EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Speaker, the National Energy Board is, or I guess we can call it, the same organization that’s doing environmental reviews. In Nunavut, we do have NIRB that we’ve got to go through, the Nunavut Impact Review Board.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t see any reasons why we should not table any responses to the National Energy Board on such specific assessments that are taking place.
Question 758 – 3(3): Kivalliq Mine Training Programs (Curley)
My questions are in my Member’s Statement earlier in regard to mine training.
Sometimes too many entities get convoluted when they’re trying to work on training issues.
Nunavut Arctic College’s current corporate plan indicates that one of its priorities is to develop “training partnerships with industry and the regional Inuit organizations for the delivery of mine and trades training.”
On March 14, 2013, the minister informed the Legislative Assembly that “Nunavut Arctic College will continue to develop and deliver mine training and heavy equipment training programs.”
Can the minister clearly explain and provide details on this government’s strategy to deliver mine training programs in the Kivalliq?
I would like to thank Mr. Curley for the question in regard to mine training.
As everyone is aware, it’s exciting times for this new territory of Nunavut in regard to resource development and mining that’s going to happen over the next coming years.
Nunavut Arctic College is a partner in this with industry and with the Government of Nunavut, especially the lead, Economic Development and Transportation.
We are partnered up with hamlets. We are partnered up with all the regional Inuit organizations and have MOUs in place with them.
We, as an initial and primary deliverer of education and mine training, need to have these partnerships in place. We need to understand what type of training is needed by the industry, and we are doing that right now. As you know, we have the mine training school, the trades training school in Rankin Inlet, that offers various courses in electrician, plumber, burner mechanic, and housing maintainer.
We do have a heavy equipment operator course that we are initiating this year with a simulator that this House approved to have, which will take away from us having to send people down to Morrisburg to take this training, so they can do it within Nunavut.
We are heavily involved in the mine training and we will continue to do so with all of our partners.
Yes, I agree. Mr. Speaker, it is important to know exactly who our partners are. It is also important to know and be specific with exactly what the partners are responsible for or accountable for in running various mining programs.
The annual budget for Nunavut Arctic College is approved by the Legislative Assembly. However, Nunavut Arctic College also receives millions of dollars in third party funding on an annual basis.
Can the minister provide details by community as to how much of this funding he mentioned in one of his comments is being allocated for mine training programs in the Kivalliq region, including by other partners?
Again I don’t have those figures in front of me. However, I can get my officials to look into that and try and put those numbers together.
I think it’s fair to say, though, that we do get third party funding to deliver programs in Arctic College and it is a major source of revenues for us. The mining industry, in the Kivalliq region, because it’s true to my heart, I know we have delivered programs in my community of Arviat in the drilling training.
The mining industry was a big contributor to that type of training.
That is important. That’s what I mean.
Arviat had a very interesting project. Also, I think other provinces like Morrisburg, Ontario, are they part of the mine training initiative?
Mr. Speaker, on March 14, 2013, the minister indicated that Nunavut Arctic College will be installing a new training simulator in Rankin Inlet.
This equipment is to be used for heavy equipment training.
Can the minister confirm if this training simulator is now operational and, if it is not, can he explain why not?
To my understanding, the simulator is in Rankin Inlet. It is located there and is ready to be used. There will be delivery of courses going on this fall in heavy equipment operation.
Question 759 – 3(3): Inuit in Management Positions (Ningark)
Mr. Ningark: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) I would like to direct my question to the Premier, Minister of (interpretation ends) Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs.
(interpretation) After the general election, we have been a government for approximately five years, and I have been a member for approximately four and a half years.
Mr. Speaker, we have to respect the land claims agreement, not only respect it, but we have to believe in it.
The population of Nunavut beneficiaries is approximately 80 percent living in Nunavut.  I would like to get clarification under Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
Do you have a figure as to how many beneficiaries are hired at the executive or managerial level or give me an overall figure of Nunavut beneficiaries working there?
Mr. Speaker, under Inuit employment plans, about 45 percent, and under senior management, 18 percent, middle management, 25 percent, and others in total, 50 percent.
I thank the Premier, the Minister of EIA.
Using the lower figures of beneficiaries, does the government have a plan to hire more Nunavut beneficiaries? Are we in line with our goal?
The government is committed to Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. They are working very hard to live up to it.
For example, as the Premier, I encourage all the departments to have Inuit employment plans, (interpretation ends) Inuit employment plans and training and development plans to support Article 23. (interpretation) I have also initiated that in the fiscal year of 2014-15 and there is a business plan already in progress. For corporate entities within the territory, they are mandated to have Inuit employment plans to increase the number of beneficiaries being hired.
The Inuit Employment Steering Committee has been established. (interpretation ends) It is responsible for developing policies and processes to increase Inuit employment in the Government of Nunavut. The committee includes senior managers and representatives from all departments, Mr. Speaker.
On top of that, since the departmental reorganization, Sivumuaqatigiit Division under the Department of EIA, the Training and Development Division of EIA, offers training and development programs focused on enhancing Inuit employment in the public service, which includes the Sivuliqtiksat Internship Program, the Occupational Training Program, leadership development, learning plans, and the mentoring program.
Mr. Speaker, as of April as well, the hiring priority policy and the Summer Student Employment Equity Program are now the responsibility of the Department of Finance and the recruitment and staffing unit.
Mr. Ningark (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Premier.
When can we see the plan being tabled at the Legislative Assembly? We have to work together.
Yes, as a government, we will work very hard to live up to the Inuit Employment Plan. We have to keep in mind that sometimes our employees change and there are high turnover rates. We will work hard to live up to Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
Question 760 – 3(3): Status of New Air Terminal Building in Taloyoak (Ugyuk)
Earlier in my Member’s Statement, I stated that Gjoa Haven residents had harvested a bowhead whale. The captain was James Qitsualik Taqaugaq and Joanasie Aqiggilik was the co-captain.
I congratulate them. I also congratulate the Gjoa Haven residents.
(interpretation ends) My questions are for the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation.
As the minister will recall, I have raised the issue of a new air terminal building for Taloyoak on a number of occasions during this Legislative Assembly.
Last fall, I was very pleased to have been able to vote to approve $400,000 in capital funding for this urgently needed project in Taloyoak.
Can the minister update me today on the status of the construction of Taloyoak’s new air terminal building?
Mr. Speaker, the $400,000 was approved for the planning and design of the Taloyoak Air Terminal Building and that work continues throughout this year.
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Can the minister indicate what the total cost of the new air terminal building in Taloyoak is estimated to be?
At this time, I’m not going to assume an estimated cost. Once the planning and designing has been complete, we will have a better estimate on the overall cost of a new air terminal building.
Ms. Ugyuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) It is my understanding that the communities have been given the same architectural design. I know Coral Harbour has a design, Gjoa Haven has a design, and we were up next for a new terminal building.
Taloyoak does not provide adequate space for the operation of a small store or concession.
As the Minister of Economic Development will appreciate, these kinds of ventures are ideal for small businesspeople and entrepreneurs in our communities.
Will the minister commit to reviewing the design of the new air terminal building in Taloyoak to identify space for the operation of a small store or concession?
Mr. Speaker, once new infrastructure is going into a community such as a new airport terminal building, there are consultations that take place with the hamlet and residents of the community.
If it’s identified that there is a need for a concession store, it will certainly be looked at. At this time, at the end of the day, we’re looking for a more efficient, effective way of spending our public dollars to make sure that our air travellers are in a comfortable setting.
We will continue to consult with the community on some of these matters.
Question 761 – 3(3): Cape Dorset Health Centre Replacement (Schell)
I would like direct my question to the Minister of Health.
Mr. Speaker, the Cape Dorset Health Centre was constructed in 1983. At 30 years old, it is one of the oldest health centres in Nunavut and has faced some serious issues in recent years.
A replacement health centre project for Cape Dorset was identified in the government’s 2010-15 capital plan. In 2010, the minister of the day indicated that the department remains committed to replacing the health centre in Cape Dorset. However, since then, the Cape Dorset Replacement Health Centre project has been dropped from the capital plan.
Can the minister explain why the government decided that the Cape Dorset Health Centre no longer needs to be replaced despite ongoing problems?
I thank Mr. Schell for asking about the Cape Dorset Health Centre replacement.
In fact, the Cape Dorset Health Centre replacement facility is still in the planning process and, at some point in the future, it will be replaced.
Information provided in 2010-11 capital plans and again in 2011-12 capital plans indicated that there were four priority health centre replacement projects across Nunavut. These projects were for the communities of Arctic Bay, Repulse Bay, Taloyoak, and Cape Dorset.
Except for the project in Cape Dorset, all of these projects are ongoing. Can the minister explain why the Cape Dorset project was abandoned?
Mr. Schell was asking some interesting questions and using some interesting terminology. As he knows, this government has a limited amount of capital funding and we do have a capital planning process. The Cape Dorset project has not been abandoned.
There will be funding identified, I believe, in the 2014-15 capital estimates of the new government to continue with the planning.
As the minister should be aware, the Cape Dorset Health Centre building is facing some serious issues due to aging, especially with respect to code upgrades, ventilation problems, and overcrowding of programs.
Would the minister be willing to provide me with copies of all the structural and mechanical evaluations and assessments that have been conducted on the Cape Dorset Health Centre in recent years?
If Mr. Schell would write me a letter with the details he is requesting on the Cape Dorset Health Centre, I will instruct my staff to look for that information and see what we can provide to him.
Question 762 – 3(3): Lack of Monitoring in Nunavut Waters (Ningeongan)
During my Member’s Statement, I stated that there should be people who monitor wildlife because we have heard not too long ago that tourist ships are coming in.
Even when they go to the communities, they can’t buy any arts and crafts, and this is becoming a concern for some elders. These cruise ships are not benefiting the communities and just bothering wildlife near the communities through their routes.
For those reasons, can the minister indicate to the House whether or not your department gets notice about the cruise ships or other ships that come in, even without us knowing that they were coming, and when they’re going to come in the summertime, to which communities they’re going to?
Mr. Speaker, our department just passes along information that we’re given about the cruise ship schedules. We pass the information along to the hamlets that are being visited.
Going down through the list, I just don’t see any ships that have visited Coral Harbour.
Maybe even to some of the places, I know that there is a handful of ships that visited Nunavut and they made 38 stops along the way in Nunavut communities, but I am not aware of how that process works. It goes through the federal border services. The only thing that we do get as a department is a scheduling of the cruise ships visiting Nunavut communities.
I’m going to use an example. There have been some ships that have arrived to Coral Harbour, but they arrive at a later date when the hunters go to places like Walrus Island and Coats Island, where they have plenty of wildlife, when they went walrus hunting, and when the community did not hear about ships coming in.
They have met with the cruise ship and the cruise ship was near the walrus habitat.
Is the minister planning to work with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to make sure that they know where the ships are going to be? These communities have not been given any information about ship schedules.
Can you make sure that each region is notified about these schedules?
I’ll inform my staff to be more vigilant on the scheduling of these cruise ships coming into Nunavut. Again, like I said, we do not really have control on their scheduling.
We will endeavour to make sure that the hamlets are informed beforehand to alleviate some of these hunting parties that are out there, not to alleviate, but to inform them as to when the cruise ships are going to be out there.
Most communities are not aware of which routes they do take throughout the Nunavut waters.
As the member is well aware, two years ago, there was grounding near my hometown of Kugluktuk where, if the community members knew that it was taking that route, they would have warned them that there is a shallow spot there.
We have no control on their routes, but we will endeavour to make sure that the communities and hamlets are well informed about the scheduling.
This has to be reviewed because the communities should know whether there is going to be a cruise ship near their communities. Ever since cruise ships started coming, people have started to notice that they’re bothering part of the wildlife habitats, especially for walrus in the Walrus Island and Coats Island area.
It’s good to be notified, but it is also good to have control and work with the environment and tourism.
Perhaps you could start something to look into this. They have been very close to areas like Qaaluktaat and people have seen them.
These areas are very important to us, and it’s also within Nunavut. Maybe there are other communities that are starting to be concerned about these cruise ships.
You can work with Environment and also with Fisheries and Oceans.
Mr. Speaker, at Economic Development and Transportation, we work in hand with Nunavut Tourism to promote tourism for Nunavut. We encourage more tourism activity here for the benefit of our communities.
Mr. Speaker, tourists come up here to Nunavut to see the exhilarating scenery that we have in Nunavut, not only that, and to observe the wildlife that we have here.
I will direct my officials to have better communication with Nunavut Tourism on the scheduling and timing of some of these sites that are visited by the cruise ships.
Mr. Speaker, the number of cruise ships that go through Nunavut may, in the future, hinder the community harvesters that are out there trying to provide food for their families.
It’s just a matter of better coordinating with Nunavut Tourism and border services out of Canada to make sure that the routes are made known to the communities that are involved in walrus hunting and other marine mammal wildlife harvesting.
Question 763 – 3(3): Status of New Public Housing Rent Scale (Rumbolt)
Mr. Speaker, on January 24 of this year, the minister announced the new public housing rent scale and that changes would come into effect in the fall of this year.
Can the minister provide an update on the status of the new public housing rent scale?
Mr. Speaker, the process of rolling out the new rent scale took a bit of time. The member is well aware that training had to be taken for the new software related to the new rent scale. Managers have been trained throughout Nunavut.
One of the things that’s happening now is we’re still in the process of nailing down the date of when that process is going to kick in throughout Nunavut.
On March 14 of this year, the minister indicated that “the Nunavut Housing Corporation will ensure a smooth transition to the new rent scale that will come into effect in the fall of this year and fit with the established annual rent assessment cycle. This will allow for an appropriate amount of time to inform tenants, update the rent scale software, and to ensure adequate training for local housing organizations and Nunavut Housing Corporation District staff.”
Can the minister explain what issues are preventing the implementation of the new public housing rent scale?
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, there is training taking place for the new rent scale software and the transition in transferring data was deemed inaccurate in some places. So we will have to go back and make sure that there is accurate information being transferred to the new software data. That took a bit of time.
We’re looking at November for what we call “go live” for the new rent scale to take effect throughout Nunavut’s communities.
Speaker: Thanks you, Minister Taptuna.
Question 764 – 3(3): Review and Administration of Aboriginal Custom Adoption Legislation (Curley)
My question is very important and it is for the Minister of Family Services.
Adoption is very important to the Inuit. This has been a concern. In 2011, the Auditor General of Canada provided a report to the Legislative Assembly.
We want to continue, but at some point, there are some adoptions that are not through custom adoptions. It has been said that social services has to check into the homes or these families who are going to adopt and they have to do a careful review.
For that reason, I would like to ask if the minister can clearly tell the House today what actions her department is taking to respond to the Auditor General’s report.
I take the (interpretation ends) question as notice.
Question 765 – 3(3): Public Service Disclosure Requirements (Enook)
In March of 2011, the Premier informed the House on two separate occasions that annual bonus payments for the government’s senior managers had been capped at 4 percent due to fiscal restraint.
Subsequent news reports suggested that deputy ministers were entitled to bonus payments of up to 20 percent.
Can the Premier clarify for the public record whether bonus payments for deputy ministers were capped at 4 percent or 20 percent?
I would like to give you that information, but unfortunately, I don’t have it with me.
I understand that she will inform us when she gets the information.
Each year, an annual report is tabled in the House which outlines the indemnities, allowances, and expenses paid to elected Members of the Legislative Assembly.
This is entirely appropriate.
However, although many Canadian jurisdictions publicly disclose similar information regarding the salaries, allowances, and expenses paid to senior public servants, the Government of Nunavut does not do so.
Will the Premier commit this government to beginning the practice of publicly disclosing this information for the senior public service, yes or no?
For my last question, as the Premier will recall, I have also raised the issue of the public disclosure of assets and interests. All elected Members of the Legislative Assembly are required to file an annual disclosure statement with the Integrity Commissioner concerning their assets and interests.
Will the Premier commit this government to beginning the practice of publicly disclosing similar information for the senior public service, yes or no?
In giving information, especially with expenses, it’s very important and people have to know about these expenses.
Our policies are pretty clear, but there’s nothing written about the senior employees’ salaries being disclosed. For those of us who are elected, we’re able to disclose the information.
We want to have an open government.
Motion 058 – 3(3): Extend Question Period (Enook)
Mr. Enook (interpretation): Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Rule 39(7), I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for South Baffin, that question period be extended.
All those in favour, please raise your hand high. All opposed, please raise your hand high.
The motion has been defeated.
Reply to Opening Address 003 – 3(3): Ms. Monica Ell (Ell)
I am pleased to stand before you and my colleagues to speak to the Commissioner’s Address.
Being a member of the Executive Council gives me a unique perspective in speaking to the Throne Speech.
I fully support the Throne Speech, and I’ve had the privilege of working with my cabinet colleagues and members in this Assembly.
Together, we did our best to fulfill the respective mandates’ virtue of being elected to this Assembly.
It has been just two years since I was elected to the Assembly. I thank all voters in Iqaluit West for their support and advice.
It seems like yesterday since I first stood in this Assembly to represent them.
I celebrate my successes with my constituents and I accept responsibility when I let them down.
Not so long ago, it would take weeks, months, and sometimes years for information to spread across Nunavut. People would send dispatches from England, Montreal, Winnipeg, and elsewhere. Word would spread from place to place by dog team, kayak, and by foot.
It seems not so long ago that airplanes started carrying letters to send messages to settlements.
Well, that’s not the case now.
Just last week, I clicked the little blue button on my Facebook page. Within minutes, I had people from Iqaluit West and all over the place congratulating me for my decision to run in Iqaluit-Manirajak in the upcoming election.
(interpretation) Mr. Speaker, many of our colleagues in the Assembly have already made their minds to either run or not.
It is a very personal decision. The decision to run again or not is huge.
It is because of the support of my family and my constituents in Iqaluit West that I stand before you today.
In my response to the Commissioner’s Address, I want to share with all Members of the Assembly the priorities I believe need to be worked on behalf of residents of Iqaluit-Manirajak in the next Assembly.
(interpretation ends) Iqaluit-Manirajak is a multi-faceted constituency. It captures the diversity that we experience in all corners of Nunavut.
Representing this riding requires knowing the issues and knowing how to move forward given the limited resources that we have.
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of issues that I hear time and again. These issues are what I want to continue to work for my constituents in the next Assembly.