EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Over the weekend I heard about a single mother of three whose Government of Nunavut rent is close to $2,000 a month. She is very concerned that she will soon not be able to provide for her family. In fact it appears that the Government of Nunavut is forcing her into poverty because she is unable to save and could barely make ends meet for her family.
My question for the minister: can the minister tell the House what counselling assistance is available from the Department of Housing Corporation to assist Government of Nunavut tenants’ budget their finances so they can continue to pay the increase in rents?
This is dependent upon their income levels, since we use a rental scale between 22 up to 30 percent of their income for accommodations.
The employees who are currently experiencing hardship can request assistance from our government and they can fill out a form for our homeownership grants, and they can list their dependents and income levels.
We have tried to deal with this matter in the most effective manner; however, we also know that we may require further improvements in our future so that we support our employees to make sure that they are happy with their environment.
It’s no secret that the cost of living in Nunavut is quite high compared to most Canadians. It’s two to three times the cost of living in southern cities, such as Edmonton or Winnipeg.
Food up here is expensive, clothing is expensive, and fuel is expensive. We have all these huge expenses and monthly bills that tenants and other Nunavummiut have to pay.
My question for the minister: can he inform the House what options are available to Government of Nunavut employees who cannot continue to pay their increasing rent because they have these other expenses to make, such as food and clothing for their families?
In regard to the cost of living, I doubt if there would be a decrease in the cost of living, and we will review this matter with the cost of living going up in Nunavut.
In regard to mortgages and borrowing money for home ownership, it is obvious that once that report is done, we can review the report and its recommendations, especially for those people who cannot afford the monthly costs of owning a home.
I think this applies to all Nunavummiut and not only to the Nunavut Government employees.
We will see how we can provide more assistance for our employees in the near future.
Question 226 – 2(4): Photo Identification Card (Arreak)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister who was responsible for the requirement to have photo I.D.s to travel nationally. I believe that it is addressed to the Minister of Transportation.
The minister stated that all Nunavummiut will now be required to have photo I.D. to travel outside of Nunavut if they are older than 12 years.
We have also heard that the photographing equipment is now available in the communities, but apparently we have nobody to operate the equipment.
The nurses and CHR have a number of concerns about this requirement in my riding, since they have to send out patients.
This is in regard to the operation of the photo I.D. equipment and whether there will be training in the communities or will there be a roving photographer?
The new equipment that we mentioned here in the House is not going to be used for the photo I.D. pictures.
Rather, we will be using the equipment currently in the communities for taking photographs for I.D. purposes, and also for the Motor Vehicles licences.
Currently, we already have employees already trained in the use of these cameras and they use this equipment for taking photos for drivers’ licences or general identification I.D. cards.
The older camera equipment will be used for this purpose.
The people of Clyde River are unaware of this matter and they think that the new equipment has to be used for this, and we were informed that this would become effective on June 18, 2007, which is less than a week away.
For those individuals who are trying to get drivers’ licences or for general identification purposes, we have to wait quite a number of weeks in order to get those documentation to the communities, especially if you are not going to travel to Iqaluit.
With the date less than a week away, what other support can you provide to the smaller communities?
Each of the municipalities or the hamlet councils were going to be informed by our department on what they should do in order to provide those photo I.D.s, including the most efficient manner and these are people who already provided these services.
We have talked to all the hamlet councils.
Members, looking at the clock we’ll take a brief break for 30 minutes, and we will resume the Orders of the Day after the break.
>>House recessed at 15:03 and resumed at 15:46
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Members, for returning.
Tabled Document 103 – 2(4): Auditor General’s Report on Financial Assistance for Nunavut Students Program – Department of Education (2007) (Speaker)
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Members. (interpretation ends) I wish to table today the 2007 Report of the Auditor General to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on Financial Assistance for Nunavut Students Program.
(interpretation) Item 13. (interpretation ends) Tabling of Documents. (interpretation) Member for Iqaluit Centre, Mr. Tootoo.
Tabled Document 104 – 2(4): KBDC Loan - Report of Trustee on Bankrupt’s Application for Discharge (Subsection 170(1) of the Act) (Tootoo)
I wish to table today a page out of a copy out of a document that has been recently been filed in relation to a bankruptcy matter before the courts.
The document indicates that KBDC opposes the application for discharge that has been made by an Iqaluit resident and I wish to draw the members’ attention to a section that is utterly outrageous.
This section clearly indicates the KBDC is opposing the individual’s application because of legitimate questions that have been asked in this House about how KBDC uses the public money it receives.
It is outrageous that KBDC is using its discomfort with my questions as a weapon in its dispute with a resident of Nunavut.
The message should worry every single Member of this House and every member of the public.
If you ask questions about this organization, you or those you represent will suffer.
Mr. Speaker, this issue is far from over and I will be sending correspondence to the minister on this matter.
Item 13. (interpretation ends) Tabling of Documents. (interpretation) Minister for Health and Social Services, Minister Aglukkaq.
Tabled Document 105 – 2(4): Tapiriiliutivaa Bringing Help: A Handbook for People with Disabilities in Nunavut (Aglukkaq)
Tabled Document 106 – 2(4): General Practice of Physicians in Nunavut (web page http://nunavut-physicians) (Aglukkaq)
Tabled Document 107 – 2(4): Inuit Wellness Programs in Nunavut 2005-2006 (Aglukkaq)
I would like to table the booklet, ‘Bringing Help: A Handbook for People with Disabilities in Nunavut’ as per my Minister’s Statement.
As well, I would like to table the General Practice of Physicians in Nunavut document.
At the same time I would also like to table a report titled, ‘Inuit Wellness Programs in Nunavut for 2005-06.’
Would you bring those documents up, please.
Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, and Finance, Minister Simailak.
Tabled Document 108 – 2(4): Seven Steps to Help You Start Your Business: a Popular Guide to Starting a Business in Nunavut (Simailak)
I am pleased to table the following document: Seven Steps to Help Start Your Business: A Popular Guide to Starting a Business in Nunavut.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Minister. (interpretation ends) Can we have that document brought forward, please.
Tabling of Documents. (interpretation) Minister of Community and Government Services, Ms. Brown.
Tabled Document 109 – 2(4): How to Guide: Doing Business with the Government of Nunavut: Reference Guide Volume 1 (Brown)
Tabled Document 110 – 2(4): Nunavut Search and Rescue Society – Minister’s Statement (Brown)
Hon. Levinia Brown (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I am pleased to table the following document: How-to-Guide: Doing Business with the Government of Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I have another document to table. I would like to table the following document: Ministerial Statement on the Nunavut Search and Rescue Society.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister. (interpretation ends) Can we have those documents brought forward to the table, please.
Tabled Document 111 – 2(4): Delivery of Services to the Public in Nunavut’s Languages Annual Report 2005/06 (CD format) (Tapardjuk)
I would like to table the 2005-06 Report of the Inuit Language Services.
(interpretation) Thank you. Item 13.
Tabled Document 112 – 2(4): Nunavut Climate Change Workshop December 6-8, 2006: Adaptation Action in Arctic Communities: Final Report (Netser)
Tabled Document 113 – 2(4): Statutory Report on Wildlife to the Nunavut Legislative Assembly - Section 176 of the Wildlife Act - May 2007 (Netser)
I wish to table the following documents: Climate Change Adaptation Workshop Report; and the Statutory Report on Wildlife.
Please bring the documents up to the table.
Item 14. (interpretation ends) Notices of Motions. (interpretation) Item 15. (interpretation ends) Notices of Motions for First Reading of Bills. (interpretation) Item 16. (interpretation ends) Motions. (interpretation) Item 17.
Second Reading of Bills. (interpretation) Minister for Cultural Language Elders and Youth, Minister Tapardjuk.
Bill 06 – Official Languages Act – Second Reading
I move, seconded by the Member from Nattilik, that Bill 6, Official Languages Act, be read for the second time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill repeals and replaces the Official Languages Act, RF NWT 1988 C 0-1.
This bill establishes official languages requirements for territorial institutions, including the Legislative Assembly, the Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Court of Justice, and other judicial bodies, quasi-judicial bodies and public agencies in Nunavut.
If there is a significant demand for communication and services in an official language, a municipality will also have official language requirements.
The Inuit language, English, and French, will have official language status in Nunavut.
This bill designates the Minister of Languages the duty to promote the official languages in full recognition and exercise of official language rights, as well as the responsibility to oversee the official languages’ activities and compliance of government institutions.
This bill updates the appointment process for the Language Commissioner, the Language Commissioner’s enforcement role and duties, the matter in which applications may be received by the Languages Commissioner, and the investigation process, acting and special Languages Commissioners are authorized.
The minister and the Languages Commissioner each provide an annual report to the Legislative Assembly. In addition, this bill and its implementation will be subject to comprehensive review by the Legislative Assembly every five years.
This bill includes consequential amendments to the Education Act, Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, Nunavut Elections Act, Public Service Act, and Statutes Revisions Act.
This bill comes into force on proclamation.
The motion is in order. (interpretation ends) To the principle of the bill. (interpretation) Question has been called.
The motion is carried and Bill 6 has had its second reading and is referred to standing committee.
Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth. Minister Tapardjuk.
Bill 07 – Inuit Language Protection Act – Second Reading
I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Rankin Inlet South and Whale Cove, that Bill 7, the Inuit Language Protection Act, be read for the second time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill supports the protection, use, and promotion of the Inuit language. New Inuit language rights and duties are established concerning the use of the Inuit language by public bodies, municipal corporations, and private sector bodies.
This bill also establishes three new areas of government response in support of the Inuit language.
First, the Inuit Uqausinginnit Taiguusiliuqtiit, will expand the knowledge and expertise available in respect to the Inuit language and make decisions and recommendations about Inuit language use, development, and standardization.
The Minister of Languages will lead the establishment and maintenance of policies and programs to promote the Inuit language and will coordinate and report about the implementation of the bill.
Lastly, this bill provides the Languages Commissioner with new collaborative and investigative tools for securing the compliance of public and private sector organizations that have not had Inuit language duties in the past.
An enforcement application in the Nunavut Court of Justice is also available.
This bill, together with the Official Languages Act, will be subject to a comprehensive review by the Legislative Assembly every five years.
This bill includes consequential amendments to the Financial Administration Act, Inter-Jurisdictional Support Orders Act, Mental Health Act, and the Wildlife Act.
Sections 1, 2, and 14, and parts 2, 3, and 5 of this bill come into force on assent, except where the commencement provisions provide a specific date, the remaining provisions of the bill come into force on proclamation by Parliament.
In regard to the matters stated by the minister, and especially the last section of the proposed bill that he alluded to, I am fully supportive of the proposition.
With respect to the people who worked with the minister and his department, they were extremely pleased to be informed of this initiative by the department and I wish to state to the minister, in the House, about the feelings expressed by those who were involved.
There were some people who regretted that they were unable to attend to the meetings, during the consultation hearings in Rankin Inlet. There were other factors that led to this matter, mainly other events such as spring games and the fact that this was a holiday.
Apparently, only three people attended the consultation meeting for the Language Bill, however, if the department provided more time for notices of consultation meetings, such as a two week prior notice of an upcoming meeting, more people could plan to attend to the meetings.
The Inuit language has survived to this day and age, Mr. Speaker, but only because Inuit have strong ties to their language and have kept it in use.
Although, Inuktitut is not really in use as an official language, or taught in our schools, the fact that we will be looking at protecting our language means that we would be able to bring it back into use, such as at the House, or in our homes.
We would be able to state, “We have to preserve and maintain our Inuit language because of its protection in our legislation.” I am strongly in support of this motion, and I wanted to make this statement at this time, so our electorate can hear it.
For this reason, it made no sense to protect Inuktitut since it was in use partly in our school system; however, if I was applying for a job, it was not a requirement for that position. Although some of us are greatly learned in Inuktitut, I have never seen a case whereby a greatly respected Inuktitut unilingual person is hired solely for their ability to use Inuktitut. We have hardly seen this situation, albeit we know that perhaps three or four “advisors” have been hired for their linguistic skills.
In the cases, where a person is to become an official, I know that some employees will be in a hard position and that Inuit people will start applying for more jobs when Inuktitut becomes a requisite skill and I fully support that.
However, Mr. Speaker, I wish to state that quite a number of our public service staff are non-Inuit, nor do they speak Inuktitut. They are apprehensive of this initiative due to their inability to speak or write in Inuktitut.
An employee was expressing their concerns to me just a short while ago, stating that “I could never learn Inuktitut in one or two years, so I will have to start looking for a new position if it becomes a prerequisite.”
As soon as I heard about this concern, I informed the person that they should not be apprehensive about this initiative, and the perhaps the Premier can change the requirement, by including a grandfather clause for existing senior officials who cannot speak Inuktitut, by offering Inuktitut classes or the like.
I do not want to see a situation whereby Nunavut loses the majority of its senior managers because some of our current deputy ministers and other senior officials are extremely capable.
If we attempt to cut it off too early with our prerequisite of employees needing Inuktitut, we may lose a lot of experience in some departments.
Mr. Speaker, we need to be careful in our review of the implementation for that reason. Those who will be teaching Inuit in their communities will allow more Inuit to offer their knowledge and skills.
I am very pleased to support this bill for these and other reasons, for an Inuktitut Language Protection Act.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Curley. (interpretation ends) To the principle of the bill. (interpretation) A question has been called.
The motion is carried and Bill 7 has had its second reading and will be referred to standing committee.
Bill 12 – Emergency Measures Act – Second Reading
Hon. Levinia Brown (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I move, seconded by the Honorable Member of Amittuq, that Bill 12, Emergency Measures Act, be read for the second time.
Our mics were switched temporarily, so if you can just proceed, Minister Brown.
This bill sets out the framework for preventing and preparing for and responding to emergencies in Nunavut.
It requires the preparation of emergency management programs for government institutions, municipal councils, and any enterprise set out in the regulations.
The bill authorizes the minister to declare a state of emergency and conform work hours to ensure that persons and property are protected.
The bill gives similar authority to municipal councils for their powers are more restricted.
Other provisions in the bill deal with compensations for losses caused by emergencies, providing protection from legal liabilities to persons involved in responding to emergencies, and the offence of failing to comply with the Act.
The motion is carried and Bill12 has had its second reading and will be referred to Standing Committee.
Bill 11 and Tabled Document 49 – 2(4) with Mr. Arreak in the Chair.
With the power vested in me by Motion 4 – 2(4), the Committee of the Whole will be in session until it reports itself out.
I would ask the members to remain in their seats so we can conclude the committee’s proceedings.
Chairman (Mr. Arreak)(interpretation): We’ll proceed. (interpretation ends) I would like to call the committee meeting to order.
In the Committee of the Whole we have the following items to deal with: Bill 11 and Tabled Document 49 – 2(4).
We wish to continue with the review of Bill 11 and the supporting documents, followed by Tabled Document 49 – 2 (4).
Are we in agreement we will continue with Bill11?
Minister Simailak, do you have witnesses that you would like to bring to the table?
Hon. David Simailak: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I do.
Does the committee agree to bring in the witness?
Chairman: Thank you. (interpretation) Sergeant-at-Arms, can you escort the witnesses, please?
(interpretation ends) For the record, minister, please introduce your witnesses. Minister Simailak.
To my left is Peter Ma and to my right is Mr. Roy Green.
We are on page 9 of Bill 11.
We were on the treatment program yesterday when we were awaiting information on what the minister committed to providing to us. I am just wondering if she has that information under the Healthy Children, Families and Communities.
Chairman: Thank you, Minister. Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Aglukkaq.
Under Healthy Children, Families and Communities, the breakdown of the average contract has increased by region. Baffin, approximately $800,000; Kivalliq, $428,000; Kitikmeot, $250,000. That’s related to the contracts.
In terms of out of territorial end basis, that occupancy of a number of people fluctuates. I can say in the Nunavut Territory there are approximately 125 to 130 beds that we occupy on an annual basis.
The rest of the individuals out-of-territory are short-term or long-term, for instance, we will send someone to the south for two, three, four, or five months. So those numbers will vary from day to day.
Page 9 of Bill 11.
Mr. Curley: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask the minister with respect to the agency nurses and so on.
I would like to ask the minister exactly how many contracts there are for each nursing agency; the agencies that actually do the hiring for the government. Are there more than one and which regions are impacted?
Currently, we are working on developing an RFP to have a contract with an agency; one person. We do not have contracts per se with a number of agencies or companies out there.
What we do is a contract with an agency nurse for when vacancies arise and based on an agency nurse’s availability.
I understand, previously, that the government had a contract for agency nursing recruitment.
Was that agency based in Nunavut? How was that contract, if that exists or even if it expired, did it reside in Nunavut?
As well, where was it tendered?
In my earlier response I had mentioned that we don’t have one specific contract with an agency nurse company.
What we have is we use agency nurses who work for various agencies. Those are our contracts; it’s the contract with an individual to do relief work for us.
Yes, it answers some of my questions. My question is: obviously there is a contract and there is a tender, and obviously when the tender is let, under what venues do you use national newspapers or what not, to recruit for a specific number of nurses required?
Does the Health Department actually hire these international nurses rather than going through an agency?
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Mr. Chairman, I think to clarify the member, I think he’s mixing a number of initiatives.
The contract with international nurses was with Trillium.
That contract was to recruit international nurses, and I have said many times in this House that we’re reviewing that file to focus our resources in recruiting Canadian nurses.
In terms of the agencies, I think those are separate from that international nurse contract we had with Trillium. The recruitment efforts in filling vacant positions, we often resort to an agency nurse who may work for various agency nurse companies across Canada.
I’m not at all confused. What I’m trying to get at is I think there was a miscommunication between the two of us.
But what I’m trying to get at is that when you’re asking for a number of nurses to be recruited for Community A, B, C, or D, my question is exactly how that is implemented.  I assume that you have a contract with the recruitment agency, whether it is that particular company you alluded to.
If it had expired, how are you going to go about it when in fact you’re going to tender it? You first have to have a contract with that recruitment agency. Then how do you decide which community they’re going to be hired for?
So that information is not clearly available to us or in any report. Could you maybe carefully rundown exactly how that works and whether in fact you actually need the services of the recruitment agency?
There are a lot of questions in that. I’ll try and respond to some of them.
The current HR process that we follow for recruiting our nurses is outlined in the Human Resources Procedures and Policies of this government for indeterminate nurses.
The procedures that we follow in that is that we hire based on advertising, the jobs in various journals, newspapers, and so on in Nunavut.
At the same time, when we need to fill positions immediately, while we’re trying to recruit for indeterminate nurses, we resort to the casual pool, or the agency nurses that may be available to do the work.
So those are the separate processes.
In terms of dealing with Trillium, that file has been on hold and being reviewed and we’re working towards trying to hire more nurses in Canada.