EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
The Technical Professional Studies Program, which he indicated, is $45,000. This program provides a one-time bursary for post-secondary students. This program was created by senior managers for Nunavummiut attending post-secondary studies in technical areas in the department; I guess informatics systems and planning computers in IT, as well as engineering, community planning, fire college, and lands administrations.
The program policy guidelines applications will go to Cabinet for consideration and implementation for the 2006-07 fiscal year.
Can the minister tell me if every eligible applicant that applies under this program, will they receive funding?
In relation to that question, no, there will be a limit.
Will the successful applicant, when they graduate, be required to work in Nunavut?
We’re still working on that.
It requires a bit more work before we conclude that.
On page G-8, Leadership Forum, there is $100,000 to facilitate leadership meetings in Nunavut.
How many leadership meetings are usually held in Nunavut on an annual basis?
Chairman: Good for him. Thank you, Mr. Peterson.
It’s usually the regional mayors that have their meetings. The three regions have their separate meeting, sometimes all together across Nunavut.
The meetings that are held, is there one annual meeting in each region?
Yes, that’s the case.
We’re moving right along.
What is the purpose of the leadership meetings that are held with the mayors?
They have some types of issues and concerns about their communities. And it’s an opportunity for them to get together on an annual basis. It’s important for them to meet face to face, and that’s what the meetings are.
When the mayors get together and they discuss the issues, your staff is there, I presume. When the mayors make recommendations or pass resolutions, are they given to your department to act on?
Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Peterson. Minister Brown.
Yes, that’s exactly what happens. We like to see those resolutions and those motions.
Mr. Peterson, please show your hand before further questions. Thank you. Please proceed, Mr. Peterson.
Could I ask the minister to table the minutes or the resolutions from the last group of, year of leadership meetings in 2005, table in the House, and then the responses to their recommendations or resolutions?
Minister, I take it that’s for all the regions.
It’s not specified Minister Brown.
Hon. Levinia Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I think it’s possible to get those resolutions. I don’t think that will be a problem, but as for the minutes we may not get them.
They have to be requested from the mayors themselves.
I hope you can find the minutes because presumably the mayors come to the meetings and someone from your department kept the minutes of the meetings, or a record of the minutes.
I would like to see those minutes, and I’m sure all my colleagues would like to see what the mayors are recommending and then of course, there are the resolutions that they put forward and the responses to those resolutions; if the minister could comment on that.
Yes, I appreciate the member’s request however, the minutes are done in different ways, in different varieties, and they do belong to the mayors, so I think the request must go to the mayors instead of my department.
We do get copies of the resolutions. That’s why I thought it was an easy answer to get copies of those resolutions.
Fair enough. Mr. Peterson.
Can the minister tell me which mayor in the Baffin, Kivalliq, and Kitikmeot regions I have to contact to get the minutes?
I believe anyone of the mayors from the different regions; Iqaluit, or Kivalliq, or Kitikmeot.
I’m sure the mayors are listening in, or when they read the Hansard they’re going to ask why the minister is making it so difficult for me to get the copies of the minutes from their regional meetings.
Surely there must be copies sent to the Department of Community and Government Services.
I’m sure they would want the Members of the Legislative Assembly and ministers to read those minutes.
Further along down in the page Mr. Chairman, not on that page, sorry I’m on the wrong page. On page J-9, the Water and Sewage Services Block Funding, the amount is the same this year as last year. The minister has tabled the Water and Sewage Services Subsidy Policy Report or a Summary Report and Recommendations.
I’m wondering if the minister can comment on the next steps for her department in terms of implementing some of the recommendations in that report.
In regard to the minutes, there is a process for that.
Usually, the mayors approve those minutes before anybody can access them.
That’s why I think it’s difficult to access them until they have been approved, because they meet every year.
So say if they met last month, one year from last month, they wouldn’t be approved. So I think that’s why we can’t access them easily.
As for the question that the member has on water and sewage service block funding, I think there has been a little increase there I see from 2004-05, there’s an increase for 2005-06 and I wish to have, perhaps...that we are doing pilots and recommendation to Cabinet, as well as recommendation to FMB. Yes, the member is correct, I did table that report recently in the House.
Can the minister tell me what the department intends to do with the report of recommendations as it pertains to involving municipalities?
May I ask my deputy minister to answer that question please?
Chairman: Most definitely, Minister Brown.
As the minister stated, we are going through a process that involves, first of all, starting with pilots. In the report that was tabled two days ago in the legislature by the minister, there is a recommended new policy, which involves the base funding formula.
We have worked with three municipalities to start pilots. There has already been an initial meeting with those three municipalities that are Chesterfield Inlet, Kugaaruk, and Pangnirtung.
They were picked because of the different types of systems they have and it allows us to try out the new approach to the funding formula with three quite different communities in terms of their particular systems.
We have scheduled a presentation on the new formula to be made at the NAM Annual General Meeting, which is happening this spring.
At that point in time, we will give a thorough briefing to all of the communities and they will also receive a copy of all the documentation.
Then as the pilots perform, we will keep NAM up to date on what happens with the new formula and their reactions to the documents that we have provided to them on the new recommended formula.
We anticipate coming back to the minister in the fall with the initial results from the three pilots, and based on that, we hope that she will feel inclined to take recommendations forward first to Cabinet for the policy, and then to FMB for any funding that’s required as a result of changes to the policy.
Thank you, Mr. Rich. That’s a very detailed explanation.
That clarifies in my mind that a lot of this work is going to go forward. It’s not just going to sit on a shelf and gather dust as a lot of government studies or reports do. We have to help our municipalities as much as we can.
Further down on the page, Mr. Chairman, the Community Government Access Protection Program I guess it’s the NAMIX Program. There’s $500,000 budgeted for NAMIX this year. Is this the last year that NAMIX will receive funding?
Yes, that’s last year’s.
So after the end of the fiscal year 2006-07, NAMIX will be fully self-sustaining and will not require any additional funding from the Government of Nunavut?
Hon. Levinia Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are not in discussion about future years right now.
Can the minister tell me how the NAMIX Program performed in the current fiscal year 2005-06?
Hon Levinia Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
May I ask Mr. Rich to respond to that question please?
Chairman: Permission granted. Mr. Rich.
I can provide an update that the minister has not had yet because I recently had a meeting with the NAMIX board here in Iqaluit and have not even had a chance yet to fully update the minister on the meeting. NAMIX has been performing well but there have been challenges.
The challenges are the fact that we in fact have had in the last two years more fire incidents than we would have liked to have seen; for instance, a fire in Cambridge Bay last year, which caused some drawdown.
Currently they are running about $2 million that they have accessible to them. They would like to be in a situation where they have at this point in time $5 million accessible to them for immediate issues.
The challenges that NAMIX faces are understandable. It is a small insurance exchange that is serving 25 communities and it is quite new. It has performed well in its first four years of operation, but the NAMIX board does have concerns that more funding may be required for long-term sustainability.
They have not made a formal presentation to government yet with regards to that, but as I mentioned we have had very positive preliminary discussions and I am anticipating that the NAMIX board will be making a formal presentation to the minister in the near future following the meeting that I had with them.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Rich, Minister.
In the opinion of the minister, would you say that the NAMIX Program has performed admirably in the last four years and that it has achieved its original objective which was to provide affordable insurance coverage to municipalities?
Thank you for that question for the member. Yes, I would say yes.
Could the minister call me if they do come forward with a request for additional funding that your department can support them and recommend additional funding to the Legislative Assembly?
Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Peterson. Before I proceed, just to remind you of the 22 seconds left on your clock, Mr. Peterson. Minister Brown, please proceed.
Yes we certainly can consider that request.
On page J-9, Community Development Fund, could the minister provide a brief overview of what type of projects would be funded with the $1,050,000 budgeted?
Pretty good timing.
Hon. Levinia Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, member, for that question.
The MTO, out of that $1,050,000, they get $800,000 for the training, and hamlets also receive $250,000 that is out of that money too.
Mr. Peterson you are one second above and beyond your record from yesterday.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can the minister tell me how many people were trained out of MTO programs in 2005?
In 2005-06, as of December 12, 2005, there were 593 participants.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will thank the minister for that answer.
The Municipal Training Organization seems to be a very valuable organization in terms of training people in the communities, and I take my hat off to the people who came up with that idea, and the hard working staff at the MTO.
When you have 550 people on various training programs in Nunavut it’s a large coordination effort.
I’m wondering, Mr. Chairman, if the minister could tell me; when there is a two week training program under way for Level 1 firefighters, does the government pick up the wages of the volunteer firefighters who have to go on those two week courses?
Would their salaries be covered or would it be something that their employers would be expected to pick up?
Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Peterson for your line of questioning. Minister Brown.
Yes, it’s very popular, that Municipal Training Organization. It touches a lot of people’s lives in the communities and it sure enhances their training.
As for the question the member asked, we pick up their travel costs and their living allowance, for food and lodging, but unfortunately we don’t cover salaries.
As a courtesy to our colleague, we went back to J-6, after we had approved.
So we will proceed to go to J-10.
Government Services. Total Operations and Maintenance. $54,412,000.
There being none.
Total Operations and Maintenance. $54,412,000. (interpretation) Do you agree?
Chairman: Thank you. Community and Government Services. Branch Summary.
Protection Services. Total Operations and Maintenance. Just a reminder, this also includes J-13.
Total Operations and Maintenance. $5,433,000.
On page J-27 of the Business Plan, there is the fire equipment. There seems to be a decrease in the provision of equipment there is a shortage of basic essential firefighting equipment for municipal firefighters in Nunavut.
We had $99,000 last year. It’s decreased to $54,000 this year.
With an emphasis on fire prevention, why would there be a decrease in providing fire equipment to our firefighters in Nunavut?
Hon. Levinia Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank the member. $700,000 was taken out of that $1.1 million on J-13.
Chairman: Thank you, Minister. (interpretation) Anything else?
Hon. Levinia Brown: Sorry for that. Also, $45,000 was assisted to other areas in the Fire Marshall’s Office.
I’ve talked to some of the volunteer firefighters in Cambridge Bay and they’ve told me in the past that they have to do a lot of fund raising to purchase essential firefighting equipment.
I thought that was strange that they would have to do that because you would think that the government and the municipalities would provide that equipment.
They are risking their lives to provide essential services to communities and anyone who has witnessed the firefighters respond to a fire would understand what I’m talking about. They have to go into very dangerous situations.
I’m wondering why the department would decrease that particular budget item.
In my mind I would think that they’d work to increase the funding for basic essential firefighting equipment. Can the minister comment on that?
Those are very good comments, Mr. Peterson.
Of course, we’re all concerned when it comes to fire protection.
I must say that it has improved over the years greatly and significantly as well. The $45,000 was for training. The $2 million program has made the $45,000 program redundant.
I would like to ask Mr. Rich to add on to my comments please.
As the minister was explaining, we now use the $2 million Fire Strategy as the primary source of funding, which is what she was referring to. So if I could, I would refer to you page J-13. On page J-13, the second item down, the fire equipment one is the one that you’re talking about and the one that reflects the change in the budget in the business plan.
This is what used to be the only funding that was available, which was $90,000 and then reduced to $54,000 for fire equipment. What we have done with the advent of the Fire Strategy is created a new fund for fire equipment. So if you look immediately above that, you’ll see the Fire Prevention Strategy.
That’s showing as $1.1 million. Out of that $1.1 million approximately $700,000 a year is now used for equipment. So basically, what’s happened is we’ve gone from $90,000 a year to an increase to $700,000 for fire equipment, and that’s done directly with the communities.
Over the past year we established a standardized list of fire equipment. We’re working with the communities to survey each community to determine where they may have shortfalls with that equipment. We are using the $700,000 to provide additional equipment to communities.
I thank the minister, and thank Mr. Rich.
That’s very reassuring. Perhaps, in the future when you’re preparing a business plan and your main estimates, you could be a bit clearer. It seemed to me when you’re reducing the fire equipment; it’s less of an emphasis, and I’m learning now is that there is more of an emphasis.
So I compliment you for doing that. I’m sure the firefighters in Nunavut are very appreciative that there’s that much money available to buy the equipment that they need to respond to fires.
Just below on page J-26 of the business plan; search and rescue; there’s $500,000 budgeted. I know that in my opening comments we were pleased to see that the department has budgeted this amount again this year.
Could the minister give us a bit of an overview of how the $500,000 was used that we recommended to be used for search and rescue?
How was it used this year, the current fiscal year?
Thank the member.
The search and rescue funding is directed specifically to enhance community search and rescue capability. For 2005-06, it was allocated $390,000 for equipment enhancement like global positioning systems, GPS, and things like binoculars, and first aid kits, VHF radios, etcetera for each community.
Every community received the same initial equipment scales, Global Positioning Systems, binoculars, first-aid kits, VHF radios, and satellite phones following the workshop, which was held here in Iqaluit in 2005.
Also, additional requests by communities are being requested and will be delivered prior to the end of this fiscal year. Examples include such things as personal flotation vests, PFV flotation vests, flare guns, reflective vests, flashlights, and additional GPS.
There was $110,000 for a territory-wide search workshop to seek community input towards the future direction of Community.
Also, search and rescue across Nunavut, delegates from each community held in Iqaluit that met December 6 to 8 of 2005.
If that’s satisfactory, that’s my explanation.
I thank the minister for that very good information.
It sounds like the funding that we approved is very well received by the search and rescue groups across Nunavut. In fact, it seems like maybe they have been a bit neglected over the years and were very happy to receive that level of funding.
I could certainly see where they might even require more of it, that level of demand that you are budgeting for it again this year.
Could the minister give me or provide the House with a bit of an overview of how the search and rescue groups interact with the department in terms of when they respond to a search and rescue emergency in a community? How does that tie in with your department?
Hon. Levinia Brown: Thank you, very much, Mr. Chairman. Yes, the search and rescues in the communities are very important and we really value their volunteerism.
They really do a lot of work. We work very, very closely with them and our communication is very close with each community and is growing better all the time. It enhances and...we have more room to improve as well, but from what I saw at the last workshop, they were very glad to get together because it’s something that they don’t do often because of lack of funding.
But now I think the members here realize that it’s very important to keep that funding ongoing to ensure that they have planning together because they have major work ahead of them and I can tell you that sometimes it could be really stormy out there and you can’t see anything, whiteout, and the local community members who are volunteers are out there doing their best to do the search work.
So we really recognize their efforts and their volunteerism coming from the CGS Department and also, we are informed of the searches through our regional offices in each region and RCMP is the lead in the community.
We get an incident report on the results right away. My staff informs me any time of the hour, and as you all know, you are all elected here too. So you get phone calls any time of the hour, it doesn’t matter if it’s five in the morning, like this morning.
The search and rescue team are out there working hard and like I said, it’s coordinated through the regional offices and we try to provide them anything that they need.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the minister. That’s very helpful information.
Can the minister tell me if there is a territorial Search and Rescue Organization or is there consideration to establish a territorial rescue organization?
Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Peterson. I caught you with a whole hand out. Minister Brown.
Yes, I would like Mr. Rich to respond to that please.
It depends a little bit by what one means by a territorial search and rescue organization.
So there are two formed organizations and one that will likely be formed.
At the territorial government level, there is officially a deputy’s search and rescue committee which is; Emergency Management Committee is the real name of it.
They have an overall responsibility for coordinating government responses on emergency management.
There is an officials’ level committee that does the work and again that’s an emergency management committee.
In terms of search and rescue, until recently there wasn’t a designated contact at the community government level in each community.
There is an official responsibility in each community because that’s the RCMP. The RCMP, under our agreement with the RCMP is in fact the designated coordinator for search and rescue in each community. So, we in fact liaise very closely with the RCMP, and in fact have improved our relations with the RCMP remarkably over the last two years, we have a very close working relationship with them.
One of the things that were discussed at the search and rescue conference that happened in December was the formation of a territorial organization with the fact that we now have about 75 percent of the communities with a formal search and rescue organization.
I suspect we will see the formation of a territorial search and rescue organization made up of the chief representatives of each of those local search and rescue societies in each of the communities.
Again, that’s helpful information.
The search and rescue groups in each community, they function much like the fire departments. They work for the best interest of the residents of the communities. I’ve often wondered why the search and rescue groups don’t fall under the auspices of the municipal council.
Then they would be provided directly with support for their activities and the training and be provided with the facilities as well to store their equipment and have a place where they can meet.
Is that something that the department is considering discussing with the hamlets?
That is a very good comment from the member.
I think they can, if council wants it that way. I think the hamlet councils in the communities have a lot to say, and give directions in those areas.
Mr. Peterson: I thank the minister.
One of the reasons I made that comment or asked that question is Mr. Rich just said that 75 percent of the hamlets have search and rescue groups.
There are 25 percent of the hamlets that don’t.
Could you imagine if only 75 percent of the hamlets had fire departments and 25 percent didn’t?
So I fully believe that wherever possible, there should be a search and rescue group in a community so that they can respond immediately to emergencies. Even an hour or two can save a life. And if you have to wait for search and rescue from another community to come along, that’s time that could be lost in saving a life.
So I’d urge the department to continue those discussions with the hamlets and the search and rescue groups to see if that makes sense.
That’s just a comment Mr. Chairman. I have no more questions.
Mr. Alagalak: Looking at the time and looking at you elders in the Chambers, you look pretty tired. I move to report progress.
We will see you tomorrow, thank you.
Speaker (interpretation): Orders of the Day. Item 20.
Your committee has been considering Bill 12 and would like to report progress. We had one committee motion which was adopted. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Report of the Committee of the Whole be agreed to.
Is there a seconder? Mr. Kattuk.
Orders of the Day for March 10:
Speaker (interpretation): We adjourn for the day and will meet again on Friday, March 10 at 10:00 in the morning.
>>House adjourned at 19:10
Friday, March 10, 2006
Pages 1614 – 1689
Opening Prayer 1614
Ministers’ Statements 1614
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery 1619
Oral Questions 1619
Revert to Item 5: Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery 1640
Tabling of Documents 1640
First Reading of Bills 1641
Second Reading of Bills 1641
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters 1642
Report of the Committee of the Whole 1688
Orders of the Day 1688
Friday, March 10, 2006 1614
083 – 2(3): Social Work Week 2006 (Aglukkaq) 1614
084 – 2(3): 2006 Arctic Winter Games – Day Four (Netser) 1615
210 – 2(3): Wellness Treatment Program Graduates in Cambridge Bay (Peterson) 1616