EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
My question is in regards to grizzly bears. Grizzly bears are starting to come into our community more and more, and they are a danger to the people.
They are a nuisance.
They have destroyed some personal property, and they have robbed Inuit of their food that they keep in their camps.
So for that reason, I would like to ask the Minister if there are any plans in place to deal with these nuisance and dangerous grizzly bears.
I would like to thank the Member for his question.
Mr. Alakannuark, we are dealing with this situation at this time, especially those two communities that have grizzly bears in their communities.
We have worked with the local HTOs in Baker Lake and Kugluktuk.
We are in the process of working with those HTOs.
I am sure that two communities are not the only locations where grizzly bears come in.
What we have done is to work with the people of Baker Lake in regards to the dangerous and nuisance grizzly bears in their community.
If there is anything that we can do to resolve the problem of nuisance grizzly bears, we will deal with it.
In regards to the smaller communities, in what year will those communities be assisted in dealing with grizzly bears?
Speaker: Minister Akesuk, just before we proceed, I would ask you to take your documents away from the light, the technician cannot see when the light is on and when it is off.
What we are doing is we are doing a study on those nuisance grizzly bears, but I do not have the community’s names in place.
The things that we are will be dealing with in 2004 in regards to nuisance grizzly bears, we will have to find some funding in order to do a thorough study on the dangers of grizzly bears, but I cannot say which year the study will be done.
We will do our very best to help those communities who have those dangerous grizzly bears.
I will make a commitment to the Member and work with my department to do a study.
I would like to also ask the Minister that as soon as he has the information available that he provides that to the Members.
In regards to grizzly bears if there was a grizzly bear that approached the member’s community, the wildlife officers in his community will deal with the dangers there as soon as possible.
In the mean time what we are doing is a study on the numbers of Grizzly bears.
I would like to assure the member that if there was a dangerous grizzly bear that came to his community that the wildlife officers will deal with is as soon as possible.
What I’m trying to say is that we’re having some studies done but I’m not really sure exactly when that is going to be completed.
In the mean time, just to assure the Member that if there was a dangerous grizzly bear coming into their community, the wildlife officer in the communities will deal with them.
I would like to tell the Member for Akulliq that we will do our best to help his community and other communities in regards to dangerous and nuisance grizzly bears and we will work with the communities because they have the knowledge of those types of things in their community.
Because this is very dangerous for the communities would it be okay for individuals in the communities, if they happen to come up to them, being nuisance and dangerous for the individuals to shoot them?
As I said, the community wildlife officers in each community, it would be better if they could deal with the local wildlife officer and if there was a grizzly bear that approached a camp, I’m sure that individuals would be able to shoot the dangerous grizzly bear.
I would also like to say to the Member that that is the only way that could be dealt with and then work with the wildlife pfficers later on.
Question 615 – 1(6): Polar Bear Hunting Boundaries
I would like to congratulate the Minister for the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth for appointing the members for the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit.
The question that I wanted to ask is that in his statement that he made earlier on, the Minister for Sustainable Development, I’m not sure now, but at the beginning of October, I think that this is very important for all of Nunavut.
In Chesterfield Inlet, there was a bear killed on October 4th.
It’s okay that the individual shot a polar bear because it was out of his boundary; it was confiscated on October 4. Inuit have boundaries where they have a quota for a certain community and the boundary is drawn.
There was never a boundary line years ago.
Can the Minister inform us, that yes, we will deal with this that the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and Katimajiit will deal with that too but in regards to this.
If you’re an Inuk, a hunter, hunters have a boundary to kill polar bear.
It’s okay to kill polar bear but at the same time when the hunter kills a bear, then the hide is confiscated.
I'm just using this as an example; will this issue be dealt with by the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit with their knowledge of hunting issues within the Inuit culture because the issue of boundaries is ridiculous to us?
This is something that we have started work on.
Say for instance the community of Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak, we put a moratorium on their quota in the M’Clintock channel.
We will be working with the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit on this issue.
We can’t do it in a day but we will work with the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit, in regards to traditional Inuit hunting especially in regards to polar bear quotas.
We will also be working with Wildlife Officials, HTOs and Wildlife Officers at Gjoa Haven in regards to the boundaries and we will be looking at the those boundaries for quota purposes as well.
We will work with them to try and come up with solutions to the system that we acquired from the NWT so see if we can resolve this issue.
Speaker: Thank you Minister. I’d like to remind everyone that we have one Member left to speak so if Members now try to pick up the pace so we can get that last Member in.
Yes, it’s perfectly fine to have a review but I have yet to hear for example, in Rankin Inlet, we don’t have a lot of narwhal over there so they don’t get tags; it was only when they got a narwhal and they finally got a tag.
If I use Ukulsiqsalik as an example there are a lot of polar bears over there but that doesn’t increase the number of tags that I get for harvesting polar bear, so we’ll have to look at the closer and look at the zones because it doesn’t make any sense to the hunters in Nunavut.
The zones are there for the benefit of the biologists and everything else and I think we also have to look at it again, because the zone system doesn’t make sense to us.
The polar bear is not going to read a sign and say “Oops, I cannot cross this line because I might go to the unrestricted zone and get shot.”
So we have to look at the issue of zoning.
It could even be the local Hunters and Trappers, or the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit.
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): We could look into it and also use the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit.
We also have to keep in mind that we have to work closely with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and see what we can do.
We could do a review in the future and we will also work with the Members of the Legislative Assembly to see which would be the best route to go in regards to polar bears.
Question 616 – 1(6): Access Housing Policies
I was falling asleep waiting for my turn.
I will direct my question to the Minister responsible for Housing.
We have Access housing where they are mortgaged for fifteen to twenty years.
Now, there was a time when a person who did not reside in the house on a rent to own program, and then this person was told that there would be an increase in his monthly payments.
What kind of policies do you have in regards to rent to own houses?
Speaker: The Minister responsible for Housing.
Mr. Speaker, there are different policies.
The Member has to be more specific if it is in respect to Access housing, it is based on your income.
As the Members recall with the new rent scale that went in place, where a lower incomes took effect in respect to operating costs of houses as well.
Those costs were taken off the rental payments, the mortgage payments of Access clients.
As you may recall that was a very positive move that was well received.
So they have come down significantly, recognizing the higher operating costs in Nunavut.
I do not know if that answers the Member’s question or not.
I will try to be more specific.
If I should agree if you could for example, rent my qamutik for X amount of dollars per month, and if you should get a higher salary, or make a larger income this year, could I say that I will double your monthly rent on these qamutiks?
Could we apply the same principle in regards to those clients who are renting a house?
There was an incident where this individual received a letter from the Housing Corporation and was told that his monthly payments were increased.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, this is based on a yearly income and there are adjustments taken to update income situations among families and clients.
Does the Nunavut Housing Corporation have the authority make an inquiry without having to know that individual’s income other than perhaps by rumour?
Can they increase the monthly payment without having the actual sheets in front of them?
Mr. Speaker, I would think the Housing Corporation or all Governments should base their decisions on facts.
So, it would have to be substantiated if that were the case.
I do know that the Nunavut Housing Corporation claims silent agreement and I do not believe that there is a clause in the agreement that says that they will increase the monthly payments should their salary increase.
It is in the agreement?
Mr. Speaker, could the Minister responsible look into this matter to make sure that they are adhering to the Policy?
Mr. Speaker, I will make a commitment to review the Policy and what is there and clarify that for the Member and for the House.
We will move onto Item 7.
Tabled Document 131 – 1(6): Nunavut Tourism Annual Report 2000-2001/2001-2002
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk: Sorry, Mr. Speaker.
I wish to Table the following documents, Nunavut Tourism Annual Report 2000-2001/2001-2002.
Speaker: Are there any further Tabling of Documents?
Tabled Document 132 – 1(6): Nunavut Housing Corporation Annual Report 2001/2002
Hon. Kelvin Ng: Mr. Speaker, I wish to Table the following document:  Nunavut Housing Corporation Annual Report for 2001-2002.
Motion 029 – 1(6): Member for Nanulik Appointed to the Standing Committees
Mr. Speaker, I move Seconded by the Honourable Member from Kugluktuk, the following Motions whereas; section 38 of the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council Act provides that the Legislative Assembly may establish Standing in Special Committees and whereas Rule 89(2) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly provide for the Striking Committee to recommend Members to serve on Standing Committees, now, therefore, I move that Patterk Netser, Member for Nanulik be appointed to the Standing Committees on Government Operations and Services and the Ajauqtiit and as an alternate Member for the Standing Committee on Community Empowerment and Sustainable Development and Health and Education.
Motions. 16.
Consideration to Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters.
Bill 12, Bill 13, Bill 46 and Bill 33, with Mr. Iqaqrialu in the Chair.
Before we proceed to Committee of the Whole, we will take a short break and return to the Chamber in approximately 20 minutes.
>>House recess at 15:46 and reconvened at 16:13
Chairman (Mr. Iqaqrialu) (interpretation): Thank you for coming back.
I was late for two days and now I’m back in my seat again.
Perhaps I won’t always be sitting here.
We will be dealing with Bill 12, Bill 33, and Bill 46.
We dealt with the Department of Health and Social Services yesterday and we had his opening remarks and the Chairperson for the Standing Committee also had his opening remarks.
Now we are at general comments.
Minister Picco would you like to go back to the witness table with your officials.
Minister Picco, do you have staff with you?
Mr. Chairman, first of all welcome back to the Legislative Assembly and to Iqaluit, the capital of our fair territory of Nunavut.
With me today, Mr. Chairman, is the Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Bernie Blais on my immediate right and immediate left is Rosemary Brown, long serving Capital Planner of the Department of Health and Social Services well-known resident of the community of Rankin Inlet.
Chairman: Thank you Mr. Picco.
Before we start, Members I’d like you to know that according to the rule 77-1(6), Members will be allowed 10 minutes for general comments as well as 10 minutes for questions.
From the Minister’s opening comments yesterday, three major health facilities in Nunavut are being talked about here.
I think all of us are welcoming the new facilities especially when they are going to be staffed and when they‘re completed.
I would add that, maybe, I missed it, but I don’t see Social Workers less than nurses in the communities.
Although, they may be dealing with life and death situations I didn’t see anything in his opening remarks as far as new offices or office in communities especially in my community, which I’ve been very vocal about.
I would like to make a comment, that Social Services needing some attention, and they need to have an office.
They need to have equipment to work with as much as other people who are working for the government.
These people are serving the public night and day.
They need to have a good office to go to, in order for them to do their work properly; in order to provide good service to the community people, they need to have a good place to work from.
And later on I will be asking the Minister when those plans will be put in place for the social workers in the communities.
Chairman: Thank you Mrs. Williams.
Thank you Minister and your staff for providing us some information.
I was very pleased to see that hospitals will be built in the three regions and they are being built.
And also about the boarding home in Cambridge Bay, I think in order to operate the facilities we will need qualified staff to operate that facility.
The boarding home in Yellowknife, the Lena Pedersen Boarding Home, I know you have visited that center in Yellowknife, and we know that it’s too small and there is no playground for the children now. There’s nothing, there is no room for people to do but I think if you’re going to be building a home in Cambridge Bay, for those people who will have a lengthy stay in that boarding home.
I think if they’re going to build make a sewing facility or playroom for the children, with their parents, maybe not by the TV room, or if you could build a playroom for the children and sewing facility maybe separate from the living room.
But as you know that boarding home in Yellowknife is very small and they don’t have these things, but people who stay there say Lena Peterson’s home is too small but I want you to make sure that you build that boarding home in Cambridge Bay that you have these things available as indicated here.
It appears the old one couldn’t be renovated to this old hostel; I think if your only going to renovate, I think you should have facilities available.
But I want to make sure that you have better facilities compared to the Yellowknife one.
Also the Lena Peterson boarding home in Yellowknife, as you know as a Minister, Ovide and myself have seen it.
I know we visited it last year, probably last summer.
It is too small for Kitikmeot people who were there, to visit the hospitals.
I know a lot of people will be visiting Yellowknife to go to the hospital too but I know you have spoken to the community of Kugluktuk that you have mentioned to the people there that we were there together and as you know, many people from Kugluktuk will be going to Yellowknife boarding home to visit doctors and that but I want to support you in continuing on with Lena Peterson boarding home in Yellowknife.
As you know it would be used continuously from Kugluktuk; I want to see in those capital estimates that improvements should be made to that boarding home.
Maybe you can build a better boarding home geared to that because we will be continuing to request that improvements made to that Yellowknife boarding home, as you know the boarding home in Yellowknife will be used continuously and I wanted to see improvements on those facilities.
But as you know in the capital estimates that, but you and your staff should be trying to support, maybe making improvements or maybe office facilities in those facilities, when they don’t have proper offices they don’t operate too well.
But we will be continue to visit those facilities, so that they can operate properly with office facilities so that people can work and operate that facility properly.
I think that’s all I had for suggestions at the moment but if I have some more I’ll ask some more questions later on.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Havioyak.
You are all making brief comments although you have ten minutes each.
I will be speaking regarding medical patients.
As we heard, we need adequate facilities for medical patients to stay in either the south or within Nunavut, not only for Kitikmeot but also for Kivallirmiut.
In Kitikmeot, just to supplement early comments regarding the planned facility in Cambridge Bay to be renovated into a medical boarding home, we would like assurance that we will not stop sending patients to Yellowknife.
We are well aware of the situation in Yellowknife and the condition of the facility and the facility is quite far from the hospital and it’s quite far from other amenities in the community as well.
Escorts also stay in the boarding homes with patients and they too would like to be closer to the medical facilities that are more adequate for patients.
During our meeting we heard one of the patients asking for a facility that was closer to the hospital and that makes sense.
The situation has to be rectified because we will keep going there and the facility will be needed in the future either for patients or children and there have been some concerns regarding the care at the facility.
There is still a lot of room for improvement; it’s also a safety issue especially when there is a language barrier, and there could be further barriers.
We need to serve Nunavummiut as best we can and so it doesn’t hurt to start planning for the future.
On the issue of mental health workers in the communities, there are those who are quite capable in serving the communities; however, there are some who don’t have the proper cross-cultural training in the communities and with the different cultures they’re dealing with whether you’re an adult or an elder, once you have some experience you are able to help out in the area of mental health in the communities.
And I think it’s a matter of people taking on more responsibility in the community as well that’s one consideration because we are not using our elders and there’s a real huge void there when we are always talking about utilizing the knowledge of Inuit.
If there could be some money set aside for setting up a program where regular community members can help out in the process because of course we are in the money economy so paying them a small dividend would give them an incentive for the communities members to help out in the community and because there are some artificial barriers where they are required to have certain degrees or whatever, that also has to be looked at.
Mr. Puqiqnak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman and welcome Mr. Chairman and you have a replacement if you want, if you feel tired, just like I found out yesterday and it was very nice when Mr. Irqittuq came back that I was able to have a replacement.
Welcome Mr. Chairman.
The Health and Social Services is a very important Department for the people of Nunavut.
You also have to believe that, and we have to believe in the Department; it is a very important job that you have dealing with the public and their health and their wellbeing.
Since 1999, a lot of work has been accomplished by the Department and they will accomplish more.
I would like to congratulate the Department, but there is still a lot to do.
And, Mr. Chairman, I would also like to thank the Minister in his Ministers’ Statement, he mentioned the foster parents who are important to the wellbeing of children.
And, Mr. Chairman, because of that and others, I just wondered during my questioning later on, Mr. Chairman, I will be asking a question about the Inuit culture way of doing first-aid.
The Nanulik Member of the Legislative Assembly yesterday mentioned something about the resuscitation of a drowned victim or a drowned individual and I think it was a comment or a question that the Member had yesterday that according to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit that whenever there is a person who was to be revived, go in the water and you cannot wipe off the bubbles that are coming out.
That is the Inuit way; that is the first-aid technique of the Inuit people and there are others out there that we could utilize as a Department.
For example, to make it a little bit more clear, in the Dene communities, in a Dene community about 25 years ago, the Kitikmeot and the Dene hosted a conference with the doctors and medical professionals and there was a doctor who mentioned that how much do you know your ancestors’ way of doing first-aid or herbal medicine?
What is your knowledge of those herbal medicines that your ancestors used years ago and how did the Inuit use herbal medicine?
Because there used to be doctors or there used to be medical professionals in the Inuit culture and the Dene culture, the doctor apparently wanted some assistance from the Inuit and the Dene in regards to their herbal medicine.
What the doctor said that they do not want to deal too much with things that could be done by the traditional people, such herbal medicines, bandages, and something that you can use when a person has a cold, preventative medicine.
The doctor wanted the Inuit and the Dene to be able to do their own stuff, instead of going to the doctor all the time.
The Inuit people used to say that we are not doing as much as we should be doing in regards to what we did traditionally back then.
What we do now today is just take ourselves, or take our children and our families to the doctor whenever they get sick.
As aboriginal people we could be dealing with them ourselves through our knowledge.
What I am saying is that the medical professionals should be able to try to acquire the Inuit traditional way of producing herbal medicine, because they have to be educated by their elders.
And the doctors should be able to get some knowledge in that regard.
Mr. Chairman, I would also like to talk about the twenty-seven communities in Nunavut.
There are many disabled people, whether it is a parent or the children of the people in Nunavut.
The parents have to care for those disabled children and we love them and we like to keep them in our household.
We would like to be able to be with them for as long as they are still alive.
The only time that we separate is when either one of us dies.
For instance, in Gjoa Haven there is an individual who has muscular dystrophy, or is a disabled person; cannot get around herself.
She is the mother.
Then they said that they have to ship her out so she can have adequate care in a home for disabled people because there is not facility in Gjoa Haven.
When the family heard that, they approached me because they did not want their mother to leave the community.
You know about that Mr. Minister.
For that reason the Nunavut Government does not have adequate money because as you know they are going to be building the three regional hospitals.
And then there are the nursing stations that have to be renovated.
There is just not that much money anymore.
I know that there is no money for a home where a disabled person can have adequate care on a daily basis.
There is no money to build those facilities.