EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Has the Nunavut Housing Corporation researched the issue of faulty fuel tanks, including the possible replacement of a set number of fuel tanks in these communities? Have you already made preparations to ensure that you ship the required replacement fuel tanks for all of Nunavut?
Has this already been completed?
It was only recently that we were made aware of these leaky fuel tanks.
We encourage all other communities who are experiencing the same issues to relay that information directly to us so that we can identify the number of units that require replacement tanks to prepare for the upcoming sealift season and consider the numbers as per the reports.
Mr. Arvaluk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the minister for his response.
We are concerned about some tanks that are quite new which have developed problems.
I wonder whether or not these parts are properly inspected on the quality and workmanship of the parts prior to being shipped to our communities.
Does NHC conduct pre-shipment inspections of the parts that are being shipped to the communities to determine if we’re getting the best quality and the proper parts?
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member for raising that question.
As a government, we try to order brand new parts for every community, irrespective of whether it’s for housing or other departments.
When you buy them new, you automatically assume that they are of good quality workmanship, but we can direct our staff to start inspecting the parts to ensure that there are no issues prior to shipment.
Since this is my final question, albeit I have quite a few more, I would like to ask: will you keep the communities advised and check with them to see how many tanks they require for the upcoming sealift season?
Just as an example, in Pond Inlet, the reason why they noticed the leaky fuel tanks was because the fuel delivery drivers noticed the leaks and reported them to the housing association.
Due to the fact that there are a fairly high number of leaky tanks in just one community, will the Nunavut Housing Corporation commit to checking all their units, especially the ones that have older fuel tanks, to remedy this problem prior to them developing leaks?
We will work closely with the local housing associations in the communities and request some estimates as to how many of their local units may require replacement tanks. We will communicate with each housing association.
Question 545 – 2(4): Conditions at Kugluktuk High School (Evyagotailak)
Mr. Evyagotailak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education.
Earlier this year, I tabled photographs in the Legislative Assembly that revealed problems with the unsafe conditions at the Kugluktuk High School.
I also asked questions to the minister on this issue in February.
As I indicated in my Member’s Statement today, the minister was in Kugluktuk last week and had the opportunity to see these conditions for himself.
Can the minister update me today on the status of the repairs to the Kugluktuk high school?
First of all, I want to thank the member and the people of Kugluktuk for their warm hospitality on the weekend. It was great to see 15 graduates from a small community like Kugluktuk here in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, the member is correct; he did raise the issue with us in the House. We quickly had an opportunity to engage the services of CGS to go in and look at the school itself, to make some evaluations, and then to come back to give us an opportunity to look at costing to have the issues rectified and fixed.
I’m pleased to say, Mr. Speaker, that the major issues in the school will be rectified over the coming months, and indeed, be in place and ready for school opening at the end of the summer break.
Our school is probably over 40 years old today. It was built some time in the early 60s and it’s quite old. Can the minister indicate if his department is considering building a new school in Kugluktuk?
One of the things that we have been trying to do, as a government, since 1999 has been very aggressive on replacement, and indeed, major renovations to our entire capital infrastructure, including schools, health centres, and so on, a lot of that work has occurred.
I guess the biggest difficulty we’re facing now as a government, and not just this government but across Canada, when we look at capital projects, the amounts that we have estimated for budgets to proceed with a project has increased by 20, or 30, or indeed 40 percent. We have several schools in Nunavut that need substantial repairs and renovations, and indeed, we have several new schools on the planning. Recently, we have talked about Qikiqtarjuaq in the House, and indeed, Sanikiluaq, that’s two examples.
What we would like to be able to do in the issue of Kugluktuk is perform the necessary work on the school, as we said, by the end of this school year, and then do a technical evaluation of the school to see what the growth forecast for population is in the community, what the demographic breakdown for student enrolment will be, and then from that, include that in our database for how we ascertain if a new school, or indeed, a major renovation would be called for.
Question 546 – 2(4): Fuel Spill in Iqaluit’s Down Town Core (Tootoo)
The question I would like to direct is something along the lines of my colleague on oil, but I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for oil spills and I believe it’s the Minister of Environment.
Mr. Speaker, I know the spring is in the air, the land and everything smells wonderful, but just before the long weekend, here in Iqaluit, if you walk by the post office or downtown, it wasn’t the smell of spring that was in the air, it was fuel.
So I’m just wondering if the minister could provide an update as to what the process or what went on in regard to the fuel spill that happened downtown here in Iqaluit.
Our staff have been looking into the oil spill situation as required for all clean-up procedures as we are the environmental monitors.
We also check with the city to ensure that they have the proper resources to do the clean-up that is required. We are more in the supporting role here in the City of Iqaluit and we monitor the process to make sure that it’s cleaned up properly.
I’m a little confused as the minister said to make sure the city cleans up.
I believe that was a government facility, so hopefully it’s the government responsible for the clean-up and not the city as the minister had indicated.
Mr. Speaker, my next question, I know the fuel spills are, I think in the last couple of years, due to rusted out oil tanks and it’s something that happens quite regularly.
If there is a spill, is there a requirement for it to be reported to the department?
The government is to be notified by our conservation officers since the conservation officers have to be involved in the clean-up process.
Can the minister confirm or deny reports that there was also another fuel spill at another government facility at the end of Federal Road? I think it was the Young Offenders facility, was that fuel spill reported to the department?
I haven’t received anything from my department.
If my department and my staff are watching this, I could have information on that area and I’ll get back to the member as soon as possible.
My question to the minister is: when those fuel spills are reported to the department, are all the particulars like things like what was the cause of the spill and how much fuel was involved in the leak, if that information is provided in a report to or by the department, if you would get that information and share it with us as well.
Question 547 – 2(4): New School for Sanikiluaq (Kattuk)
During the winter session, I posed questions to the Education Minister on more than one occasion with respect to schools.
I’ll make it as brief as possible, especially if I get a direct response from the minister.
I did some research on the computer and am still looking into the matter, but I have not received any information to date in regard to the new school proposed to be built this fall in the community of Sanikiluaq.
I guess the good news is that the school has been announced and re-emphasized in the financial addresses during our budget debate earlier. I believe there will be information coming forward in one of the sups on the funding arrangements for some of those projects.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I can confirm to the member that the project is moving forward.
As I indicated in the House at our last session, we would hope to be in a position to do the site work and so on this year and the construction to begin in earnest in the spring in about eight or nine months time.
Mr. Kattuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister.
However, the minister knows that the school had to be closed on several occasions and he knows the reasons for those closures as well.
The minister stated that they will start the project in the spring, but won’t the construction start this fall after the materials have been shipped up? From what I know, the site work and the design have been completed. I don’t see any reason why the project has to be delayed, assuming that everything else is completed.
Can the minister inform me so that I can understand why they are delaying construction until the spring when they should start as early as this fall? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I said earlier, the actual dates that have been provided to me for the project is April 1, 2008 in the new fiscal year, which is now we’re in, to September of 2010, so we’re looking at a two-year construction project.
Now, that’s pretty fast for a school.
As we know, if we start a project, Mr. Speaker, in the fall and for whatever reason, we’re not in a position where we can close in the building and not get heat in it, and so on, then we would cause damage to the building itself and that’s something the government decided not to do many years ago.
I’m trying to be optimistic in this case. I’m suggesting to the member that we would be able to have most of the major site work, hopefully probably the foundation work, all that stuff completed this coming fall.
That would put us to the spring of 2009 when real construction will begin. That’s the walls, the finish work, and so on and so forth, and that would bring us into early spring of 2010 to have the project completed, have the shakedown on the building, and so on.
So I think that’s a pretty good construction timeframe.
I know the member would like to see everything come in on the first ship as soon as possible and then put everything up, but there’s a lot of logistic as well as administrative work that needs to be done to facilitate that. So that may still occur but for confidence in the House, I’m suggesting to the member that major site work will occur this coming summer, and indeed, we will have an opportunity to look at the site in a couple of weeks when I’m in Sanikiluaq before the summer construction season.
Can the minister tell me whether it will have metal foundations or pilings?
Will the metal pilings be arriving this summer by sealift?
In conversation with our project people over the last few weeks and indeed, previously, because the member has continued to raise the issue of the school, and I want to suggest that he has been a very strong advocate for the community and the school in particular.
I don’t have the spec sheets telling me what the foundations of the school would be, whether it would be slab on grade, or indeed, would it be a pile foundation, or another alternate.
What I would suggest to the member is that there has to be some site work done and as I suggested earlier, that work could be performed this coming summer.
Whether we get to the point where the piles would be put in, if that’s when the foundation would occur, and so on, that’s something that we will be able to look at in the coming weeks.
Many things are contingent. If we’re having a bad ice situation, for example, and the ship is delayed, then we won’t get the material in and that could cause some problems.
So that’s why I’m trying to allow some levity here on the issue itself so that we’re not in the House being committed to a timeframe that we’re not able to carry out.
I can assure the member that site work, where possible, will continue and will happen this summer, and indeed, it’s my understanding that the material should arrive some time on the ship this year.
Mr. Kattuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the minister saying that the company contracted out to build the foundation work will be a company from the community of Sanikiluaq, or will the company hire the people from the community to conduct the site work?
With the Department of Education, over the last couple of years, we have been very fortunate to be able to access some real strong local labour in Sanikiluaq, and indeed, through the auspices of Mr. Jamieson in the school there, the students actually built the day care and did some other major projects.
So I would suggest that any type of work that we’re doing in Sanikiluaq on behalf of the government, we would want to use and access as much local labour where possible, and indeed, where we have skilled and trained workforce, like we have in Sanikiluaq, then I would suspect that we would optimize that opportunity.
Question 548 – 2(4): Monitoring and Enforcement of the NNI Policy (Curley)
I will be asking my question in English. (interpretation ends) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My questions are for the Minister of Department of Economic Development, whose department is responsible for the NNI Secretariat.
Mr. Speaker, the NNI Policy requires that, “monitoring and enforcement procedures shall be developed and applied to ensure compliance with the policy by contractors.”
Can the minister indicate to the House today how many GN departments respond to concerns that companies are not complying with the NNI Policy and explain exactly how investigations are conducted?
The member is correct in saying that the monitoring, enforcement, and compliance within the policy is within the contractor’s responsibility.
We just provide the technical advice to the contracting authorities.
To date, I don’t believe that I have seen any requests from any department to conduct any investigations on the NNI Policy.
The NNI Policy states that “Each Contract Authority within the Government of Nunavut is responsible for monitoring and enforcement of Contracts under which it expend funds.”
Can the minister indicate exactly how the government monitors the level of Inuit labour content with respect to its service contracts, such as contracts for janitorial and custodial services in government buildings and facilities in Nunavut?
I do not know who has the contract in terms of the janitorial services across Nunavut, but I could find out and see who is responsible for that aspect of the contracts and see if they are complying with the NNI Policy.
I think that information is very crucial and important.
My next questions is: the GN’s most recent annual report on contracting activity indicates that around $31,000 in penalties were expected to be levied in 2006-07.
I believe, Mr. Speaker, that if some companies think that the NNI Policy is toothless, they will try to get away with not fulfilling their Inuit labour content requirements.
Can the minister indicate to the House whether any companies have been investigated and penalized in the last year for failure to fulfill their Inuit labour content requirements?
I am in full support of the NNI Policy because it provides employment to Inuit.
However, I haven’t been briefed on which contracting companies have been investigated for breaching of the NNI Policy, but I can commit to finding that out.
It’s very important that we have that information because the only way that we can demonstrate how many Inuit are working is through the contract provided and managed by this government.
Mr. Speaker, my last question is: every single jurisdiction in Canada gives preference to Canadian citizens, including provinces, and landed immigrants who have the legal right to live and work in this country, including Nunavut.
Can the minister indicate to the House how the government ensures that the workers who are hired by private companies with GN contracts are legally entitled to work in Canada and in this case, in Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, will the minister table that information exactly how many landed immigrants are working under our current contracts to the House if he can find out?
I cannot commit to tabling any kind of report like that, but I can certainly find out how many contractors have hired immigrants from other countries. That should be available.
Question 549 – 2(4): Life Cycle of Fuel Tanks (Tootoo)
I would like to follow-up with some more questions to the Minister of Environment.
Mr. Speaker, when a fuel spill is reported to the department, as he indicated, it’s the department response where they go down and check it out, but is the minister aware if there are investigations done to determine the cause of the leak?
I understand and I know at least one case here it was because the tank rusted out.
Do they look at how old the tank is and did it outlive the time? I know when tanks are purchased, they usually estimate a life cycle for them before they need to be replace, but is that one of the things that they look at in determining what the cause was?
The Department of Environment does the investigations on all fuel leaks and our officials are available to assist in checking the fuel tank to determine the life cycle, as well as to ensure that there are no environmental hazards outside of the units as a result of leaky tanks.
Can the minister inform me if he’s aware if the two fuel spills that I mentioned - the one downtown here next to the post office at the Arctic College facility and the one at the Young Offenders - were as a result of the tanks rusting through or corrosion?
CGS did the clean-up at the Young Offenders facility. They cleaned up the leaky oil tank with the help of Department of Environment officials.
They have completed an incident report and I will be able to table that as to what caused the leak and what the cost was for the clean-up.
As more information is processed in regards to those incidents, I will update the House as I receive them.
I believe in the last month or so, the Department of Environment sent out to everyone, we got a nice pamphlet and a letter saying what to look for and how to check your oil tank to make sure that you don’t run into this problem.
Given that, I’ll maybe ask the minister if he sent that information out to the public, what has his department done to ensure that the government’s own facilities and oil tanks are being adequately looked at to ensure that they don’t run into the same problem that we have seemed to run into twice here in Iqaluit in the last little while?
We will advise our staff, but we have provided direction previously because it’s very important that we prevent all oil spills into our environment.
We know that the staff will undertake all that is necessary to complete the work, especially in regard to older facilities.
We will work with CGS to complete a review of our government facilities to ensure that we are prepared for any future problems.
I know, as the Minister of Education indicated, when they prioritize things, they look at what the expected life cycle is for buildings, and we have heard that over and over again.
Is the minister aware if there are any life cycle dates or times for things like oil tanks? Are they expected to last for 10, 15, 20 years?
Is that something that the department has looked at in coordinating with the Department of CGS to ensure that there is some type of plan in place if an oil tank is nearing the end of its expected life cycle that they look at replacing them?
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): Thank you. The Department of Community and Government Services is responsible for that and we will work closely with them to make sure that we abide by the policies for all Government of Nunavut buildings.
Question 550 – 2(4): Resignation of the President of the Qulliit Status of Women Council (Peterson)
My question is for the Minister responsible for Qulliit Status of Women Council.
Mr. Speaker, the recent resignation of the former president raises some interesting questions. There are many Government of Nunavut public servants or employees of Government of Nunavut affiliates who sit on hamlet councils, district education authorities, regional Inuit associations, and other organizations who have sometimes spoken out about Government of Nunavut policies and decisions.
We don’t hear very often, or at least I haven’t heard, about any of those employees resigning over potential conflict of interest with Government of Nunavut policies and issues.
My question for the minister: can the minister indicate to the House why the former Qulliit Status of Women Council President was singled out with special attention by the Government of Nunavut when, in fact, the former Qulliit Status of Women Council President has never criticized the Government of Nunavut about women’s issues?
Minister responsible for the Status of Women Council, Minister Aglukkaq.
I’m not aware of the ‘why’.
I’m not aware of why, in HR, that was done, so I have to get the information as to the reasons behind that and respond.
It reminds me of a time when I went to Burma nine years ago and I was told by the Burmese Embassy in Ottawa not to criticize the government when I was in Burma, otherwise I would end up in jail.
It’s important that people be allowed to criticize the government and speak up about government issues, even if they are government employees on boards, I believe.
My question for the minister: would the minister explain to the House what process the Government of Nunavut uses to screen and select strong candidates to sit on advisory councils, like the Qulliit Status of Women Council, and possibly even serve as president chair to advocate for women’s issues?
Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Minister Aglukkaq.
The process that is in place, and that’s per for the legislation for Qulliit Status of Women Council, allows this government to appoint individuals to the advocacy group as outlined in the legislation.
The process that I have tried to introduce in appointing members to the Qulliit Status of Women Council, first of all, is to do public advertisements through the newspapers, seek the Members of this House to nominate individuals that they think can speak up on issues of importance to women’s equality and issues that are a challenge in Nunavut for women.
That information comes to the department.
Plus, individuals can nominate themselves to be considered. At the same, I have also consulted with mayors in the communities for input and individuals themselves. It could be public servants or not who could put their names forward.
That information is consolidated within the Women’s Secretariat within the Department of Health and recommendations are put forward to Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister. (interpretation ends) Your second supplementary, Mr. Peterson.
Can the minister tell the House if there were any objections or concerns raised by her Cabinet colleagues when she recommended the former president to be appointed to the Qulliit Status of Women Council as president?
Minister of Health and Social Services and Minister responsible for the Status of Women Council, Minister Aglukkaq.
All the recommendations go forward for Cabinet consideration.
The deliberations in those discussions are private, but at the end of the day, the names appointed for the Qulliit Status of Women were announced through the press release the members refer to.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the minister for that confirmation.
Mr. Speaker, the resignation of the former President of the Qulliit Status of Women raises an interesting dilemma.
The acting president is now a Government of Nunavut employee, as I read in the media monitor this morning.
This lady is a teacher employed by the government, but it’s not clear whether or not she herself is in a conflict of interest.