EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
First of all, the government does not deal with contracted ambulances. Each individual community is responsible for those types of issues. We do not deal with those matters.
Mr. Aupaluktuq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank the hon. minister for that response.
We do have a gentleman who is providing the contract services and is doing an excellent job with the limited resources he has, and he has my support in this area.
Without dedicated transportation for medical clients, such as taxi chits and ambulance, will the minister consider asking his officials to reinstate the policy of issuing taxi chits so that medical clients from Baker Lake can get to the airport and make it to their appointments?
This matter seems simple, but when it applies to government processes, it is not quite that easy. Due to this reason, I will respond in this manner. We are concerned about it and understand the hardship that the community residents experience.
As per our usual statements in the House pertaining to the aboriginal peoples’ health funding, we have been lobbying the federal government to increase the funding that we receive from them through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program and expand the expenses payable.
Further, we’ve had discussions with NTI about the need to push the federal government to apply taxi chits through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program or ambulance services.
The problem is that if our government honours these taxi chits to assist our residents, then the federal government might state that this is now our department’s responsibility. It’s going to be the responsibility of this government to provide those sorts of services, and that is the problem we face.
With respect to the important question posed to the minister responsible, we continue to try and lobby the federal government.
However, they have been very reluctant to approve of these services we are asking for. It would be excellent if we could get support from the members to try and include these services.
Again I would like to thank the hon. minister for his response.
The issue of transportation for medical clients does not just stop once patients make it to the airport.
As you may know, there are three airlines which fly out of Baker Lake.
Can the minister clarify whether his department has considered allowing medical clients to choose which airline they travel on and, if not, why not?
Some members might recall when I was sitting on the other side that I worked vigilantly on loosening up the contracts in order to have our residents choose which airline they wanted to fly on and if the contracts were approved without review.
This is also an important question for medical clients to choose their airline, especially since the medical travel portion is so expensive. The federal government pays for this service via the NIHB program and we contract an airline to provide medical services.
The contract that we have now was completed one year ago. It was an open bid previously when our prior government had a Nunavut-wide contract.
In the Kivalliq region, two airlines bid on this service. Calm Air and Kivalliq Air submitted bids and the contract was split, 65 percent for one and 35 percent for the other airline.
The problem arises when we have reached those percentages with the airlines. That’s a problem that we have in the Kivalliq region on medical travel.
After the expiration of that contract, it will become clearer and I personally would like to see some options for consideration by the department.
I want to ask this last question to the minister. Can he provide me with more information after the session on which contracts were reviewed and what problems were identified for the patients on medical travel? I wanted to know if this has been reviewed under the existing contract.
Baker Lake residents and residents in the Kivalliq in general, as well as Nunavummiut are affected by this policy. (interpretation ends) Ma’nalluavik, Mr. Speaker.
With respect to his questions, he can come to my office at any time to ask them. However, we are aware that the Member for Baker Lake is working very hard on the issue of medical transportation on behalf of his residents.
I can tell you in the House that regarding medical travel in the Kivalliq region, the first question that he asked has resulted in one problem being resolved. The elders in the Kivalliq region can now overnight in Rankin Inlet prior to flying out on the jet to Winnipeg. This is especially where they have issues needing care, so we have made one improvement already.
The Baker Lake residents for whom you are speaking on behalf of, I have provided a bit more detail in this response. However, with respect to the other parts of your question, these issues are quite problematic to resolve immediately, but we’re constantly monitoring them.
I will keep you abreast on the progress of medical travel and the Baker Lake issue.
Question 171 – 3(2): Status of Apprenticeship Training (Elliott)
I would like to direct my question to the Hon. Daniel Shewchuk, Minister responsible for Nunavut Artic College.
Mr. Speaker, I want to address the status of training for those apprentices who are working under the Nunavut Housing Trust.
The Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation can only tell me that there are 51 apprentices and refers me to the Minister of Education.
The Minister of Education has committed to providing a breakdown of the level and trades of those apprentices, but defers to the adult educators when it comes to training programs.
So I now turn to the Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College to ask whether he can provide some information on what apprenticeship training is currently being delivered across Nunavut.
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Elliott. Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College, Hon. Daniel Shewchuk.
A very important question and thanks to the member.
To give the member the best answer, I will take this question as notice and work with my colleagues to provide a proper answer to that question.
Your question is taken as notice.
Question 172 – 3(2): Old RCMP Detachment in Repulse Bay (Ningark)
As I stated in my Member’s Statement earlier of the Repulse Bay old RCMP detachment, my question is to the Minister of Justice.
I believe that this building is now a Crown asset, ready to be disposed of one way or the other.
I think that the women in Repulse Bay have a very good potential idea in relation to educational sewing, economic possibilities, and keeping the tradition alive.
So my question to the hon. minister is: will the minister endeavour or at least ask the RCMP if, in fact, this building is ready to be disposed of?
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank my Kitikmeot colleague for that very important question.
I know that facilities are in short supply in all Nunavut communities. So if there’s an opportunity to get a building from the federal government, it’s worth asking.
I know the federal government has a process for disposing of federal government assets.
I will assure my colleague that I will ask the commanding officer for the RCMP if he could look into that process and I will report back to the member.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Ningark.
Question 173 – 3(2): Nunavut Mining Symposium (Pauloosie)
My question is directed to the Hon. Minister of ED&T.
Does the minister support holding the 2011 Nunavut Mining Symposium in the Kitikmeot or Kivalliq, yes or no?
Minister of Mining, Hon. Peter Taptuna.
Being from the Kitikmeot, I would naturally support his initiative, but in 2009-2010, the Nunavut Mining Symposium Society, with other regional directors and leaders of the other regions, decided to hold the Nunavut Mining Symposium here in Iqaluit.
Mr. Speaker, as elected Members of Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, we have to support our regions economically to help out the local businesses.
I think it’s very important that we support our regions with these kinds of events happening with the mining symposium.
Hon. Peter Taptuna: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the hon. member for that comment.
The mining symposium in Nunavut is an important annual event. It brings together lots of people from industry, governments, regulators, scientists, educators, industry people, local businesses and, for the most part, it brings in guest visitors or delegates to the symposium, with numbers ranging between 300 and 400.
In the other regional centres, there is really not that much capacity to put on an event of that size. So of course, naturally, it has been held here in Iqaluit.
The Nunavut symposium society has contributed to other regions in having their regional trade shows with a mining component added in there. They have contributed funds to the other regions to do just that for the other smaller centres within Nunavut.
Question 174 – 3(2): Bridge for Hunters on Sylvia Grinnell River (Okalik)
This bridge issue is deemed a very important matter by local hunters. I was wondering if there will be any preparation in the future for a bridge that meets the needs of our hunters so that they are able to access the areas beyond the river for hunting their subsistence foods.
Can the member clarify that question?
The minister is asking you to clarify your question, Mr. Okalik.
The residents of Iqaluit face challenges and difficulties when they go out hunting. It was identified yesterday that the hunters here in Iqaluit face many difficult challenges as they pursue their livelihood.
I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation if he can start preparing for a bridge across the Sylvia Grinnell River to be used by hunters only.
Iqaluit being a city of Nunavut with many needs, of course, this bridge would be a major asset to the department and the city if there was one ever built.
One of the department’s concerns is that if there is any kind of accident out there across the bridge, whether it’s aircraft or other incidents, there has to be a means of getting across the river for search and rescue purposes or other emergency purposes too.
This department will certainly look into the possibilities of moving the feasibility for it.
I urge the minister to start planning as soon as possible with the knowledge that Iqaluit hunters are waiting for this. They go through hardship during their hunting activities. I would like you to recognize and consider how you, as a government, can provide more support for the hunters.
When can you start the feasibility study on that? I would like to hear about when you will start it.
Of course, there are going to be a number of consultations before any initiations are done to look at the feasibility of possibly putting a bridge across the Sylvia Grinnell River. Of course, it’s going to be at a different location, other than the bridge that we were speaking about yesterday for the park.
Once the initiation of the consultations with the city, of course, and other potential partners starts, we should have a fairly good estimate on what timeframe we will be looking at.
Our next session will be next year. I hope the minister will be able to make a report at the next session.
I would like to ask if he can agree to give us a report in the next session on that.
I can’t commit to the timeframe at this time.
As we know, some of these projects, including the one we were talking about yesterday for the footbridge, took ten years of deliberations, planning, and so forth.
At this time, I can’t commit to that, but once I do have any kind of indication of any timeframe and the possibility of how to approach it, I will certainly let the House know.
The original residents of Iqaluit waited for well over ten years for a bridge.
I would like to ask the minister if he can make a report at the next session.
I know that you need to do a study and I know that you need to do the plans. I would like you to report on the status of the plans at the next session.
Within the department, we do have a lot of priorities, including some plans that go back a long ways, many years.
As I indicated, I can’t commit to making a report at the next session, but once I do get some solid indications and dates, I will let the member know.
Question 175 – 3(2): Hiring Practices of the Department of Human Resources (Elliott)
As the minister will recall, the new cabinet held a retreat in Cape Dorset in February of this year.
Following the retreat, the government issued a news release that announced that, and I quote, “Cabinet recognized that a number of areas need immediate improvement and committed to increasing capacity in its offices by changing the hiring process.”
Can the minister outline what specific changes have been made to the government’s hiring process over the 10 months since this announcement was made?
Hon. Daniel Shewchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the member for that question.
Yes, cabinet has recognized that we need to improve our hiring policy. Since that time, through Human Resources, we have instructed all departments to try and deal with the hiring policy and practices better.
We also have a functional independent review being done by a consultant on the whole Department of Human Resources.
Those results should be out very shortly and I can table those in the next sitting.
We also have the Auditor General’s report that should be completed by the end of the year and that will come out in the next year or two.
So with these reports, we are hoping that we can see the difficulties and challenges we are facing and improve on them.
I have heard concerns from a number of my constituents who have applied for GN positions but have not heard back from the department on the status of their application.
It’s my understanding that only candidates who are selected for interviews are contacted by the department.
While I recognize that the department doesn’t have the time to contact unsuccessful applicants who apply from outside of Nunavut, I believe that Nunavut residents who apply should at least be told the reasons for why they didn’t make the interview stage.
Will the minister commit to reviewing this practice, yes or no?
We are always reviewing these practices.
I would like to clarify this for the member. Currently, any candidate who is unsuccessful in the competition process has the opportunity to contact the staffing consultant and find out the reasons why. That isn’t incumbent upon the applicant of a position.
I encourage all Nunavutmiut involved in this process to seek information through these staffing consultants, but we are always willing to review our processes.
I guess that would be if they could actually get a hold of someone on the phone.
According to the GN’s most recent employment statistics, there are almost 900 vacant positions across the GN. In order to fill all of these positions within a year, the government would have to hire over three new employees a day, every single working day, for the next year.
I can’t see how this is realistic.
Can the minister explain to the House what actions his department will take to make a dent in the government’s vacancy rate?
Hon. Daniel Shewchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again I thank the member for the question.
It is a very difficult situation, as everybody knows in Nunavut, our capacity rates and filling our capacity rates to the levels they need to be at.
However, from September 2008, where we had 970 vacancies, to this December, where we have 862 vacancies, we have dropped a considerable amount, 108 positions.
In September 2008, we had 965 casual positions. As of this September 2009, we have dropped to 576 positions. So we are accomplishing some of our goals.
HR has communicated with the departments and HR committee on cabinet desired to reduce the excessive use of casual staffing. So we are decreasing our casual staffing rates.
We continue to provide appropriate processes, such as competitions, transfer assignments, and direct appointments.
Your final supplementary Mr. Elliott.
I have also heard concerns from constituents that they can sometimes wait up to six months before they hear back from the government after they have applied for a job.
Can the minister indicate what benchmarks or performance measures are in place with respect to the time it takes to initiate and conclude a job competition?
Hon. Daniel Shewchuk: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again this is a challenge that we face also and it varies from competition to competition.
The standard we have in place right now from initiating the competition to offering the job offer is 56 days.
There are many factors that affect the competitive staffing processes which result in delays, such as panel availability, reference checks, criminal records checks, and scheduling to get all parties together.
We are very aware of the situation and we are working on it, and I hope to achieve, through the Auditor General’s report and our consultant’s report, that we can improve this process.
Question 176 – 3(2): Larger Recreational Facility for Kugaaruk (Ningark)
I had made a statement with questions from Repulse Bay and Kugaaruk, well, actually plans.
My questions are for the Minister for Community and Government Services.
In Kugaaruk, they built a recreational facility when the population was at 400 people.
The population has since doubled to 800 and, not surprisingly, the recreation hall is now too small.
I was told to ask the minister if they could start planning on a larger facility. I wonder if the minister has heard about their request on this.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Ningark. (interpretation ends) Minister of Community and Government Services, Hon. Lorne Kusugak.
Right now, there is a tour going to all of the communities to assess what kinds of facilities are required and what needs improvement and maintenance. Once they have gone to all of the communities, as per my previous statements about this review, once it is completed, we will have a report of our findings.
I would like to thank the minister very much and I mean it.
When can we expect them to visit Kugaaruk?
I don’t want the exact date, but if you can provide the approximate month.
Whenever someone thanks us, we really appreciate it. I will ask my officials which month they will be going to Kugaaruk as part of their tour.
If I can give you the exact date, I will try to do that so the community can appreciate it even more.
So I will look into that and get back to the member after the day is over or even before the session is over.
Question 177 – 3(2): Department of Human Resources Reaching Goals (Elliott)
My questions are directed towards the Minister of Human Resources.
In March, the Minister of Health and Social Services said it would take six months to fill the position of a vacant social worker, which now we have been told it will be after Christmas, hopefully, if the process follows through.
In answering my earlier questions, the minister said the process should actually take 56 days.
Is his department actually reaching their goal that he’s stating?
I would say that we’re trying very hard and diligently to achieve that goal.
However, as I explained to the member before, there are very many challenges involved in some of these competitions, especially in the professional fields.
So we will try and achieve that goal, but we do have many challenges that we face.
I know that a lot of Government of Nunavut workers are actually doing more than one position because of the number of vacant positions that we have.
The minister said that there were some challenges that the department was facing.
I was wondering if he could elaborate on some of the challenges that the department is facing.
I think I have outlined some of them to the member.
I’m not sure if he was listening or not, but we have very many challenges and those are to attract qualified people.
The timelines that are involved and having panel members be able to meet all at the same time, reference checks, criminal records checks, these all take time, but we are working extremely hard to try and streamline that process.
Hopefully the reports that we come out with from our consultants and the Auditor General will help us achieve these goals.
I was trying to listen, but I just figured there were possibly some more challenges that the department was facing.
I just find it hard that sometimes it takes 11 or 12 months or even two years to hire a person in a certain position.
So I guess criminal record checks take a long time.
I’m wondering in terms of one of the answers he gave me earlier.
He said that one of the things we want to do if we want to encourage people within the communities to be able to receive the jobs, they might need assistance in terms of how or why they weren’t selected.
The minister actually said that anybody could contact his department and sort of go through and find out why they were not hired.
I think this is commendable, but is there a 1-800 number that they can call in Human Resources to find out that information or how do they go about getting that number?
I don’t believe there is a 1-800 number. However, every region has a human resources regional office and they have staffing consultants there that can be contacted.
I would be more than happy to supply that information to the member.
Just a final question in terms of the 900 positions that are sort of available and not filled within the GN. Has his department thought about sort of following the lead of the Department of Finance and rearranging some of their money to provide training and mentoring opportunities for different departments so that they could get different people into these positions?
No, we haven’t at this time. I think that we will get more information once we again see our private consultant’s report and the Auditor General’s report.
Question 178 – 3(2): Donation of Sealskin Clothing to G7 Members (Okalik)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Environment on a sealskin issue.
We have heard that there is going to be a major conference this winter which will attract international attention in February.
There are going to be seven first ministers involved. I want to ask if they will be presented with sealskin parkas and lobby to do so.
I got a note from a member about that the other day. I think it’s a very good idea. It would be nice to know the size of the people coming.
We’re looking into the matter right now. I can assure you that.
I would like to urge the minister to do so and allow us to showcase our parkas, how warm they are and how important they are.
I am urging the minister to make sure that he gets in contact with his federal counterpart and to make sure that they get the proper sizes beforehand.
There was no question, but if you would like to respond, Mr. Shewchuk.
I advise the member that we are definitely going to look into this. I think, while those delegates are here, there are many other ways that we can showcase our products through fashion shows and designs, and all of us helping in that regard, wearing sealskins.
Question 179 – 3(2): Polar Bear Populations (Ningark)
My question is pertaining to the polar bear population worldwide.
Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that the world believes that the population of polar bears is declining within the country and other polar bear management countries across the circumpolar region of the world, my question to the hon. minister is: what report have you received across the globe that the population of polar bears is, in fact, declining?
I thank the member for that question. It’s a very good question.
I would just like to explain to the member that we, as a government, do not think polar bear populations are declining.
In Nunavut, we actually have some populations that may be increasing. We manage 13 polar bear populations in Nunavut. Yes, there are a couple that we are concerned about, but the majority of polar bear populations are stable or even we have an increase in one or two.
Polar bears are very important to Nunavut and Nunavutmiut. I think the government’s position on this right now, the member may understand that the US is supporting to list polar bears in CITES Appendix I, which would stop all world exports of polar bears in the world, which would affect us very much in our sports hunts.
We oppose this position and we are voicing our voice right now.
So polar bears are very important to us.