EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
This 4 million 230 thousand dollars under Income and the 2 million 186 thousand dollars under expenses, why do you have it configured like that?
This section shows the total income, coming in, one shows the expenditures and the other amount is the residual surplus.
What we have here are income and expenses.
We don’t have surpluses here.
The total income is 4 million 230 thousand dollars.
Total expenses is 2 million 186 thousand dollars.
And if you look under that, the 2 million 44 thousand dollars is the surplus amount.
We have the income expenses and surpluses here.
I’m sorry, my oversight.
The way I saw it, I thought there was just the income and the expenses.
I would however like further clarification from what Jobie had mentioned.
Are the hamlets given a contribution or grant so that the alcohol committees can run in their communities?
Not from the Liquor Commission Revolving Fund.
Mr. Iqaqrialu (interpretation): Where does the funding come from?
Mr. Chairman, I believe earlier I indicated that it would be the local municipality or society there might be established to receive funds for specific activities.
Mr. Iqaqrialu (interpretation): If they are not funded by this division, isn’t that creating a possibility of these committees going into a deficit situation.
Why are we set up like that?
Hon. Kelvin Ng: Mr. Chairman, the committees may be funded from other government departments such as Health and Social Services, which may be making a contribution to the municipalities as I indicated or directly to a society within a hamlet to deal with specific alcohol awareness issues.
It’s not out of the Liquor Commission Revolving Fund or, to be specific, the Liquor Commission and the Liquor Board.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Ng. In order to have our meeting run properly we are under this information item.
It is the Liquor Commission Revolving Fund that we are dealing with at the moment.
We are not talking about alcohol committees or hamlets.
It might not be here but it does have an effect on the alcohol committees.
I would like to see more information items in the next round.
Chairperson: Minister. Would you like to respond?
Hon. Kelvin Ng: I’ll put on a special briefing just for the member Mr. Chairman.
Chairperson (interpretation): Is that it, thank you.
Is there going to be a report of the liquor related review that happened for Nunavut?
If there is a report in the works, when are we going to see it?
As members may recall that was referred to one of the standing committees, the report that came forward.
So we are waiting, quite frankly, to hear back from the standing committee if they have any specific recommendations supporting or not supporting some of the results of that report.
It seems like the minister and the department are having some difficulty responding to some of the questions that the members have on this page.
They mentioned that they would be able to give some of the members a briefing on this page, therefore I do have some questions, and they already said they don’t know what this 60 thousand dollars is for.
They don’t know many of these things.
Even the department doesn’t know that but they were able to put numbers down, so Mr. Chairman, I would like to say that I don’t want to approve that page.
Chairperson (interpretation): To the information item.
Mr. Chairman, this is an information item.
It doesn’t have to be approved.
But having said that, we provided that information to members.
We don’t have some of the specifics on the details that are provided from the Liquor Licensing Board relative to their operations.
Having said that, if the members are interested, next year we will have all the details requested and available, either after this session or certainly for next year’s budget process, to answer any of the questions that come forward respecting the Liquor Commission Revolving Fund.
I think the minister and the department and the government do have a very good understanding of the issues surrounding liquor in Nunavut.
That’s why this is of big interest to all of us, not just the members but Nunavummiut.
Mr. Chairman, the point that I was trying to make is that, it is removed from the government as a separate Liquor Commission.
Right now it is still contracted out even to Hay River, to the Northwest Territories.
But having said that again, we will provide, ask them to either be here I guess, or to provide specific information prior to this information item coming forward.
In regards to the report the Standing Committee currently has under review, there have been no changes.
We haven’t done any consulting with the communities yet as to what their priorities are and I think that the people of Nunavut have to be placed as a priority.
According to the question that was posed by the Member for Nanulik, we still have to work on creating it.
If we are contracting out this process to Hay River, then we have to find out how it is operated and what’s happening to date.
There was no question there, more of a comment.
I have no other names on my list. We’re on the information item. The Liquor Commission Revolving Fund.
Going back to 3-12. Information Item. Distribution of operations and maintenance budget, and going back to 3-5.
Total operations and maintenance 47 million 380 thousand dollars.
Chairperson (interpretation): The Department of Finance is completed.
I would like to thank you Mr. Minister, including your deputies and officials.
Mr. Minister, closing remarks?
Hon. Kelvin Ng: I would like to thank the committee as well and the officials, Mr. Vardy and Mr. Malcolm.
Mr. Kilabuk and his officials aren’t here yet.
We have completed the Department of Finance and we’ll take a 15 minute break.
>>Committee recessed at 3.02 pm and resumed at 3.18 pm.
We can continue.
We are now on Human Resources.
Is the minister ready for opening remarks?
Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, colleagues.
I am pleased to appear before the Committee of the Whole to present the 2002/2003 main estimates for the Department of Human Resources.
Mr. Chairman, the programs and services of the department are supportive of the Bathurst Mandate, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
We are fully committed to excellence in the public service and building an effective, functional and skilled public service representative of the population it serves.
The Department of Human Resources budget for 2002/ 2003 is nearly 20 million dollars with a net increase of about 1.5 million dollars or 8% over last year’s budget.
The increase reflects the departmental focus on the Inuit Employment Plan Program and other training and development programs.
We can hear the minister but we don’t have a translated version of the opening remarks in front of us.
Are they not completed, Mr. Kilabuk?
We have only one copy of the Inuktitut.
It is okay if we continue.
You could continue.
If it’s okay with the members I’d like to continue.
The major components of this budget are:
6.9 million dollars for the Inuit Employment Plan, training and staff development
5.8 million dollars for recruitment and staff relocation
5.1 million dollars for compensation and benefits  1.8 million for decentralization
4 hundred thousand dollars for departmental operations and maintenance
The Inuit Employment Plan Program will be doubled from 1.7 million to 3.4 million.
One of the key initiatives is the senior Managers Development Program.
The purpose of this program is to increase Inuit representation at the senior management level, in partnership with the GN departments.
This program will create 15 intern positions across Nunavut who will be exposed to different forms of training, learning and skill enhancement.
New initiatives will include Employment Systems Review, ADM Professional Development, Public Administration Certificate Program and Job Descriptions Audit.
The Department will continue to provide the government-wide wellness program for all employees and their families, the government’s most valuable asset.
We are committing 755 thousand dollars to this program to develop a made-in-Nunavut wellness strategy and to continue providing counselling services to employees and their families.
We continue to support the summer student employment with priority hiring given to beneficiary applicants.
The summer student employment program encourages the students to continue and complete their studies, helps them to develop their skills and enhances their ability to find jobs after graduation.
The program also offers opportunities to the students to evaluate their future career options within the Government of Nunavut.
The budget will be increased from 350 thousand dollars to 700 thousand dollars.
As we are moving into the third phase of decentralization, the department will direct 1.3 million dollars to decentralization related activities.
This will provide staffing services, relocation, training and orientation to all affected employees.
Currently, the department has a complement of 53 positions including 15 positions in Qikiqtaaluk, Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions.
I’m pleased to report that the department is operating close to full capacity.
The 2002/2003 main estimates provides for a total complement of 61 staff including eight new positions.
Three of these eight new positions will be located in the regional offices.
These new positions…I apologise, Mr. Chairman.
These new positions are created to address critical resource issues in staffing, training, corporate services, regional operations, labour relations and Inuit employment plans.
The department is committed to providing Human Resources Management and support services to all Government of Nunavut Departments and Agencies through headquarters and the three regional offices.
The department continues to be active in serving departmental needs in the areas of staffing, job evaluation, organisational design and labour relations.
The department’s focus on the Inuit Employment Plan will continue to be a main priority.
To achieve all these commitments, we will require the necessary resources to effectively carry out the mandate, function and responsibilities of the department.
I look forward to answering any questions that the members may have.
Does the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Services Chairperson have any opening comments?
It’s a foregone conclusion I guess.
It comes with the job of being the chair of the committee to do opening comments.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations and Services has reviewed the budget estimates of the Department of Human Resources for the 2002/2003 fiscal year and I’m pleased to provide you with the committee’s comments.
The committee notes that the department has been allocated a relatively modest budget increase of approximately 8 percent over the 2001/2002 main estimates.
However, the committee has also noted that the department’s budget has increased by over 75 percent from its main estimates in our first year as a government.
At that time the department’s main estimates were just over 11.3 million dollars.
Over the past year, members have been concerned about a number of issues relating to the state of our public service.
Perhaps the most acute and visible issue is the persistent shortage of staff housing in a number of communities.
This is an issue that members raised last year during the review of the department’s budget.
Although the committee recognises that the primary responsibility for the staff housing file now rests with the Nunavut Housing Corporation, this issue nonetheless has a fundamental impact on the operations of the Department of Human Resources.
Furthermore, in reviewing the recently tabled preliminary results of the department’s workplace wellness survey, it is noteworthy and of concern that the report indicates the housing and I’ll quote, “the housing situation appears to be worse for Inuit”.
Mr. Chairman, it seems clear to members that the staffing process of the government has stalled to some extent.
According to the most recently tabled statistics from the department we are still hovering around the 78 percent level.
This number has not changed in any significant direction for some time.
Again, the lack of housing is clearly having a cascade effect across the government.
Members also noted that the levels of Inuit employment in the public service have remained fairly constant.
We also note, however, the striking gap between levels of Inuit employment in headquarters positions and those in the smaller communities.
According to the government’s September 2001 employment statistics, less than 30 percent of the positions in Iqaluit were filled with beneficiaries.
Members also continue to have concerns about the rates of turnover within our government.
Mr. Chairman, the committee was pleased to see the department table a combined 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 Public Service Annual Report last December.
The committee applauds the department for filling its legal requirement to table this report and encourages those departments who have not yet fulfilled their own statutory tabling obligations, to follow Human Resources’ example in this particular respect.
Members also look forward to reviewing the results of the Workplace Wellness Survey, including information on whether funds for such initiatives as the 1-800 help line have been well spent.
Mr. Chairman in the committee’s comments last year, members observed the need for the Department to quantify the gender balance within the public service.
The Public Service Annual Report clearly identifies a striking gap between the numbers of male and female beneficiaries employed by the Government of Nunavut.
Although the numbers of male and female non-beneficiaries are roughly equal, there are considerably fewer beneficiary males working in the government than there are beneficiary females.
It is nonetheless disturbing to see that so few beneficiary males are having success in entering and staying in the public service.
Mr. Chairman, the committee has noted with approval the increases that the department has proposed for investments in training.
Members look forward to learning more detail about the department’s plan to create 15 intern positions in the Senior Managers Development Program.
Members would also note that this program sounds similar in some ways to the Department of Finance’s plan to create 12 training positions.
Members would be interested to learn whether such programs are being developed in a coordinated way between departments.
Members would also suggest that people in mentoring positions need assurances that mentoring work is truly appreciated by our government.
Too often, we hear comments along the lines of; I have time to do my job or mentor a trainee-but not to do both.
Mr. Chairman, our employees who take the time to mentor need to know that teaching and sharing their experience is an integral part of their job.
Members have also stressed the need for comprehensive and reliable information to be generated across the government.
The committee would wish to see effective interdepartmental coordination in such areas as the payroll system.
Mr. Chairman, it remains a sad reality that while unemployment in our communities is high, the government cannot always find the people in our communities to fill the jobs available.
Members have heard from their constituents that there is a perception in the communities that gaining access to training and apprenticeship programs is actually more difficult than it was in the pre-division days.
We must ensure that opportunities are readily available.
The department’s current business plan is forthright in acknowledging that long-term solutions lie in the area of education, but the committee continues to feel that every effort should be made for the department to work with partners in the area of training, and in eliminating artificial barriers to employment for Nunavummiut who can do the job.
Persistent effort is required to fulfill our Article 23 obligations, and members encourage the department to be forceful in this regard.
Mr. Chairman, one government-wide HR issue that members have noted is that although the Government of Nunavut is in the middle of a major Program Review exercise, many departments, including HR, continue to add positions or tinker with their organizational charts.
Members would question the extent to which departments have been given the latitude to make changes to their size and structure while we await the results of the Program Review exercise.
Mr. Speaker, the committee has also noted that the Yukon government has recently announced that it intends to develop its own pension legislation for its public service.
At present members of the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut public services belong to the federal superannuation plan.
Members would wish to see the Government of Nunavut indicate to its workforce whether it will pursue a similar move, or stay within the existing system.
Mr. Chairman, one suggestion that the Committee has heard is the need for an ombudsman-like position within the Government of Nunavut whom employees can go to for assistance – especially for those employees without access to the formal grievance process.
We would suggest that the Department explore this concept over the coming year.
That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chairman.
Individual Members may have comments and questions as we proceed with the review of the Department’s estimates.
Sergeant-At-Arms, could you escort the witnesses?
Mr. Kilabuk, can you introduce your officials?
Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): Excuse me.
Can you repeat your question?
Chairperson (interpretation): Can you introduce your officials sitting with you?
To my left Carmen Levi, my Deputy Minister and to my right Tom Thompson, Assistant Deputy Minister.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you. You have 10 minutes to speak, in accordance with Rule 77(1) with respect to the minister’s opening comments.
I appreciate the Human Resources department for coming and we respect your progress in Nunavut in different communities.
We represent different communities and as members we are happy with the present situation, but we would like to see more progress in this department.
I would like to state that the shortage of houses is the biggest barrier and perhaps due to that, it’s harder to find employees.
But, now another concern is when the employees stay for a short period of time and then leave for other positions, sometimes not even long enough to get to know the office.
The Government of Nunavut employees, we are beginning to wonder whether the salaries are lower than the other governments’ salaries.
We sometimes have really good employees and then they resign because of the low salary.
They look for higher salaries in other organizations.
I don’t think the housing problem is the only problem we have anymore.
We have the people who can have houses or accommodations, who can do the jobs but who are going from position to position looking for the best combination of salary and benefits that they can get.
I think that this issue has to be analyzed as it affects our employee retention and especially if the Nunavut Government is serious about the retaining the best and most skilled employees within its workforce.
I think that we should not be looking at hiring short term positions as we require a workforce committed to Nunavut and when an employee has become familiar with the position, they start to understand the intricacies of the job and how it has to run to have the most efficient organization, everyone can learn these things.
For the government positions, if the salary is too small, this may be another impediment for this government.
We need to review all the employees’ benefits and salary structures if we want to retain good employees from Nunavut, and especially beneficiaries.
We need to find out if the salaries are lower comparatively than the job market.
If it is, then people tend to overlook these positions.
Housing shortages are not the only barriers here.
The fact remains that there are a lot of well-educated individuals in Nunavut who are not working for our government.
Perhaps it is because of the salary levels.
There are many Inuit within Nunavut who can work and even though they apply, they are treated as if they don’t exist.
Some of them don’t want to be interviewed by the selection committees, Inuit especially, for the position.
Even Inuit who have applied for jobs often ask why they are not contacted for an interview, or whether there are even interviews conducted.
I have tried to research this issue, but I have kept running into roadblocks.
I know Inuit who can take higher responsibilities in managerial areas because I know the capabilities of some of the Inuit and this is due to my living with these people.
We need to review each applicant and the selection process.
How come some of them are not even looked at?
Sometimes I would ask people, how come you don’t apply for a government position?
They reply that they have applied but their applications were not discussed at all and it is as if their applications are just thrown out.
It should not be like this, we did not create Nunavut to import these practices.
All applicants should be looked at carefully, and not only their academic capabilities.
There are a lot of employees who have been working for the government, some for a long time and although their education level may only be grade 10, they would learn all the responsibilities of their jobs and they would know what to do, and when they are at that stage, they have the skills of a grade 12 graduate.
So, this is understandable and in looking at this problem, I have talked to different people about their experiences, but only those who speak my language as they are the only ones that I understand and I have learned different things from those who have applied for different government jobs and the results of their experiences with these applications.
I have learned a lot of unpleasant news about the Nunavut Government’s selection processes.
The Department of Human Resources should be focussing on being effective and treat everybody according to how they would like to be treated because more than one person has approached me about applying for a job, especially those who have some ability but due to their lack of a demonstrated understanding of English, they are not even considered.
A lot of people have confided these things that they have noticed.
Even some beneficiaries with all of the proper qualifications have not been interviewed for these positions and are likely not going to be offered these positions due to this prejudice against unilingual Inuit.
This is very demeaning to our people and it hurts to hear these experiences when we are representing Nunavummiut.
I am telling the truth in this respect and I have tried to find out the situation of Inuit employment and talked to a lot of people regarding this issue over the last two years.
There are quite a few people whom I have interviewed about this issue.
Mr. Havioyak (interpretation): I just want to make a small comment.
It is good to hear the comments of others.
We are trying to increase the number of the Inuit workers in our government workforce.
To date, like you interview a lot of people out there who apply for jobs in Nunavut or in their communities.
I brought this up last year, I didn’t hear, or what I heard last year is when they interview people for jobs we want the people to be interviewed in the Inuinnaqtun language.
We don’t want our people to forget our language and when we interview people, if when we interview people out there even though they want to speak Inuinnaqtun, most times we have a language barrier in the interviewing process.
I’m sure you’ve come across this situation before.
It is very painful to hear this because I don’t understand you in Inuinnaqtun.
I want to speak in English that’s what we hear most from interviewers.
We do not want to see this in our government especially in the future, or to hear that we do not want to hear Inuinnaqtun spoken.
Maybe it’s getting a little better now as you may know.
I just want to bring this one comment up as well.
The summer student jobs.
All summer students want to work and I’m glad to hear that students want to work in the summer time.