EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Could he provide them to the regular members so that we will have an idea what I am talking about.
Hon. Kelvin Ng: Mr. Speaker, I would be glad to Mr. Speaker.
As I indicated the Arviat Health Centre as we know, an agreement was signed off for a build-lease with the Arviat Development Corporation.
So that one is currently under way in respect to the construction.
The three health facilities there has been as the members know, an agreement made with the birthright development corporations as the principal owners in the three regions.
They are undertaking some work now to move the progress of those projects along and trying to clarify some of those needs to allow it to get to the stage where we could possibly look at a lease agreement to allow them to proceed with construction.
On the final one the Arctic College residence for Cambridge Bay, there is a proposal right now to go back out for a public proposal call, with the possibility of a public-private partnership as one of the options for financing versus a regular build-lease.
So that is basically the status of those five projects.
Speaker: Thank you Mr. Ng. Oral Question.
Question 432 - 1(2): Gjoa Haven Soapstone Quarry
Although I have raised this issue previously in Uqsuqtuq where they do the soapstone quarrying, I wrote a letter about that and also I have sent a copy to the Kitikmeot head office but still to date I have not received any response.
Since this is very important to my constituency, both of my communities, the other one is a little bit larger than the other one, but they are medium sized communities.
There are no job opportunities and they are very dependent on the carving income.
This is very important to them.
For that reason the soapstone is about 87 miles from the community and the soapstone in the past we could access them but since then the soapstone is not accessibly any more because we have been mining it quite a bit.
I was wondering where the Department of Sustainable Development's position is in regards to the Gjoa Haven and Pelly Bay soapstone mine.
Yes in regards to his question as to where our position is in our department.
It has already been sent to the Kitikmeot headquarters. I cannot tell you the status with the Kitikmeot headquarters, but what I could tell my colleagues today, when they give us their applications we are given a certain number of days to reply.
However, if we have gone over the term or if there is any problem he could notify us.
My question is not new.
It has been three months or more, or four months since I have last asked it.
I do not have the date written down.
We have given you ample time to respond to this issue.
We were in Cambridge Bay last January when the regular members went for an orientation workshop and at that time the Kitikmeot representative for the Department of Sustainable Development I think he wanted to speak to this issue because I have written a letter about this last January.
I did not hear a question, it was more like a comment.
Speaker: Please clarify Mr. Puqiqnak.
Mr. Puqiqnak (interpretation): I think it was during the summer time that we received assistance from the Government once. So they collected the soapstone so that they could pick it up during the wintertime.
There is no more soapstone available, it has been two years or three years since we last went to pick up the soapstone. We have been requesting that from the Department of Sustainable Development for Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak. We have been requesting funding and we expect to get that funding from Sustainable Development.
Thank you Mr. Speaker.  Speaker: Thank you Mr. Puqiqnak.
Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yes Mr. Speaker.
I will take your question as notice. I will find out where the application is at now.
I also want to clarify that the funding that is given as contributions or grants none of them has been identified which pot of money could be used for soapstone quarrying.
But if the community can apply and if there is no more soapstone, I am sure that it will be slower to get in the money.
So I will take your question as notice.
Question taken as notice.
Before we go to the next member I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Terry Fox class and teacher Nick Newberry on behalf of the Assembly and Mr. Picco.
Question 433 - 1(3): Workers’ Compensation Board Jurisdiction
Uqaqti my question today is to the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board.
Uqaqti it distresses me when I pick up the newspaper and find out that some Safety Officer in another part of the Territory or a different Territory sees something happening in Nunavut and then moves forward to enforce the rules.
I sit back and reflect on how it must be nice to live in another Territory and enforce the rules in our Territory.
Sitting back and reflecting on that I say to myself you know we pay for the Workers' Compensation Board through employers' portions and what do we get back.
My question today to the Minister responsible of the Workers' Compensation Board, how many employees do we have in Nunavut and are we getting our fair share of them.
Mr. Speaker it is my understanding that the Workers' Compensation Board has ten employees based in Nunavut.
Five based in Iqaluit and five based in Rankin Inlet.
There are Safety Officers in both those offices of the Workers Compensation Board.
In respect to the second question Mr. Speaker, whether we are getting our fair share, I mean that is a very subjective question.
I think given that it is not a government department as the member recognises, and is an independent board and operates on behalf of employers and employees.
Uqaqti we have ten employees and I know for a fact Uqaqti, there are probably a hundred employees working in the office in Yellowknife.
Give or take ten.
I know the employers pay the salaries of these employees and we are a new territory.
Could the minister to commit to have talks with his fellow counterparts in the Western Territory and see if we can move more jobs to Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I can commit to try to address the issue through our Board representation on the Board of Directors for the Workers' Compensation Board.
I think it is important to recognise the Honourable Member has a valid concern and this issue has been raised in the past, as I have indicated in the past to try and develop some kind of consultative process to hear from the public at large and particularly from the new employers and the employees that are impacted by Workers' Compensation Board operations in Nunavut.
They are the ones that will have the most impact in any kind of change in the structure and the delivery of the Workers' Compensation Board services.
It is important to recognise and take those views into consideration as we try to make any types of changes in the delivery of these programs.
Question 434 - 1(3): Government Suicide Prevention Programs
Yesterday I had a question directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services and although he responded, he did not give me a concrete response concerning suicides.
I wonder if this government through the Department of Health and Social Services deal with suicide attempts on a daily basis.
Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday the Department of Health and Social Services here in Iqaluit, the headquarters as well Mr. Speaker, the member knows and other members know that across Nunavut everyday experiences are different with social and health issues.
Indeed Mr. Speaker, the most dramatic and traumatic is the area around suicide.
As I tried to explain to the member yesterday, the Government of Nunavut in this health budget is bringing forward a major proposal for Mental Health and suicide. After saying that Mr. Speaker, each community we have asked them to set up a health committee at the community level to deal with the problem, with the issue of suicide.
Mr. Speaker as I said yesterday, the Government of Nunavut has no magic solution to suicide and the problem we are dealing with here in Nunavut is not unique.
We are seeing the same thing develop in other jurisdiction including Labrador, Northwest Territories and indeed in Northern Quebec Mr. Speaker.
So there are concrete proposals within the budget.
The department is doing concrete things now.
Our CHRs and social workers, our nurses are all dealing with the issues surrounding suicide every day.
Just for an example in Clyde River the school is very old now and throughout the natural changes of things if something gets old or does not work properly then what you have to do is intervene and make changes.
So it is the same way with human lives.
When problems start occurring then there should be immediate intervention.
Speaker: Mr. Picco, I do not hear a question but if you want to respond.
Mr. Speaker, Clyde River for example we ran the suicide training workshop there in the first week in March.
It was well attended.
I know what the member is saying instead of waiting for someone to commit suicide, we should do intervention before hand. Mr. Speaker, that is happening.
In this House a few weeks ago the Crisis Line that we set up with volunteers, operating for the 7th or 8th year, 47 people man the lines on a regular basis.
Our own Mr. Anawak is one of those volunteers.
That is in place.
That is one of the intervention issues we have in place Mr. Speaker.
But there is no magic solution.
Everyone who commits suicide Mr. Speaker, does not do it for one reason.
There is a multitude of reasons.
What I have tried to say in this House Mr. Speaker, and what the Nunavut Government is trying to do Mr. Speaker, is what the professionals in the field and the social workers who are coming from our communities and leaders and mayors have been telling us. We have to work together co-operatively and make sure that we deal with suicides proactively.
There is a lot of work going on Mr. Speaker, in intervention. Many times we do not hear about the cases Mr. Speaker, like the crisis line they intervene if someone does not have a successful suicide.
There are many cases of those Mr. Speaker.
I think Mr. Speaker as we get the chance to get into the budget hopefully we will do that today.
The Health Department budget.
The members will have a chance to help me Mr. Speaker, and help the Government of Nunavut.
To be able to deal in a proactive way with the issue of suicide.
It is not an easy subject to deal with.
I think Mr. Speaker, some of the things we are doing here in Nunavut other jurisdictions are looking at.
Some of the success we have had here.
We know for example in Kugluktuk the success we had a couple of weeks ago the workshop there I think that is a good model.
The proactive work that the community of Sanikiluaq has done Mr. Speaker, Coral Harbour, many of our communities Mr. Speaker, have worked as communities at the ground level to deal with suicide.
There is probably no family in this House today here in Nunavut has not been touched at a very personal way by the issue of suicide.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Nunavut and myself as Minister of Health and Social Services take the issue very seriously.
I need the members' help.
I need the help of this House.
I need the help of the people of Nunavut to make sure that we work together to deal with this and bring solutions forward.
Question 435 - 1(3): Schools Without Gymnasiums
Just to obtain further clarification on my prior question about the number of communities that do not have gymnasiums.
How many schools are there without gymnasiums.
Speaker: Minister of Education.
So if the member wishes to put forth another question. Mr. Iqaqrialu.
Question 436 - 1(3): Gymnasiums for Smaller Communities
Mr. Speaker, further to the schools in Nunavut.
There was a discussion whereby there is a requirement for certain classroom enrolment numbers in order to justify gymnasiums in the schools.
I know he took this as notice but I just wanted to find out from him whether the smaller communities that have no gyms are being overridden because of their classroom numbers being different from bigger communities.
I was just wondering if he based his decision on the numbers.
Speaker: Minister Arvaluk.
I do not think the member understood that there are gyms in all the schools but some of them are not called actual gyms.
You have space about the size of this building here and the smaller communities use those.
For example, I cannot pinpoint the community but we have seen buildings in the communities where they have like recreation rooms.
You cannot play basketball but you can still do your exercise programs within those buildings.
There are more provided for physical education and they do not include basketballs and other equipment.
Question 437 - 1(3): New School for Pond Inlet
My question is for the Minister of Education as well.
In Pond Inlet last winter part of the school was closed down and immediately there was a classroom shortage.
Anyway part of the school closed down temporarily and we needed classroom space right away.
We were told at the time it would be better to have a new school there.
The gym we included for the older kids they were told that they could extend the gym side in 1999.
Then the elementary school was supposed to be in the planning stages as well for the fiscal year 2000.
So why is it that these capital project budgets have been already set aside and this is not considered an urgent matter considering that the school was closed.
Why is this not included in the capital projects.
Was it decided other wise.
No we did not give up on that but the school was closed in Pond Inlet because of the health standards and it has asbestos in the insulation.
This was a health hazard and there was also some dangerous liquid that was underneath the building.
So they are to be cleaned up this summer but at this time we are trying to find out through the Health and Labour Standards which way we can clean up in the safest manner.
We have to demolish it because the asbestos must not been blown around anywhere near human habitations.
I think he understands as a member of this Legislature that there are poisons and toxins that are invisible especially with asbestos materials and so this is very dangerous.
We do not know exactly what kind of asbestos this is.
We want to review the contents and we want to look at the best way we can demolish the building first.
So that would be the best first step for our plan.
In our planning stages.
I asked the Minister of Education why the school had been closed and he would have answered me properly but we had no other class spaces.
Why did they not prepare for this under the capital budget.
That was my question too.
I hope that he can respond properly this time.
Last winter I asked him three questions regarding the Pond Inlet school.
I asked the three questions to the Minister of Education.
I asked him about his review process.
Is it better if we do things like this.
What do you want to do.
These were the things discussed concerning the closing of the school and he was given information.
On November 30, 1999, he was given information concerning those schools.
Why are they not included in the capital projects under the budget.
Hopefully he will understand me this time.
Mr. Speaker, my first response I thought he would understand it right away.
The money set aside for ordering supplies and for getting the supplies for the closure of the school, is he saying why are they not in the books.
Maybe I should just tell him straightforward that the school was closed.
That school has to be demolished and it has to be rendered not useful.
It is right next door to the elementary school and if we want to build a school we will have to use that lot and that is what I was trying to say.
First we have to demolish the building.
Once it has been demolished then we have to find adequate space and lots.
Talk with architectural designers and other experts.
They will have to do their study as to the whereabouts or the location of the school.
Why are these not under the capital projects.
Actually, they are in the capital projects, but they are only allocated funding for just the planning stages for this year.
There will be a review, there will be a demolition.
The base will be built and construction can not all resume in one fiscal year.
Supplementary, Mr. Nutarak.
On November 30, I gave him a question.
The committee said to us in a letter dated November 30 these were the plans for older kids.
The gym was built too small and it was recommended that it be extended or enlarged and then when the school was closed there was not enough space.
So it was also recommended that they make an extension to the elementary school.
There was a letter to that effect.
Mr. Minister did not respond to the school question.
So I was trying to find out what the specific plans are for the school.
Once we get to the budget we can discuss this during committee of the whole.
If I can have their approval, we can open the books for the capital projects to see if they will approve those plans for 1.5 million that is allocated for that.
If they do not approve then so be it. That will be the case.
Question 438 - 1(3): Status of Polaris Mine
I represent two mines and the lifetime on the other mine, the Polaris mine, was due to end on 2000-2001 due to the ore is in the direction of the proposed boundary the Federal Government put on the proposed park.
Can the Minister of Sustainable Development update me on the status of the Polaris mine.
In regards to the question of the Polaris mine.
Perhaps it would probably run for another three years perhaps maybe four at the most.
However, as for the other question he asked I do not have the answer in front of me.
So I would have to take that as notice.
Question 439 - 1(3): Commercial Licence for Clam Divers
I am not sure which minister I should direct this question to.
Perhaps the Minister responsible for Human Resources.
It is in regards to the clam divers.
I am very concerned about those workers and I would like to assist them as much as I can because they have to have a commercial licence.
Are we going to have another government dictate what our people are supposed to be doing.
I am not sure exactly which Minister is going to respond.
Maybe perhaps the Premier could respond to my question.
Mr. Speaker I did not quite catch the question.
Maybe if I can ask the Honourable Member to repeat it for me.
Are we going to have people outside our Nunavut Government, say for instance from Yellowknife I think, are we going to have some people come to our community to Qikiqtarjuaq telling our people that they cannot do any clam diving.
Are we going to have some people from outside of Nunavut come to tell us what we are suppose to do Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Workers' Compensation Board staff would have been staff based either in Iqaluit or Rankin Inlet in the situation of the Qikiqtarjuaq clam divers. Therefore, the jurisdiction that they have is within our territory.
The Territory of Nunavut.
So that would not have necessarily been outside of Nunavut in respect to the issuing of stop work orders Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Supplementary. Mr. Iqaqrialu.
Ever since we started our Nunavut Government, we have not dealt with the law concerning the clam divers.
I wonder if the Nunavut Government started legislation whereby it takes care of our workers, it takes care of the people that are doing some commercial clam diving.
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that commercial diving in Nunavut is covered right now under our Nunavut Safety Act.
If there were to be changes they would have to be of course with some consultations and always keeping in mind the workers' safety aspect of any profession or anybody that works within our jurisdiction.
Because we would have an obligation to make sure the laws apply.
That they would follow generally accepted health and safety standards for any profession.
Yes I understand the minister's response but I do not think we are going to keep following the legislation that is not made in Nunavut.
As a Nunavut Government I think it is up to the government to start up legislation to care for our own people.
Speaker: Oral Questions Mr. Akesuk.
Question 440 - 1(3): Empowerment Review
This is an issue I have brought up before and it is an issue for all Nunavut mayors.
I would like to ask a question to the Minister of Community Government about Empowerment through a legislative document that was dealt with in 1999.
The minister had said that he would be reviewing this matter again.
All the mayors have gone through this exercise already so my question is will the mayors be consulted along with their staff when this re-review occurs.
I had stated at that time that this work was done before Nunavut went out on its own.
Perhaps that there are sections of it that we don’t agree with, as you know our Nunavut MLA’s were a minority in the NWT and had to concede to some of the NWT’s needs.
Now that we have Nunavut we are changing things to suit our needs.
We are meeting the mayors and staff through the Nunavut Association of Municipalities in May and we will consult with them then.
These recommendations have not been implemented yet and if we made some minor amendments, would you start implementing them then.
Hon. Jack Anawak (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Speaker, if communities want to take on more responsibility from the Nunavut Government and if it is clear that they are capable of taking on these responsibilities as the Nunavut Government we are just waiting for that.
Our Department of Community Government & Transportation is willing to start negotiations with the communities.
We are not going to push the communities to take on the responsibilities.
Question 441 - 1(3): Igloolik Language Specialist
I am going to direct my question to the Premier.
In regards to the Igloolik Language Specialist that have now been moved to Igloolik and the headquarters is in Cambridge Bay.
Why do we have the headquarters in Cambridge Bay when the staff is situated in Igloolik.
Regarding the language specialists, when we were dealing with the details of decentralization we held meetings and decided that the language specialists would go to Cambridge Bay and the headquarters would be in Kugluktuk.
We had tried to keep everything together so that they would not be segregated.
Mr. Irqittuq (interpretation): Oh I didn't realize that it was in Kugluktuk as I thought it was in Cambridge Bay.
When the headquarters is in Kugluktuk doesn't that create a problem with the staff in Igloolik.
It's going to be okay that the positions have been identified moving to Igloolik as they will be more geared to Heritage Centre in Igloolik and the language part of it will be in Kugluktuk.
Question 442 - 1(3): Soapstone Quarries
Uqaqti my question today is directed to the Minister of Sustainable Development regarding soapstone.
I agree with my colleague across the House here from Gjoa Haven that our economy in a lot of communities depends on soapstone and how easy it is to access it directly benefits traditional economy which is very important in my community also.
Is the Minister responsible working on a policy or formula to help those communities that have a problem obtaining a good supply of soapstone.
As a matter of fact yes and we are also working very closely with the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association, which receives some funding from our department.
This Association is capable of attracting more money from outside sources which the government itself is not capable of and the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association is another source that can be approached for community initiatives which at this time where funds may not be available directly from our department.
Can the Minister tell me when he expects to see the policy or group or this organization come forward so our community who has a severe shortage of soapstone at this point can start working towards being more self-sufficient in the retrieval of soapstone.
Later next month we have set aside dates where we will be following up on the forum on the economy.
This is where mayors will be assisting us in directing funds or money to priorities and I'm very confident that with the concerns and issues that have been brought to our department the arts and crafts sector will be getting some recognition.
Mr. McLean: Mr. Speaker, again it's a good answer.