EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
This is within our plans and will provide a tremendous benefit to our elders and proper care.
Due to the availability of an unused building in Cambridge Bay, we will be using the funds to convert the building for that program.
We are also in the planning stages for a facility in Rankin Inlet, as we are aware of the number of people waiting for home care.
We have put it in our business plan.
Let me move to the next issue. With respect to the (interpretation ends) mental health transition home, (interpretation) I believe it was last year where plans were made to develop a (interpretation ends) mental health transition home. (interpretation) They closed the facility housing the (interpretation ends) children’s group home (interpretation) in Rankin Inlet to convert it to that.
What is the status of that project that was to convert this building into the (interpretation ends) mental health transition home (interpretation) in Rankin Inlet?
I believe it is in the capital items, so I will speak on that at some later time.
We are going to move along.
I want to start with a brief preamble regarding the health budget, as it seems obvious that priority has been placed on the mental health services. There were several additional amounts added and I thought it was good to hear about.
There are many people in our community that experience mental health issues. This is part of the government plans and that it isn’t a simple exercise.
However, let me first ask this question on his department’s 2015-16 main estimates. It speaks about collaborative work with other bodies on suicide prevention.
This was identified in January 2014 that the chief coroner would hold an inquest on suicide prevention.
What does the Department of Health provide to the coroner’s office towards this objective?
Chairman (Mr. Akoak): Thank you, Mr. Joanasie.
Yes, if these move forward, we are open to providing any assistance as necessary in order to ensure that the review is comprehensive and wherever we can provide assistance, we will be available to provide this assistance.
Another item in the priority list speaks to this issue more than once in the health department’s plans. I am aware you are working with different organizations on the suicide prevention initiative. We also recently heard that… .
Chairman: Sorry, I have to ring the bell because we have no quorum.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): I’m sorry.
Let me continue with my line of questioning. I want to ask about the priorities identified by the health department within the plan for 2015-16 and 2016-17, and I believe this is for future plans of the department.
Regarding the suicide prevention program and the fact you are required to work with different organizations along with some news we heard recently about the expiration of the plans based on the agreements, when will the minister provide the details on the end date of the agreement?
I believe it is set to expire at the end of March.
Can the minister respond to that?
Obviously this will not end, even if the plan has expired. However, we are currently reviewing this issue to see how much of a benefit it will provide. If it requires adjustments, we will have them ready.
This is a personal concern to me and I am meeting with various organizations.
We plan to hold a major meeting with our circumpolar arctic countries that are concerned about these issues and this is set for the end of March here in Iqaluit.
That is how we are trying to make ourselves open by always looking for better practices and this will continue.
I have one more question on another matter. Does the Government of Nunavut have other funds aside from this fund approaching $1 million through (interpretation ends) Vote 4/5 (interpretation) allocations which are directed to this program? This is the (interpretation ends) Nunavut Family Physician Residents program. (interpretation) That is the title.
I wonder how many physicians benefit from this fund to assist Nunavummiut.
Yes, this is something we want to see continue, as it assists us in our recruiting efforts. The undergraduates who are nearing completion of their medical studies work as residents to complete their training while assisting the doctors.
At this time, I believe there is one person in residency and we have plans for one more. We will seek another resident to provide more help.
I want to move to another matter related to their plans on page 110 listing (interpretation ends) Medical Transportation. (interpretation) Do the funds, although it was discussed earlier, keep increasing?
As an example, there are various programs under the health department with preventative care, such as the CT scanner that was mentioned earlier.
I believe it was last year that we heard that the policy had changed and here I refer to the (interpretation ends) Medical Travel Policy. (interpretation) From the time the policy was changed, have you realized any savings in your expenditures or has it led to higher expenditures?
Hopefully I was understandable, Mr. Chairman.
Yes, the program funding for medical travel hasn’t changed significantly, although the policy was changed.
Many people had concerns about this policy and with the changes enacted, particularly with respect to the escorts where medical patient escort policies were changed, the funds haven’t changed much.
It was stated that a review would be undertaken. What about the review? Have you started the review?
Just to remind the minister that you have a mute button if you need to discuss with your staff.
It is, indeed, in the planning stages to hold a review down the line and to deal with this in the future. We continue to prepare possible improvements for this review.
Yes, we have heard loud and clear the concerns expressed by certain people. This policy is one that looks like it needs addressing.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I want some clarification on whether the (interpretation ends) Medical Transportation (interpretation) includes accommodations while patients are travelling where they require boarding in their travel. I wanted to know if I can ask this question here and whether the Chair will approve this question.
I ask for your direction.
Chairman: Yes, go ahead, Mr. Joanasie.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Whenever a patient is travelling outside of their community for medical treatment, they sometimes are required to find accommodations. As an example, here in Iqaluit, they have a boarding home called Tammaativvik.
However, whenever it is full, patients sometimes have to stay in the hotels.
I would like some information as to how many times accommodation has been required due to overcrowding issues. Do you have any figures related to patients who have had to find other accommodations when no space is available at the boarding home?
Yes, we have contractual agreements with various hotels when space is at a premium and this is governed by the agreement.
As to the actual numbers, I don’t have the figures for hotel stays. However, we can look into that by reviewing last year’s figures.
Another issue relates to the occasional need to find accommodations for medical patients due to unforeseen circumstances. Are patients required to find their own accommodations? Does the minister know if that is the case?
If my comments are understandable, that is, Mr. Chairman.
In those cases, if the patient has family members, they are asked if they would prefer to stay with their relatives while in Iqaluit. This happens occasionally here in Iqaluit.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Another issue relates to the medical travel planner who looks after travel and accommodation needs of the patients. Are there any workers available during the weekends to handle weekend arrangements?
If there is an emergency, those people are available.
This isn’t really a question but more of a comment. Here I am thinking of the people who need to travel to other communities with their air travel and accommodations arranged. It was brought up earlier that the department is trying to get 24/7 positions.
Can this be taken into consideration as well for the medical travel personnel to be available on weekends?
Airlines don’t stop flying on weekends. Sometimes people need to travel home and if weekends were used, it would probably benefit some of the medical appointments and scheduling.
If this were possible, I wanted to just comment on it, but I would like the minister to respond to this if he is able to.
This is a comment only, but if Minister Okalik would like to respond, he may.
Yes, this isn’t a simple process as doctors have to conduct a thorough examination of patients to ensure treatment has been completed. Sometimes they require another checkup before they can be released.
I can’t just answer that question at this time, but I can only respond that his comment about weekend availability has been noted and we can try to consider that.
Mr. Hickes: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it.
With the new Chair, I get a new line of questioning.
To pick up where I left off a little bit regarding the medical travel costs, one of the programs in place to help offset some of those challenges is telehealth.
Last year, I had asked the then minister of the day for some statistics of usage across different categories and she responded with clinical services, education, administration, family visitation, and that usage had increased from the previous year by 24 percent, with clinical services accounting for 53 percent of the traffic.
Mr. Peterson has accused me of being a calculator guy. I guess numbers assist me in helping me make my decisions.
I was wondering if the minister would be able to update me on today’s statistics for telehealth use.
Minister Okalik, you’ve got a mute button.  Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you.
I’m sorry. (interpretation ends) I don’t know how to work this very well.
So far to date in 2015 to February 23, 3,371.95 hours have been used on telehealth. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I’m just looking for the number that I had had in the past. I thought it was around 4,000 hours, but I don’t have it in front of me, so I’ll move on to my next question.
Maybe the minister might have some of that information in front of him. Is that an increase or decrease of use by telehealth from the year previous to this?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation end) As the year is not complete yet, I can’t answer, but it appears to be an increase from prior years. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I will probably follow up with the minister either later on this sitting or probably in the next sitting to get those updated numbers.
Also last year, I had asked the minister of the day regarding the health care gap analysis that was being done by the department looking at optimizing staffing levels and service delivery approaches in each community. At the time, the response I got was that “We are putting together what we are going to be doing” was the main point of the response.
What has been put together in the last year?
Hon. Paul Okalik: From what I understand, it is still not done, but we are working away at it. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: Mr. Hickes
From a lot of the responses, you guys are working away at a lot of things and I appreciate that. I know things don’t happen overnight.
The wheels of bureaucracy don’t turn as fast as we would like sometimes, but I think optimizing staffing levels and service delivery for each community would be a very key component to making sure that your budgeting is accurate and that the needs of Nunavummiut are being met.
I’ll move on to my next question. I’m going to actually ask about something that I don’t see in the business plan or in the budget. There is an increase in therapeutic services, such as surgical aftercare and rehabilitation services.
I recently was reading an article and I was trying to think of it earlier in which jurisdiction.
I believe it was one of the eastern provinces that have identified massive amounts of savings from the health care service by increasing the services provided for therapy, after surgical care, and rehabilitation services.
I can speak from experience here in Iqaluit that our rehabilitation services are very good, but there is quite an extensive waiting period.
I think I got a call about six or eight months after I needed my own rehabilitation services after some initial appointments.
To me, that showed that there is a real backlog in that.
I think they would alleviate a lot of the stresses for your department if people would be able to rehabilitate themselves with proper trained individuals.
Why is there no increase in funding if a dire need is identified?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.(interpretation ends) Although we can’t handle all those situations, we are working better at coordinating our efforts a lot better with southern health care providers by arranging travel better. Those are improving.
We are also providing some good therapy at the Public Health Centre, 155. I toured that facility and even though the space is small, they’re making do with a lot of good work for the community here.
There’s some good work that’s happening, but I’m sure that we can do more. We need to coordinate our efforts with the southern providers of health care. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
As a recipient of some of that great care, I can assure you that they are doing a lot of great work with the resources they are given.
It is something that I will continue to follow up on.
I think it’s a missed opportunity to address some of the cost savings that could be addressed in your overall budget.
I would like to go on to my next topic right now where, again, it was a question I had asked last year about the Nursing Recruitment and Retention Strategy.
Now, I realize I’m treading a thin line here, Mr. Chairman, but I believe it is directly related to health care service delivery of improving the orientation, mentorship, and professional development opportunities for our nurses.
At that time, there were still recommendations being considered for some of those improvements.
What work has been done since last year on that endeavour?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) What we have done so far is that recommendations are being considered for the recruitment strategy that includes improvements to hiring and human resource practices, orientation mentorship, and professional development.
We’re also looking at improving supports available for nurses as well as working cooperatively with Nunavut Arctic College to support the nursing students and graduates to enhance their ability to be recruited and retained here in Nunavut. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think that this just goes to some other comments the minister has made previously that there are a lot of things being worked on and I acknowledge that, but that’s basically the same answer I got last year.
Just to use an example, if you’ve got a health care practitioner in Nunavut that takes professional development opportunities that’s paid for by the Government of Nunavut, whether it be specialization into a certain field or expanding upon their existing knowledge base, what types of supports are being put in place by your department to not only acknowledge that continuing professional development, but to utilize those skills that you have paid for?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) I acknowledge that there’s some more work that needs to be done, but I must say that we have an indeterminate HR director now, so that’s an improvement from prior years.
She did a presentation for me upon my appointment and she is working away, and I was very impressed with her level of knowledge and expertise in this area.
I’m looking forward to some good work. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I’m sure that we’re all looking forward to further good work by the Department of Health, but again, just going back to my example, what actual opportunities are being supported by the Department of Health to take advantage of these learning opportunities that health care professionals take upon their work week from their home and family life to further their own education for the better of Nunavummiut and Nunavut patients?
What is being done to make sure that those skills stay in Nunavut after we spend money to basically bolster their resumé? Most education practices that I have seen that don’t require an educational leave don’t have any obligation to the Government of Nunavut to stick around to utilize those skills that are being gained at the Government of Nunavut’s expense.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) We offer assistance, about $3,000 a year per nurse, for nurses for continuing education.
If they require travel outside, we offer that as well with return of service. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think I’ll leave that alone right now.
We’re at Health. Branch Summary.
Health Care Service Delivery.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $271,584,000.
Chairman: Go to page H-3.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $317,439,000.
Minister Okalik, you got any closing comments?
Firstly, I want to express my gratitude to my ministerial colleague, my predecessor at Health, Minister Ell who prepared all of the documentation and made it really easy to present the work.
With respect to this portfolio, it seems I am just receiving the benefits of the hard work done earlier. However, I want to express my thanks and these are good things to move forward with.
Moreover, I would be remiss in not mentioning my two officials at the witness table with me, so I thank them for their assistance as without them, I wouldn’t be able to go ahead with this review.
As well, thanks to my colleagues for expressing the issues and concerns, and for voicing the needs we are still faced with.
We will use that to start planning for the next fiscal year.
Obviously, we won’t be able to provide immediate answers to all the questions, but it assists our planning and that is how we can enact changes.
I thank you for providing more direction to the department and for your contributions. For that, I thank you.
That concludes this aspect, but it is obvious that I will return in a different capacity in the future.
Chairman: Thank you, Minister Okalik and officials.
>>Committee recessed at 16:55 and resumed at 17:06
Bill 16 – Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2015-2016 – Community and Government Services – Consideration in Committee
We will now be considering the Department of Community and Government Services.
At the witness table will be Minister Sammurtok. Welcome.
We will move on. I would first like to ask if you have witnesses that you would like to bring to the table.
Hon. Tom Sammurtok: Yes.
Members, do you agree to bring in the minister’s officials?
To my right is Deputy Minister Roy Green and to my left is the Director of Finance, Gershom Moyo.
Chairman: Qujannamiik, Hon. Minister. (interpretation) Welcome to the House, Mr. Green and Mr. Moyo.
Before we go to the page-by-page review, I would like to give you the opportunity, (interpretation ends) Hon. Minister, (interpretation) to make your opening comments.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee of the Whole to review the Department of Community and Government Services’ 2015-16 main estimates and business plan.
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Community and Government Services continues to manage programs and services for local government, government services, petroleum products, procurement, protection services, informatics, property and asset management, and sport and recreation.
When the Petroleum Products Divison revolving [fund] is included, CGS has an overall annual budget of $456 million with nearly 375 positions spread out across Nunavut.
Our projected budget includes a net increase of $10.2 million over last year’s main estimates.
The Petroleum Products Division continues to manage the fuel provision mandate for the GN. As a direct result of efforts made by my department’s use of the early purchase of petroleum products in the face of volatile global fuel prices, we have been able to maintain the current price for fiscal year 2014-15.