EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I don’t know all the details and I can get back to the member, but the directors have to be elected and they meet accordingly to keep the hospice open.
Mr. Mikkungwak (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Some services at the Baker Lake Hospice are provided by health care personnel, for example, in the areas of medication management and chronic care needs.
Can the minister describe how her departmental officials work with officials from the Department of Health to address issues relating to the care and comfort of our elders at the Baker Lake Hospice?
I thank my colleague as he wants to know how we work together.
Health care workers assist the elders and I am grateful for that. (interpretation ends) Home care (interpretation) is also involved as it is related to looking after elders.
The (interpretation ends) contribution agreement (interpretation) is a contractual agreement with the hospice society.
The hospice society is contracted under our department. We are reviewing the contract with the society. If there are going to be any changes, I will inform my colleague.
Question 444 – 4(2): Housing Issues in Gjoa Haven (Akoak)
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, as I noted in my Member’s Statement, the Nunavut Housing Corporation’s current public housing allocation system indicates that Gjoa Haven is one of the top ten communities in need of new public housing.
The government’s capital estimates for the 2016-17 fiscal year will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly in a few months’ time.
Can the minister indicate where the Nunavut Housing Corporation is at today in terms of deciding where new public housing units will be constructed in the upcoming fiscal year?
Mr. Speaker, at this time, we have not determined how many housing units will be going to Gjoa Haven and other communities.
For that reason, I can’t provide the member with an answer at this time. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
Can the minister indicate how frequently the Nunavut Housing Corporation communicates with Gjoa Haven’s local housing organization to obtain up-to-date information on waiting lists and overcrowding in the community?
Mr. Speaker, with respect to his question about Gjoa Haven, there are many communities that are waiting for new housing.
Some communities are more in need than others and we have to meet the greatest need.
It’s true that Gjoa Haven is in the top ten communities in critical need of housing. Nevertheless, there are other communities that are higher on the priority list than Gjoa Haven.
To use the member’s community of Gjoa Haven as an example, they are lacking 58 houses. If we build 58 houses, it would meet their need.
However, other communities need over 150 to 200 houses. As we determine how many units go to which community, we have to make that determination by need.
I hope I made sense, Mr. Speaker.
I will ask that question at another time.
My second question, as the minister will recall, another housing issue that I have raised on a number of occasions concerns the problems that homeowners in small communities face when trying to access the Nunavut Housing Corporation’s home repair and improvement programs.
In small communities, there is often a shortage of local skilled tradespeople and contractors.
Can the minister describe what changes the Nunavut Housing Corporation has made to its homeownership programs to address the problem that I identified?
Hon. George Kuksuk (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I again thank the member for that question.
Mr. Speaker, as I stated, in the smaller communities, we lack contractors and we also lack house maintenance workers.
With regard to the member’s question on the homeownership programs, we often have a shortage of local skilled tradespeople.
Mr. Speaker, as the housing corporation, we looked into this issue and looked at ways of improving this, especially for the communities that have a shortage of skilled tradespeople and contractors.
We have identified and set up a program.
If there is no contractor in the community, no matter where it is, such as Gjoa Haven, then the housing corporation can send a skilled worker and open the contract so that they can go to the community.
That is just an example I can provide to the member. We are working on that policy at the housing corporation.
Question 445 – 4(2): Repulse Bay’s Sewage Lagoon (Mapsalak)
Mr. Speaker, during the recent fall sitting, the minister stated that the Government of Nunavut signed the Canada-Nunavut Gas Tax Agreement in February 2014.
The government’s 2015-16 capital estimates indicate that in previous years, a total of $5.1 million in funding under the Gas Tax Fund was allocated to a sewage lagoon project in Repulse Bay.
However, Repulse Bay still does not have a sewage lagoon.
Can the minister provide an update on the status of the sewage lagoon project in Repulse Bay and how the $5.1 million in gas tax funding has been used to date?
I also thank my colleague for that question. (interpretation ends) The design for the sewage lagoon has been completed now at this point. (interpretation) Thank you.
With regard to my question, this $5.1 million in gas tax funding has been used to date for this project.
What did they use that fund for?
With respect to the fund the member is asking about, the $5.1 million was appropriated for constructing a (interpretation ends) sewage lagoon, (interpretation) but as of this date, only a small portion of the funds has been used primarily for the planning and design phase.
Does this mean that the construction will start this summer?
I refer to the sewage lagoon here. As Repulse Bay currently has no lagoon, the raw sewage is seeping onto the land as it is just dumped. I would then ask: will the construction phase of the sewage lagoon start this coming summer?
We are just waiting for the federal government for a water licence. Once we get the water licence, we will be able to start the project.
Question 446 – 4(2): Decentralization Policy (Savikataaq)
My questions are for the Minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, whose department has overall responsibility for implementing the government’s decentralization plan.
As the minister is very much aware, the GN’s overall decentralization model has gone through many changes since the creation of the territory. In decentralized communities like Arviat, people are concerned with what they see as a slow but steady slippage of positions back to Iqaluit.
Mr. Savikataaq: It has always been my understanding that the government’s policy is that when a position is moved out of a decentralized community, a new position must be relocated into the community in order to ensure that the community does not suffer a net loss of jobs.
Can the minister confirm that my understanding is correct?
Mr. Speaker, as indicated in the earlier years, it’s very important that the decentralized positions be replaced when they’re relocated to a different place such as Iqaluit.
As a government, we intend to maintain our 60 percent government employees outside of Iqaluit.
During yesterday’s proceedings of the Committee of the Whole, I raised concerns about the transfer of a position from Nunavut Arctic College’s Arviat headquarters to the college’s Iqaluit office for a period of three years. The transfer is for three years.
Although this transfer may be considered as “temporary” by the government, it should not prevent the government from following the spirit of its policy and relocating a new position into the community for an equivalent period of time.
When I suggested this to the Minister of Nunavut Arctic College yesterday, I did not get a commitment or a positive response to this.
Will the Minister of EIA commit to ensuring that this is done?
Mr. Speaker, I’ll be following the generally accepted method of trying to deal with these situations and once that happens, I will surely let the member know.
I thank the Minister of EIA, the Premier, for the response.
If you give a little, it is common to ask for more.
As I am sure my friend and colleague from Baker Lake will agree, there is frustration in the Kivalliq [regarding] the status of the so-called “headquarters” of the Nunavut Housing Corporation, Nunavut Arctic College, and the Qulliq Energy Corporation.
Although the headquarters of each of these three entities are located in Arviat and Baker Lake, the vast majority of their senior executives and decision-makers actually live and work in Iqaluit.
Will the Premier commit to ensuring that no less than 50 percent of each corporation’s executive and senior management positions are relocated to Arviat and Baker Lake before the end of this government’s term?
As I indicated, I will use the generally accepted method of looking into this. I can’t commit to some of these numbers that the member has stated because I will have to speak with my colleagues on this just to determine why we got to that state.
Question 447 – 4(2): Federal Funding for Nunavut Housing Corporation (Rumbolt)
Good afternoon to the people of Sanikiluaq and to the people of Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my questions to the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, in November of last year, the minister signed a joint agreement with the federal government extending the Investment in Affordable Housing Agreement to 2019.
This investment commits $15 million for new affordable housing.
Can the minister explain how this funding will be used to address the unique housing needs in our territory?
Mr. Speaker, our department continues to state that with respect to housing and our severe housing shortage within Nunavut, we will continue to work on this file and we will have to deliberate on our options.
However, our continual statement on this issue is that we have begun preparations for a strategy for housing to study issues, such as (interpretation ends) overcrowding (interpretation) and other related housing issues, as housing includes many interrelated social issues.
We have committed to undertaking this plan and we expect to initiate this plan soon.
We have begun the (interpretation ends) Blueprint for Action on Housing (interpretation) to start consulting within and outside government departments, including such organizations as the regional Inuit associations or Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and we hope to collaborate with them to start our plans to combat our housing shortage situation here in Nunavut.
The additional $15 million was announced on November 10 of 2014.
Mr. Speaker, sealift deadlines are fast approaching. I think the department should have some idea of where they are going to spend this money.
I wonder if the minister can update us today on which communities will benefit from this investment.
In regard to the member’s question, in order to construct affordable housing, we had a surplus of approximately $10 million.
Mr. Speaker, we have identified the 2015-16 funding to construct the units in Pond Inlet, Kugaaruk, and Arviat. We have identified those communities.
As the minister is aware, the Nunavut Housing Corporation’s business plan indicates that “funding from CMHC for the social housing inventory, which was transferred to the Corporation in 1996, is declining and will terminate completely in 2037.”
Can the minister clearly explain how he is working with his federal counterpart to find a long-term solution to this issue and whether or not the additional money from the federal government will be used for O&M on public housing?
Hon. George Kuksuk (interpretation) Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I can’t actually answer that question right now, but I can tell my colleague that we have been speaking with the federal government and different departments are also involved. We are working with Community and Government Services and EIA, amongst others, in regard to housing because it’s a complicated matter.
We are working and talking with our counterparts. There is nothing identified yet, but it is being worked on in conjunction with the federal government. We would like to put a good plan together.
Question 448 – 4(2): Early School Leavers (Angnakak)
Mr. Speaker, statistics have shown that a significant number of our young school-age children do not finish school. They leave school early and many of them do not find employment.
Can the minister describe what programs are in place and what kinds of intervention efforts are made by his departmental staff to interact with youth who have left school early and are not employed and to get them back into the school system?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague for the question.
We are encouraging our young people to keep going to school.
The student dropout rate in Nunavut is the highest in Canada.
We keep our doors open to students who have recently quit school through initiatives like PASS, which is geared towards older students to continue their education. We are able to help students with adult education as well.
We also keep our schools open for younger students so that they may participate in after school programs. These are the programs that we advertise.
We are still pushing and encouraging the parents because parental engagement is an important part of the education process.
These are different programs that we’re trying to work on so that our students who can be in school keep going to school.
Sometimes it is easy to fall off our path and it can be much more difficult to get back on it, especially when we get older, and I can speak from my own personal experience. I quit school in grade 9, but as an adult, I went back to high school and I graduated from this high school here in Iqaluit.
Our Education Act states that Nunavummiut are entitled to go to school up to the age of 21.
Can the minister indicate whether his department keeps records of the number of Nunavummiut who leave school early and then come back to complete their education?
Thank you, my fellow MLA, for asking that question.
Unfortunately, we do not keep records for that type of information.
I do know other departments, such as Arctic College, do monitor and this is something that the Department of Education is now working on, to monitor potential students that have gotten out of our schools.
This is something that our department is now working towards to make sure that we have a monitoring system that can give us a better picture of what potentials we have that may and have an ability to go back to school. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
A lack of education limits one’s options in life.
It stands to reason that many of our early school leavers will have to rely on supports such as income support for their basic needs if they cannot find employment.
Can the minister clarify what programs are in place to steer early school leavers towards productive choices for their future?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague for seeking clarification on that issue.
When our students are attending school, these are the types of messages we try to convey to the students while they are still youth attending classes in the schools.
As a matter of fact, we had that in mind when we discussed (interpretation ends) early childhood education (interpretation) as an example of children not quite in school being encouraged to continue their schooling and we are trying to produce that now.
As an example, based on their relative age as they grow older, the message is meant to keep them attached to their education and we are starting that at a younger age and we are trying to apply that message earlier.
Perhaps it is that mindset we are trying to form, to see how students can be more engaged in their schooling if the encouragement starts at an earlier age in preschool to teach them the importance of education.
These are the types of initiatives we are looking at as the Department of Education in (interpretation ends) early childhood education (interpretation) to start that earlier.
That is what we are trying to encourage through this initiative.
Further, within our schools, we are using awards to encourage attendance and students are recognized by their teachers on a specific time period, such as a monthly attendance certificates.
These are the types of initiatives we are working on to encourage our students through various encouragement methods, such as these awards. This encourages our students.
These are the types of things we are pushing for to ensure our students remain in school. As part of our designation of the importance of this issue, we have tried to show more encouragement, including televised recordings that are meant to encourage our students at this moment.
Question 449 – 4(2): Standardized Writing System in Schools (Joanasie)
Good afternoon, my colleagues and all the people of Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Education further today based on his Minister’s Statement earlier today. He announced the writing system used in the schools, (interpretation ends) the standardized writing system.
(interpretation) I wanted further elaboration on this front, as I seemed to hear that a strategy or plan is in the works. Let me first ask: how long will this planning process take?
(interpretation ends) The comprehensive implementation plan (interpretation) was announced as requiring work.
How long will the planning take? That is my first question.
At this time, we are looking at the upcoming (interpretation ends) spring 2015 (interpretation) where we want to return to report on the status of the plan and to review the issues.
Currently, we are only doing (interpretation ends) research (interpretation) to see where we are, what resources are available in our schools now, as well as what other subjects are needed.
We are only reviewing the issues and the planning process is scheduled to start in the spring of 2015.
That is our expectation of the planning process to resolve these issues we have found out about.
Some of the details within the Minister’s Statement highlighted several communication initiatives and I assume that includes community consultations. Here I mean (interpretation) consultation (interpretation) specifically on our writing system that is taught in all of our schools in Nunavut.
It will impact each and every community, so I wonder if the minister can elaborate on the (interpretation ends) consultation plan (interpretation) and if every community will be consulted.
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member for enquiring about this issue and for asking for more details. Let us know that with respect to the writing system, it would only apply to the schools and not the public.
It won’t be applied to our communities as a requirement or elsewhere.
The language isn’t explicitly saying that it applies everywhere; only within our schools.
Also, we want further feedback on this issue from the DEAs, teachers, principals, parents, and students, and so on. These are the groups that we will consult as part of this process.
Let me reiterate that this writing system we are researching only applies to our schools at this time.
Currently, Inuit have two different writing systems, qaniujaaqpait and qaliujaaqpait. Do I understand that every student will now need to use qaliujaaqpait, or Roman orthography, as part of their schooling?
I again want it clearly understood even as I speak at this moment that our schools are teaching our children.
At this point in time, the Roman orthography, or inuilingajut, is being taught starting in grade 4 at this time.
The syllabics are taught as well from kindergarten up to grade 4 with no Roman orthography taught until they have reached grade 4. That is the current teaching practice.
Further, even with my announcement earlier, at this time, what we are trying to accomplish is to determine if the writing system can be incorporated into our schools. This is basically a pilot project and we haven’t stated that this writing system will now be required. However, to reiterate, we are just trying to see if this initiative will work and to see what resources are needed in our schools to implement this writing system.
We are consulting to see if our teachers require additional training to offer this subject.
These are the types of issues we are currently reviewing. Nonetheless, I can state that this system will start being taught from grade 4 and the higher grades. Some schools already use the Roman orthography writing system.
Question 450 – 4(2): 2015 Council of the Federation Meeting (Hickes)
I would like to welcome Jamie and Paige MacDougall here. I was just mentioning to them during the recognition that one of the very first questions I asked in this House as a newly elected MLA had to do with services for hearing impairment.
Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for the Premier today. Last week, he tabled the federal/provincial/territorial ministerial report from the 2015 Council of the Federation winter meeting, and I was going over the document over this past week and I had a couple of questions for the Premier.
As I’m sure all members are very much aware, I’m a very strong proponent of alternative energy use to be brought to Nunavut to reduce our reliance upon fossil fuels.
During those meetings, they were speaking about the commitment to completing the Canadian Energy Strategy.
I was wondering what input was our Premier available to put into that document to really highlight the need of exploring alternative energy sources for Nunavummiut.
I am quite pleased that we have a member who is quite keen on how the Canadian premiers discuss energy and other various topics of discussions on the agenda.
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian strategy on energy is one of the things that were put out in 2007. Mr. Speaker, our participation is through the working groups and at the senior level. As you know, Mr. Speaker, we have another big player that has joined the Council of the Federation, that being, Quebec and we intend to have them participate in all our agenda items.
Within the document that we received, it talks about the commitment to completing the Canadian Energy Strategy, building on the vision and principles adopted last year.
What I’m looking for is I’m wondering if the minister has… . I’m sure he has. With the opportunities that have been available to him at these types of meetings to really stress the need of Nunavut getting off our dependency on fossil fuel and the impact it is having on the global environment, but as well as on the economy of Nunavut.
I appreciate the hon. member’s question.
Mr. Speaker, we’re just a small player in the overall scheme of things. We use very little fossil fuels compared to other jurisdictions.
Mr. Speaker, at this point, we have no alternative energy that we can use, whether it’s hydro projects or any others, wind power and tidal power. We are not at that stage yet.
We are not as fortunate as these other jurisdictions where they have collected royalties for years to put into their coffers so that they can actually build alternative energy infrastructure, such as hydro dams and other alternative energy.
We don’t have that luxury.
At this point, we do have to go to Ottawa and ask for mega millions of dollars to build basic needs infrastructure.
At this point, it’s very costly to build alternative energy such as hydro. As we all know, several years ago, there were discussions on that and the amounts came up to $450 million or $500 million. That was three or four years ago.
Every year that we wait, the costs do go up.
Mr. Speaker, we don’t have the luxury of collecting royalties from oil. We don’t have enough capital resources to build that type of infrastructure, but as you know, Mr. Speaker, we are negotiating hard through devolution to get to that stage.
I had some other topics on this document, but I would like to stay with the alternative energy right now.
As the Premier just mentioned, every year we delay, it increases the costs.
I know all of us in this House realize that we don’t have a lot of the luxuries that other jurisdictions have with mineral, gas, and oil royalties. They are just not available to Nunavut at this time.