EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Under Corporate Management, there is $243,000 for Contract Services.
That’s up from $165,000 from last year.
I’m just wondering if the Minister could give us an indication of what those Contract Services are.
The increases have a lot to do with our new NNI Initiative.
There is also a 2 percent increase in expenditures in the department program reorganization.
That’s basically what it is, Mr. Chairman.
I’m just wondering if the department or the minister has in these Contract Services any contracts with any firms to do consulting work for them outside of Nunavut.
I’ll get my Deputy Minister to answer that question.
Chairman: Mr. Campbell
The answer is simply yes.
There are times that the department is required to do certain consulting work for the government.
At the present time we have at least two consulting contracts outside of the territory for Advisory Services as well as dealing with our Inuit Employment Plan.
There are also other initiatives that the department is going to be undertaking.
One of them is this project that we’re going to be doing this year on the barriers to business development impediments to that process.
We’re going to be looking at the regulatory processes of the government and what amendments would be required to help the business community to access more of our programs and to streamline some of the process.
We will also be doing a departmental program review as suggested by one of the members earlier.
I would be looking at economic development funding and see what impacts it has in the communities over the last five years and what changes and improvements would be required.
So that kind of work would require consulting services either within Nunavut, within Iqaluit, and we can’t find anybody from Nunavut, we usually retain people from outside the territory, and again, on a competitive process.
Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Campbell.
One of the companies that the deputy indicated that has at least two outside of the territories, one of them, Earnscliff Strategy Group.
No, the answer is no.
I was relieved to hear that.
Mr. Chairman, also on that page is about a $70,000 increase on fees and payments.
I am just wondering if that increase is a result of the restructuring of the departments or if there’s another reason why there are increases there.
That has partly to do with departmental program, the organization, but most of it has to do with the NNI Policy.
My question, Mr. Chairman, to the minister is some of the questions, a follow-up to the member’s question from Cambridge Bay, there doesn’t seem to be any progress at all in regards to the $90 million EDA.
There has been an agreement in the amount of $90 million by the federal government for the three territories; Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
To date, there doesn’t seem to be any progress in negotiations because the minister and his officials met with the federal counterparts, but there hasn’t been any progress that I have seen so far.
Why isn’t there any progress at all because as ordinary members, there’s nothing happening and there are a lot of businesses in Nunavut, and they need to get some funding from that EDA agreement.
Why isn’t there any progress being made?
It was done by the federal government in the first year; it’s called the northern economic development fund.
I think it was going to be coordinated by the Indian and Northern Affairs, which is the case right now.
But the federal government and Minister Blondin-Andrew and Mr. Scott have been meeting with me and my staff, and I have asked them the northern economic development fund, I think it’s going to be about $30 million that the Government of Nunavut will be getting.
We have to put in our share as the Government of Nunavut and we talked about like if it would help out if we put in so much money and it would be at least $86 million altogether to help out the people of Nunavut and all of the businesses.
We would put in some money and the mining sector would put in so much, and the federal government would put in so much.
Like Mr. Peterson asked that similar question, and that’s what I have been trying to talk them into doing.
They have been asking us quite a bit about that, and it’s in the federal government’s hands right now.
While you’re thinking about doing that, to put money together, as you stated, there’s about $30 million at the present time.
Will you be able to give us some information on the projects?
I wonder if you could request the federal government and if we were to reach the $80 million, it would be better if it wasn’t in the hands of the federal government, if they could transfer to the Nunavut government.
Indian Affairs has stated how the money will be spent.
They’ll be telling us how the money will be spent through Economic Development, and it will be public information soon.
Like I said, we wanted to put so much money in the mining sector and the federal government, they would have to establish some kind of committee from the federal government, the mining sector and the Nunavut government and it would be coordinated by that committee. The federal government would not be the only people that have the money.
We’ll probably get more information on this as they progress.
My other question is, we always feel the policy should be reviewed.
There are a lot of people that want to some inland fishing and to sell the fish commercially and they have to go to follow the guidelines and they have to have quota.
I wonder if your department and the other ministers have had any discussions on primary progress to program, so that the money can be given to the local communities.
Sometimes, they go through development corporations.
Had there been any discussion on assisting those commercial fishermen, and will you be reporting back to us on anything that comes up?
Yes, that’s the way it is right now.
My staff has been having discussions on the assistance that could be provided to the people of Nunavut.
Chairman (interpretation): were on K-6.
On K-5, there’s an NNI secretariat, and I know there’s been a lot of discussions on that over the years.
My question is, one of the things that secretariat is going to be looking at doing is to try and tighten up the guidelines around what’s considered Nunavut based suppliers or retailers, or whole sellers.
There’s a lot of concerns that have been raised to me and I’m sure by other members of the House, you had someone that has an apartment with a fax number, something in it being considered a supplier, and meanwhile someone who’s made the investment of having the infrastructure here, in any of our communities, to be able to provide those goods or services that seem to lose out because they have the additional overhead cost and there not just dealing straight from a southern supplier.
Chairman: Thank you. Was that a question or a comment?
I guess my question was is that one of the things that the NNI Secretariat will be looking at tightening up and reviewing those guidelines.
Yes, that exact same concern has been raised to me personally a number of times now from businesses across Nunavut.
They are very concerned with that problem, and that would be one of the areas that the secretariat will be looking at, and I’m sure those businesses will be raising it with the staff when they do their community consultations.
I would hope that many of the businesses will raise that exact issue with the staff during their community consultations.
It is something that needs to be tightened up, as you suggested, and I agree totally with that.
I figured it was something that the Minister would be aware of; I just wanted to get it on the record.
Also, one of things that has been a concern over the years and more so in some of the larger construction projects is the concern where you have some times, I call it a seat of the pants or a fly by night joint venture with a southern company just using a northern company’s name or including them in their name for certain projects to be able to obtain the preferential treatment under the policy.
Is that also something that they would look at where they would implementing some type of criteria for companies that would have to be in force for a certain length of time for project, all of a sudden a tender goes out and a joint venture company pops up after the tender goes out and is awarded to that company.
I know that that’s something else that has been brought to my attention on a number of occasions so I’m just wondering if that too is something that the Secretariat will be looking at.
That again is an area that I would urge industry to raise with the NNI staff when they’re doing their community consultations.
Chairman (interpretation): Are you done.
We agreed with K-5 already.
We already agreed with that section and that’s why we keep going back.
Are there any other questions under K-5?
Mr. Curley (interpretation): I would then ask my colleagues to go back to K-5 because I wasn’t aware that we had passed this part already.
So, I’ll seek consensus.
Mr. Curley: Yes, I do have a question with respect to the NNI policy, mainly that it is important to have a clear guideline and policy as well as how the actual implementation of that policy works.
As far as I’m concerned the implementation of the policy seems to be Community and Government Services when actually awarding contracts, that they do apply the criteria and those to the vendors and the contractors and so on.
So, you are just looking at or administering the policy itself, whether it works or not, and implementation is a contractors or various government agencies, you don’t look at the vendors out there and actually evaluate contracts.
That is done by the operating or the issuer of the tender and contract.
Hon. David Simailak: Yes, that’s how it works, Mr. Chairman.
Eventually I think we’re going to have to get some answers from the government of exactly who and how they interpret those sets of criteria because there are a number of statuses for Inuit businesses, it states there’s a Nunavut firm, there’s Inuit firm and there’s a local business status.
I am not 100 percent sure exactly whether an Inuit firm is also qualified as a Nunavut firm, but if they are only recognizing Nunavut firm status or Inuit firm status or if the two just cancel each other out when bidding for contracts.
So does the minister or deputy know of whether or not an Inuit firm gets an additional seven points along with the Nunavut firm status; is that how it works?
Yes, that is how it works; seven percent if you are an Inuit firm and seven percent if you are Nunavut based, and then again for the seven percent for being a local company.
So, yes, that’s how it works.
I will have any more questions on K-6.
Chairman (interpretation): Any other questions on K-5?
Are you going to agree to it again?
K-6. Mr. Curley.
My question, Community Futures, it’s quite a bit for three regions.
I am just wondering if this is outdated because business corporation; they seem to be running smoothly, they have standards, and they can be audited.
But Community Futures, are they audited as well?
I wonder where their funding regulations come from and I wonder if that can be tabled.
Maybe the department just incorporates them into that business.
I wonder which way would be easier.
I will get my Deputy Minister to answer that one.
We do have three Community Futures organizations in Nunavut.
The one in the Baffin works very well.
We are having some issues in getting the one in the Kitikmeot reestablished.
We have an organization as well in the Kivalliq that’s in the process of getting it going again.
These Community Futures organizations, we took over as part of a transfer of the Northwest Territories Government to Nunavut a few years ago, before division.
So, we do have an agreement that we are working with.
I saw a copy of it a couple of weeks ago.
We also were asking for the background of community futures and what the liabilities associated with that to the government.
We are working through that process, and once we have some recommendations that we are going to put to the minister for his review and recommendations to Cabinet.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell.
I noted that you are very careful in giving the status of Kivalliq.
Why isn’t it very well compared to the Baffin region?
Maybe if I could ask the deputy.
No, the answer is simply that we tried to initiate that process last April.
It was slow getting it going.
It’s slow as well trying to find the right staff in the organization that’s compatible to the priorities and the initiatives of the region.
That’s one of the issues.
I think it is for the good.
I appreciate the reviews that are going on.
We look forward to seeing those.
I do know that regions like the Kivalliq are so much more, in my view, dependent on the private market for funding.
Sources like the financial markets.
They play quite an active role in that way of Food Banks in the Kivalliq region.
From my perspective having an additional loan program without a real clear set of guidelines, like Community Futures, confuses a lot of people.
Therefore, people that would qualify through the Business Credit Corporation, where they have excellent staff.
They do quite good consultations with the applicants, whether they are from outlying communities.
I know that they do that.
This program, Community Futures, we don’t know what their rule are.
What kind of interest rates that they have.
It concerns me when the Community Futures like in the Kivalliq when it has a mandate to issue up to $75,000 loans to some businesses.
They sometimes have a political representative on their Board, like the Mayors around some of these groups.
It really is a tricky situation.
I am raising that because at one point the councilor there gave one applicant when they failed to receive any support from that group trying to establish a taxi, for a second vehicle in my home community was given a quote that they are going to have to pay $17,000 insurance.
There is no such thing in the world, unless you are living in the Communist world, that you would pay $17,000 insurance.
They already had a quote from the insurance company and they had the business plan in place and they were trying to get support.
Even up to now they have not received any help from that group.
To me that group is probably out of reality in the Kivalliq region.
I urge the minister to treat this, without compromising the other two regions that seems to be working well, that you take a good close look at this situation and treat it as one of the priorities.
That is one area that we will be taking a very close look at in our departmental review that is going on right now.
I think it is almost fishing season time.
The minister and I like to go out fishing so I will be asking question.
I brought this up earlier in regards to fishing.
We know, as Keewatin residents that in some communities like Fish Plants, Meat Plants, they have existed before but they are no longer operating because there is no market for it outside of Nunavut.
Within Nunavut they still can run those, especially if they are going to use renewable resource like fish and caribou, but looking at the figures there doesn’t seem to be too much where they are made available to those companies, where in the 1970s, when it was at its peak, there was lots of funding available for that.
I would like to ask how, in the short term, they can be assisted towards that.
Has it been considered?
This will be looked at further by the Nunavut Development Corporation how we can further assist especially those smaller communities because they’re the ones who focused on those.
But, as a department we are looking at ways of how we can re-introduce them through Community Initiatives Program.
Yes, at this time, we are trying to explore how we can introduce this especially to the smaller communities.
I realized that the Nunavut Development Corporation is also working on this issue but they are doing it for their own.
They have bad fish, Chesterfield Inlet, about 10 thousand lbs. They can’t go over that weight because the quota system that is set for Chesterfield Inlet.
I’m not concerned about those.
There is not that much complaining from that department but what I am looking at is the other communities.
I’m looking more at a Nunavut-wide program.
Rankin Inlet has a license and it’s well established.
If you’re going to try and obtain a license to harvest some meat that would be sold just within Nunavut, and if somebody would like to start a processing plant, who is responsible for the establishment, for the issuing of a license because there is two.
There is the license where you can only sell the meat just within Nunavut and then there is another license where you can sell the meat outside of Nunavut.
Who is responsible for that?
I mentioned the Nunavut Development Corporation.
I wasn’t talking only about Rankin Inlet.
The NDC can help anyone through a partnership or otherwise to start a venture.
That is why I mentioned that.
I wasn’t only talking about Rankin Inlet; I was also talking about the other communities that would like to establish any type of these ventures.
In regards to the issuance of a license, the Department of Economic Development can help if someone would like to establish a processing plant or some kind of venture in Nunavut.
We’re there to give support to look for whatever is required to get everything off the ground.
Our staff is here to help those communities.
As I mentioned earlier, there were quite a number of people who wanted to start those types of ventures and they request for support from the Nunavut Development Corporation.
I said I wasn’t only concerned about that, but I would like to thank the Minister anyway.
If somebody would like to start up a venture or would like further information on how to start, or where to access what’s required, and to make sure that everything is in sanitary conditions, as required by law, is there information available from your department that doesn’t requiring researching.
Is the information available from your department, that doesn’t require researching? Are they available to the potential clients?
Hon. David Simailak (interpretation): It’s part of our mandate, as the Department Economic Development, I know I don’t have any potential clients but we can give the information out to the potential.
Mr. Chairman (interpretation): Mr. Alagalak.
Mr. Alagalak (interpretation): Mr. Chairman, if you don’t have the information readily available, I’m sure it’s going to take quite a while to put it together.
As Members of the Legislative Assembly, there are a lot of people from Nunavut who talk to their member of the Legislative Assembly in regards to information that they might access from anyone in the Government of Nunavut’s departments.
Do you have a process policy that can be followed?
Mr. Chairman (interpretation): Mr. Minister.
Yes. I’ll hand them out to the members once they’re ready.
Mr. Chairman (interpretation): Mr. Arreak.
In my two communities, both communities in my riding don’t have soapstone that’s easily accessible.
What the people over there have been asking about is, where they can buy and ship soapstone to the communities?
I’m sure there is a pot of money available from your department, but could you also have that support to the small communities?
Hon. David Simailak (interpretation): This coming spring and summer, we’re going to be asking the communities about how much soapstone is available in their communities.
We’ll be asking every community during the spring and summer season, and with those communities that don’t have access or the soapstone is not accessible, they could go through the Community Initiatives Programs to leverage some funds and find some soapstone.
We’ll be bringing that this spring and summer.
We’ll find out which community needs the soapstone the most, and we’ll see where we can get some for that community.
The Community Initiatives Program is available for that type of project.
I’m glad that your department will be asking the questions.
So what do we do in the interim before you reveal and assess what is needed at the community level?
What can we do in the interim to buy and ship quarried stones to our communities, because of course, this program will probably not get off the ground till fall or winter.
In the new fiscal year starting April 1st, each community will be given $100,000 through the initiatives program.
These funds will be available to quarry or to deal with the soapstone issue.
Mr. Chairman (interpretation): Mr. Peterson.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask the minister on page K-7, on Prospector’s Assistance Program.
Could the minister tell us how many prospectors we have in Nunavut?
I don’t have that number right now, but we could certainly see if we could get an idea of how many prospectors there are in Nunavut.
Perhaps the Minister could tell us how much each prospector is eligible for to assist with their prospecting and is it an annual application that they can apply for.
I hope it’s not just one time but maybe you could clarify that for me.
Hon. David Simailak: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have a policy right now that each prospector can apply for up to $5 thousand per year but because of the high costs of doing work in Nunavut, we’re looking at increasing that up to $7 thousand per year per prospector.
Just to confirm, can they apply every year?
It’s not a one time application, if they apply in 2005. Then next year, can they apply again?
Can you just confirm that Mr. Minister.
They can apply each fiscal year.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Minister.
Then on the same page, the Nunavut Business.
Chairman: We’re back again.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On the same page, page K-7, the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation, could the Minister tell us how many staff work for the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation and where those staff are located.
Hon. David Simailak (interpretation): We have a staff of four Mr. Chairman, and they work out of Cape Dorset.
Could the Minister explain to us how the staff of four working out of Cape Dorset provides services to each community in Nunavut?
Who are their contact people?
Who does their loan applications, analysis, and the legal work and possibly collections work in administering the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation portfolio?
The four staff members in Cape Dorset are primarily responsible for all of that but they do work closely with the economic development officers in the communities.
Are all the community economic development officers, are they all trained and qualified to help business applicants prepare their loan packages and proceed through the entire documentation process from start to finish.
Yes, the staff at the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation are visiting communities right now, and are training the economic development officers as they travel around.
That’s good to know because I’ve heard some concerns in out in various communities that there are communities who don’t have staffed community economic development officers or some of the folks are lacking in those lending skills to help them to prepare business plans and proper documentation.
Having sat on a Northwest Territories Business Credit Corporation for a few years and then one year with the Nunavut Business Credit Corporation, it’s very important that when a person puts in their application that it’s fully documented so that it gets to a decision point and all the paper work is there. You don’t have to go back two or three times to get additional paper work.
You also have to be careful, if the person is fortunate enough to receive a loan, that it’s properly documented for lending purposes of security. I encourage the minister’s Business Credit Corporation to continue to train because there’s a high turnover at the community levels with the economic development officers for a number of reasons.
Some of them may find that they don’t like that type of work because there could be a lot of pressure off them if people don’t get their loans or grants. Then they go find another job.
It creates a lot of grief at the community level when there are vacancies and delays in processing loans or applications.
I wanted to just go on to page K-8, they talk about community futures.