EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Speaker: I’d like to call on Mr. Havioyak to say the prayer.
Minister’s Statement 031 – 1(6): Home and Community Care
Mr. Speaker, I’m very pleased to announce that the new Health Canada First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care initiative, co-ordinated by my department is now active in communities around Nunavut.
This is a significant event Mr. Speaker.
To date, the three regional home care co-ordinators have been hired.
A competition for the territorial home care co-ordinator position has been initiated and a recruitment drive has been held to recruit eleven, Mr. Speaker, eleven home care nurses, in addition, Mr. Speaker, 44 community home care workers have been hired with the remainder of the positions currently being processed for hiring.
Mr. Speaker, these are almost all Inuit employees; which is especially important since we are speaking of very personal services being delivered right in people’s homes.
Mr. Speaker, this is a big step in the right direction.
Expanded home care services are being delivered in 20 Nunavut communities, with the remaining five communities to be included once the staffing I’ve just spoke about is complete.
Mr. Speaker dedicated home care vehicles have been purchased for every community and are scheduled to arrive on the first available sealift.
Mr. Speaker that will give people in communities wheel chair access to vehicles.
All medical equipment has been purchased and is being delivered also to the communities.
All Health Canada program requirements have been successfully completed for the fiscal year 2001-2002 with full program funding of nearly and Mr. Speaker, we’re very pleased to announce this, 5 million dollars approved for fiscal year 2002-2003 from our federal partner, Health Canada.
Mr. Speaker, this has been a very successful effort for all concerned.
It has involved consultation in every Nunavut community and engagement of third parties such as the Qikiqtani Inuit Association at critical points.
I congratulate, Mr. Speaker, all who have been involved in this most excellent adventure.
Minister’s Statement 032 – 1(6): Building Nunavut Through Decentralization
I rise today to inform the members of the House of an evaluation report being released today by my department to deal with decentralization.
(interpretation ends) “Building Nunavut Through Decentralization” is an evaluation report which was commissioned by the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs’ Evaluation and Statistics division.
This report reviewed the first two years of decentralization of the Government of Nunavut and made a number of recommendations that our public service can consider as we continue the process of establishing a decentralized government.
(interpretation) Mr. Speaker, the contents and recommendations of this report have not been fully adopted by the government.
The intent of this evaluation was to assess progress, document results and make suggestions for improvement.
I believe that this evaluation report will greatly assist and support our ongoing efforts.
(interpretation ends) Limited copies of the report are being released today in all 10 decentralized communities where we have offices.
Copies are also being sent to all hamlets and government departments and agencies.
Anyone interested in obtaining a printed copy of the document is welcome to contact my department’s Evaluation and Statistics division.
At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will be tabling this document in the House.
Member’s Statement 112 – 1(6): Birthday Wishes to Daughter
Perhaps I will be the only one to make a statement today.
Mr. Speaker today is May 9 and I would like to wish a happy day to my daughter Jenna Kilabuk, who is celebrating her ninth birthday today.
It was very stimulating to hear people from Pangnirtung wishing her a happy birthday today on the radio.
I wasn’t able to be with her very much for the past two years on her birthday and I am happy to be with her, along with my wife Rosie and our other children.
All of us would like to wish her a very happy birthday.
Member’s Statement 113 – 1(6): Training for the Mining Sector
Mr. Speaker, again I would like to address an issue of great importance to all of Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, this is a topic that has been raised again and again in this House by me and many of my colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, it will of course come as no surprise that I am talking about the mining sector and opportunities for employment in the mining sector in training that will allow Nunavummiut to take part in the mining industry.
Mr. Speaker, it is shameful that the Government of Nunavut has yet to act decisively on an issue that is so important to the economic welfare of Nunavut as a whole.
Mr. Speaker, in the Bathurst Mandate we as a government stated that a priority of this government would be to view every element of the government budget as a potential training budget.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t see this happening.
It is a tragedy that this opportunity for employment could slip through our fingers.
Mr. Speaker, once again I strongly urge the Departments of Sustainable Development and Education to work together with representatives from the mining sector to create meaningful and effective training programs to help individuals gain employment in the mining sector.
Mr. Speaker, I cannot stress enough how important training is to accessing employment.
I also cannot put enough emphasis on the opportunities for economic growth that will be provided by mining in Nunavut.
Member’s Statement 114 – 1(6): Sean Doherty Awarded Scholarship for Outstanding Community Leadership
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to inform this House about a very prestigious award to a constituent of mine.
Mr. Sean Doherty of Tundra Valley received the 2002 Toronto Dominion-Canada Trust Scholarship for Outstanding Community Leadership.
Mr. Speaker, Sean organizes and teaches swimming for disadvantaged children here in Iqaluit.
These loony lessons let the children have fun in a safe environment while teaching them listening and interpersonal skills.
Sean is also the President of the Student Council at Inuksuk High School; volunteers on the phone help line; sits on a Youth Court Advisory Panel and represented his school and Nunavut at the Canadian “Youth Against Impaired Driving” conference.
Sean plans to pursue a medical career Mr. Speaker, returning ultimately to Nunavut to practice his medicine.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that you and this House join with me to congratulate Sean and his parents Brian and Maureen on this very important leadership award as well as the leadership that he has shown by dedicating himself to his community through volunteerism.
Member’s Statement 115 – 1(6): Birthday Wishes to Wife
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today on this joyous occasion as it is my wife’s birthday and I would like to wish her a very pleasant day.
If she is watching the Assembly live on air, I send her my biggest smile.
She is presently in Pond Inlet.
Member’s Statement 116 – 1(6): Patients Inconvenienced by Medical Travel
Yesterday I directed a question to the Minister of Health and Social Services, in relation to the problems experienced by Inuit on medical travel.
I would like to rise today and clarify the matter to the members about medical travel and patients having difficulty returning to Igloolik and Hall Beach from the south.
It has been quite a number of times since we became a Legislative Assembly and I always travel myself, back and forth from my community to wherever our session is; it’s okay to connect from my community to here, but it’s very hard to connect from here going to Igloolik or Hall Beach.
Whenever medical patients travel back and forth from my community to the south, there are always patients waiting for the plane at the terminal and some are on standby and when there is room on the plane…
…then they’re able to go home.
But if they have to wait, there are no flights available until the next scheduled flight to Igloolik or Hall Beach.
Mr. Speaker, the other problem that my constituents who are on medical travel have has to do with the ticketing.
The ticketing department from the Baffin Regional Hospital tend to leave people here on the weekends.
On Saturday, the staff do not work, and although their appointments have been completed by Friday, if the patients happen to be late, then they cannot travel the next day as there is nobody working over the weekends and they have to get tickets for the following week.
They sometimes overnight 2 to 3 days twiddling their thumbs, because their appointments are already over, before they can go home.
Those are some of the bigger problems that we encounter from my community, especially for patients.
And if I was to look into how many people had to overnight for travelling for medical purposes throughout the year, I am sure that I could come up with some numbers.
We are all able to deal with what life hands us, and we can all talk.
It is very hard for the patients when they are left behind and I will be asking the minister questions in respect to that during question period.
Before we move on to the next item, I’d like to wish a happy birthday to Jobie’s wife Joanne.
I’d like to recognize an individual today that’s been around the building and I have to say Mr. Speaker, it’s not hard to find out what family he comes from and I just met him this week and he seems to be a very affable individual, more so than you.
And like I say, I didn’t know you had a twin brother until I showed up here this week.
I know you come from the east coast and many of us that come from the east have large families.
So, I’d like to introduce the good son, Mr. Kirk O’Brien.
It gives me a great pleasure to welcome to the gallery a fine English gentleman, our Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Mr. Robert Stanbury.
As the members know, Mr. Stanbury has been involved in federal politics as a minister in the former Trudeau Government as well as being a good friend to Nunavut.
I remember very well when Mr. Tagak Curley told me that in 1971, when Mr. Stanbury was the Minister responsible for Canadian Citizenship I believe, at that time, he funded the first monies from the federal government to ITC to begin the process of the negotiation of the Government of Nunavut.
I also remember very well about twelve or thirteen years ago, when I and Mr. Stanbury spent several days in Whale Cove during a meeting; he was also with me as a founding member of the Nunavut Arbitration Board in the early 90’s.
I would like to welcome Mr. Stanbury to the Gallery.
I also would like to take this opportunity to welcome Mr. Kirk O’Brien also.
I understand that Mr. O’Brien, although he is your brother, Mr. Speaker, is well known throughout Nova Scotia as an entrepreneur.
This brings the very best foot forward from the community of Glace Bay.
I understand that he is a half an hour older than you, and I think he shows that in some of the maturity that he has been demonstrating in this Legislative Assembly, and visiting us over the last few days.
I should also add that his mother is from Chapel’s Cove; of course she would be your mother too, but…
…Chapel’s Cove, of course, is located in Newfoundland about an hour from my home town.
So I would take this opportunity to welcome Mr. Captain Kirk O’Brien to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.
As you know in this House that we have to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so I have to correct you that my twin is a half hour younger than me.
I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the birthday also of Jenna Kilabuk.
Happy Birthday Jenna.
At this point, I would like to recognize four pages then we’ll go to Donald.
From my home town of Arviat, Miss Lily Utok to my right, and we have Dorothy Mamgark to my left.
We have on guard at the door, Shawn Kablutsiak and Chantal Napayok.
I would like to also acknowledge someone from my home community, my older brother; I would like to thank him for helping throughout my younger years, my brother Colin Havioyak.
Question 135 – 1(6): Timeline for Overdue GN Response to Committee Report on Tourism
Almost slipped that one by us today.
Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Sustainable Development.
Last November, the Standing Committee on Community Empowerment and Sustainable Development tabled its report on community consultations on the future of tourism in Nunavut.
The rules of the Legislative Assembly require the Government to table a comprehensive response within 120 days.
This response is now overdue.
Can the minister tell the House whether he will table the response to our report before we adjourn for the summer?
Mr. Speaker, may I add on to that?
The response on the Tourism report will be coming out next week.
Question 136 – 1(6): Signing of Chesterfield Inlet Care Facility Construction Contract
Yesterday the Minister of Health and Social Services said that the contracts for the shipment of the hospital construction material would be ready for signing yesterday.
I’m assuming that it’s signed already as he said that yesterday.
Did you sign that, Mr. Minister of Finance and are you going to deal with the FMB on this as soon as possible so that we don’t miss the shipping season?
Mr. Speaker, I had indicated and I know the Minister of Health is supportive as well as far as allowing progress to proceed not to jeopardise any construction schedules, sea lift for materials for the Chesterfield Inlet home.
And what has to take place now, is because there is a financial commitment that will be made, the Department of Health will be preparing a formal submission to deal with that issue and we’ll expedite it as fast as possible to allow it to happen.
To expedite it as quickly as possible means that it will be done before the end of the week.
Mr. Speaker, I would commit to having a decision made some time early next week in respect to formalizing the process to allow things to move forward.
Question 137 – 1(6): Improving Medical Travel Logistics
I will be referring to the comments that I made in my Member’s Statement.
To give a preamble, we all know and we have heard about the tickets that were purchased prior to the patient going back home or coming down.
We now have a problem with the patients being on standby and apparently the return tickets were not bought anymore because patients just went home before they were completely finished with their examinations.
At the airport, they usually wait a long time and then they end up being left behind and I feel for the older people in particular who, having grown up in the era when Qallunaat were not to be argued with, tend not to argue with any of the personnel down there.
And these patients are about as old as my mother and they end up having to stay another week until the next scheduled flight.
Are we going to be doing anything about that problem with this scheduling of the flights to allow more efficiency in the process?
First of all, I appreciate the member raising this issue yesterday.
As of this morning, Mr. Speaker, we’re doing a ministerial request to First Air as well as to the transportation department of the Department of Health and Social Services to find out exactly how many people have been denied passage, how many people have actually had to stay behind.
Mr. Speaker, the process is right now, that with First Air, we have an agreement in place that was there before the Government of Nunavut took over the three regional health boards, a contract in place that provides about 25 percent savings on the issuance of tickets and so on.
We did have a problem with First Air that we weren’t able to communicate with them at times, for example after hours and on weekends.
First Air helped us with that problem; logistically they placed a First Air agent at the transportation office to help facilitate the bookings.
Mr. Speaker, the member is correct, it is not acceptable for our patients to have to wait and they should not have to go standby.
If that is the case, Mr. Speaker, we’re in the process of ascertaining that right now.
Yesterday during question period I asked the member about whether we should find out the number of people who are left behind at the airport and I was told that it would be kind of hard to tally up the numbers.
But right now you are saying that you’re going to be looking into how many people are left behind or how many people are left at the airport.
Are you going to be tallying up the numbers for this past year?
Mr. Speaker, I believe yesterday, and I think the Hansard would prove me correct, what I said in response to the question of how many people had been left behind in a year.
I responded at that time, to my understanding Mr. Speaker, that information is not readily available from the airlines.
What I just repeated just now was that over the last week I would be able to find out how many people have been left behind and indeed if we are actually giving standby tickets because that’s the information that the member has provided.  And I had at that time Mr. Speaker, yesterday and again today affirmed that we are looking into seeing exactly if that is the case Mr. Speaker.
If people are being given standby tickets, if they’re being bumped off flights and allow other passengers to go forward instead of our hospital patients, that’s the information that I can find out.
I can also find out has that happened in the last few days.
I wouldn’t be able to go back, again, my understanding is, I wouldn’t be able to back logistically or administratively for the past 12 months and find out how many people had been left off planes and so on.
The member has raised the point, and Mr. Speaker, we are looking into it as we speak.
Every time I go to the airport, I always see patients at the airport waiting to go to Hall Beach and Igloolik and usually there are some patients who are left behind and some who aren’t.
The people that I saw yesterday and especially my daughter were at the airport and they couldn’t make it home.
They’re still here.
They’ll have to wait till tomorrow to get on the scheduled flight.
They’re still here due to the problems that they had at the airport and this is a very huge problem.
It’s not much of a problem for young people like my daughter but I’m mainly concerned about the elders because they’re not aggressive by nature and they don’t argue with the staff at the airport.
We definitely have to find out if this is actually a problem and if there’s such a problem then you have to look at the agreement that was made between the government and the First Air.
You say that there is a 25% savings because of the agreement.
Is it because of this 25% savings that the patients are treated as less of a priority than the other people are?
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member again, bringing this issue forward and as I said earlier, we are in the process right now in trying to ascertain the system that First Air has been using in the last few weeks because we have heard this concern about two weeks ago with some people going to the high arctic when they were left behind.
We are following that up at the same time.
Now we’re looking into the situation Baffin-wide with First Air and the logistic contract that we have in place with the discounts.
The member’s correct.
The 25% savings on our tickets is by volume.
It should not be based on standby tickets and so on.
That’s the agreement.
So, if there has been a circumvention of agreement then other remedies will have to be put in place and that’s what we’re trying to ascertain right now Mr. Speaker.
Question 138 – 1(6): Authority Over Airline Schedules
I will direct my question to the Minister responsible for Transportation.
I hope my question will be clear and comes across.
The scheduling of airlines, I was wondering if the minister is willing to give us information on the federal legislation on the Nunavut legislation in regards the scheduling of airlines as to how these airlines are travelling across the communities in Nunavut.
Because various entities within Nunavut use these airlines, I was wondering if the minister is willing to provide us some information to find out where our authority is within Nunavut.
I’m hope I’m coming across.
The airline’s scheduling routes and the legislation from the federal government and also from the Government of Nunavut are pretty thick legislation and they’ll have to be translated and I don’t know what the length is.
But one thing that I want to ask the member is, when he stated authority, what authority we have, I was wondering if he could clarify that to me because I can’t table the legislation at this time, but I was wondering if the member can clarify what he meant by authority because I didn’t quite understand him.
My question is in regards to the Inuit client rights.
The scheduling and the routing of the flights to the communities in Nunavut, the price is always increasing.
I know that it’s very expensive and I feel that the airlines are looking for ways to service the people with the most expensive way so that they could profit more from it.
What the routing is, I was looking for all sorts of rules, legislation, regulations on airline scheduling.
So, with Government of Nunavut now established, we need to make legislation to improve the air services for our benefit.
The airlines are private businesses.
We can’t be telling them what schedules to make or what kinds of routing they should be taking but we can discuss this matter with these private airlines.
For example, First Air is a private business and they do not belong to the Nunavut Government.
That’s already understood.
As the minister, as I have stated, we need to review the scheduling of flights to the communities and we were going to review the airports and the scheduling.
As I have stated before, we will review that matter but the airlines are private businesses and they set their own ticket prices.
Although Nunavummiut are the clients and as clients we have to know the scheduling of flights and this needs to be rectified because Nunavummiut are represented and many Nunavummiut have no other choice but to use that airline.
So we are the people they have to service, here in Nunavut.
If it wasn’t for us Nunavummiut, the airline would not be successful here. So that way there has to be a clear understanding between the various airlines and Nunavummiut as to how their scheduling is and their routing is.
But if we understand each other I know there will be more support and we can work together to make improvements.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am sorry my question was lengthy.
The airlines are private companies just as Northern Stores and others.
Even if we asked Northern Stores to cut their prices they have to operate on their own, they set their own prices for food and so on.
I understand as the Minister responsible for Transportation that we have to work closely together with the airlines.
Yes we will review the scheduling and routing of the airlines but the airlines themselves set the ticket prices.
Even if we were to recommend lower prices, they would ask for more support from the government.
So we would end up paying subsidies to the airlines.
Yes we can have discussions with the airlines and I have already had discussions with Canadian North and First Air and even this morning I met with Kivalliq Air.
So although I meet with various airlines in regards to our concerns, they are private companies and we have no control over them as a government.
Final supplementary. Mr. Iqaqrialu.
Although I understand your response very much, I am not saying that we have control over the private airlines.
Yes that is true, but in Nunavut the airlines are servicing Nunavummiut.
We have to clearly understand the airlines and what kind of representation they have in servicing Nunavummiut.
Ever since the Nunavut Government was established three years ago, there have been a number of issues that we want to understand.
That’s why I was asking for information on the Nunavut legislation and the federal legislation.
So I was wondering if the minister is willing to give the members here that information so that we can have a clearer understanding.
The legislation I cannot table as I was saying, but we can work on these problems together and work on solving these problems.
The airlines are privately owned companies and we can’t force them to change, but we can make recommendations.