EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Community and Government Services said that his department provides services to a number of departments on a wide range of issues regarding GN assets, the Department of Justice being one of them.
Mr. Speaker, in regard to the Baffin Correctional Centre, we have heard shocking stories of the safety issues and concerns with this facility. I myself, along with members, took a tour of the facility.
Obviously, something needs to be done.
Mr. Speaker, my question is: did officials of his department contact the Department of Community and Government Services in regard to providing technical assistance to the feasibility study in reviewing the Baffin Correctional facility?
I feel like he’s on a bit of a witch hunt here. Mr. Speaker, there is a project delivery guide that clearly demonstrates the capital planning process.
Mr. Speaker, when I became the Minister of Justice, my officials were describing the facility to me and I said, “Stop, don’t tell me more. Show me.”
I went over there and it was shocking, Mr. Speaker, and I told my officials, “What can we do?”
And they gave me a bunch of ideas.
I said that we will put a proposal together and we will take it through the capital planning process, which was just initiated in a call letter that I think was out in April/May of last year.
It’s no secret, Mr. Speaker, I have heard the stories from the Kitikmeot, that the Baffin Correction Centre is an old, dilapidated facility. It’s a risk to inmates and a risk to our officials who work out there.
The simple answer to Mr. Elliott is that our officials went through the capital planning process. Each department has to do a little bit of legwork before they actually go to CGS. It’s not just go to CGS and say, “We want a building.”
There is some legwork required before that stuff occurs and then it goes through the deputy ministers’ committee and they review all of that stuff. There’s a little back and forth and then the capital plans end up in this House, where they get debated, as happened last November or December.
I’m glad Mr. Elliott took the opportunity of my invitation to go out and visit the Baffin Correctional Centre.
I urge all of the Members of this House, if they have the time, to request a tour and I’m sure officials out there would be willing to accommodate them.
Question 293 – 3(2): Iqaluit Marine Facility (Okalik)
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was very pleased to hear what the Minister of Transportation had to say in his Minister’s Statement with respect to the review of the Iqaluit Marine Facility in the coming months.
How long do we have to wait to complete the process? I would like to find out how many months we have to wait for results of the review process.
Speaker: Thank you. Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Hon. Peter Taptuna.
When we’re doing public consultations, we go through the whole process of reviewing all of the recommendations and there are a lot of organizations that are involved - the city, the users, and various other groups, including regulators out there.
I can’t specifically say how long the timeframe is going to be before the consultations are done.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While it’s impossible to say when this project will be completed, my constituents who go out boating are running out of space to dock their boats.
Perhaps the minister could also look into possibilities for a small craft harbour and to work with city council and the local HTO of Iqaluit.
I thank the member for that question. He is absolutely right. We’re consulting with the hunters and trappers organization, the city, and all users, whether it’s for sports hunting and of course, the main ones are the actual companies that do transportation for supplies for the Qikiqtaaluk region.
We intend to clarify, get the right recommendations, and do the consulting in a right way to actually get the best bang for infrastructure that we’re proposing.
There are going to be a lot of issues. As the member is well aware, we have one of the highest tides in the world, in some cases, up to 32 feet, and some of these factors have to be considered.
Throughout the process, we want to make sure that everybody is consulted, including the regulators.
Has the process already been started?
The minister further stated that he expects this process to be completed within months.
This being the case, I’m sure my constituents would also like to be kept informed of the consultation process. Whatever issues come up, they want to feel like they are involved.
More support for this project could be generated this way.
I know that more people would get behind it if they were aware of the important dates of the consultation and its deadline.
So I would like to know when this process will be completed so that my constituents can be aware of when this is taking place.
Throughout the engineering and design work that the conceptual design was being worked on, we had three options and the price ranged from $20 million to $90 million.
Throughout the process here, we will be looking and reviewing to see what are all of the options. That depends on whether we get a certain amount of funding and of course, we’re looking at Ottawa to fund the majority of this project.
Throughout the process here, we’re going to be looking to make sure that all of the processes, all of the land use regulations, the marine infrastructure, and the marine users are consulted.
Once we have a better idea of how far in we’re into the consultations, I’ll let the member and the House know of our progress.
Question 294 – 3(2): Polar Bear Defence Kills in 2008-09 (Ningark)
My question is for the Hon. Minister of Environment.
I think 2009 was a good year for polar bears in Kugaaruk. It was so good that nine polar bears had to be put down before the hunting season opened.
According to the international scientific community, the polar bear is an endangered species.
However, according to the traditional knowledge of the Inuit living up here in Nunavut, it is not an endangered species.
We believe that a seemingly endangered species is doing so good that it’s coming to a point where it’s going into the communities and endangering the people in the communities.
So my question to the hon. minister, Mr. Speaker, is: how many polar bears had to be put down or put under observation in the year 2008-09 because they were coming too close for comfort in the hamlets across Nunavut?
It’s good to be back in the House today.
The member brings up a good point that is addressed by all communities in Nunavut, that people are seeing more polar bears around communities and having trouble with them.
In Kugaaruk, the community he is talking about, there were polar bears that were harvested on defence kills. I believe the quota was also harvested with that number included.
There is a problem in his community that there was an over-harvest of female bears. There are many credits for defence kill harvests with male bears, I believe, in the community, it is 10, 12, or something like that, but there are no credits left for female bears and that’s where the over-harvest came into play.
So we are addressing that and I would encourage the member to advise the community to deal with our conservation officer in the community to address that situation because there are means to do that.
My supplementary in my initial question is: how many polar bears were put down or put under observation in the year 2008-09 because they were coming too close to communities across Nunavut? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don’t have those exact numbers in front of me, but I can get those numbers and supply them to the member.
As he stated that he will share the information with me, will the hon. minister share the information with the House?
Yes, I commit to sharing that information with the House and I will supply that information as soon as I can get it if not this sitting of the House, the next sitting of the House, for sure.
I would just like to add to the member’s comments here that I would like all of my colleagues to know that part of dealing with these problem bears in communities is a program that we have set up and that is a deterrent plan that we’re going to action and form in all communities in conjunction with the hamlet, the RCMP, the by-law, and everybody involved.
Question 295 – 3(2): Panellized Housing Units (Schell)
My second question is for the housing minister.
It’s in regard to the new panelling system of the new houses that are going to be constructed with the $100 million here in Nunavut.
My question is: have any other units been built or is this first bunch of units built with that firm that’s supplying the panels?
It is my understanding that when this request for proposals was put out for these units, in our proposal, we put, “This is what we want for a product.”
When they looked at it, they realized that the product that we were looking for didn’t exist and it’s not something that they could take off the shelf.
The successful proponent bids that we got or the proposals that we received were looking at designing a completely new type of structure to meet the requirements of the proposal.
As far as my knowledge, this is the first time these ones are being manufactured and constructed. I must say, Mr. Speaker, that one of the conditions of the proposal was a proof of concept, where they actually had to bring a demonstration unit and put it together.
That’s something that we held down at our marshalling yard last September, where we invited a number of contractors, our technical staff, and northern contractors to be there so they could witness this and also to point out some of the things that may work great in the southern environment but may not work great here in the north.
We had that input and there were some changes made as a result of that.
The product that’s coming out is called the Tuktu, that’s the name of the SIP.
It’s a unique product and to my knowledge, this is the first time it is being manufactured.
When anybody down south purchases trusses, etcetera, it has to be stamped by a structural engineer. So my question is: are these panels stamped and approved by a structural engineer?
I know that the company that is manufacturing these and the specifications that were all done were required to meet the building codes that are out there.
So I’m not sure if it’s exactly because they’re not trusses, they’re panels and it’s not the same as a truss.
If they require a stamp from an engineer or not, I’m not sure, but I can look into it and let the member know if it is required or not.
I realize these are panels and they’re not trusses, but they’re also used on a roof and I’m sure that a structural engineer would have to stamp them.
So I would just like to make sure that when we do purchase these here and they come down to Nunavut, they are approved by a structural engineer.
I don’t think that was really a question, but I will give the minister time to answer it.
Again, I thank the member for raising that.
As I had indicated earlier, when the proposals were put out, our design was for… we wanted a structure that would hold the highest volume of snow load that we have, that would handle that. With the staff there, I believe that those numbers come out of Coral Harbour, same with the wind and energy efficiency. These are going to be extremely energy efficient units and structurally sound because they have all met or exceeded the current building codes out there.
As far as the member suggests as to whether or not it is required that a structural engineer puts their stamp on it, if it’s required, I don’t know if it would on the actual truss itself.
It may be on the blueprints or the designs on it if it’s required, but as I committed, I will look into it and let the member know.
The only thing I’m worried about and the reason I’m bringing it up is that I don’t want these panels to come on the sealift and then we realize we can’t use them here at a great cost to the Housing Corporation. Certain things have happened in the past that cost a lot of money and I don’t want this to happen there.
As the member points out, there are always things that have happened in the past that you end up dealing with and moving on and learning from.
I have every faith in our technical staff working at the Housing Corporation that worked with the manufacture and the design of this product that it will meet the minimum or exceed the national building standards that they have to work with here in Canada.
Like I said, as far as energy efficiency goes and that, this structure, this SIP, this Tuktu unit will far exceed and hopefully reduce our energy costs by close to half on these units.
So I have every faith in the fact that our technical staff, in doing the design and putting the technical requirements together, did look at everything.
The member won’t have to worry about a bunch of roof panels coming up that will be no good for us other than rafts, maybe.
Question 296 – 3(2): Territorial Licence Plates (Elliott)
Further to my Member’s Statement of today, I was just wondering if his department has looked into the issue of territorial licence plates.
I’m glad and I’m delighted that he’s able to come up with the idea on his own, although obviously with the help of other members.
Trying to make Nunavut culture unique is a great idea.
I commend the member for that, but if we’re going to have two or three vehicles going down to southern Canada from the territory, it’s hardly worth the cost of reverting and changing our templates for the Nunavut vehicle design of a licence plate.
But then again, depending on the cost and the exposure of the vehicle licence plate design that we get down south, because we all know of our unique culture up here, it wouldn’t really matter if we have 2,000 vehicles driving around town if we all know our uniqueness. The uniqueness that we’ve got to promote is for the people down south.
At this time, I really would have trouble trying to find a way of why we would do that if only half a dozen vehicles go down south where the exposure is needed the most.
Yes, once or twice a year, I have an original idea.
In regard to the new language law that’s coming into effect in the fall once all of the regulations and all of the consultations are finished and tabled in the House, is there any requirement to change the licence plate because of that law?
Hon. Peter Taptuna: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe that there is a requirement.
I’m not aware of that, but if there is, I’ll certainly let the member and the House know if there is a requirement.
At this time, I don’t know if there is and like I said, I’ll let the member know.
Mr. Elliott, your second supplementary.
I believe that the Government of Nunavut is required to provide services in English, Inuktitut, and French.
I thought the whole idea of the Inuit Language Protection Act was to make sure that Inuktitut was more prominent.
But if he prefers to have English on our licence plates and continue to have English on our licence plates, well, then I guess maybe that’s what his department wants to see. I would like to see Inuktitut syllabics or roman… well, I guess roman orthography wouldn’t be the same, but syllabics would be nice to have or at least, it would be nice to have the people in the communities decide what language they would like to have.
So if the minister could commit to having his department look into that and report back to the Legislative Assembly.
I apologize to the member. The requirements that I thought he was speaking about were the design of the plate in itself.
Yes, there is a plan for implementing the language change into syllabics for all new licence plates that are going to be coming out.
That’s in the plans.
Again, I apologize to the member. What, in fact, I thought he was talking about was the design and the uniqueness of the plate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I apologize if I didn’t make myself clear.
I was referring to the “Explore Canada’s Arctic” that’s on all of our licence plates.
In terms of the other part of my Member’s Statement, I was referring to the idea of possibly changing the motto that’s on there, which is “Explore Canada’s Arctic.”
It’s inherited from the Northwest Territories and we share that with the Northwest Territories. The only difference is if you have a licence plate in the Northwest Territories, it says “Northwest Territories” and if you have a licence plate from Nunavut, it says “Nunavut.”
Would he humour the idea of asking the public what they feel about that? We have so many examples of things that are carried over from 1999 that we keep changing in terms of laws and policies.
It might be something else that we could do to express our vibrant territory.
I thank the member for that question. Once again, I’ve got to reiterate that there are hardly any vehicles that do leave the territory and tour southern Canada and there are a handful of plate collectors from down south.
I’ll surely ask staff in my department to look into the cost of changing the wording on some of these and it may tie in with the implementation of putting Inuinnaqtun on licence plates. We will certainly look into that.
Tabled Document 132 – 3(2): Ilisaqsivik Society Gathering to Petition the Federal Government for a Renewal of Aboriginal Healing Foundation Funding (Arvaluk)
I am confident that you will be very pleased that today, I wish to table some documents related to yesterday’s gathering in Clyde River.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Ilisaqsivik Society runs many important healing programs in the community and many of these programs rely on Aboriginal Healing Foundation funding.
You will see here photographs of residents coming together in support and a copy of a petition of 105 signatures calling on the Government of Canada to renew this funding. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
You’re right, I appreciate it very much.
Tabled Document 133 – 3(2): Air Canada Insight (Schell)
I wish to table today an excerpt from Air Canada’s newsletter called Air Canada Insight.
Members will note that Air Canada is announcing that service from Ottawa and Montreal to this community begins on March 28.
However, Air Canada thinks the name of this community is spelled I-q-u-a-l-u-i-t.
I don’t need to remind my colleagues that the meaning of this word is very different from that of how the city’s name is really spelled.
Mr. Speaker, as I predicted, Air Canada is not showing a lot of insight into Nunavut.
Tabled Document 134 – 3(2): FPT Ministers Responsible for Innovation, November 19 to 20, 2009 (Taptuna)
I would like to table the following document: Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for Innovation, November 19 to 20, 2009.
Speaker: Thank you. Can we have that document brought forward to the table.
Tabled Document 135 – 3(2): Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting (Shewchuk)
I would like to table the following document: Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting, Oct. 29, 2009.
Bill 23 – Supplementary Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, No. 2, 2009-2010 – Notice
Hon. Keith Peterson: Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on March 18, 2010, that Bill 23, Supplementary Appropriation (Operations and Maintenance) Act, No. 2, 2009-2010, be read for the first time.
Can we have a copy of that document, please.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters. Bill 22 with Mr. Schell in the Chair.
>>House recessed at 15:02 and Committee resumed at 15:30
In Committee of the Whole, we have the following item to deal with: Bill 22. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Aupaluktuq.
This afternoon, we will continue with the review of the Department of Justice, followed by the Department of Finance.
If time permits, we will commence the review of the Department of Economic Development and Transportation.
Are we in agreement to continue with the main estimates for the Department of Justice?
Chairman: Mr. Peterson, do you have any witnesses that you would like to bring to the table?
Hon. Keith Peterson: Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Minister Peterson, for the record, please introduce your witnesses.
To my immediate right is Mr. Doug Garson, Acting Deputy Minister of Justice, and to my left is Rebekah Williams, Assistant Deputy Minister of Justice.
Chairman: Yesterday, we heard the opening comments from the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Social Wellness. As members know Rule 77(1) and 77(2), are there any general comments on the opening statements?
In reviewing the opening statements by the minister, I want to draw your attention to page 2, where it says that they will “expand the role of community justice outreach workers in assisting victims of crime” this year.
In also reviewing other government initiatives, one of the objectives in the business plan for the Department of Health and Social Services is “To provide emergency intervention to address domestic violence.”
There is no mention of how the two departments will work together to address the same issue.
Perhaps if there was more collaboration, then the issues would be more manageable and there would be less duplication of services.
My question to the minister is: will you ensure that you will work closer with the Department of Health and Social Services on these issues even though the offices are separate?
Mr. Chairman, this question was raised in the standing committee and I indicated that we would be talking to the Department of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Chairman, my Assistant Deputy Minister, Rebekah Williams, has had conversations with Health and Social Services officials and those meetings will continue.
However, this year, about three million dollars will be spent on the issue and the Department of Health and Social Services plans to spend additional funds on top of that.
I don’t like to see duplication where one problem is charged to more than one department to deal with.
I would like to see this approach changed. I wonder if it will be changed in the future.
I again thank Mr. Okalik for that question.
As I indicated in the standing committee and again today, when there is duplication, it’s not necessarily a good thing.
I know that Health and Social Services does a lot of work with crisis shelters. What our funding is intended for is to support the FAIA, but again, as I indicated, we are going to talk with the Department of Health and Social Services to look for ways to work together to avoid any duplication of services.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank the minister. We hope to see this approach more in the future.
I would like to turn to page 1.
It says that in Iqaluit, there are emergency numbers for fire and ambulance services.
We have been asking to get a single emergency number to eliminate confusion by people in need and have just one number for all emergency services.
In our earlier committee meetings, I asked the minister to review this further and I would like an update on the current status.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank Mr. Okalik for that question.
Mr. Chairman, I did talk to the Commanding Officer, Steve McVarnock, of the RCMP about exactly that concern.
He has told me that he will look into it, he will talk to the City of Iqaluit, and he will update me. I have agreed that once I get that information, I would share that with the standing committee.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m sure that the other members would like to ask questions, so I will just leave it at that.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t think there was a question there.
Chairman: Mr. Ningark.
Mr. Ningark (interpretation): Thank you. I apologize that I didn’t see the light go on.
I thank the minister. Years before the RCMP came to Kugaaruk, life seemed to be difficult.
Now we have two RCMP members stationed there and we are thankful for that. Just seeing them out walking around in their uniforms makes one feel safer in the community.
Yesterday, in your opening statement for the Department of Justice, under page 2, it states under Corrections and Community Justice, in the last and third bullet, the final paragraph refers to the Family Abuse Intervention Act.