, in terms of providing an exact figure on contributions to the community I don’t have that information available but I will present that tomorrow.
But one of the things that I would like to say is that there are a number of initiatives within the department related to addressing addictions through the mental health division and in each community.
Mental health services again depends on the addiction and the number that refers to. So perhaps he can clarify that point in his question.
Speaker (interpretation): Perhaps if you can re-phrase your question, Mr. Evyagotailak.
My question to the minister is, can the minister tell me what funds are available through the department for community-based programs that address addictions?
Overnight I will review the main estimates and get that exact figure for the member. I don’t have that information available in front of me.
To assist in that process I would also like the member to clarify what type of addiction that the member refers to, because there are different types of addictions; addictions to alcohol; addictions to narcotics; and addictions to other things.
So if the member can assist me by specifying that area it would be helpful in getting that information for him.
Earlier I made a statement on alcoholics’ anonymous, AA meetings.
My supplementary question is, can the minister tell me what resources her department offers to volunteer organizations to deal with addictions?
There are a number of mental health services offered to all Nunavummiut through the health centres, or social workers, or the mental health programs and addictions workers.
There are also, in some communities, alcohol and drug counsellors that provide assistance to volunteer groups, such as the AA group that he makes reference to. Some of these committees are volunteers, but there is assistance from the Department of Health, through the mental health division, to provide assistance to committees of this nature.
I can provide again, tomorrow, the exact number to the member related to funding available to alcohol addiction type programs and services in the communities.
Question 054 – 2(3): $500,000 Funding for Emergency Measures (Curley)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for Search and Rescue organizations. From the minister responsible last year, in the supplementary main estimates, the minister agreed that this $500,000 was to be used for community search and rescue teams. This funding would be used for the search and rescue’s priorities.
I would like to ask the minister how much funding has been utilized from this $500,000 that was allotted to search and rescue organizations, because they go through difficult, challenging periods during the winter.
Yes, my colleague is right.
The Legislative Assembly approved $500,000 to be allotted for search and rescue teams in communities that we have expended.
They are going to hold their annual meeting in December in Iqaluit and it is going to cost money for that meeting.
Also $320,000 will be used for search and rescue GPS, binoculars, first aid, HF radios; they will start using that at the community level.
The expenditures will be reported after the meeting.
My supplemental question,: this $500,000, it states that this was allocated to be used for the communities’ priorities.
Will they be using funding from that? We had agreed to it for different reasons.
I would like to hear from the minister about that project she talked about, perhaps if she can table the project information in regard to what has been expended because we need to support the community search and rescue organizations.
I would like to thank my colleague. Yes, I will be able to do so.
I will be able to table the reports and also, I forgot to mention that $60 thousand is going to be utilized for additional training programs.
The minister would be really appreciated if this went ahead.
My supplemental question: did you notify all the communities that this funding was available? Did you ask the communities? Did you write informational letters to the communities that this $500 thousand funding is available?
I was wondering if she could respond to that.
I will look into his question, from my deputy minister and my officials and I will get back to the member with the information.
Question 055 – 2(3): Legal Aid Services to the Communities (Netser)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Justice. Earlier this month, our minister met with his federal counterparts, and also the territorial ones at their annual conference.
One of the issues that they discussed was the need for more funding for legal aid from Ottawa.
My question is this Mr. Speaker: what steps is the department taking to improve the delivery of legal aid services in our territory, in our communities?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Justice, Minister Okalik.
Over the last year, we’ve done a confidential review with the legal services board on the needs for funding, an external review.
And we’ve been working with the legal services board to find ways to improve the legal services being delivered throughout the territory.
We’ve also worked on training Inuit lawyers. We saw graduates this past spring.
So, we’re trying to find ways to provide better services to the people of Nunavut.
So those are some of the steps that we are taking in this area. But, I must say that we are continuing to work with our provincial and territorial colleagues to increase funding in this area because it’s always an issue that drains a lot of resources within the department.
Yes, in our communities, some individuals are arrested.
When they are arrested, are they told that they have the right to call legal aid, or a lawyer?
Are these individuals that are jailed, are they given their rights?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, lawyers have to be made available and the prosecution has to be notified at all times.
The parents who want to see their family member who is incarcerated, sometimes they are denied by the RCMP when they want to go see their family member that is incarcerated.
They’re not even allowed to make a phone call to the incarcerated individual.
Perhaps when that occurs they are violating the human rights of this individual.
Sometimes during the investigation they cannot talk to anybody outside and nobody can visit them when they are in an investigation.
Are the rights of the individuals posted at the local detachments in our local communities?
There was an issue where one of the RCMP Officers was confused and he was called and told about those rights because some individuals have rights to see their family members.
I know when this occurred it was rectified.
Question 056 – 2(3): Informing Communities when Deferring Court Cases (Arreak)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Justice.
Along the same line as the question that was just posed, in my constituency many people are concerned about the individuals that have to go to court and are awaiting their court date because many court dates are deferred.
When the court date actually occurs they don’t even know whether they should say guilty or not guilty.
Is it applicable when court dates are deferred that the community should be notified ahead of time?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Justice, Premier Okalik.
Yes, this has been a difficult and challenging issue when we run into problems and we have to abide by the Acts. They have to ensure prosecutors and defense lawyers and the judge all know their procedures.
That is why this is the first time that we are sorry that at times they don’t follow them.
But we had provided additional funding to the judges court circuits so that they could travel to the communities and we have made the funding available and increased the funding annually so we can have less problems.
So these are the issues that we have had problems with.
I had asked a question in regards not just in the view of people who are awaiting their court dates but also the other people.
Can the department explain to the communities why they defer court dates and what kinds of benefits occur from that?
There are various cases that are deferred and sometimes the lawyers don’t show up to the court cases and so there are various reasons why they defer the court cases.
So I cannot respond to you because they are done on a case-by-case basis.
They have to abide by the procedures and rules so we try to allocate more funding so that we can have fewer problems.
I hear the Member’s concerns.
In review of last year the court circuit traveled around 40 times per year.
So next year, they are planning to go to the communities 55 times.
So the number of visits to the communities by the court circuit is going to increase to expedite the process.
My question is: should the communities be informed as to why they defer court in the communities?
I can ask the people who are responsible to have clear communication with the community as to what their reasoning is in deferring cases, because a lot of people are affected by that.
Yes, the minister just informed me that they have increased the circuits to the communities, even though the cases might be deferred. Once they hear that the court is coming into the community and then they go to the court, appear before the court, are told that their cases are deferred, and they are not informed as to what will be happening.
For those clients, can this be fixed where it doesn’t become a problem?
There are usually a number of reasons for deferring cases.
Some of them we can deal with and are willing to deal with them. I can work with my colleague, the Minister of CLEY, as to how they can provide more assistance to the people who have to appear before the court because we have to use our customs and traditions in the practice of our court system.
We might have to make amendments through the Federal Acts and we need their assistance while we are working on this.
Question 057 – 2(3): Vaccination of Sled Dogs (Barnabas)
Mr. Barnabas: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for the sled dog vaccination program. Perhaps this now would be the Minister of Environment.
Can the minister describe what program is in place to ensure that sled dogs are appropriately vaccinated against rabies and distemper?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister of Health, Ms. Aglukkaq.
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I respond to that question, I need to clarify that under the Environmental Health Protection Act, the Department of Health is responsible for the vaccination of dogs.
So, through the environmental health officers, the department organizes dog vaccination, in partnership with the local by-law officers, as well as the RCMP in most communities.
I thank the minister for answering this question. Can the minister clarify, for this House, how the sled dog vaccination program will be coordinated this year and in the future?
What I understand from the Environmental Health Division is that it’s an annual event that is organized through the environmental health officers.
Perhaps I can share with the member when the communities will be visited by the environmental health officer or where there is training offered at the community level, where vaccinations can be delivered outside of Health, perhaps through the wildlife offices, I can provide that information.
Can the minister commit to me that sled dog owners across Nunavut will receive distemper and rabies vaccinations for their dogs in time for the upcoming Arctic Winter Games?
I will commit to the member to have dog vaccinations completed prior to that.
Question 058 – 2(3): Improving Airline Services in the Kivalliq Region (Alagalak)
My question is directed to the Minister responsible for Economic Development.
Last year I think I brought this up a couple of times in this House, and we were told that this was going to be looked into about the constant problems with airline transportation that carry passengers and their effects.
So, for this year, the Keewatin residents, a lot of times the people who are not given an opportunity and a lot of time they go to Churchill.
As Inuit we are not treated first class at all.
We’re treated like second-class citizens. Even if we have first class tickets they’re treated just the same way.
I want to ask the minister again, because I haven’t heard anything further on this, and he agreed that this would be looked into. What is the status of this now, or have they heard anything that the airlines over there need to make improvements?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister Responsible for Transportation, Mr. Kilabuk.
I wish to apologise to my colleague in regard to the airlines, if this had been a request through my department.
But I’d like to tell my colleague that even though they have certain expectations, but if this is an ongoing problem, then those communities can be assisted through our department, to those carriers.
And, the expectations of those people and the communities, and I will get more information from my staff, and get back to him.
Especially people who go on medical travel, sometimes they even go on the airplane and then they’re taken off the plane again because it’s too full.
According to the airline’s regulations, passengers are allowed two pieces of luggage and there are no questions asked, and another carry on that will fit under the seat.
What happens is you can only have one piece of luggage, only if they have room on board.
I would like to ask the minister, I am not blaming the airlines; I’m not trying to put down the airline companies in the Keewatin.