EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
It’s good to hear the minister is in the ballpark; they said they had a ballpark number and I would assume that that was for the preferred option that they have.
Given the fact that it is a ballpark figure; could he tell us what that ballpark figure is?
Again, I don’t want to get into publicly stating what a ballpark figure is.
We use the terminology of ballpark figure because we don’t want to state a number in the House and then come back and say it was 50 percent or 80 percent below or above that number.
What I can say to the member is that over the next couple of weeks, we would hope to be in a position to firm up that number and then bring that forward to the proper mechanism that we have in government to approve those numbers when we have them. Again, I don’t want to preclude what that would be.
Question 459 – 2(4): Tabling of Report on Review of Regulatory Structures (Peterson)
Mr. Speaker, earlier in my Member’s Statement, I mentioned that there was a final report completed in the fall of 2007 by the department on the regulatory structures in Nunavut.
My question for the minister: I would like the minister to tell us why he has not tabled the recently completed report of the review of regulatory structures, and will he commit to table it in the House this week – yes or no?
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I haven’t seen the report, so I can’t commit to tabling it this week.
I hope his officials will brief him this week and they can take a look at it, and if he can’t table it this week, if he could commit to tabling it next week before the House adjourns; I think it’s vitally important that we have that information as MLAs.
Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell the House if he personally, not his officials, Mr. Speaker, but he personally, as the minister, has sat down with NTI and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada decision makers to find ways of further streamlining the Nunavut regulatory environment, and if not, why not?
I understand the Premier sat with the appropriate boards.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the minister again.
Hopefully, the Premier could, perhaps, do a Minister’s Statement briefing us on what his discussions were with those organizations.
Mr. Speaker, last week, Ottawa opened an entity called, “The Major Projects Management Office,” and the goal of the Major Projects Management Office is to improve coordination within Canada’s regulatory system by providing industry with a single, efficient point of entry into federal process.
My question for the minister: can the minister tell the House if his department has added input into the establishment of a Major Projects Management Office in Iqaluit or elsewhere in Nunavut?
I do not have that information but the review that the member is referring to will be completed by this month. When we have completed it, we are doing it in conjunction with EIA, but once that is available to the public, then we can do that.
I hope that the federal government does open a Major Projects Management Office in Nunavut to help the mining companies when they’re entering into the federal system in Nunavut, to help them get through the regulatory regime that the federal government has in place.
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s Statement earlier, I indicated that the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project has submitted a 5,000-page, 10-binder application to the Nunavut Impact Review Board for review, and I know it sounds daunting, it’s a massive document; you would need a dump truck to deliver it to various agencies and interveners, and everybody else that require copies.
It’s quite a massive undertaking by the BIPAR folks to get that through the regulatory regime.
My question for the minister: can the minister clearly state for the public record today that the Government of Nunavut fully supports the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project?
I will get Premier Okalik to answer that question.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I want to assure the member that we continue to support the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project.
As you know, there have been some difficulties with the mining industry in that part of the world and we want to try and support that type of economy in the western part of our territory.
So we remain strong backers of that project and hope that it will encourage further development of the mineral industry in Nunavut.
So I want to assure the member that we continue to do our work in reducing barriers to that type of activity. I have worked with successive Indian Affairs Ministers to try and reduce regulation throughout Nunavut, so we’ll continue to work on that as well.
So I want to thank the member of his ongoing support of our efforts. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 460 – 2(4): Number of Justices of the Peace Trained to Deal with Family Abuse Intervention Act (Mapsalak)
Mr. Speaker, when the Family Abuse Intervention Act is put into force on March 31, he stated that the JPs in the communities will have a lot of work to do when they have to deal with abuse and that there will be some training in the communities due to this is very important Act.
My question is: how many JPs were trained in Nunavut before this Act comes into force?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Mapsalak. (interpretation ends) Minister of Justice, Premier Okalik.
They can’t all take the training at the same time; only some of them will be dealing with the Act. One person will be the leader and 12 other people will be dealing with the justice committees and they will all be well trained.
It is obvious that this will be very important work and very useful.
Will you be brining out more training opportunities in the future for the JPs?
We want this Act to go forward and the training will not stop even after it’s in place. There is no doubt in the future that there will be a lot turnover in this field. We want all Nunavummiut to know how training is very important.
As a government, we continue to train our employees and evaluate them to see where there needs to be improvement.
I also thank the minister for his response.
What about the communities that have not completed the training in their justice committees?
When they have to work in their communities to deal with abuse, how can they work through that?
The employees have already identified the problems amongst themselves.
We have employees in the justice committees all the time, at any hour and every day; an employee who is familiar with their work.
They also know who to contact when the need arises and they keep each other well-informed.
This will continue and when there is an emergency, there is always someone there to assist them.
I think I understood that some of the communities are aware of the Family Abuse Intervention Act and where they could direct their concerns.
If there is urgency in the communities, can the minister give us the names of people who could be contacted if there is an emergency?
I cannot bring it out to everyone yet because it’s confidential. Every community has an employee that knows the Family Abuse Intervention Act. They are all aware of the Act, what it contains, and who the contacts are.
So therefore, all of the employees, administrators, coordinators have the telephone numbers so they can contact that person to assist.
Question 461 – 2(4): Update on New School for Sanikiluaq (Kattuk)
My thoughts are with the people of Sanikiluaq. I know that they have to look for that individual that is lost out on the land and I would like to remind the residents of Sanikiluaq that they are in our thoughts.
Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to hear in the Minister of Finance’s Budget Address, that the government is advancing funding for new school construction in Sanikiluaq so that the project can move immediately from design to construction
I would like to be able to let the people of Sanikiluaq know the good news about the school.
Can the minister clarify exactly when construction on Sanikiluaq’s new school will begin?
The existing school in Sanikiluaq is over 115 percent occupancy right now and we know we need to bring a new school forward.
At some point in the session in May, we will be able to look at a revised Five-Year Capital Plan including the Sanikiluaq school. It is our hope, Mr. Speaker, and the intention to have all documents tender-ready, and that should be the design for the school, in the next several weeks.
We’re looking at a construction timeline, if everything goes well in May, to have some site work and everything this fall of 2008 and construction to start in earnest during the spring of 2009 for completion in 2010-11. That’s the quick schedule for construction.
Again, we’ll have a better timeframe after the session in May.
I thank the minister but I can ask more questions.
The design for Sanikiluaq’s new school was completed some time ago.
Can the minister confirm that there will be no further delays in beginning construction as a result of changes or modifications to the approved design?
There’s a lot of work being done on the plans for the school in Sanikiluaq because of the occupancy and the other issues that we’re all aware of at the school.
The documents are almost all tender-ready, meaning they’re ready to go to tender. Once that is completed, we would look at, hopefully, site work and so on to begin this fall in the community and that’s 2008; the construction, the sealift, and everything to occur, and the construction for 2009 and completion of the school by 2011.
That’s a two and a half year timeframe.
Again, we will have to confirm numbers in the May session but I don’t see that as a problem.
So everything is being pushed right up right now to have, as soon as the session occurs in May, to have everything ready to go in Sanikiluaq, and indeed, hopefully, in the next few weeks, we would actually have the project out for tender.
I thank the minister but I want to reconfirm what he said.
In order for construction to proceed as soon as possible, the process for ordering materials and supplies should have already begun.
Can the minister update this House on what steps have been taken to date to make the construction of the new school in Sanikiluaq a reality?
As I said earlier, we have been working aggressively on the Sanikiluaq plan to have all of the documents tender-ready and have them ready to go out in the next several weeks.
Again, if the tenders go out, let’s say, after April 1, we have to wait for construction companies to bid on the project itself, and they’ll come in, we will have to evaluate them and everything.
So I would expect that we would be able to have at least some of the site work occur this fall in the community and then the majority of the supplies for the new school will have to come in on sealift next year, and then that’s when the construction would start in earnest.
That’s trying to expedite and speed up the process for the tender and the construction.
The good news for Sanikiluaq is that the money has been... the project itself has been announced and is being fast tracked like some of the other projects.
We will have approval for those programs in the May session and we will move on from there.
So that’s the good news that the community has been guaranteed a school, and the tender packages and everything has been fast tracked.
I asked the minister if the process for ordering materials and supplies have already begun.
So did he answer me on that?
The member has been doing a great job as an advocate for the school in Sanikiluaq, and no, I did not say that the materials would be coming in right now.
We have to go to tender first and there’s a standard time frame on tenders, as the member knows.
We would hopefully be able to be doing that in the next couple of weeks, as I said, at the beginning of April 1, that week, to get the tender in the paper and advertise it, and then from that point on, once the tender comes back, they’re analyzed. I would hope to be able to do site work in Sanikiluaq this coming summer and fall, and then construction to begin in earnest in next spring/summer in 2009 and have completion for 2011. That’s how we’re fast tracking the school.
Question 462 – 2(4): Development of Emergency Management Plans (Curley)
I would like to direct my first question to the Minister of Community and Government Services.
First of all, I would like to thank the staff who were working very hard during the state of emergency.
The recent state of emergency in Rankin Inlet has reminded all of us about the importance of having up to date emergency plans in place for our regions and communities.
The business plan for the minister’s department indicates that one of its priorities for the coming year is to “initiate meetings with municipalities and conduct Hazardous Index Risk Assessment reviews as they assist in the development of Emergency Management Plans for Municipalities.”
Can the minister explain clearly to the House what is involved in this process and indicate when she expects updated emergency plans to be in place for communities in the Kivalliq?
Hon. Levinia Brown (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague for posing that question.
As the government found out, it did remind us about the importance of having up to date emergency plans; we have to be fully prepared as a department for these emergencies.
We do have emergency plans for each of the 25 communities in Nunavut.
In regard to emergency plans, we had passed a piece of legislation in November 2007.
In order to be better prepared as a government, we have tasked staff here in Iqaluit, and one of our staff whom most of you know, Mr. Zebedee, has been working on those issues at the Brown Building.
His office underwent a major renovation and now has space for emergency management situations in Nunavut, and from whence direction can be sent out throughout Nunavut and all of its communities.
This office is also undertaking training workshops for various communities in Nunavut and on top of that, the federal government has also set up emergency plans through the auspices of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group, or FPT as it is known as, our involvement in these federal, territorial, and provincial discussions on the issue of emergency, along with the inclusion of senior members of our staff working for Nunavut Emergency Management.
Further, our staff also works with Public Safety Canada, and they are a good sounding board for our staff and this is all part of our Emergency Preparedness Measures.
We also have training sessions with most of the hamlets and the communities have mostly completed their own Emergency Response Plans.
I’m sure that she’ll be able to read my first question in the Hansard.
I had asked about developing an Emergency Management Plan for municipalities, as well as for the regions and whether the plans are adequate.
In the Keewatin region plan, we noted several deficiencies, that there was no emergency generator in our region.
We were fortunate that we were able to get one from the Northwest Territories.
This is my first supplementary. The Legislative Assembly passed Bill 12, Nunavut’s new Emergency Measures Act, last fall.
Under this Act, detailed regulations will need to be developed.
Will the minister commit to consulting with MLAs, municipalities and SAOs in the development of these regulations before they are approved by Cabinet?
I will be reading the Hansard to make sure that I read your question tomorrow since it is also a learning tool for me.
Yes, in regard to the question, the SAOs will be included along with the hamlet councils, obviously. We will make sure that all the stakeholders are included in the consultations and when we are developing the regulations under the Emergency Measures Act.
We found out that it can lead to dangerous situations and we have learned exactly what needs to be done, especially in the middle of winter, during bad weather, such as blizzards and so on.
Yes, I agree with the seriousness of his question; these are important and serious matters. I’ll make sure that we look into all the issues that you bring up in your question.
Further, I will commit to having my staff review the issues as well.
Yesterday, in the House, I asked an important question to the Minister of Energy regarding the Qulliq Energy Corporation’s handling of the recent situation in Rankin Inlet and that the minister will produce a report outlining the issues faced during that crisis.
I was pleased to have obtained a commitment from the minister to undertake an independent review of the situation. Will the minister direct her officials to fully participate in this review on whether the Emergency Measures Act needs to be amended? Would you be able to participate with the officials?
Hon. Levinia Brown: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) Yes, we need to work collaboratively since emergencies are very palpable to all parties concerned and a direct result of cooperation is that you can step forward.
When the department is preparing the report, we will do our utmost to include all of the findings, and perhaps, we can share information between the various parties involved in the crisis as to what was deficient, what worked, and what else has to be improved, and all of these issues will need to be identified in its details.
The member knows, as he was involved during the emergency declaration, we worked to the wee hours of the evening. We would meet at this office until 6 p.m., and then we would go and meet to make our preparations.
We also held teleconferences with the Minister of Nunavut Housing Corporation, as well as the Minister of Energy. As the minister responsible for emergency preparedness, I had to be involved. The member also took part in the meetings.
Yes, we will take what we have learned and try to implement it, but we have to work off of the same page and have the same understanding to determine which aspects of the plan were successful and which parts require more work.
I know that the report will recommend solutions and both the member and myself will have to review the report.
The issue that I raised yesterday is that sometimes the airlines could not make it to the communities, so I believe that we will have to review those issues as well.
There was an obvious lack of communication and there was difficulty in meeting our freight requirements with the flights landing in Rankin Inlet to address the emergency crisis in Rankin Inlet.
My last question is in regard to the minister’s budget.
I note that the proposed budget for the department’s Emergency Management Organization is only increasing by $2,000 over last year’s figures.
Can the minister clearly justify to the House today and the listening public why no new resources have been allocated to this important function when we found out that we required more funds just for the Rankin Inlet emergency during our crisis?
Therefore, we would like to hear from the minister why emergency funds were not felt to be important.
Yes, that’s a very good question and I would like to thank the member for posing it.
Yes, we will look into why no new funding was allocated and whether we will have to increase it.
In respect to my own experience, the staff who provide assistance do so by various means and this includes the different levels of government, including the federal government, when communities require assistance to deal with emergencies, whether it is due to a natural disaster or if it weather related.
As was the situation last week, generators were failing all at once. As an example, if a community were to experience a calamitous incident, then the hamlet council or the mayor would have to declare a state of emergency.
Once the declaration has been passed, then the emergency response team would become the hub, through Mr. Zebedee’s office, and he can relay the information to the various stakeholders, such as the federal government, and the federal government would then be able to provide assistance, such as authorizing a Hercules aircraft, which was offered to the community last week.
The member is correct in his assessment that the airlines are not in there to be at our beck and call during emergencies and their schedules were not conducive to meeting all of our challenges we faced.
Further, some of the planes experienced mechanical issues and this exacerbated our problems. As our elders noted, when things go wrong, they can all go wrong at once.
This is what occurred in our community and this statement became true during our crisis.
But, in regard to the member’s question with respect to the budget on whether we could allocate more funds into the budget, I will check into this matter and inquire to my staff on whether we have any other options funding-wise, and when I find out the situation, I will be sure to apprise my colleagues here in the House by submitting our findings for review by all the members.
Question 463 – 2(4): Fuel Tax Rebate Program (Tootoo)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for Finance and my question is dealing with the Minister’s Statement he made today on the Fuel Tax Rebate Program.
Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased, as I’m sure you are, that now, finally all harvesters are eligible for rebate under the new program.
Mr. Speaker, in his Minister’s Statement, he indicated that only 29 harvesters applied for the program for a total of just about $3,200 in claims.
Can he indicate what other draw there was on the program other than harvests? I know it was targeted towards mining companies and stuff like that, but could he indicate how many other applications were taken other than harvesters and how much was there paid out in claims?
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated in my Minister’s Statement, only a handful of harvesters applied for the program for the previous fiscal year and I will also table that information on the expenditures that were used for this program.
There were only two applicants who were harvesters for the Fuel Tax Rebate Program. For the mining sector, I’m looking for that information.
Yes, there was only one that we had signed an agreement with under the Fuel Tax Rebate Program.
If there was just one applicant, then does the minister have the information of how much was paid in claims to that one applicant?
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): I don’t have that information with me at this time but we will table that information as soon as possible, Mr. Speaker.
I look forward to that, I know that there have been numerous commitments to table that information and I look forward to finally seeing it soon.
Mr. Speaker, as the minister indicated in his Minister’s Statement, he said that all harvesters are now eligible under the renewed program.
Can the minister inform the Members of the House and the public listening who in each community, or how do they go about getting those applications for the rebate in?
The way we want to set it up is annually. We have to register the harvesters when they purchase fuel, and the harvester collects his receipts and then he can send their gasoline receipts to the Department of Finance, but before they send their receipts, they have to identify whether the person is full-time, part-time, or a seasonal harvester.
If they have a full-time job, they have to also identify that.
Also, the conservation officers in the communities will have to sign the application form before the gas receipts are sent. The conservation officer will also sign a document stating whether the person is full-time, part-time, or a seasonal harvester.
Once the gas receipts are sent to the Department of Finance, then they will be processed and the amount of the tax rebate will be determined and how much the applicant will receive. We will send out cheques three times a year to the harvesters.
Once we start collecting the information in the communities, once they start sending out their applications, and once the harvesters have been registered for the first year, we will be able to provide a self-addressed stamped envelope, and then we would provide all of that to the harvesters.