EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
And I will commit to reviewing the member’s recommendation to see if we can improve the allowances for students that are in the nursing program, in anticipation of trying to recruit more Nunavummiut to take those training.
Your second supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.
My supplementary probably will be appreciated by the Minister of Education.
We all, we knew for quite some time now that not all education in each community is universal in quality.
We always knew that. We admit that.
For that reason, I think we also recognize that nursing entrance exams are not passed sometimes by some students from some particular high schools in some particular communities.
Would the minister consider creating an upgrading program specifically geared for potential nursing students, similar to that of Nunavut Sivuniksavut?
For the individuals that have graduated through the Nunavut Arctic College Nursing Program in partnership with Dalhousie, I’m very proud to announce that the individuals coming out of those programs are also meeting the national standards, passing the registered nurses exam to practice nursing in Nunavut.
So, at the tail end, the individuals are succeeding in completing the national exam that every other Canadian writes before they can practice nursing.
How did we get there? As part of our Recruitment Strategy of trying to attract more Nunavummiut into the nursing program, we also established an access year for anyone going into the nursing program to take one year of upgrading in various areas before they enter the training program we have with Nunavut Arctic College in partnership with Dalhousie.
If they need that access year, that option is available to applicants to that program.
Mr. Arvaluk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Preparation for the entrance exam for a potential nursing student, are they given allowances similar to what they would get if they were taking the nursing course?
The access year program was designed as part of the overall nursing program, and the individuals in that access year, from what I understand, are under the Student Financial Assistance Program.
As soon as they get into the access year the Student Financial Assistance process kicks in for the duration of the program is what I understand from my colleague over here.
The other information, for students that are in the nursing program, we also had established the scholarship for nurses, individuals that are in the nursing program, on an annual basis.
So scholarships are awarded. That was established during the year the Queen had visited Nunavut, and it’s to individuals that are beneficiaries that are high academic achievers. It is given to them in addition to their allowance.
Question 342 – 2(3): International and Nunavummiut Nurses (Tootoo)
While we’re on the topic of nurses, I’ll keep going.
I know we heard yesterday that the Department of Health has gone over budget, and part of it is because of agency nurses. We’ve heard that there are international nurses that have not passed their certification to work in Nunavut but are still on payroll.
The minister indicated earlier that there were nine graduates from our own nursing program. And, on June 15, she had indicated that there were five that graduated last spring.
My question is; we’re going the extra mile for paying extra, and looking after international agency nurses, where they get everything paid for. International nurses we are being very accommodating for, but our own home-grown nurses, Mr. Speaker, I understand if there were nine graduated. I know last June the minister indicated that they’d be working starting in September.
I know of a couple of instances…and I guess my question for the minister is why when we had a couple of these graduates one had to go to Alberta to get a job. She may be back here now but she ended up having to go to Alberta to get work. Another one up until recently, a couple or two or three weeks ago was working at a local restaurant because she didn’t get on with the government.
So my question to the minister is we’re going all the extra mile to extra take care of the non-resident nurses; international and agency ones, but we’re not going the extra mile to make sure that our own home grown nurses are snapped up and given positions and looked after as soon as they graduate.
Speaker ((interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Tootoo.
The Nunavut Arctic College Nursing Program has been in place for not very long. To date, we have nine graduates out of that program and those individuals that are graduating out of the program before they can practice nursing, like any other Canadian, must write their registered exam.
For some of the individuals we have directly appointed them into positions; there are some in the Kivalliq; I believe there’s one in Pond Inlet; a couple in the Kivalliq, as well as here.
We’ve also designed mentorship programs for the first six months of the graduates that have completed their Nursing Program; that have written to work in the hospitals and the health centres.
We are continuing to provide support to those individuals in our communities. We recognize there is a shortage of nurses. We have to approach the recruitment of our nurses at different fronts.
One is through our own training; one is through international recruitment; one is recruiting within Canada; and sometimes we have had to go through the agency nurses because at the end of the day we need to make sure that service is being delivered at the community level.
So those are the efforts we are doing as part of our recruitment in Nunavut. We continue to provide support to our own graduates.
The individual that moved to Alberta; that was a family choice. From what I understand, the individual had been employed at the time when she made the choice to move to Alberta.
The people that are being trained in Nunavut; I think that demonstrates they are coming out with quality education and are meeting other standards of other jurisdictions to qualify for jobs in other jurisdictions.
I think that says a lot for the efforts and initiatives that we have undertaken in our own territory to train our nurses.
So I’m very proud of that and every citizen has the freedom to practice nursing anywhere they choose; in any community they choose once they have that registered nurses exam completed.
I know the minister even indicated in the past that some of these international nurses have failed that nursing exam numerous times in an attempt to be able to work here. They are still on payroll; they’re still working and they are being shadowed by another nurse.
So my question is; some of these graduates of our own home-grown Nursing Program; they shouldn’t even have to wait. Last June she announced the graduation of five of them; five of them should have been working in the hospitals just like that.
My question to the minister is: will they look at doing that; guaranteeing employment upon graduation for these nurses to work within our healthcare system where we desperately need them?
I think we need to clarify.
The international recruitment efforts, in order to enter Canada, we had also to meet immigration laws.
We had to guarantee employment for immigrants coming into Canada. Once they got to Canada, the whole process of employment started to meet the immigration law. The individuals that came into Canada to work in Canada as nurses could not process until they passed the registered nurses exam.
They can work in the health centres with limited responsibilities but could not practice independently in the nursing health centres.
So there is a bit of difference in that when you hire out of a recruitment within Canada, the same process applies, but for the particular recruitment efforts with international nurses it was a bit different because we needed to meet the criteria of entering into Canada.
So I think we need to keep that in mind. The individuals in the communities, or in our centres, they all have to pass the registered nurses exam to practice in every health centre, and no one in the health centre can practice independently without that confirmation, or without being registered.
If we were to put people immediately into jobs without the support of others, we would put patients at risk, and we’re not prepared to do that, which is why we have mentorship.
We also have people working behind staff that have not completed the registered nurse’s exam for those reasons.
Your second supplementary. Mr. Tootoo.
I want to clarify first, I understand exactly what she’s saying, and I wasn’t in any way saying that they should be put in a position to work by themselves, practicing as nurses.
But she just admitted there are international nurses that are working in our health system that can’t work as nurses because they haven’t passed the exam.
They are still working behind somebody as she had indicated or in a mentorship program with someone until they pass that exam.
It’s the same thing with our graduates Mr. Speaker. When they graduate they don’t write their exam as soon as they graduate.
They graduated last June, but I think their RN exam was last month, in October.
So, all that time, like I said, I know of one person that graduated last spring who was working in a restaurant because she couldn’t get a job with the Department of Health.
And, the only difference between her and someone that is working in the health centre as a nurse is that RN exam. There is no reason why any of those individuals that graduate from the nursing program shouldn’t be automatically stuck into our health care system working with another nurse or behind another nurse as the minister states, or in a mentorship program.
They shouldn’t have to be out serving tables, or working in a restaurant.
They just put in a number of years of their time to be able to help and serve Nunavummiut.
And they said you’ve got to wait until you pass your exam.
We’re not even accepting that for other nurses, like with the international nurses.
I think we should at least be treating our homegrown nurses with the same or better standard than we do with the nurses that come from elsewhere.
So the question then to the minister is: why is that not happening?
Again, I think I need to clarify; the international nurses are not practising until they pass the registered exam.
To enter Canada we had to put them into positions. That was the immigration requirement that they could not practise until they had passed the exam.
So, to enter Canada, we had to identify 20, 30 positions. We also had to identify what communities those positions were going to and so on.
That is what we needed to do to fulfill immigration requirements, to address our major staffing shortage in nursing.
The individuals coming in from all programs that are graduating, we have just recently announced a mentorship program to those graduates that are working at the hospital here.
We are providing support services to orient our staff. I also mentioned earlier that we are going the extra mile to tap into the programs that are being offered through Nunavut Arctic College and to be speaking to the individual students that are taking the programs now, so that when they’re done we can offer them jobs at the tail end.
So there are two processes in place: the human resource strategy for hiring, but I go back again to our nursing program, the immigration requirement we needed to meet to address our shortage, the nursing shortage. The hiring of our own nurses, we are direct appointing those individuals as well into positions in our community.
Again they have to pass the registered nurses exams, and if they require mentorship, we are also putting those in place.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Madam Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Tootoo.
Either I am not making myself clear enough but, and I understand exactly what the minister is saying.
I am not saying take these graduates and stick them into work as nurses, until they get their RN certification.
In one case we’re already doing that with international nurses, we’re letting them work within the system but not practice as a nurse but they are still getting paid and working in the system.
My question is: I guess if we’re doing that to international nurses, why do nurses that graduate here, have to wait six month before they can get a job?
If they’re not direct appointed, are they all being direct appointed right after they graduate and they should automatically enter into the mentorship program?
Once they graduate they should automatically, if they choose, to go into a mentorship program and be working within our system doing what they’ve been trained for in the mentorship program until they’ve passed their certification nationally.
Would the minister commit to looking at doing that so that our graduates will not have to worry about how they’re going to make ends meet after they graduate. They will automatically be going into a Mentorship Program, if that’s what it is, so that they’re automatically employed by the GN; by the Department of Health, after they graduate from this program.
Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Minister Aglukkaq.
The nurses that are graduating from the Nursing Program here are being direct appointed to the jobs in various communities.
The conditions that we have to meet to do that is that they have to have passed the registered nurses exam. It is a bit different than the international process. If we hire from Canada, the procedures that we are following with our own nurses would be applied.
The difference between those two processes is that in order to enter Canada we needed to put them in the positions first.  In Canada, if we’re recruiting any job through the Department of Health, we would have to ensure that they pass the RN exam first.
So there is a bit of a difference that way. So the individuals graduating and successfully passing the exams in Nunavut are being direct appointed to positions and we will continue to do that, and the individuals of course also have to make their own personal choices, whether they’re want the jobs in Nunavut or not or go else where. So those options are available.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister and Members.
Tabled Document 159 – 2(3): Kitikmeot Inuit Association Resolutions (Peterson)
I am pleased to table today a package of resolutions that were presented at the recent Annual General Meeting of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.
I encourage all members to review these closely, and I encourage the government to note the KIA’s concerns with respect to such critical issues as the status of the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project.
Tabled Document 160 – 2(3): Correspondence to Stockwell Day (Picco)
Yesterday I tabled a document containing over 1,000 signatures concerning the issue about protecting our children here in Iqaluit.
I committed at the time Mr. Speaker, that I would table correspondence with myself and the Honourable Stockwell Day, the Minister for Corrections Services of Canada. Mr. Speaker, I am tabling that document today.
Tabled Document 161 – 2(3): Press Release (Health Canada): Canada’s New Government Invests in Initiatives to Increase Internationally Educated Health Professionals (Tootoo)
I would like to table a copy of a news release that was issued by Health Canada yesterday for the benefit of the Minister of Health and her officials.
It’s a press release that indicates that they are providing $305,859 specifically for Nunavut for bridging programs and orientation for international nurses. This will save her officials from looking around for it. They’ll know where to find it.
Can we have a copy of that?
Tabled Document 162 – 2(3): Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act – 2005-06 GN Annual Report on the Administration of the Act (Okalik)
I wish to table the following document: the Annual Report on the Administration of the Government of Nunavut Access to Information and Privacy Act, April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006.
I request consent of this Assembly to waive the two-day notice requirement to allow for first reading of Bill 26, Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2007-08.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. The minister is seeking unanimous consent to waive Rule 16(1) so that the bill could be read for the first time today.
Bill 26 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2007-08 – First Reading
Hon. David Simailak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and my colleagues. I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Iqaluit West, that Bill 26, Appropriation (Capital) Act 2007-08, be read for the first time.
All those in favour of the motion, please indicate.
Bill 26 has had its first reading.
(interpretation ends) Item 18.
The Minister of Finance, Mr. Simailak.
Bill 26 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2007-08 – Second Reading
I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Iqaluit East, that Bill 26, Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2007-08, be read for the second time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the Government of Nunavut to make capital expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008.
Bill 26 has had second reading and accordingly the bill stands referred to a committee.
Bill 26 with Mr. Arreak in the Chair.
Members before we proceed, we will break now; however I ask that all Members return to the House by 4:30 for the beginning of the Committee of the Whole.
All members have been invited to attend a ceremony to witness the swearing in of Susan Enuaraq, a graduate of the Akitsiraq Law School, to the Bar of Nunavut.
>>House recessed at 15:18 and Committee resumed at 16:52
Chairman (Mr. Arreak)(interpretation): Thank you for coming back. (interpretation ends) I would like to call the committee meeting to order.
In Committee of the Whole, we have the following items to deal with: Bill 26.
We wish to commence the review of Bill 26, the capital estimates for 2007-08, starting with the Department of Justice.
If time permits, we will then proceed with the review of the Department of Education.
Are we in agreement that we deal with the capital estimates for the Department of Justice?
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) Now, I would like to ask Minister Okalik from the Department of Justice to make his opening remarks.
Bill 26 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2007-08 – Review in Committee – Justice
I am pleased to appear today. I would also like to thank my colleagues for being able to attend the celebrations.
I am pleased to appear before the committee to present the Department of Justice’s 2007-08 Capital Budget.
Currently, the Baffin Correctional Centre is well above capacity, making it more difficult to rehabilitate offenders, resulting in significant costs to house inmates outside Nunavut.
The existing number of correctional spaces in Nunavut does not meet the current need and is not able to handle future growth.
This year we have had as many as 40 offenders at a time being held in the Northwest Territories and Ontario.
While a longer-term solution is proposed by the department’s seven-year capital plan, we also need to address current needs.
In August, the department opened a building for use as a women’s correctional facility in order to accommodate female inmates returning from other institutions.
This facility is a trailer, which has been adapted for this purpose. Additional renovations to improve its stability are currently in progress.
The Kugluktuk Healing Facility has been in operation for a year now and work is currently being completed on the sprinkler system.
The facility is designed to serve offenders from the Kitikmeot area of Nunavut and will eventually be able to accommodate between 16 and 20 territorial inmates that were previously housed either in the overcrowded Baffin Correction Centre in Iqaluit, or facilities outside of Nunavut.
This facility was faced with some staffing issues but we are confident that this is behind us now and programs are progressing well. Given the dire overcrowding situation, the department’s focus over the coming years will be on the construction of a larger correctional centre to alleviate this ongoing problem.
Following these opening comments I will be pleased to respond to questions on matters related to the Department of Justice.
Mr. Okalik, are you going to bring your officials to the witness table?
Do the members agree that the witnesses could be brought to the witness table?
Chairman (interpretation): Sergeant-at-Arms, could you escort the officials.
Thank you. Premier Okalik, please introduce your witnesses.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m sure that you know the individual to my right, Deputy Minister Marcus Weber, and also to my left, Ted Dingle, he works for the Department of Justice on capital estimates.
Mr. Minister, welcome. (interpretation ends) Does the Chair of the committee have comments?
Mr. Mapsalak, please proceed.
The Standing Committee Ajauqtiit has reviewed the proposed capital estimates of the Department of Justice for the 2007-08 fiscal year, and I am pleased to provide you with the Committee’s comments.
Mr. Chairman, the committee notes that the department’s proposed 2007-08 capital budget of $1.9 million is approximately 63 percent lower than its 2006-07 budget, primarily as a result of the completion of the new Justice Centre facility in Iqaluit.
Over the next five years, the department plans to spend over $47 million on a new correctional facility in Nunavut.
The minister has indicated that the most urgently needed facility is a replacement for the Baffin Correctional Centre due to the current severe overcrowding in the facility.
The standing committee has been informed that the new correctional centre to replace Baffin Correctional Centre is to be located in Rankin Inlet.
It is not entirely clear, however, as to what long-term plans the department has for the current Baffin Correctional Centre infrastructure, or what the long-term operations and maintenance costs and staffing requirements of using it for a remand facility or other purpose would be.
The department is also continuing to plan for a new men’s healing facility to be located in the Kivalliq region.
The department’s experience with the recently-opened Illavut facility in Kugluktuk will likely assist in planning for this project.
Mr. Chairman, members urge the department to be fully transparent in explaining to the House and the public its criteria for community selection for the placement of such facilities.
Members would also wish to see the government give full consideration to local training and employment opportunities in its selection process while ensuring a high quality of staffing in these facilities.
Mr. Chairman, in its capital plan that was presented last year, the department projected future years’ funding for a new Women’s Correctional Facility.
The lack of such a facility had been a concern.
During the minister’s recent appearance, the committee was informed that the department recently took steps to address the situation by adapting a trailer next to the Baffin Correctional Centre facility.
As a result, the minister has indicated that they no longer have plans to build a new women’s facility.
The committee expects the department to monitor this situation with care.
Mr. Chairman, in November of 2005, a member posed a detailed written question in the Legislative Assembly concerning the rates at which different categories of offenders in territorial custody re-offend.
The committee appreciated the government’s detailed response, which revealed some disturbing information.
The committee notes that the department plans to spend tens of millions of dollars to construct a number of new correctional facilities across Nunavut over the next few years.
This strategy must be accompanied by plans to evaluate the success of the rehabilitation and healing programs that are offered by the department.
The standing committee recognizes that while the government will actually spend more in the long term by repatriating offenders currently being held in the Northwest Territories and elsewhere to serve their sentences closer to home, it is to be hoped that these higher operational expenditures will be offset by better programming.
Members remain supportive of on-the-land programs, particularly for young offenders. These programs should be delivered as close as possible to the home communities of the youth.