EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
How many individuals have used this and how much funding was used?
This $80,000 was depleted by January. It was all used up.
On the same page, I-7 it states here that contributions to the outpost camps $251,000.
How much is used for support in Nunavut?
In regard to Mr. Mapsalak’s question the funding is allocated to all the regional wildlife organizations annually.
At the end of the year we get a report to review how they expended that funding.
The way it is explained it seems like it is geared towards one.
Do you know if they are used for that specific purpose, or can it be used for other things?
The funding is up to the discretion of the regional wildlife organizations, within their policy guidelines.
The $317,000 the hunters and trappers organizations on page I-7 … (interpretation ends) The contributions to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board support Nunavut’s hunter and trapper organizations core-funding requirements.
(interpretation) When I made a statement I asked questions about the hunter and trapper organizations, about the fact that they don’t have adequate office space.
They do a lot of work for the Department of Environment, and they have to work with the government.
Where can we find the line item to provide funding for the hunter and trapper organization offices?
We work with the hunter and trapper organizations very closely, and we do appreciate that fact that they provide a lot of support to us, but I am very sorry that we don’t have any funding to provide their offices.
I wonder if the minister can consider, although I know that there is no funding at this time, but if he can consider bringing new funding or we can get new funding at the end of the fiscal year.
Can the minister consider providing office space for my constituencies that don’t have hunter and trapper organization offices? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): The hunter and trapper organizations are independent associations. The Government of Nunavut is not responsible for them but we do provide funding for them. We do provide contributions.
Therefore, I can’t really respond whether we can consider providing support.
If we did have funding, we would be willing to provide support for them.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Barnabas.
Yes, I am aware of the fact they are independent but their responsibilities have an impact on the government. They do a lot of work for the government.
Is it okay to have papers all over the place?
If I don’t have an office myself, anybody can look at my confidential documents when there is no office space.
Can the minister commit to providing some assistance to the hunter and trapper organizations?
The hunter and trapper organizations’ correspondence or their papers, they have to take care of those. If they don’t have any office space, they would have to consider how they should take care of their confidential information. That’s their responsibility.
I would like to recognize the clock for lunch hour.
It is 12 p.m. We can take a lunch break. We’ll be back at 1 p.m.
>>Committee recessed at 12:03 and resumed at 13:05
We’re dealing with the Department of Environment.
We are on pages I-6, I-7, and I-8.
Mr. Barnabas was questioning the minister.
I think he was finished.
I’d like to ask a question. I just wanted to find out if this program can have some funding.
I think we have been dealing with this for quite a number of years - a laboratory, especially to do with parts of walrus meat, because we usually send out samples to be tested.  I feel that, especially to do with the land animal samples that we send out to laboratories to be tested for trichinosis from the walrus.
Have you had any thoughts about having some funding for laboratory use?
They hunt walrus a lot in Coral Harbour, and the hunter and trapper organization receives sample bags. Whenever a walrus is caught, they usually take sample of the meat, and the dead ligaments, and muscles, as well as other body parts to be tested.
It would be good to have a laboratory in Rankin Inlet.
Is that just for marine mammals, or can you send samples such as land animals. And who does the testing?
That is the responsibility of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. For land animals, whenever there is a suspected disease in the body parts of an animal, they usually take those out and send them to our wildlife officers and they send them down south for testing. They test for things such as growths in animals.
It seems like there are a lot of parasites growing in the walrus, and whenever there are parasites in walrus, they usually send samples out for testing.
I feel that there should be a laboratory in Nunavut so that we can get our tested samples returned as soon as possible.
We have seen parasites and other sicknesses in animals and marine mammals.
I wonder if you can get a laboratory based in Nunavut so we could have those samples sent to the Nunavut area, instead of taking them down south.
I would like to thank the member for a very good idea. (interpretation ends) I can commit to, having talked with Department of Fisheries and Oceans, to have a lab set up in maybe Coral Harbour.
I welcome the minister and his officials to our lovely Chambers.
Just a question that I have is on page I-8 and deals with community organized hunts and there’s $45,000 budgeted for that.
I am just wondering if the minister could let us know what the uptake has been on that in the past.
Is it a well-utilized program?
The community wildlife hunts funding is well utilized and it’s well received by the communities that apply for that program.
We really don’t have plans except for caribous, etcetera. They can apply to that funding and I can tell the House that it’s well applied.
Can the minister just inform us as to what process and how a community would go through to apply for funding under that program?
The local hunters and trappers organizations can submit an application for hunting assistance to conduct the hunt. The hunters and trappers organizations provide additional financial assistance, or in-kind funding, to enable these hunts to take place.
I think this is a great program. As we know in all our communities that there are people and individuals living there who don’t have the ability to go out and hunt for themselves. This is a great program for a way for them to be able to obtain country food.
It says in here contributions to assist with transportation costs of organized hunts for eligible communities.
I would assume that all communities in Nunavut are eligible, if not, which ones aren’t and why?
All communities are eligible for that program, however, we try and look at communities that don’t have easy access to animals such as caribou, because they are common and the people of Nunavut really love caribou meat.
That’s what we try and do is to allocate it for communities that don’t have animals close by to hunt and mainly it’s for caribou.
Does the minister have information of how many communities have accessed funding? Have all the communities that have applied, were they able to receive funding under this program.
The communities that benefited from this community hunt in 2006-07 was the Ikayutit Hunters and Trappers Organization from Arctic Bay, Aiviq Hunters and Trappers Organization in Grise Fiord, Hall Beach Hunters and Trappers Organization, Pangnirtung Hunters and Trappers Organization, and Resolute Bay Hunters and Trappers Organization.
Were there any applications for assistance from any communities that were turned down because of lack of funds?
Chairman: Thank you. Minister Netser.
No, there was not.
I thought Mr. Tootoo wasn’t done so…Mr. Chairman, I would like to welcome the minister and his staff.
My colleagues have to ask questions from I-7. I know there are quite a few caribou and other wildlife that have parasites that threaten what we harvest.
A lot of hunters, like me, are always looking around to see how healthy the caribou or musk oxen are.
Nowadays, we start seeing these little white worms or bugs in between the muscles.
I’m sure it’s not only in the Kugluktuk area, but other areas.
We were always told to bring some samples to the communities for the wildlife office to check and send out for testing. Most times we never get the results.
I would like to ask the minister if the samples that were given to your department, are the results given to the hunters.
Hon. Patterk Netser: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do encourage our staff to report on the results of the tests that the member is talking about. We would like to know which communities have sent samples out and have not been given results.
We can follow that up for the member.
Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Evyagotailak.
I know there are studies going on. These studies have been going on for a long, long time in the Kugluktuk area, Bathurst Inlet, and Cambridge Bay on wolverines. How much longer will your department be doing studies on wolverines?
I understand this survey is ongoing and it will be quite some time before the survey is done.
Again, one of my colleagues asked questions on community organized hunts. I’m sure our community had applied for some grants and they also had some hunters that went out already.
I just saw some pictures a couple of days ago, yesterday in fact, on how much caribou was on the sled. I thought this was the hunt for the hunters and trappers. I was trying to phone a friend of mine because I recognized his kamotiq from his home.
All these caribou was outside his home on a kamotiq. I guess they just arrived and one of the staff members from the government happened to take some pictures.
I haven’t been able to get hold of him yet, but I am just wondering if Kugluktukmiut did another harvest for the community.
Hon. Patterk Netser: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do not have a record of the hunters and trappers organization in Kugluktuk applying for funds for this program.
Thank you, Mr. Evyagotailak. Mr. Arvaluk.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under I-7, the hunters and trappers organizations received $317,000. When was that?
I think $317,000 all the way out through the years.
Everything is pretty expensive now. Whenever we see the government’s budget, it just seems like the price goes up and the prices go down, but the main estimates don’t seem to go up or down.
I just wanted to find out if there is going to be a fluctuation of funding.
Hunters and trappers organizations are a very important part of our community because they bring in food, and then they then deal with the Hunters’ Support Program, and they do fisheries; they do all kinds of stuff.
On the previous page, there is $143,000, on I-6. I’m sure that … compensation and benefits? $8,143,000.
I just wanted to find out why there is always an amount of $317,000 for the hunters and trappers organizations when compensation and benefits is a huge amount?
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): That $317,000 has been spent since 1999, and a contribution goes to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board to support Nunavut’s hunters and trappers organizations’ core funding requirements.
The Minister of Finance is listening to the question and stuff.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): I might not make sense but I have been hearing from the people of Pond Inlet that the nets that are used for beluga hunting are not going to be used for this upcoming summer.
Is that a fact? And, what is the reasoning not using those beluga nets anymore?
With the beluga nets there was no loss.
With the beluga, you shoot it in the head like seals, but not with the narwhal.
We all know that you cannot shoot it in the head as you will lose them.
You have to know exactly where to shoot it, and usually if you use a gun, you tend to lose the narwhal the majority of the time.
What I want to ask the minister is, is it a fact that beluga nets are not going to be used anymore?
This is the first time we’re hearing of it, but this is the responsibility of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
I’m sure that if it was a fact they would have informed our department.
Then I would assume that it is not a fact then, if the minister has not heard about this issue.
My last question is; I keep getting letters from the hunters and trappers organizations and they have been trying to get the portable school for a very long time.
This portable school is not being utilized and the hunters and trappers organization would like to gain access to this portable school.
Has there been a response from your department on this issue?
I don’t know anything about it but with this $317,000 that’s allocated to the hunters and trappers organizations, that’s for their operations and maintenance.
It is not for other things.
Will the minister be able to respond to my question before March 31?
In regard to the portable school, we don’t know who owns that building and I have never seen any correspondence coming from the Pond Inlet hunters and trappers organization.
Minister Picco might be able to respond to that question.
Very quickly, on the disposal of assets, if the portable school has now been vacated, then the local District Education Authority should be contacted, along with Community and Government Services and make a submission to Community and Government Services for usage for that asset for whatever community organization would want it; in this case with the hunters and trappers organizations.
It wouldn’t specifically go through the minister’s department.
They have done exactly that.
They have talked to the District Education Authority and they wrote letters to Community and Government Services.
Now that the government knows about this, I could find out when and who they directed that question to.
If the letter has not been shown to the management by the staff, is it something that requires disciplinary action?
Hon. Patterk Netser: Thank you.
I think it was about two years ago we started hearing about the snow geese and the greater snow geese. We live very close to a bird sanctuary and there are thousands of birds that utilize that sanctuary.
We like snow geese and greater snow geese as part of our diet but we’ve been hearing about the geese becoming more and more inedible.
Does the minister know anything about this?
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to the snow geese and the greater snow geese, we heard about the avian bird flu going around, cholera.
We heard about birds contacting these diseases but we heard that the birds that do make it to the north do not have that disease because if they did they would have died en route, on their migration.
So if you see any dead birds please make sure that you bring the carcasses to the hunters and trappers organizations.
I can assure you that to date there have been no cases in Canada.
We are assuming that if they contact that disease that they would have died off before they reached North America.
Mr. Alagalak (interpretation): I was talking about the greater snow geese, and the snow geese.
I thought that Nunavut was just part of the rest of Canada because we have a large population of non-native people living up here now.
I would like to make sure that all the information is made out there. There are people from Arviat who have relatives from different parts of Nunavut and they send birds out to the other communities. You tend to become cautious when you hear about the diseases that have been contracted by migratory birds.
I didn’t understand what kind of disease you mentioned, but with the geese that I am talking about they don’t come from overseas.
You could probably obtain that information from the Canadian Wildlife Service and make sure that there are no diseases that have been contracted by our birds.
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): I said avian cholera but I made a mistake.
It was avian influenza that has killed our birds.
We are working with the Canadian Wildlife Service and we want to make sure that the hunters and trappers organizations are informed if there has been a detection of any disease.
We work very closely with the Canadian provinces too on this issue.
I would like to see the department seek information and report on the health of these birds; the snow geese and greater snow geese, and probably Canada geese.
There is probably some sort of report prepared every year because these are one of the birds that attracts the world on hunting expeditions.
You know, after what opens for any bird hunters to increase their take per day and then there has been a lot of movement of those bird hunters in Nunavut.
I’d like to really obtain, as soon as possible, before spring comes on us. Maybe distribute information among the people who live nearby the sanctuaries across Nunavut.
I would suggest that to the minister.
That was more of a statement than a question. Mr. Netser.
I will instruct my department to give out information packages to these communities that have bird sanctuaries within their area.
My question is regarding an issue that I don’t see here; the Fur Incentive Program, I think it is.
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): With regard to buying pelts and furs, we gave them to Economic Development and Transportation and it is no longer our responsibility.
(interpretation ends) We work on behalf of Economic Development and Transportation in purchasing these fur-bearing animals.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): It is a program that is very well liked by the communities, in Arviat especially, and it is up to us to help the youth.
I think this program is running very smoothly, and there has been no change to date there.
The Member for Arviat indicated I think it was yesterday, that our staffing in Arviat was working hard in purchasing these fur-bearing animals, so I can safely say that it’s a well run program.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Yes, we are aware of that.
The caribou are tagged for studies, and we hear in the Western Arctic the population of caribou is declining rapidly by the Caribou Management Board.
Can we get an update as to how that is?
And, do they feel that the caribou in Nunavut is declining over here, too, or is it different from the Western Arctic?
We hear from the Western Arctic that there is a concern due to the fact that the population is declining rapidly, but in Nunavut we don’t think the population is declining.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): I think the caribou is tagged, and in the Keewatin region, the hunters and trappers organizations are not informed, I feel there is a lack of public information especially to the whereabouts of the tagged caribou. Talking with the hunters and trappers organizations, they say that they are in that area.
I wonder if this can be improved by informing the public. They usually post stuff like that at the post office.
The other fall, not until winter time, for a year and a half, the caribou were quite far, and we had no idea.
I wonder if that information can be provided to the public or in the community.
Hon. Patterk Netser: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We can take that suggestion into consideration. We’ll consider the member’s request.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Yes, maybe in the spring time I will be able to bring that up when we start again.
Another I question I have, because the minister knows, and his officials, in my opening statement, the hunters and trappers organizations are overloaded with work.
I wonder if the minister feels the same way because they are given all kinds of responsibility.
My colleague, Mr. Arvaluk, mentioned the same thing.
Does he also feel the hunters and trappers organizations have too much work to do?
We ask the hunters and trappers organizations to work with us, and once they agree, we work with them. We are not pushing them to do something that they can’t handle, and we usually ask them.
They represent so many members in the community, and they keep the community informed.
They are helping the government quite a bit.
I know you don’t push them but they are very beneficial to the community. How is their assistance? Is it adequate?
We are satisfied with them and we thank them often because we work with them quite closely. I have witnesses in Coral Harbour that when it comes to walruses and when we have to collect samples.
I don’t know what detailed arrangements they make between them, but we know they are very beneficial.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): I think Nunavummiut should be more informed because the hunters and trappers organizations have a great responsibility.
If there is information to be heard, then it’s usually their job to inform the public because they’ve worked with the government for so many years now, and they are operating in so many communities.
The hunters and trappers organizations should start producing an annual report, they should submit a report because it can be part of the contribution that you get, so that we can get adequate information from the hunters and trappers organizations and not have an excuse; “Oh we never knew about this.”
But, if we can get an annual report, then we won’t have an excuse to say we didn’t hear about it.
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): Yes, we will definitely consider this.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Nowadays, everybody gives annual reports, and they can be put in a database and sometimes … with Inuit Qaujimanituqangit, when they request them, but if it’s part of the annual report, then we can have a lot of information.
For example, my colleague to my right gave me a picture of... and looking at the data, it was very interesting.
Don’t just think about this and try to implement. The $317,000 is for 26 communities so how much do they get?
Is it the same amount? Or is it bigger in some communities?
In the Keewatin they’re given the same amount and in the Kitikmeot and Baffin they’re different.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Thank you. My colleague next to me, James Arvaluk said that I believe they get about $12,000.
This is so outdated and if they are able to produce an annual report that $12,000 is not enough and we ask so much of them.
I would definitely appreciate if the minister can check into this further because they’re workload is not decreasing and this is mainly a comment.
My other question is; there are conservation officer’s maybe you can ask your conservation officers to have more patrols, not to the people but to see when people are out or to the outpost camps. Maybe you can ask your conservation officers to do more patrols because there might be some unnecessary killings in some areas of animals?
The areas that are close we can definitely do patrols. If there is mining exploration, or mining camps but due to the financial restraints that would be hard because it costs quite a bit to go out on patrols, that’s why we have limited patrols because of financial restraints.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Thank you. The conservation officers should enforce the regulations in the Wildlife Act.
Sometimes they don’t even bother enforcing due to lack of funds. It seems like we don’t want to put them on hold. Maybe even just once or twice if there are not too many mining camps because as Inuit we try and investigate.
I wonder if the department can do the thing that way you would get a lot more support, and more participation from the hunters. Maybe you might sound too negative; that’s why they are hesitant to participate in what is asked of them.
If you can look into this and consider this.
I welcome the minister and his officials to the Committee of the Whole today.
I’d like to ask the minister about an issue that came up a number of years ago that affected a number of my constituents, and other parts of the Kitikmeot, and that was the polar bear population in the McClintock Channel area. The issue first arose in 2001. There was a moratorium placed on the hunting and harvesting of polar bears.
I would like to ask for an update on what the situation is with that polar bear population in 2007.
I thank the member for the question. The moratorium has been lifted and I can say that the population of polar bears in that region is getting better as the years go by.
I thank the minister for that information. Perhaps the minister can give me an indication about how well the population is recovering by providing information on how many tags are allowed to each hunters and trappers organization in each area that harvests polar bears. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.