EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
In this particular incident on this particular case the only people that I am aware that have come forward seeking compensation and I have a letter with me Mr. Speaker from the Honourable Robert Nault speaking to the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs’ responsibility for this issue.
There are only the four people that the member has identified in correspondence to me.
There could be other people seeking compensation for any range of issues with the government.
On the particular Hall Beach compensation issue, they are the only people that I am aware of.
His response was that there are no other individuals seeking compensation and he states that there might be other people seeking compensation for other things other than what we are dealing with now.
So if there are no other individuals seeking compensation for this issue, how will other people be seeking compensation when he states that there are no other individuals?
Hon. Ed Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at any given time there is litigation going on with government, there are people seeking compensation.
For example Mr. Speaker, victims of residential schools, the Ed Horn case that we heard about and so on.
Particularly Mr. Speaker, in this case the only individuals that have come forward looking for compensation are the ones identified by the member.
I want to point something out Mr. Speaker, very carefully, about the letter dated October 19, 2001 to the member, copied to the member directed to me from the Minister of DIAND.
The Minister of DIAND says that he will be instructing his officials and I will read Mr. Speaker, that they will continue to research the event and will contact you soon as they have substantial evidence for payment.
Mr. Speaker, I think that the avenue and the process we have been following is that the responsibility for compensation and payment is from the federal government.
Question 462 - 1(5): Leadership Training for Youth
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to address my question to the Minister of Education in regards to my statement earlier regarding our youth.
What kind of training is being made available for youth in regards to leadership?
Because they are going to be our future.
What’s being done to train them for the future?
Firstly, I’d like to welcome the youth into the Gallery.
To respond to the member’s question, his question was how are we planning to train our youth for the future.
While they are in school, when opportunities come up such as travelling to other communities or other cities in Canada, once they are finished we also try to assist them, I'm just using these as examples and these opportunities are taken full advantage of, things such as Nunavut Sivuniksavut.
That’s just an example of how we are working towards training our youth to become leaders.
So there are different opportunities for youth.
I appreciate the response, as it was very clear.
Today is there training available for our young people and is there curriculum available for leadership training for youth at the moment.
Presently our teachers in the communities have curriculum that they need to follow to teach certain subjects.
When we were dealing with the Bathurst Mandate we were instructed to put together programs that were more Nunavut oriented.
So we have instructed our teachers to put that together, to make programs available for this.
My last question to the Minister is, since our young people are working towards becoming leaders, when would these programs be made available in the schools in Nunavut.
Today is the last day of February and we were expecting them to be completed by today.
Question 463 - 1(5): Plans for Dam Project in Nunavik
I’d like to direct my question to the Premier.
This is not exactly under his portfolio but I would like to ask the Premier if there is the possibility of a dam being built in the Nunavik area that would also affect the territory of Nunavut.
I have not heard anything about what’s going to be happening in the Nunavik area but they are negotiating currently in Quebec in the Indian territory.
I don’t know, I haven’t heard about any dams being built in the Nunavik area.
It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to protect our environment.
Because of course, the islands are Crown Lands but if there is a dam going to be built down there it can affect the Territory of Nunavut.
Have you thought about the issue?
We will have to look at what kind of impact it would have on the environment.
If there are going to be any projects underway, an environmental impact assessment will have to be done before the project gets started.
You stated that there are negotiations in the province of Quebec.
So only after the dam has been built and after it has affected Nunavut’s wildlife and environment, say for example, if the pollution reaches Arviat through the water in the Hudson Bay area, will you at that time decide to do an environmental study, after the land has been flooded and so on.
Then will you decide to do an assessment?
The Cree concluded negotiations with the Quebec Government.
They haven’t said exactly when they’re going to start building this dam but of course, we’ll keep a close eye on it, if it’s going to effect our environment.
Question 464 - 1(5): Financial Assistance for Soapstone Quarrying
For those communities who have no quarry sites near their community and for those who don't have soapstone deposits, is it possible for them to get funding from the Department of Sustainable Development so they could quarry soapstone.
Speaker: Minister responsible for Sustainable Development, Minister Akesuk.
We have the same problem in Cape Dorset and the quarry sites are quite far from the community.
We are currently reviewing the whole process and we have set up prospectors’ programs where they can find deposits of soapstone.
It is very likely that through the prospectors’ program they might find deposits closer to their community.
We can contribute five thousand dollars through this program to find deposits of soapstone or other minerals.
This prospectors’ program has been used in Coral Harbour but they have not yet found a deposit on the island that would be good for carving.
My question was if they could not find a deposit near their community can the Department of Sustainable Development give them help or support.
I will look into it further and see what else we can do.
This has been an on-going concern of the Nunavut communities.
We will see what we can do about it.
We have a harvesters’ support program and we could possibly look at that and see how else we can help those communities.
We have the same problem in Cape Dorset and we have to have soapstone available for the carvers.
So the Department of Sustainable Development will look into this further and see what kind of support they can give to these communities.
We as a government have a goal to have the people of Nunavut become self-sufficient and get an income and so on.
I believe we will also have to review the social assistance money and see if we can possibly combine these two programs.
What I am trying to say is, is it possible, the majority of the people out there do not like to get Income Support because of course they want to be independent.
When can the minister tell us if he will be reviewing and looking for more money to help those communities?
We will work on this as fast as we can.
But I can't tell you exactly when they will do that.
We would like to review it and get something done for the communities of Nunavut.
We are working on how we could do more so that the communities can become more self-sufficient.
I’m sure that it will be in the very near future.
Will this also be included in the Main Estimates to ensure that it proceeds as planned?
Yes, we will have to include it and see how we can best use our dollars.
And of course we will have to include it in the budget.
Question 465 - 1(5): Plans to Correct Overcrowding of Iqaluit Classrooms - New Education Act
As the minister is fully aware, both he and myself have been cc’d on letters from educators in Iqaluit.
They have raised concern regarding the severe overcrowding in the classrooms in the schools in Iqaluit and I’m sure those are problems that are faced in all our communities and schools in Nunavut.
I’d like to ask the minister if there are any plans that the department has undertaken to address this issue of overcrowding in the classrooms, either right now or being worked into the new Education Act that the minister is bringing forward in the next session.
Currently with the large population of students and the student teacher ratio not being the way it should be, for the last three years there has been a large influx of new students going into the school system.
In our plans, what we are currently considering is how we can adjust the student teacher ratio and we are looking at the funds that are allocated for the education committees.
We haven’t completed these plans but once all this is done I’ll make it available to the member.
We are currently looking at the Education Act and through discussion, there have been some suggested amendments but I can’t respond to it now.
Mr. Speaker, I know I’m fully aware that the minister indicated that a lot of it has to do with the funds that are allocated to the District Education Authorities.
The funding is based on student population and based on that student population the formula says they are going to have x amount of teachers according to the population that they have.
Mr. Speaker, the minister himself indicated that this formula isn’t working and that there is severe overcrowding in classrooms.
Is the department looking at making substantial changes to that formula to take these factors into consideration?
What I said was, there’s been a concern about the influx of students per teacher and we have looked at this before.
What I said earlier Mr. Speaker, is that the money given to the District Education Authorities has stayed the same for a number of years.
But I would agree with the member that there is a problem with student teacher ratio.
Mr. Speaker, I know with our legislature some of the things we have done indicate that we’re following along with our sister territory and our closest neighbour to the west, the Northwest Territories.
It has a very similar government to ours and some of the things they do would seem to be relevant to us.
Mr. Speaker, I understand that the GNWT legislated class sizes and I’m wondering if the minister would commit to looking at including in legislation what the student teacher ratio should be.
In regards to the student teacher ratio, it has been a concern in Nunavut.
What we are doing is we are doing a study or a review of exactly what we can do to resolve this problem.
What we are doing is looking at ways to try to resolve this problem of overcrowding in the schools and to look at the money that is allocated to the DEAs.
Once a study has been done and we identify that areas that we need to improve I will inform the members.
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the study, but I asked the minister if he would consider legislating class sizes into the new Education Act as opposed to just doing a study to try and find ways how we can do it and if he would or wouldn’t, why.
What we are doing is reviewing the Education Act.
I have said numerous times in this House that we are reviewing the Education Act.
But I’m sorry I don’t have the amendments or the Education Act with me and I will provide the member with the amendments we have done so far.
Question 466 - 1(5): Update on Filled Positions in Decentralized Communities
Mr. Speaker, my question today is to that long travelled Premier of ours.
It’s almost three years to the day that I stood up and asked my first question in this Assembly, which was on decentralization.
I might add he’s one of the ministers that really responds to questions and gives me answers when I need them. Unlike some people on the end of this table.
Mr. Speaker, my question today to the minister, can he give me an update on how many positions have been filled in decentralized communities in Nunavut and Mr. Speaker, I must emphasize that I don’t want the Honourable Premier to give me my break down to one or two.
Can he tell me if it’s 50%, 60%, or 70%.
I wish I could provide specific examples right now of how far we’re at but I can report that we’re doing very well in the member’s riding.
I think we’re almost practically full in the member’s riding but other than that right now I can’t report.
But I will undertake to respond in more detail perhaps later on during this session.
Speaker: Is the premier taking the question as notice.
Hon. Paul Okalik: I want to live up to my reputation but it’s difficult for me to provide that detailed information right now.
So I will take it as notice and undertake to respond before the session is over.
The minister has taken the question as notice.
Question 467 - 1(5): Markets for Carvings
The Member from Nanulik had a very good question and I would like to get more information on the question he directed to the Sustainable Development Minister.
In Nunavut, many people make their living off carvings but there aren't many places to sell these carvings to any more as the market is getting smaller perhaps it's because there are so many carvings now.
I was just wondering, the people that make their living off carvings, if they cannot sell their carvings, what is the plan that Sustainable Development has for those artists.
There are many people that make their living off carvings and they don’t have very many places they can sell their carvings any more.
As well, they don’t have many soap stone quarries, but we’ve been keeping an eye on how we would be able to help them.
Say for instance, selling to the European countries such as Russia and other places.
We also developed a display or trade show and we talked with them about being able to sell carvings to European countries.
There is another group called the Nunavut Development Corporation that is helping to promote the sale of carvings from Nunavut to other countries and they’re looking at that right now.
I know the communities can make a good living selling their products such as carvings and other materials.
Yes, the Department of Sustainable Development is trying to find out where we can sell these products.
Yes, I understand the minister’s response.
Some communities have very good products and are known world-wide.
But others are not recognized world-wide and have a difficult time trying to sell their carvings.
What plans do you have in place for those communities?
For those communities that need that kind of assistance, we would like to help them out.
There is the Nunavut Development Corporation and they are trying to do a review of the best ways those people can sell their products not just in Nunavut but to other countries and areas.
They are trying to find out where the people could sell their carvings.
The Nunavut Development Corporation is doing a study right now in respect to which communities are having a difficult time selling their carvings and where they can sell their carvings.
I like the minister's response.
In the communities that I represent, the unemployment rate is high, in Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River.
There are not many places they can sell their carvings.
I'd like to ask the minister to make sure the study includes those two communities to make sure that those people sell their carvings elsewhere if they can't sell them in the communities.
I will work with all the communities to try to find out where they can sell their carvings.
We will do our best to try to assist those communities because we have to help the people sell their carvings wherever the communities might be.
Question 468 - 1(5): Docking Facility - Pond Inlet
I'd like to direct my question to the Minister of Transportation.
We don't have a docking facility in Pond Inlet and there are boats lost each year. I think a letter was written regarding this to the minister.
I'd just like to get an update as to what the minister has done to date to deal with the concern.
I believe the minister has a letter regarding this.
The docking facilities are well used in the Nunavut communities, especially in the summer.
I realize that in Pond Inlet a docking facility is a concern and the funds from the federal government to upgrade these docks or access roads is from the Federal Government.
I’ll be able to let the member know when money is found for this project.
I remember comments that were made about it being done in 2002.
Will this project be done this year, in the year 2002?
The money that is approved for 2002/2003 does not include docking facilities for Pond Inlet. The funding that is approved does not have docks included for that community but we are aware that communities would like such facilities, and as that is the case we are seeking funds from the federal government to deal with this.
So I cannot say whether it would be done this spring but we’re seeking funds for such projects.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 2003 is the election year, so I would appreciate a response to this before then.
In the year 2004, it’s hard to say what the future holds but I will continue to bring this up.
Will she be able to respond this year?
For that facility in Pond Inlet, if there was funding it would need at least 1.5 million dollars.
That money is not in the budget Mr. Speaker.
I would like to inform the member before this year is over.
But we are working on upgrading access roads and dock facilities for communities in Nunavut and we have priorized the health issues that need to be dealt with in regards to access roads.
For Pond Inlet the dock facility would probably be estimated at 1.5 million dollars and we will seek the funds, as we are aware these are urgent matters.
I’ll get back to the member once I have that information from the federal government.
Question 469 - 1(5): Appeals - RFP for Kivalliq Boarding Home
Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Honourable Minister of Health regarding the Kivalliq Boarding Home.
Mr. Speaker, like I said earlier in the week, it’s a great thing that they are finally replacing that decrepit old building there as the people of Kivalliq have been suffering many years using that facility.
Can the minister let this House know how many appeals there were to the decision to award that home or how many appeals there have been?
Mr. Speaker, it’s my understanding that we have received at least one appeal to the original RFP.
That is to the best of my knowledge at the present time.
I’ll be able to confirm that for the member over there in the coming days.
The Honourable Minister is as affable as usual to get along within the House.
Can the minister tell me if he’s going to wait for the decision on the appeal before he considers awarding the contract?
Mr. Speaker, the member knows there is some concern with the appeal board, under the process that has been set up and indeed, I don’t believe that board is constituted.
Therefore and thus Mr. Speaker, the award of the contract after the other initial logistic as well as financial and administration work on the leasing side of the contract is completed then we would hope to be able sign the RFPs.
It’s no secret that we’ve been bombarded with letters from the company that made one of these appeals and they’ve made it very clear, one of the companies made it very clear, that they’re not happy with the way that the contract was handled or that the RFP was handled.
I wonder if the minister would consider having an independent analysis done of the RFP.
Mr. Speaker, in government processes when you’re tendering contracts, some into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, inevitably you will have appeals to those processes.
In this case Mr. Speaker, I can say with confidence that at the end of the day, the due process, due diligence on the contracts has been done and in that case Mr. Speaker, I wouldn’t look at the suggestion made by the member.
Members will note the time is now up for Question Period.
Petition 06 - 1(5): Baker Lake Group Home Re: Open as Elders’ Chronic Care Facility
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to table a petition today from the citizens of Baker Lake.
It was just started late last week and now has 260 names.
There are more names to follow regarding the group home in Baker Lake that’s been empty for two or three years now.
The citizens of Baker Lake who signed this petition want the minister to move on training for an elders’ care facility.
It’s no secret, Mr. Speaker, that Baker Lake has one of the highest numbers of elders in Nunavut, they’re getting older, and they need almost 24 hour care, a certain group of them.
So I’m tabling a petition today hoping the minister will speed up the process on that home that’s been closed for a few years.
Tabled Document 084 - 1(5): Hamlet of Repulse Bay Motion Re: CIP Application
It is a copy of a motion on a joint application between the Hamlet of Repulse Bay and the District Education Authority to purchase a school bus with CIP funds.
Tabled Document 085 - 1(5): Letter from Canadian North Re: NNI Status
I'd like to table a document from Canadian North regarding the NNI policy.
Mr. Speaker I am starting to get letters from companies that have done business in Nunavut for a long time and employee a lot of northern people.
Mr. Speaker, I don't want to take too long but the NNI policy with which we were all involved.
When we were doing it up, I think we forgot the long-term companies like the Northwest Company, Canadian North and NTCL.
Today I have another large corporation that is owned by Inuit asking for an extension to the sunset clause.
So I table this document today hoping that the government will extend the sunset clauses for those that operate in the north.
Notice of Motion 22 – 1(5) Bill 21, Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act to Committee of the Whole
Mr. Speaker I give notice that on Monday March 4th, 2002 I will move the following motion.
I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Amittuq, that Bill 21 - Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act be ordered to the Committee of the Whole after Second Reading for consideration.
Tabled Document 67-1(5), Iqaluit District Education Authority on rules and responsibilities.
Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Retiring Act.
Before I proceed I'd like to ask the Member for Iqaluit Mr. Tootoo if he is ready to proceed with Tabled Document 67-1(5).
As Mr. Tootoo is not ready to proceed it is my duty to inform the members that no consideration of Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowance Act can occur in the Committee of the Whole until Bill 21, Supplementary Retirement Allowances Act is dealt with.
Notwithstanding Rule 27(2) do the members agreed to proceed to Item 21.
Bill 22 - Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act  - Third Reading
Mr. Speaker I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Baker Lake, that Bill 22, Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act be read for the third time.
Bill 22 has had third reading.
Clerk (Mr. Quirke): Orders of the Day for Friday March 1, 2002.
Motion 21-1(5)
Speaker: Members before we adjourn I'd like to acknowledge some of the people that we missed yesterday.
Very capable people and individuals that assisted in the drafting of the new Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act.
Peter Allison from the Department of Justice and our own Blandina Tulugarjuk and Mary Nashook from our staff.
Speaker: This House will adjourn until March 1st, 2002 at 10.00 a.m. Sergeant-At-Arms.
>>House adjourned at 3.26 pm.
DAY 52
Friday March 1, 2002
2714 – 2741
Opening Prayer 2714
Members’ Statements 2714
Oral Questions 2721
Reports of Standing & Special Committees 2736
Motions 2739
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery 2740
Orders of the Day 2740
Friday March 1, 2002 2714
460 - 1(5): Hamlet Council Decision re: Group Home to Elders Facility (McLean) 2714
461 - 1(5): Forefathers’ Abilities (Puqiqnak) 2714
462 – 1(5): President of Nunavut Association of Municipalities Comments (Anawak) 2715
463 – 1(5): Concerns Over Housing & Road Foundations (Iqaqrialu) 2716
464 – 1(5): Dog Team Trip Story (Kattuk) 2717
465 – 1(5): Arctic Co-op’s Successes (Tootoo) 2718
466 – 1(5): Gratitude to Minister of Health and Social Services for Midwifery Training (Thompson) 2718