EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
The plant supplies employment for 15 people in Rankin Inlet for approximately 10 months of the year.
A few of these staff that have been with them for many years, James Innuksuk for example, has been working in the plant for 8 years, Joe Amarok, my son in law for 7 years, Paul Pissuk for 5 years and Johnny Kingmeotak for 4 years.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to once again thank the Minister and the Nunavut Development Corporation for supporting this plant and I would like to thank the community of Coral Harbour for supplying the caribou meat.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Brian and his staff for their hard work and dedication to providing superior caribou meat products to people around the world.
I would just like to say how proud I am.
Member’s Statement 275 – 1(6): Hockey Game Tonight
Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the spirit of Sportsmanship and fun in order to rally my colleagues to get ready for tonight’s big game.
Mr. Speaker, as members are well aware, 5:30 this evening marks the occasion of our third annual MLA hockey challenge against the Iqaluit Women’s Hockey Team.
Mr. Speaker, this clash of titans not only provides an opportunity for the women’s team to undertake an important funding raising activity, it also lets some of the stars of this house shine in another forum, not the Montreal forum, Mr. Premier just in case you were hoping.
Mr. Speaker, tonight’s roster of MLAs is truly an all star line up.
First, we have big Ed the puck hog Picco, just like his three regional health facilities he’s determined to push the puck through no matter what the cost.
He’s also known, Mr. Speaker, to have a very magnetic attraction to the puck where ever it is.
Next, we have Kelvin, slick Ng, everyone on our side is hoping that he will skate past the opposing team with the same smoothness as when he stick handles questions in this house.
Mr. Speaker, it’s no secret that Glenn, the slug McLean, handles any pass with the same energy that he uses to block any move to take jobs or capital dollars out of Baker Lake.
David the rock Mr. Iqaqrialu will make sure that no one gets caught up high and dry except for the puck when it comes close to him between the pipes.
We also look for stellar performances from Jobie, little stick Nutarak, and fast track Jack Anawak.
We also hope that James Arvaluk who is known for his hunting skills is an equally good shot on the ice as he is from his boat.
Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope that the diehard brainwashed since birth and don’t know any better half span Mr. Okalik and Mr. Akesuk leave their Montreal jerseys at home.
Mr. Speaker, it probably won’t surprise members of this house that I would very much prefer to play left wing tonight instead of right wing.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage family and friends to come out to tonight’s game and show their support for the Iqaluit Women’s Hockey Team and have a good time.
Member’s Statement 276 – 1(6): Pronunciation of Name Salomonie Ashoona
A name wasn’t pronounced properly.
On the third one winner on the teams contest winners, it was Salomonie Ashoona, it wasn’t Salomie from grade 3 and also I would like to congratulate that individual and that individual is my cousin so therefore I would like to congratulate Salomonie Ashoona for getting the third place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to recognize some individuals from Cape Dorset; Mathew Saviakjuk Jaw, the Mayor of Cape Dorset, he has been doing an excellent job in his capacity.
They have supported me at the time when we were campaigning for elections for the Legislative Assembly.
And also the other individual I would like to recognize is Nuvalia Parr; he is a very good friend of mine from Cape Dorset. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 267 – 1(6): Replacement of Dental Therapist
As I have indicated earlier on I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Health and Education.
As I mentioned earlier, the dentist from our region is leaving our region to go back home.
I would like to ask the Minister if he’s going to find a replacement for this dentist in the near future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the plan would be to expeditiously fill that position soon as possible where the dentist is leaving so I would suggest to the member that we would fill that position as soon as possible.
As you mentioned you are going to find a replacement for this dentist.
Is this replacement going to be based in Kugluktuk?
Mr. Speaker, the Member is aware there was a new contract awarded for the Kitikmeot Dental Services on November 12th I believe.
At that time the full range of dental services, especially services of Orthodontics, Surgery, Dental Surgeries and so on would be initiated by the new company, which I believe is the Northern Lights Dental Services.
We will be in touch with the Northern Lights Dental Services to see what the possibilities are for the position to be filled in Kugluktuk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It’s good to see that we’re going to find a replacement for this.
When will you inform us and how soon is the replacement going to be coming to our region?
Mr. Speaker, under the contract with Northern Lights Dental Services, they have to provide treatment planning, dentures, oral surgeons, the orthodontists and so on.
Those specialty services will be available through that new contract.
At the same time, Mr. Speaker, I haven’t seen, as I said earlier, with the contract as in place, Doctor staffing, medical requirements, and the communities of choice.
When staffing levels come in, when I get that information, I will pass in on to the member.
I have been assured though, Mr. Speaker, that no services will be left undone and that indeed the communities in the Kitikmeot, including Kugluktuk, will be well served by this new contract. Indeed it may, enhance some of the service deliveries that have happened in the past.
We’re quite pleased with that new contract award.
I just want some assurance minister.
When will he be sending the replacement to our region?
Yes, I understand the minister that these contract services are in place now.
This concern has been raised a number of times in my community. When will this replacement, dentist replacement be coming to our region?
They wanted this individual dentist to be based in Kugluktuk.
He’s very beneficial to our region, to the Kitikmeot communities.
Are we going to be waiting for him, are we looking at within a month, or the next two months, or sixth months?
When is he going to be coming up to our region?
Mr. Speaker, I guess at this time of year we’re only about three weeks before Christmas, usually it’s very difficult to move a person with a family and so on given that time frame to a new community.
Also the other concern that we had in Kugluktuk, as the member is aware, is with the housing issue and I don’t know if that has been resolved.
So given all those contingencies, I’m not sure exactly what date the dentist would be, if that is the case, moving to Kugluktuk.
I can get that information for the member.
Question 268 – 1(6): Publication of Deputy Ministers’ Salaries
I think it was about two weeks ago that there was a publication of the indemnities and benefits of the Members of the Legislative Assembly.
I would like to ask a question whether we can also publicize the Deputy Minister’s salary and benefits and so on so that the people of Nunavut will know how much the senior staff are making within the Nunavut government.
We could make them available when I can compile the information.
Mr. Iqaqrialu (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Premier for your response. I hope that that will be soon.
Are we also going to be publicizing the retirement RRSP’s and every other benefit that they have?
I think that we can do a portion of your request, but again there are some administrative matters that we cannot disclose to the public.
I will do the best I can to make those public.
In the publication of the MLA indemnities, I am one of the top paid among the regular Members.
Nobody ever told me that I was there.
Even though that is the case, I would be very pleased to be able to see the files of the Government of Nunavut.
Speaker: No question, just a comment.
Question 269 – 1(6): Polar Bear Population Statistics
We hear that there was depletion in the polar bear population.
In actuality there is no decrease.
Is there proper counting of the polar bear population?
I am not sure how to say it in Inuktitut.
In the Gulf of Boothia a count has been completed.
The information will be given to the outlying communities.
The people of Kugaaruk and the Wildlife Division of our Department will be given the results of the population count.
What happens after the polar bear count?
Is there going to be an increase or a decrease in the quotas that are set for the individual communities?
The communities will be consulted and we will sign an agreement with the communities.
There will be a close working relationship between the people who are doing the polar bear count in the communities.
The individual communities will be given the option and there will a decision on the polar bear quota.
There will be different options given to each individual community.
There will be a close working relationship between our Department and the communities.
The communities will be well consulted.
And of course, the agreements between the individual communities are different.
I cannot tell you whether there will be an increase or a decrease in the polar bear quota.
The individual communities will be consulted and there will be a decision on whether the quota will be decreased, increased, or stay the same.
I understand your response and I also thank the Minister.
The Minister stated that there will be an agreement between his department and the individual communities.
What kind of an agreement are we talking about here?
The member for the high arctic had similar questions and there was an indication that there was in 1996 an agreement, there were also changes in the year 2000 and 2002 and we now have agreements with the individual communities.
The agreements are going to be tailored to meet the needs of the individual communities.
Each individual community will have their own agreement and they will be consulted prior to the signing of these agreements.
The Minister indicated that there would be an agreement with the individual communities.
Are the communities going to be given options on what they would like to see for their communities or is this agreement going to be negotiated among the employees of the departments?
The individual agreements will be tailored to the needs of the individual communities.
The communities will be given options on what they would like in their communities.
It also depends on the polar bear count in the outlying communities.
We are working closely with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board on this polar bear study and based on the facts we will be setting up a quota system for the individual communities.
Question 270 – 1(6): Building a Road Connecting Igloolik and Hall Beach
In the member’s statement I mentioned a very good idea and it can benefit all communities.
There could be spin offs and it would make things a lot easier for the harvesters with the population of Igloolik and Hall Beach. It would benefit both communities and with this preamble I would like to ask the Minister of Sustainable Development if he could look into building a road connecting Hall Beach and Igloolik.
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): The member is talking about building a road.
It could also create spin offs and enhance the tourism factor.
If this is to enhance the tourism sector I could assist you as that’s part of my department but we will have to look at the options and I’m sure that we can consider it seriously.
We can only do that if it’s the tourism sectors.
What I mentioned in my Members’ Statement was an excellent idea if we build a road from our community.
We have huge fish up there, and they go right through the nets because of their size.
The road would go right by that fish lake and it would enhance the tourism industry.
Did you intend that as a comment or as a question?
The Minister indicated that if it is for the enhancement of the tourism sector, his Department could help.
What I said was that if this road was built right by the fishing lake that would enhance the tourism sector.
My question is could his Department look into the possibilities of creating a road between Hall Beach and Igloolik.
It could benefit both communities.
What I would like to see is if those two communities make proposal, we could look into it.
Of course, there is a Tourism Committee that could put it together.
I am sure that our Department can look into it.
If there are economic spin-offs and an enhancement of the tourism sector, my Department could look into it.
What I would like to see from those two communities is a community plan that could outline this idea.
The Department of Sustainable Development has set up a plan.
I don’t think that it is going to become a reality for long time because of the numerous challenges that we have to go through.
My idea of creating a road between those two communities could have economic spin-offs.
Is it possible for the Minister, if he is invited to those two communities, to come over and discuss this idea?
I would like to work closely with those communities.
If Hall Beach and Igloolik can write a community plan, I could be available to fit it into my schedule.
Question 271 – 1(6): Input on the Romanow Report
Mr. Speaker, over the last while, a year or two, we have heard of the Romanow Report on Health.
I think it is going to be issued soon.
I know this is a very important document for all of Canada.
In the north we seem to be treated differently, even though we are all taxpayers.
Can the Minister explain to me what he expects to see in that Romanow Report briefly, and how it is going to affect us in Nunavut?
Speaker: Mr. McLean I’m not sure the Minister can respond to that given the fact the report is not released yet.
But Minister Picco, Mr. McLean.
I will rephrase that.
Did the Minister have any input into Romanow Report; what was his input based on the horrid conditions in Nunavut? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I think Mr. McLean is right on a number of points.
First of all according to our national television, the newspapers and so on, the number 1 issue in Canada has been for the past 18 months the issue of Health Care.
Mr. Romanow’s report, Mr. Commissioner, the former Premier of Saskatchewan, Mr. Romanow’s report will probably have the largest impact on health for all Canadians whether north, south, east or west, in the last twenty years.
We’ve had considerable opportunity to discuss with Mr. Romanow some of the aspects of his report.
Mr. Romanow came to Iqaluit and went with us up to Pangnirtung, I know that he was very impressed with the primary health care delivery model that we have in Nunavut.
That is to say we use the nurses as a primarily health delivery source.
That’s a model that a lot of other jurisdictions would like to put in place.
He also liked the continuum of care process as well as the community activities in the month by the social and health committee that he met in Pangnirtung.
And I know that in one recent address that he gave to southern audiences, I believe it was in Toronto, he actually talked about the community health committees that we have in Nunavut and how that is part of continuing care, he liked that aspect.
We would hope Mr. Speaker, that after the Romanow report comes up next week, that there be extra incentive from federal government to join with us in partnership in restructuring and refocusing health care needs in Nunavut. Not just the infrastructure needs that Mr. Ng and the Premier talked about but also on the Operations and Maintenance side.
Mr. McLean: Mr. Speaker I’m glad that the Minister had input into this for Nunavut.
And it’s very hard for me to ask questions on certain issues because I was brought up not to talk about certain things.
But it’s no secret in this territory that there is an epidemic going on right now and it affects every community in Nunavut.
Can the Minister tell me what the leading cause of death is in Nunavut today that is not accidental?
Mr. Speaker, there are several leading causes of death that are not accidental.
It depends on the group by age and category and so on.
Mr. Speaker, for example we know that the suicide rate for males under the age of 35 is the highest in the country.
We also know Mr. Speaker that our cancer rates have increased.
Those cancer rates include such things as lung cancers and other forms of cancer that have increased. Those are very high.
I would suggest to you though from the Romanow report our basic health care needs, we have accentuated and articulated the point, Mr. Speaker, that we don’t even have a resident Oncologist, we don’t have a resident E and T, ears, nose and throat specialist.
We don’t have many of the special services for example that southern Canadians take for granted; we would hope that Mr. Romanow, in the Commission’s report, would point that out.
And what we said earlier Mr. Speaker, all of the other provinces and territories talk about a level playing field in health.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Nunavut just wants to get into the game.
We want to be able to participate as equal Canadians in the delivery of Health Care.
This government spent 17% of it gross domestic product, it’s GDP on health.
That’s three times the national average.
At that rate, as Minister Ng and the Members here know, it will not be sustainable for governments in Nunavut to continue that increase over the next 5 years.
It’s a two percent increase, that means for example, Mr. Speaker that the expenditures on health would also be thirty percent of your budget.
I don’t know where that money will come from.
So we need the relief that the Romanow Commission, I hope, would bring forward in the transfer of funds to the CHSC.
Mr. Speaker, I said earlier, I was brought up not to talk about certain issues and I think we all were brought up not to talk about certain issues as Qallunaat.
And that’s why I asked the question: what’s the leading cause of death in Nunavut, for non-accidents?
And I know, Mr. Speaker, what it is.
It’s called suicide and I was told when I was young, and I was told not to talk about suicide because it’s a taboo thing in our culture.
But the fact of the matter is, in Nunavut today, it’s an epidemic.
And I’m not blaming this government; I’m not blaming the government for a lack of addressing the issue. The minister has brought forward programs to deal with this issue.
But I think it’s time that this government started addressing this issue because it is hitting home hard to everybody.
My question is, does the minister have any more plans to try to prevent suicide or talk with some other parts of the world to help us to deal with this issue in Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, we’ve said in the past that governments themselves cannot stop suicide.
Suicides are in families, suicides are in communities. What we have tried to do, Mr. Speaker, is increase mental health workers in communities, we have placed more psychiatric positions in communities where need warrants.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve tried to de-normalize the process of suicide at our community levels and as Mr. McLean has said, probably the biggest tool that we have to prevent suicide is to talk about it and to de-normalize it.
I know for example that my own children now in school, there are in grade 6 and grade 7, they are talking about it at their school levels, suicides, why there’s suicide and so on.
This is where we will have success, Mr. Speaker.
As you know yourself, Mr. Speaker, in some of our smaller communities where we’ve had a higher rate of suicides, once we had community groups in place, community health committees working on the issue, we’ve seen the suicide rate drastically and dramatically fall off.
That is where Mr. Speaker, where we will have success in suicide, is at the community level.
At the same time, Mr. Speaker, this government is committed to providing support through pre-intervention programs, post-prevention programs and also later on this year, Nunavut itself will be hosting the Canadian Association on Suicide Prevention or CASP.
At that time, Mr. Speaker, the government of Nunavut is also sponsoring our own Nunavut-wide suicide conference where we will be bringing in caregivers as well as survivors of suicides and interventions, people in the field, actively in the field, to talk about the issue of suicide.
So your government, Mr. Speaker, is continuing on a number of fronts with the issue of suicides. However, the government in itself will not be able to solve the problem, Mr. Speaker.
They’re up to families and individuals and members of this house and so on.
I said earlier that we have to address this.
I was brought up not to talk about it.
We were told that if something like this happened we were told where we would end up after we go, and it scares me.
But beyond this, I think it’s time to act, I know the minister’s working hard, I know the government has committed millions of dollars, he’s doing the best he can with the resources.
It’s not a bottomless pit of money in this territory.
I know he’s hosting a big conference here in May.
Would he ask the United Nations to come in and address this?
The federal government will not help us.
Will he ask the United Nations to come in and help us with this issue so we can stop what’s happening in our communities with our young people?
It’s too close to us.
Will he ask for outside help?
Mr. Speaker, we have been involved in a number of programs and services that the member has suggested including providing a Whitestone Youth Suicide Workshop in October with the RCMP and youth.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve implemented a new suicide protocol.
We could go on with what we’ve done, Mr. Speaker, but it doesn’t seem to be effective.
Bringing in outside resources asking the United Nations to help us, Mr. Speaker, I don’t know.
As the minister, the officials, members of this house, I haven’t had anyone suggest that to me.
I would suggest, however Mr. Speaker, that the best way of dealing with the issue is dealing with it at the local level as people from Nunavut.
I believe that the best way to deal with the issue of suicide is to deal with it with family members; to deal with it with Nunavummiut.
I don’t know if help from the United Nations would be that good.
Right now one of the things we’re doing, we have Inuit staff in a couple of our different regions looking at the morphology or the aspect of suicide to see if there are common linkages.
We know for example that the majority of suicides are male under the age of 35.
Mr. Speaker, we know that those males have been in common law relationships from an early age.
In some cases, 15, 16, 17.
Mr. Speaker, we also know that in many cases, the majority of cases, the people who have committed suicide were adopted to different families.
Mr. Speaker, we also know that in many cases the parents are older of the younger people who have been suicidal.
Those types of linkages are now being done by staff in the Baffin Region as well as staff in the Keewatin Region.
We would hope to be able to discuss some of these findings in a public forum and they’re at the preliminary level right now.
All this type of information would be used and be able to be discussed when we get to the point of the suicide counselling and the workshop and conference that will be held here this coming spring.
Question 272 – 1(6): Interim Financial Statement Publication
Mr. Speaker, if we can all recall, on October 24, 2000, the minister had the honour of submitting interim financial statements for the year ended March 31st 2000.
My question for the minister is why hasn’t the minister, according to subsection 51 (3) of the Financial Administration Act, met his statutory requirements in providing those interim statements?
Mr. Speaker, in fact, just earlier today I signed off the copies for presentation to the Speaker.
It was a matter of getting the translated version completed.
They’ll be tabled on Monday afternoon.
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s important that we do get this information in a more timely fashion.