EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Just following up on Mr. Peterson’s question, I know the minister is eagerly awaiting the standing committee’s report on the review of Nunavut Arctic College, the point that Mr. Peterson makes is something that was echoed in every single community that we went to that those students that are taking Adult Basic Education receive next to nothing for education.
The minister indicated that there was a training allowance allowable for those individuals on income support, and I believe it’s somewhere in the neighbourhood of $200 a month extra that they get, which isn’t a whole heck of a lot for people that are going to school, especially if they have to put their kids in daycare, they’re not at home to make stuff for lunches, extra stuff for lunches, and books and all the different studying time that takes them away from their family.
The minister had indicated that the Adult Basic Education was not eligible under FANS because it didn’t lead to a diploma program or something like that.
Would the minister be willing to take a second look at that to allow some kind of FANS funding that’s just a policy change?
Would the minister commit to doing that to make it more affordable for people to go back to school and further their education and become employable, to work in our communities across the territory rather than being stuck on income support because they don’t have the training, or the skills, or the education to get into the workforce?
Would the minister commit to looking at that and reporting back to this House?
Hon. Ed. Picco: Yes, I would. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know we all love his short answers. The clock is not ticking away on him now, that’s why it’s short.
When, Mr. Chairman, could the minister commit to doing that by?
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll be very quick. One will be when we receive the report from the standing committee because the member has said it is part of that and I would want to make sure I reviewed that.
Two; I would hope to be able to bring it forward once I receive that report probably this spring session, probably in June, which is the next scheduled for us.
I’m sure the standing committee report will give you plenty of ammunition that you need to provide funding for a program like that where we know of the 75 percent drop out rate; that means 75 percent of the kids that enter into the school system end up having to go through Adult Basic Education to further pursue any training, to even qualify for any training opportunities.
So I sincerely hope that that is something that they are taking a serious look at.
My next question deals with programs at the college. How does the college determine what programs that they’re going to offer in a particular year?
Hon. Ed. Picco: A one-year advanced programming compilation is done through the annual calendar of the college that gives the students an opportunity to apply for different programs.
Second, the college reviews the programs on an as-needed basis and looks at what’s available within their budget; as the members know that budget is being debated right now.
There are some programs that will be based on it, for example, the Environmental Sciences Program and so on.
Third is if there is a specific request for a program, a good example of that was the Government of Nunavut requesting a Law Program and/or the Nursing Program, the Department of Education, in consultation with the college, reviews program requests on an as needed basis, and then looks at the time frame, and what the logistics, administrative, as well as the financial costs involved in delivering that program.
Does the college, through the Department of Education, work closely with the other government departments to determine if there is need for any training programs targeted towards any field that may be in need in any other government departments?
The Deputy Minister of Education attends all deputy minister functions and meetings with the other deputy ministers.
In the course of those types of meetings if training requests and so on are brought forward, then the deputy minister would take note of that and then pass it on to the president of the college. The college president has been located here in Iqaluit over the last months, and the president also has been getting direct feedback from the other deputy ministers concerning specific programs and services that need to be delivered.
I am wondering if the Department of Justice has requested any training programs being offered for correctional workers.
The Minister of Justice has indicated here in this House over the last few days that Inuit employment levels, “horrid,” I think was the word he used, that they weren’t very high.
If you want to entice people to work in that field, then you’d think that they would provide training opportunities for those interested in working in that field to take a training program to better qualify them to be able to work and handle a work environment like that.
I’m just wondering if they’ve received any requests from the Department of Justice for correctional officer training.
Some examples of the consultative work that has been done and requests made for different training options include the Maternity Care Workers Program from the Department of Health, the mental health diploma that’s been put in place through the college, the Municipal Training Organization courses through CGS delivered by the college, some of the human resource program courses that we see that are going on.
Specifically on the justice issue, Mr. Clendenning, the President of Arctic College, will be attending or his officials will be attending a meeting in the Yukon where the three territories are looking at opportunities within the criminal justice system for programs to be delivered at the colleges.
Specifically on the BCC or the Department of Justice coming forward with a program or an idea for a Correctional Facility Program, I don’t have information on that right now.
I guess the Minister of Justice didn’t ask the Minister of Education or the department, through the college, to look at offering any programs as such.
Given the fact that you look at Kugluktuk where they now have a centre there where they have the majority are Inuit staff, here at the Baffin Regional Correctional Centre and the Young Offenders are always having a hard time attracting qualified staff and that’s one of the reasons that the Inuit employment levels are so low.
I think if the government was serious about trying to address their Inuit employment levels, they would provide training opportunities for local Inuit to be able to take to be able to enter into that particular field.
So I would urge the Minister of Education and the president of the college to take a serious look at that if the Department of Justice is serious that it wants to increase their Inuit employment numbers, then maybe they should start looking at training Inuit to be able to work in that field.
As far as I know, they can’t just walk in off the street and start working in a correctional centre. You can walk in off the street and stay there, but you can’t walk in off the street and work there.
So I ask the minister to commit to looking at that with the Minister of Justice and letting me know how it went.
Just another reminder I reminded you with earlier, where and when possible, try to make your questions and responses short and to the point to allow more questions or answers during your time.
I don’t want to leave an impression that there hasn’t been any...I’m sorry, I don’t have that information with me. There have been some preliminary discussions with Mr. Clendenning and with some of our senior officials about the issues around the criminal justice system and training.
It was only last week that Mr. Clendenning had received the letter from the Deputy Minister of Justice from the Yukon looking at a tri-territorial opportunity under a criminal justice program for training.
So I would agree with Mr. Tootoo’s remarks.
Mr. Okalik, as the Minister responsible for Justice, has been working very hard to try to increase the Inuit employment numbers, and the member has some good suggestions and I will have an opportunity to discuss those with the minister responsible.
My next question deals specifically with the college itself and with Inuit employment levels.
Could the minister inform us of what their levels are?
Yes, we do have information pertaining to the current Inuit employment staffing levels at the college, every department of the government, including the college has been asked to provide that information and I will look at it by employment, and so on and by category. So we do have that information.
I’m sure he will provide that to us in a second, but please proceed, Mr. Tootoo.
Mr. Tootoo: Judging by the smile on his face, I think he has found it now, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Tootoo. Minister.
No, Mr. Chairman, I had it earlier, and I just wanted to make sure that I had the most current numbers available so I asked Mr. Clendenning to provide those to us.
Right now, the number in the senior management, the middle management, as well as the professionals, the paraprofessionals and the administrative support areas of the college, under administrative support we’re at over 93 percent. The paraprofessional support is over 48 percent. The total positions within the college itself are 123.
There are 18 vacancies at the current time within the college itself.
In many of our communities including Arctic Bay, Qikiqtarjuaq, Cape Dorset, Clyde River, Hall Beach, Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet, Resolute Bay, Sanikiluaq, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Coral Harbour, Gjoa Haven, Kugaaruk, and Taloyoak, we’re at 100 percent Inuit employment.
So the total number is: 123, 18 vacancies, we’re at 85 percent capacity. The total percent of IEP would be 44 percent.
One of the recommendations that was in the general review that the minister has yet to table in this House, I think you just provided the executive summary to us and provided a copy with lots of missing information to the standing committee, but I’m sure if it hasn’t been tabled...I’m not sure if it has or not, but hopefully it will be.
One of the recommendations in there talked about strengthening the senior management at the college, and I’m just wondering if the minister can give us a bit of an update on what they’ve done in that area.
A lot of work has been put into strengthening the senior management of the college including the IEP under that program. As members are aware, all members received copies of the external report of the college as the member has indicated.
A good example of some of the strengthening of the programs and services at the senior management of the college here in Iqaluit at the Nunatta Campus, which is the largest campus in Nunavut, Peesee Pitseolak has taken on the senior management role of the college campus here. In the Kitikmeot, we have Fiona Buchan-Corey who has taken on the management and leadership role there, of course another beneficiary under the land claim program.
Of the recommendations in the external review, there were 75 recommendations, I believe 90 percent have now been completed or are still under way. Ten percent of the recommendations need further work and they are a longer-term process within those recommendations.
I’m just wondering, in light of the recommendation of strengthening and building stronger senior management at the college, does the college look at providing or allowing education leave for staff that are choosing to further their education to help better position themselves for the work that they’ve been doing?
All the professional development that is available under the current collective agreement for employees is available to college employees. So they’re treated no different than that.
Under the Excluded Employees Handbook, if the person is excluded, again, there are options for professional development there that staff members can take advantage of.
I would just like to ask the minister how many of his senior staff have asked for and been granted education leave.
The information provided to me shows that we have two instructors right now who are on professional development leave from the college. As well, we have a senior director, senior management person who is also on professional development leave.
Again, we are limited by the agreement that is in place on professional development, which is, in many cases, no different than other departments in government. Again, they are dictated by whatever the precedent is in the collective agreement, as well as in the included/excluded employee’s handbook.
Out of the three that are on there right now, as the minister indicated, are any of them beneficiaries?
Hon. Ed. Picco: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Tootoo: How many?
Out of the three people that hold the three positions, two are instructors, one is a senior manager, in this case the senior manager, who is on professional leave, is a beneficiary.
That leave that the minister is talking about for their senior manager/director, I do not know what he called him, is that the same type of leave that other staff are on as well because when it comes to treating all staff the same that they are on their leave is on the same conditions.
Just to remind you, you have 18 seconds left on your clock.
There are different aspects of the professional development that is available to staff. If you are an instructor, as an example, there is a Professional Development Fund you have access to. If you are a senior manager, again, there are opportunities within the Excluded Employees Handbook that dictates what type of leave that you would be eligible for.
So that is what the case here is.
I tried to match Mr. Peterson with his 18 seconds. That is why that question was so quick.
Mr. Chairman, is the minister indicating then that the only beneficiary who is asking for leave on this, is just basically on leave and as instructors that get paid basically to be off for education leave, that in this case, the only beneficiary that looked and requested leave is off leave without getting paid, is that correct?
You probably forgot that you had seven seconds left I believe in the last question after your 18-second notice.
No. What I am trying to say is that under leave, that is available; there are rules and regulations in place and enough.
If you are an instructor, you actually pay into a fund and under the collective agreement; X number of dollars is available to an instructor who goes on professional leave. They are not allowed to take professional leave every year or so on.
Whoever applies for that leave as an instructor has an opportunity with everyone else who applies, and then it is reviewed based on the request and based on professional development and based on the years of service and so on.
In the case of the Excluded Employees Handbook and the senior manager again, the same process is applied.
If someone is seeking professional development and they have enough years in depending on what that professional development is, it can be leave without pay, it can be with pay, it can be with subsidized pay, and no different than any other agency or department within government where these types of criteria are put in place.
We are on Education. Branch Summary. Page G-11.
I would like to thank the minister for his announcement recently for trades schools including Rankin Inlet, as well as Cambridge Bay, I believe and also for Iqaluit.
It included, the locations for those trade centers, but it was not altogether clear in terms of, aside of the $10 million that was announced last fall, has the minister gotten any further information as to exactly what amounts have been allocated from the federal contribution that was announced through the Throne Speech I believe it was?
What we have said with the announcement on the trades school, and I thank the member for his support to move forward with the facility in Rankin Inlet, we said we would access the $10 million available to the Government of Nunavut under the Northern Strategy monies that were put forward, but also, we needed to bring forward a supplementary appropriation for the accommodations and so on, and we’ve talked about that a little bit where we’ve said that there is no good in expanding a program offering in the community of Rankin Inlet, as an example, and not have student accommodations.
So that will be extra money needed for that. I don’t want to get into the details of how much those are yet because they haven’t been presented to the House, but I can say that the total project cost for the three facilities that we’ve talked about will be more than the $10 million, but the majority of that would be in one community, which would be Rankin Inlet, and it includes the accommodations that are needed for family accommodations.
I have further questions with respect to the development of the program, could you tell this committee who exactly is responsible for development?
I note that you did announce that the Trades Certification Board has a role in that, I believe, but again, I think you could help us understand a bit more.
Could you tell us if it’s Arctic College that is responsible for guiding the evolvement of the Trades Program and if the programs have not already been developed, when can we expect the minister to announce the programs for each of the centres?
First of all, the auspices for the Nunavut Trades School Program is under Nunavut Arctic College.
I must, again, give credit to Mr. Mike Shouldice in the community of Rankin Inlet, who has been one of our key leads on this program and still continues to be one of the leads on the program in the community for us, for the college.
At the same time, the program dollars announced very recently include the funding of the Northern Strategy dollars and the values there.
The next phase will be the accommodations and so on and those dollar values.
That more information, as the member is asking for, would be available when we do the supplementary, so I can get into detail on the amounts of what they will be, but it is plus the $10 million.
Mr. Curley: Yes. Will there be an additional advisor or group of advisors helping those people, the vice-presidents in each region, because I do believe that you really need to have more specialists to develop the program.
I don’t believe we’re just looking for certificates in the carpentry, the plumbing, or these regional three mainly, mechanics, or heavy equipment.
I truly believe Nunavummiut; the youngsters are looking to enter into red seal certificates in mechanics and whatnot, and not just that, but also really preparing for the future development for the opportunities in the mining industry.
I’m not looking for special technology stuff yet.
We probably don’t have enough dollars for that kind of stuff. We need to incorporate early opportunities for trades aside from the three main ones; heavy equipment, plumbing, and carpentry. Does Arctic College not feel that you need more resources?
I truly was thankful when the minister indicated he would be hiring an Expert Panel to develop the NTEP Program. I believe you need trades people to guide you in developing trades programs. Are you going to do that?
Mr. Curley is correct.
We need to be able to look at what’s there logistically and training wise to be able to guide the process for the new Nunavut Trades School.
Part of the announcement was to have a Nunavut Arctic College Trades Coordinator who will be coordinating the trades and Mr. Curley, again, is correct. There’s more than just heavy equipment; we are talking about millwright programs and welding programs, and so on, at the same time, in conjunction with the Nunavut Apprenticeship Board, look at the apprenticeship trades, which is probably the whole gambit, which includes for example cooking is an apprentice-able trades. Electrical, plumbing, carpentry are standard ones are apprentice-able trades, and so on, and millwrights.
So these are the types of programs that also would be coordinated and then on top of this, under the Adult Learning Strategy, which we have put in place, we have a group that are looking at the different types of trades and the different learning opportunities that are coming up. So I believe, through these four different mechanisms, we are going to be doing a lot of what Mr. Curley is talking about.
At the same time, once we get this program rolled out and if there is a need to have a more of a Nunavut-wide central group just to specifically deal with trades, other than the Apprenticeship Board, which deals with the regulatory and licensing of apprentices, then that’s something, Mr. Chairman, we would be willing to look at and bring forward.
I thank the minister for his response and I look forward to seeing further reports and announcement, perhaps a more detailed announcement in the future specific to the regions because they likely will differ from, for instance, here in Iqaluit, as well as Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet.
So could the minister give us a bit of a timeframe, really, probably have some further announcement? The reason is that there is a known expectation that the Trades Program will now be available for young men and women in Nunavut. So it is important that we do have a bit of an understanding that we not get ahead too far as well.
So I would like the minister to give us at least a feeling of that there will be a certain period in time that they will make further announcement to the program development for the Trades Program.
The member is correct; he’s stealing my thunder as it were. We are working on a process right now where we will be bringing forward, in the next session which is in June, the dollar values, more announcements of programs we are looking at offering in the three regional centres, and a breakdown of such. And we are also looking at some of the work that we talked about already in Committee of the Whole with the Mine Training Groups and the Adult Learning Strategy.
So that commitment is there for the member and we will bring that forward in the next session which is in June.
I appreciated the announcement when you did make it; I believe it was during your opening comments that heavy equipment certainly was part of that. I certainly hope that the mechanics were a big part of that. Eventually, we need electricians for many of the buildings that we construct; including the government’s infrastructure all require specialists of that kind.
So eventually, hopefully, that will be part of that.
For the conclusion, I would like to say that for instance, the mechanics, when we looked at all that, I think all of the major provinces that we depended on like in Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta certainly had been involved.
For instance, in Rankin Inlet, we just had one of our boys spend, at least during the last two years, at least a year in Red Deer of all places.
So eventually, hopefully these kinds of programs, inter-provincial quality type of red seal programs for mechanics or what not, eventually will be closer to home.
So I am looking forward to the federal announcement that the minister will bring to the House. When he does that, certainly, the capital plans and programs will be included in that.
Certainly, when these programs are developed, I’d like to encourage, again, the minister to come into the community, along with the trades people, because the trades people need to be involved in an official role, whether it be advisory or whatnot for ongoing.
Can the minister share that optimism again with us?
We have moved, I think, pretty fast on this as a government. Coming out of the Arviat Retreat in 2004, we said we wanted to have a trades school. I went through quite a period of time looking at the FOL site and so on, and that didn’t work out and we moved very quickly with this plan.
I believe it is probably even a better plan. And just for the information of the members - we are going to continue with all the trades access programs that we are having now in three communities; Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit, and Rankin Inlet for across Nunavut.