EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Speaker, I believe that strict policies must be put in place to ensure that social assistance money is used for the right purpose. The Department of Family Services should take steps to ensure that income assistance clients do not waste the money that they are given.
Member’s Statement 436 – 4(3): House Fire in Iqaluit (Okalik)
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to show my appreciation. On Sunday there was a fire in my constituency and they have gone through a difficult time.
I am grateful that nobody lost their life or was seriously hurt.
I would like to recognize my fellow residents. As soon as they heard about this incident, they provided help and also gathered clothing and money. My constituents were helped out by fellow residents in the community.
I would like to thank them greatly, in particular our mayor for keeping everyone informed and informing people of how we can provide assistance.
I very much thank those who helped and are still helping my constituents.
Member’s Statement 437 – 4(3): Inuit Heritage (Quassa)
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank my colleagues who spoke about the meaning of Pink Shirt Day. I am proud of them.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about our elders. They worked extremely hard in the past and we often hear that we are here today because of their hard work.
Let’s be proud of all of our elders and thank them for working extremely hard.
They experienced hunger when they ran out of food and they went through difficult times.
It was nothing like our lives today, but let’s be proud of them.
Let’s tell the next generation about the lives that our elders lived, going through hardship. That’s why we’re here today.
When I talk about our descendants, we have grandchildren and children.
Let’s show our love for our grandchildren and tell them about the hardships that Inuit experienced in the past.
That is why we’re here today.
I keep repeating that, but everyone needs to know that.
We cannot forget to help our elders and we need to provide them with food and help them in any way we can. When they are talking, we should listen to them carefully.
That’s the main statement I wanted to make.
Probably most of my colleagues have grandchildren. Let’s talk about this and be proud of being Inuit.
It has been a long while since I have seen my grandchildren. I say “hello” to them and send them my love.
Moving on. Item 5.
I would like to recognize an individual here in the House. He’s a young constituent of mine who is a hard-working student. Peter Aningmiuq, I welcome you again.
I see an elder who is my constituent. He is easy to approach and provides good counselling.
I would like to recognize Moses Atagoyuk and welcome him.
Another person who is at the elders’ seating now was my teacher when I was young.
Even if I did wrong, he was always welcoming and he shows that to this day.
I recognize and welcome Terry Young.
I wasn’t expecting to hear my name.
I, too, would like to recognize all the visitors in the gallery. I would like to recognize all of them and welcome them to the House.
In particular I apologize that yesterday I failed to mention Leah Aluki Kilabuk, a Pangnirtung resident who is here as a student, so I wanted to mention her today.
She is my own relative, my cousin.
I would also like to recognize my friend and father-in-law, Moses Atagoyuk, who is also here in the gallery.
I would also like to recognize Jojo Aningmiuq.
People knew his father well, Etulu Aningmiuq, who was a very good singer.
I have also known Terry Young, Dennis Patterson, and someone whom I have known personally for a long time is Lazarus Arreak.
I didn’t want to be the last one; I wasn’t recognized.
I would like to recognize Moses Atagoyuk, my constituent Terry Young, Lazarus Arreak, and Senator Dennis Patterson. Welcome.
I feel very privileged to recognize a member here two days in a row.
Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize Senator Dennis Patterson, who has been working very hard for Nunavummiut.
He is well known throughout the Nunavut territory.
This person was already recognized, but we obviously all know these people.
I would also like to recognize my late father-in-law’s younger brother, Moses Atagoyuk. I thank him very much for being here today. We all know that he worked for the CBC for a long time and I used to work with him.
He is still good to listen to today, but he’s not talking as much now.
I also thank Senator Dennis Patterson. I have known him since I was a very young man. I first met him before we had white hair.
I would like to recognize Terry Young again. I have also worked with him.
He was a teacher and the students he taught are all adults now.
My good friend, Lazarus Arreak, I think he is my fellow old man now and I would like to recognize him.
Speaker (interpretation): I welcome all of you to the gallery.
It seems I wanted to be the last one.
I won’t mention all the names of the interpreter/translator students who are here, but I would like to welcome them.
They are learning behind the booth there.
I am truly happy they are continuing with their education in my constituency.
One of my constituents was recognized a few times and that is Senator Dennis Patterson. I worked with him a long time ago when Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik was being established.
Terry Young was also mentioned, but he was our principal at the high school.
We were very happy with him. Many of my children graduated high school when he was the principal.
I also welcome my husband’s paternal uncle, Moses Atagoyuk.
He worked for a very long time with me at the CBC.
As well, an interpreter I see everywhere is Lazarus Arreak.
Moving on. Item 7.
Question 584 – 4(3): Policies for Social Assistance (Shooyook)
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s Statement earlier today I noted that some income assistance clients are not spending their social assistance money on food.
It appears that there are no policies which ensure that the money provided to income assistance clients is used for its intended purpose.
Can the minister clearly explain why his department does not have any policy to ensure that social assistance funds are used to buy food and not cigarettes, toys, or other non-essential items?
We are always concerned about that matter, especially when the money is being used to try to help them get food or other needs.
We are always concerned about that and there has been concerns raised in the past. It’s a very difficult issue to resolve how the money can be administered.
I understand his concern and it has been raised here in the House a number of times. It’s a very difficult issue to deal with.
With respect to the member’s question about having no policy and why that is the case, right now I can say that the Department of Family Services is changing the name from social assistance to income assistance.
That’s basically the only thing that’s happening right now.
I understand my colleague’s concerns.
Mr. Shooyook (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister of Family Services for addressing my concern properly.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that it is important for adults to be responsible for their own actions.
I also recognize that when we take away people’s ability to make certain choices and decisions, we are taking away some of their responsibility.
However, if we leave the situation the way it is, with no policy to restrict how people spend their social assistance funds, then children and families will continue to go hungry, without enough food to eat.
Will the minister commit to introducing a policy which will restrict how income assistance clients can spend their social assistance funds?
The Department of Family Services tries to find ways to work on that issue and they have been trained on administering that. This has always continued.
When it comes to responsible financial management with the money they receive through income support and things like that, I believe they are starting to get help from the government. This is a program on responsible financial management for those people who have to rely on income support or social assistance.
These kinds of programs have become available so that these people can be guided more in how to better spend their income support payments and how to deal with poverty in general.
These initiatives have been taken by the Department of Family Services.
It’s important for people in Nunavut to understand what they’re supposed to use income support for.
I can get a review done on the need for regulations and policies through Family Services.
Mr. Shooyook (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank the minister for being concerned about the matter that I’m asking about.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that developing and implementing an effective policy might be a difficult task.
Will the minister consider implementing a program to provide additional counselling to income support clients who are not spending their social assistance money appropriately?
I also thank my colleague for those comments.
We all know of the reports about the latest review and possible amendments to the Income Support Program.
My department worked with the Department of Economic Development on this last year and presented the review in June 2016.
There has been some work done along those lines to date and the work continues.
There are going to be 15 proposed changes to what my colleague is asking about, to see how the people who are on income support can receive additional help to make sure that they spend their money properly, as well as to see how these people can be trained for jobs.
That’s how we try to help them and it’s always continuing.
With respect to my colleague’s concern about using money appropriately, it is being worked on right now.
I can say that with the present legislation and through its regulations, this can be reviewed again to see how it can be improved.
Although there has been a review done on it and recommendations made, I can work further on top of it.
Question 585 – 4(3): Timeline for Expanding Sanikiluaq’s Sewage Lagoon (Rumbolt)
Mr. Speaker, my questions today are directed to the Minister of Community and Government Services.
Yesterday the minister stated that the department is planning to complete the design phase of its project to enhance and expand Sanikiluaq’s sewage lagoon by the fall of 2017.
Mr. Speaker, this indicates to me this project will not see any groundwork for at least another 18 months.
Also, lagoons are constructed with rocks and gravel, not using any other types of structural material.
Can the minister clarify why it will take until the fall of 2017 for his department to complete the design phase to enhance and expand Sanikiluaq’s current sewage lagoon?
The member is correct that probably not much will happen in the near future because we have to design it.
The reason we want to make sure it’s designed properly is first we will have the study done by Dalhousie University to see what is exactly needed and we want to make sure we build something proper.
We don’t want to do what happened in the past where a site was picked and the work was going to be done on the site.
They did some geodetic surveys and the site was not suitable for a sewage lagoon.
We have to make sure that the existing site is suitable for a possible expansion, enhancement, and also the regulatory process would have to be done and that cannot be done quickly.
The regulatory process is beyond our control and we would not be able to process until we got the regulatory process done.
For almost eight years now Sanikiluaq has been waiting to see the results of the department’s work to improve the community’s sewage lagoon.
Originally the community was told that they would be receiving a new lagoon.
However, now that the department’s plans have changed to remodel the current lagoon, we’re being told that the community will have to wait until the end of this year before the project design is completed.
Can the minister tell us why his department could not use information from his original plans, which were to build a new lagoon, and reduce the length of time required to design and enhance the expansion of the current lagoon?
The member is correct in that this process has been on going for a long time.
It started in year 2010-11.
A site for the new lagoon was picked out and the process to start the regulatory process and make sure everything ran smoothly started in 2011.
The process was started when we were notified that new regulations from Transport Canada had been enacted in 2012 and that regulation states that you cannot have a bird attractant within four kilometres of an airport.
Transport Canada has deemed a sewage lagoon as a bird attractant and that stopped the process there.
An exemption permit was applied for so that we can get the new sewage lagoon built with an exemption permit from Transport Canada and the exemption permit was denied.
Therefore we cannot build a new sewage lagoon there.
We are trying to make do with what we have there and we know it’s not adequate.
We have to fix it up.
We feel that it’s easier to get an exemption permit to expand an existing sewage lagoon than it is to build a new one and that has been the main stumbling block.
As I previously stated, it has been almost a decade since Sanikiluaq’s sewage lagoon was first included in the department’s plans.
Can the minister tell us how much his department has spent on this project to date?
Yes, I can tell him. He didn’t ask for the numbers, but I will tell him the numbers.
Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of this project in 2011-12, the total amount of money that has been spent on Sanikiluaq’s sewage lagoon is $730,657 and there has been money spent almost every year to try to get Sanikiluaq a new sewage lagoon.
Question 586 – 4(3): Public Service Management (Angnakak)
I don’t think it’s any surprise, but my questions are for the Minister of Finance.
In my Member’s Statement today I spoke about the need to confront bullying in schools, at home, and in the workplace.
As the minister is aware, the issue of fostering a healthy workplace is one that I have been raising consistently in this House.
Through the minister’s Budget Address we heard comments on some of the developments his department is taking to address bullying at the workplace.
Could the minister update us today in more detail new initiatives the government has been taking to address the issue of workplace bullying and harassment?
Mr. Speaker, as Ms. Angnakak well knows, most members here know and pretty much everybody in Canada, when you have a private sector or government and you have people, there’s going to be possible conflict and there’s going to be harassment.
That’s why a progressive organization will implement policies to protect employees, assist employees and also management.
There is a requirement for managers to know how to manage and employees should know how to be good employees.
In the Government of Nunavut, as I said in my budget speech, we want to be an employer of choice.
We have the Respectful Workplace Policy and we have the Workplace Harassment Policy.
I have stood in this House many times over the years and encouraged our workers not to sit there and let it fester.
If you have an issue, talk to either the union, talk to your manager, or talk to another deputy and bring your concerns forward.
No anonymous letters.
Anonymous letters don’t help us.
I notice people that send anonymous letters to politicians and others.
We can’t work with anonymous letters. Give us facts.
Nobody is going to get fired for reporting a possible workplace harassment or conflict.
We have the ethics officer; we put that in place.
Our new employees and old employees are given courses in recognizing workplace harassment.
They are also given a copy of the Code of Values and Ethics.
Workplace harassment is not condoned.
It’s out there.
It’s up to people to take that step, Mr. Speaker.
Take the step if you have a feeling you’re being harassed or bullied in the workplace, whether it’s your co-worker, whether it’s a manager or whoever. Take that step and let someone know, and then the processes kick into place to help you.
Not to say that your complaint will be valid or not. That’s why we have investigations and fact-finding meetings.
That’s why we have a union.
That’s why we have shop stewards.
They are all there for people to help themselves and help the government to be a more productive and safe workplace.
I thank the minister for his response. We will see what happens.
As the minister will very much recall, another motion that was considered and passed by the members of the current Legislative Assembly concerned the establishment of an independent public service commission.
Can the minister update us on where the government stands today on this issue?
It’s interesting. After that, I could talk for hours on this.
Do I have a couple of hours?
Last summer I talked to the premier of the Yukon at the finance ministers’ meeting in Vancouver, and I’m talking about high-level discussions. I have talked to the new premier of the Yukon at the finance ministers’ meeting in Ottawa.
I also talked to the premier of the Northwest Territories in Ottawa at Christmastime.
We were having this interesting discussion. The premier for the Northwest Territories says, “We have been following you guys in Nunavut,” and he told me at the time, “We’re moving towards you and what you’re doing.”
I was talking to the Yukon guy who was there and he said, “Minister Peterson, we should caution you to proceed carefully with what you’re doing.”
I sent three deputies up to the Yukon last September to talk to people. We have engaged a consultant who has been working with us on the shared services, who has been talking to the Yukon. He was in Iqaluit here last week.
I had a very productive meeting with him.
I do know there was a motion. It was a non-binding motion.
Ms. Angnakak knows that we don’t have enough time in this government to move forward with the legislative agenda.
I don’t even know if this is a model that will work for Nunavut or if we can tinker some more with our HR department.
Even after that last motion last summer we did tinker with our department.
Now the Human Resources side has a dedicated associate deputy minister in charge. We have moved it out of the comptroller general function, so they focus primarily on HR. We are looking to get more staffing officers.
As I have said before, we’ve got all of these policies under review. Some are getting passed. We have a very robust Human Resources Division in the Department of Finance.
I thank the minister for his response. I think it’s a really good step in the right direction.
I’m happy that after all of our pushing on this side of the House, it has made some of those developments happen. That’s satisfying to hear. I hope that we can go further and perhaps come up with a model that is truly going to work.
This alludes a little bit to my last question, what you just said about running out of time, because I recognize that the next Legislative Assembly and the government will be taking office later on this year.
It is important that solid groundwork be laid for the incoming government concerning such issues as the structure of the government.
Will the minister commit to making his department’s work on this matter part of the formal transition package for the members of the next Assembly and government?
Ms. Angnakak knows I don’t like to make commitments, especially committing a future government and future MLAs or cabinet.
The work that is underway is important work that is being done on this shared services component. It’s a program review and structural review. I’m sure all that information will be available for, I think I said in the budget speech, possibly even later this year.
We will see. I’m sure it will be available for the future government to review.
Question 587 – 4(3): Children in Care (Joanasie)
Mr. Speaker, the most recent annual report of the director of child and family services for 2014-15 was tabled on March 16, 2016.
That report indicates that as at March 31, 2015, 33 children or youth had been apprehended from their families and a total of 333 children and youth were receiving services from the department.
Can the minister provide an update on what steps his department is taking to address the high numbers of children and youth being apprehended from their parents or caregivers?
I believe his question is in regard to children and youth who are under the care of foster parents or family members.
Yes, there has been progress for those who require assistance on how to become foster parents or act as a temporary home.
With regard to the report to date, there are 250 foster homes.
At this time children who have been under the care of the department starting from January 2017, there were 153 children and youth placed in temporary foster homes.
In total there were 454 children and youth receiving care.
I did ask the minister what steps his department is taking to address the high numbers of children and youth being apprehended.
However, after a child has been apprehended from their home, they may end up receiving services from the Department of Family Services.
Those services may be entered into on a voluntary basis with the agreement of the family but could also be non-voluntary if the apprehension is for an extended period of time.
Can the minister clarify how decisions are made with respect to where a child receives those services, whether it is foster care with family members, with foster parents in the same community or in another Nunavut community, or in care outside of Nunavut?
The Department of Family Services is responsible for providing care to children who have been apprehended for a number of reasons.
From the beginning of the process, there are various reasons for apprehending children in the communities in Nunavut.
When social workers and foster parents start dealing with a child being apprehended, the communities are actively involved through the department.
We are reviewing how we can improve the process of child apprehension and the impact on the parents and foster parents, including how we can provide more support and assistance, so that we don’t have to apprehend the child again.
We work with families to reduce the incidence of apprehension.
Communities are actively involved in that process.
The care for children varies from case to case and some of the levels are so high that some children have to be taken out of the territory to receive appropriate care. Sometimes we have to send them out of the territory when necessary.
That’s how the process is.
From time to time children who have been apprehended become permanent wards under the custody of the director of child and family services. Those children may then be adopted under what is called a “departmental adoption.”
Will the minister commit to providing updated figures on the numbers of children who have been apprehended and then adopted under the departmental adoption procedure?
Yes, I can provide those figures that were requested.
Question 588 – 4(3): Marine Infrastructure (Keyootak)
My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Transportation, and they concern the minister’s responses to the written questions that I asked during the recent fall sitting of the Legislative Assembly concerning the business case for a new marine facility in Qikiqtarjuaq.
The minister’s response indicated that, and I quote, “The Port of Qikiqtarjuaq was one of nineteen infrastructure projects considered by the GN’s Interdepartmental Committee on Capital Planning in December 2014.
The project was not selected by the Committee and as such was not put forward for consideration under the New Building Canada Fund (NBCF).”
My question for the minister is simple: what were the specific reasons for why the Qikiqtarjuaq marine facility project was not selected by the government’s committee for submission to the Building Canada Fund?
Member for Uqqummiut, you directed your question to two ministers.
Who are you directing your question to?
You were asking your question to the Minister of Environment and Transportation.
Who are you directing your question to? Mr. Keyootak.
Mr. Keyootak (interpretation): Mr. Speaker, I apologize for making that mistake. I am directing my question to the Minister of Transportation.