EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
In regards to financing the HTOs, it is done in co-operation with the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, they fund the HTOs up to 3 million dollars and the Department of Sustainable Development provides 300 thousand dollars.
In total 1.6 million dollars is allocated to all the HTOs.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Kilabuk. Mr. Nutarak.
Just to clarify this Mr. Chairman.
The Rankin Inlet HTO, I am sure they do have an HTO, or the Grise Fiord HTO, how would you fund these two communities for their O&M.
Do you fund them by per capita or are we using the GNWT formula that we inherited.
Yes, we work in partnership with NWMB and they also provide them with funding.
We are using the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board financing formula for the HTOs.
It is the NWMB's responsibility to hand out the funding to the communities.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): Mr. Chairman, I thought you were already thanking me.
The funding that is allocated to the communities, I think the formula has been set by the GNWT and we inherited that formula.
So I am sure that when we are going to be making amendments that we will be looking at the formula.
So my question is, are you going to be looking at the formula or reviewing the formula so that the funding to the HTOs will improve from the Department of Sustainable Development.
Yes I know that our review process is continuing and the results are coming out and the Harvesters' Support Program will be reviewed as well.
We have advertised for a tender to find out who is interested in reviewing the Harvesters' Income Support Program.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Kilabuk. Mr. Havioyak.
You touched on IIBA's before.
I am just wondering if there are talks going on right now with the Department and with whom or at what level are you at right now in your talks with other organizations.
Last year we had requested that there be an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement review done, but we had stalled during the negotiations because none of them could identify who would be responsible but this coming June we will be able to negotiate this IIBA again.
We will appoint those reviewers and NTI.
Mr. Havioyak do you have any other comments.
Our carvers in Nunavut, it is very hard to find a market and I have heard that there is too much inventory for the soapstone carvings. I used to be a full time carver and I used to be commissioned to carve down south and in the States.
Whenever I went down south there was a huge interest for carvings, I had many clients, and when I got home they say that they are accumulating a large inventory of carvings.
It is then evident that our artists and carvers of Nunavut cannot find a market for the carvings.
It is evident that there is hardly any support system for the carvers so that they could sell their carvings.
Since your department is responsible for financing the carvers, Mr. Chairman, I am going to make an example if you do not mind.
We have artists in our communities and they are excellent artists and we hear that they are great, excellent artists and yet there is no market for them.
That is what we hear.
We have jewellery makers who make necklaces, rings and who make ornaments, and there is no market for them.
We keep getting that response.
It becomes evident that the Nunavut residents have not been taken care of in that field.
Especially when we try to generate income through carvings.
So what is the plan of the Nunavut Government, the carvings, the artists are part of Nunavut, and we are quite proud of this art.
So what is the plan of your department in marketing.
Are you going to be looking for new markets to sell the carvings.
Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association will be making plans in regards to the concerns that have been stated and we will be supporting Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association to review the marketing strategy and they will be making those plans to market the art work.
I know that it is true what Mr. Puqiqnak stated that it is very hard to market the arts and crafts.
I know that they are easy to sell when you go down south but the main barriers for businesses to market is the transportation costs are too expensive and it increases the cost of the art itself.
I know that when they go down south they set the market price.
So therefore, the market price is sky high down south.
We at the Department of Sustainable Development will not be making the directives but Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association will make those directives.
Through the Nunavut Development Corporation the carvers or artists do have a little store down in Toronto to promote the sale of these arts and crafts.
I know that it is a challenging task when you ship arts and crafts, especially the carvings, down south.
The freight and the market costs make those carvings very expensive and almost nobody can afford to buy them.
I am very pleased that we now have a department that is supportive of our needs, so how can we as the Nunavut Government get a better working relationship with the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association.
I think there has to be better support.
I thank you for providing support to Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association so that they could look at resolving the barriers we face.
I am very happy that you have committed to helping the carvers, if I was rich and I had lots of money I would be pouring out money to Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association.
I am very pleased that you are in support of Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association.
Mr. Chairman, within one year how much money would be allocated to Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association or do you have any other additional plans financially.
We are going to provide them 100 thousand dollars and then over and above that we are very pleased that the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association through their own means and fund raising have raised 514 thousand dollars which we as a government would not have had access to.
We give them financial support of 100 thousand dollars and they accessed their own funding through outside sources that totalled about 500 thousand dollars.
They have very good connections and I know that my colleague Mr. Puqiqnak, was one of the Board members of this association before he became a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
There's Matthew Saviajuk from Cape Dorset, Maliki from Repulse, Inuk Charlie from Taloyoak who are well known and that is for the benefit of the people who are listening out there.
They are listening extremely hard and they are well aware of the problems and concerns of the artists in Nunavut.
To keep it as brief as possible.
First of all, there was one time that I attended their meeting and then I was thrown out, well I wasn't exactly thrown out but I was elected as a Member of this Legislative Assembly.
I really enjoyed being a part of Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association and again, for the younger generation carvers we look for softer soapstone and usually a long time ago they knew where the soapstone deposits were outside of their camps.
They younger generation of carvers do not know where the deposits are and we cannot force them to come with us to quarry the soapstone.
There are still some people who know where the deposits are, they are not that old, is there any way of helping them financially where they would be paid to identify the soapstone deposits.
Is it possible to provide them with funding so that we will pay them to identify soapstone deposits.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Puqiqnak, if you had kept that very brief we would have got it right away.
Just recently I made an announcement in the House and through the media that we have money available for prospectors and that could be used by the carvers.
In Kugluktuk and Arviat they could be given assistance if you want to access those funds.
In September of last year, or maybe in August we opened the Geoscience office here in Iqaluit.
You could also use that office to get assistance.
They are all available if you are going to be looking for deposits out there.
Any more general comments.
I have no more on my list.
Today during a member's statement I am sure that you understood where I was coming from in regards to the hunters and their need to get assistance.
It is getting to be quite urgent for the hunters and of course there are able hunters and there are the ones that are mediocre, like everything else there are people who are good at their profession and then there are the mediocre ones which is a part of life.
I know that we are extremely hard up for money and I cannot even get a complete school because of a lack of money.
Because of the high cost of living it is getting extremely hard.
Like I said this morning the farmers get assistance and they get subsidies and so on.
There are subsidy programs here in Iqaluit.
Is it possible to look for some sort of a subsidy program for hunters so that they could get subsidised gas or some kind of a subsidy program for the purchase of hunting equipment and tools.
Is it not possible to talk to the governments who provide subsidies to farmers and fishermen and so on.
Is it possible to get subsidies for our hunters.
In looking for additional support for the hunters, we could go ahead and we could look at other options.
We work with the hunters and trappers organizations and we also work with the higher level of hunters and trappers organizations.
We have been working together with various entities for regular hunters.
There are no programs available but I would like to identify a few other programs that we do have available.
For example, we have a seal skin subsidy, we have a fur price program, humane trap development.
As well, in the Kitikmeot, Keewatin, and Baffin, we provide money for the NWMB and we are going to be providing money for the Beverly Kamanariak Barren Grounds Caribou, which will come from the Nunavut Government.
That is working with Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.
We do provide those programs.
Also in the communities they have a program for up to 251 thousand for 244 fisheries programs again in the communities for outfitters we also have money that you can make proposals on.
Again, we could look at setting up other programs.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Kilabuk. Mr. Irqittuq.
I know that the HTOs are provided funding and from what I understand I believe that they get an additional 6 thousand dollars for hunters programs.
Some of the communities are using these programs very well and of course it is very hard to access these dollars because of all the criteria that you have to follow and the policies.
There is one person in our community who would go out and be provided gas from the hunters and trappers organization.
The hunters' assistance of 6 thousand I found is very hard to access.
I believe that it was five or six thousand but it is very hard to access because we were told that if I was going to go do some test fishing I could get into the program.
However, if I was going to be going fishing to provide food for the community then I could not access the funding.
It is very expensive to be a hunter these days.
With the fox pelts at only 25 dollars per pelt and sealskins are also cheap.
If I was setting up a fox trap line I would have to go very far as it is a sparsely populated area.
The older ones know that when you are setting up a trap line a long time ago you had to go very far to reach the fox population.
It is quite hard when it is very sparsely populated.
Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Clyde River have a lot of marine mammals where they can get money for seal skins and in the summer, even if the seals are abundant our summers are extremely bad these days with wind and everything.
So there are also problems there.
I think that if you have access to these programs, I know that once there is revenue coming in for the hunters our government would use a lot less money because there would be a decrease in social assistance and in other areas.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Irqittuq. That was more of a comment than a question.
However, if Minister Kilabuk would like to respond.
I just wanted to say that even though the members are just giving their comments it gives us ideas when we are doing planning and if we want to do some studies.
It is very helpful for members to comment to our department or any department so we can get some ideas.
I just thought I would say that.
Perhaps we can get to the Main Estimates, the budget of Sustainable Development, page 11 – 5. Sustainable Development, branch summary, sustainable development page 11-5.
Does everyone have it.
Buildings and works.
Headquarters region.
Total headquarters region, 580 thousand.
Did you find the page under capital estimates.
Page 11-5.
Like I mentioned this morning, or yesterday, we talked about the training school or the training centre.
There is 225 thousand allotted to the training centre.
The money is there already for the 2000-2001 Capital Estimates.
However, the minister stated they have not found the location for the school.
They will be negotiating where the centre will be located.
The money is here in these Capital items but you do not know where it is going to be.
How is the negotiation is going to occur.
Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We are reviewing this and planning.
That is going to be part of the budget.
We do not know exactly where the location is going to be but I know there has to be a training centre.
The natural resource officers have to be trained in Nunavut.
The tourism people have to be trained.
There has to be a training centre.
We do a lot of work for Fisheries and Oceans, I am sorry the Canadian Coast Guard.
Those are the things that we are going to be looking at and we can work with.
We have to have a training centre in order to have good employees.
This training centre is budgeted over here although we do not know yet where it is going to be located.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Kilabuk. Mr. Irqittuq.
The review of the location of the training centre.
Does it include the building of the school.
This is for the planning as to where the training centre is going to be located.
That is what the budget is for.
Perhaps if the minister could clarify it again.
This planning stage is going to occur for the training centre.
The study to find out where it is going to be located.
If we do not find a partner for this training centre then we will be looking at whether it would be feasible to build a training centre.
The people that are going to be reviewing the location of the training centre.
Are they going to be the minister’s officials in your department.
Or will someone else be involved.
Who else is involved.
It will be my officials that will be doing the study and it will be under my department and our officials will do it.
Whatever information we come up with we will give you information as soon as we have it.
Mr. Irqittuq (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman the first planning of this training centre was there already.
There is a building already in Pangnirtung.
Perhaps the first.
Was it a mistake when you first brought this up last year because the location was going to be in Pangnirtung or did you mention to us last year the location can change.
I had this question as well to my staff.
It was designated to be in Pangnirtung at that time.
The members were already given information as to the location that was going to be in Pangnirtung.
There was not going to be any community named at the beginning.
That was a mistake on our part.
On the same item Mr. Chairman.
If we approve the Capital Estimates the training centre will have to go ahead.
However, we are not really sure right know exactly where the location is going to be for the training centre.
It is not very comfortable to me still whether it is going to go ahead.
Is it going to run properly.
To me it does not seem to be complete.
What is going to happen to it if there are no facilities provided in other communities.
We had discussions that if the funding for the training centre is not used at this time then we will be able to use it for something else through FMB.
We are under Sustainable Development.
Total Headquarters, 580 thousand.
I can not let this go by without asking some questions.
Under the line, Art for Government of Nunavut buildings, 100 thousand dollars.
It has 450 thousand total over 5 years.
Many communities produce arts and crafts and other things.
How is the department going to solicit art for buildings for Nunavut, which I think it is a good idea to have our own art in our buildings.
How is this going to be solicited in each community and is each community going to be treated fairly.
The arts for Government of Nunavut buildings we are going to be soliciting from the people that do art work of our Government of Nunavut buildings to be displayed in their offices or their buildings.
These are just for the planning stages.
We are not exactly sure how it is going to be divided.
I would just like to say today that we will be treating all the communities equally.
When we start soliciting them.
We are on page 11-5.
We are in the Capital Estimates, is that art for Government of Nunavut buildings is that in that page.
Can you clarify that for me Mr. McLean
Yes it is, it is on page 11-5.
The very top under headquarters region various art for Government of Nunavut buildings, 100 thousand.
Yes it is there.
Same page 11-5 building and works under Headquarters region, various Nunavut arts services, 75 thousand.
Could I get a brief explanation on this.
Nunavut art service would be to accumulate arts and crafts such as carvings.
So that they could be sold.
Mr. McLean: Taima.
Ma'na Itsivautaq.
Mr. Barnabas (interpretation): I have one question and I will speak in English. (interpretation ends) What factors are you looking for to establish a training centre in the community.
The Department of Sustainable Development would have to have that training centre so we will have qualified employees.
So we will be discussing it but at this point I do not have that information with me.
Mr. Barnabas do you have any more comments.
Since I do not have any more names on the list.
Total Headquarters region, 580 thousand.
Chairperson (interpretation): Going on to Baffin region.
Total Baffin region, 920 thousand.
I want to get some clarification on some items.
Under the Baffin region.
The first item is Iqaluit. Sylvia Grinnell Park.
For 275 thousand dollars this year.
With the detail it is 1 million 505 thousand dollars over five years.
Can the minister explain how he can justify that expenditure for this community.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. McLean. Mr. Kilabuk.
Mr. Chairman this has been ongoing.
In Nunavut the Sylvia Grinnell Park is the oldest park in Nunavut and it requires improvements.
For example we'll be building walkways, picnic areas, camping grounds, fireplaces and also interpretative plaques. This is one of the areas that have been neglected over the years.
One of the other reasons is that in the agreement in the Land Claims Agreement we have to work on lands that are protected areas and on maintaining these identified areas.
Like I said yesterday, even when this has been identified as one of the places of interest it is again like I said yesterday, Iqaluit is a transportation link and also the Capital of Nunavut.
We get many transients going through as tourists and so on.
So this money would be used to upgrade the Sylvia Grinnell park.
Also, in the Land Claims Agreement some contracts were made by the Government of Nunavut that we have to go through.
You are talking about Land Claims Agreement.
Is this an agreement with the Federal Government and is this third party funding that is being put into this park.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. McLean. Mr. Minister Kilabuk.
Yes it is under Article 8 under the land claims agreement.
Our mandate has been stated under Article 8.
Also, in regards to your question, it is not third party funding.
I am not familiar with the land claims agreement as much as I should be or Article 8.
However, under the Article I do not know what it means.
Is 100 percent of this funding for Sylvia Grinnell park of 1 million 525 thousand coming directly from the Government of Nunavut.
The Government of Nunavut is providing the funding.
It is coming from the Nunavut Government, 100 percent.
I want to remind the members that although we have stated in our plans as to how many years it would be used, if we can go the cheaper way or a better way there is room for changes and improvements so as to save costs.
That camp ground that is proposed the improvements to it.
Is there a fee charge to that camp ground on a daily visitation.
At this point in time we do not have a fee for campers.
Does the City of Iqaluit, are they contributing to this 1 million 525 thousand dollar campground.
Mr. Minister.  Hon. Peter Kilabuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Town of Iqaluit had contributed to make the access road.
Mr. McLean: Just a statement that the minister does not have to answer.
I think tourism like I said yesterday brings in 50 million dollars a year into Nunavut.
We know this community is a drawing card.
I would want to recommend that people using this as an overnight camp ground and the facility should be charged a fee.
I want to break a little House rule Mr. Chairman if you let me.
I just want to read a little article from what happened in this community a month ago.
"Adriane Clarkson the Governor General hugs Joseph Teemootee a homeless Iqaluit man who spoke with her about his plight outside the legislature.
Joseph Teemootee lives with his wife Malaya in a one-room shack made from discarded wood on the shore of Frobisher Bay.
His lone protest drew attention to the plight of the homeless in Nunavut."
I know it is not a question but if we got homeless people living in shacks on the beach I think that is a tragedy.
Because this is probably one of the only communities that has that.
In most communities in Nunavut we do not have homeless people.
We have overcrowding in houses.
When I see an expenditure in a park in Iqaluit for 1 million 525 thousand and you have homeless people in the community, I think that is a tragedy in this day and age and it should not be permitted.
I have a problem approving 1 million 525 thousand for a campground and park in Iqaluit when you have homeless people.
That is all I am saying.
When it comes to voting on this one I am going to abstain.
I would like to re-emphasise that the money that we are using for the plans in the estimates, if they do not go ahead then it is going to keep deferring everything else over the plans that we have made for the years.
Also the parks and everything else would be deferred.
We know that there are benefits to setting up these types of developments.
However, we cannot forget that there is potential to make money on these projects and that there could be spin-offs for the communities.
Since I have no other names.
We were in the Baffin region.
Total Baffin region 920 thousand.
Mr. Barnabas (interpretation): I would like to take a 20 minute break.
Mr. Chairman I would like to have the regular members caucus.
We will take a 20 minute break.
>>Committee recessed at 4.09 and resumed at 4.45 p.m.
I am sorry we are a little bit late.
Would you like to say something Mr. Kilabuk.
Just to make it clear to the members that in our business plan it states, I am not really sure if it was clear enough or not, but the budget for 2000/2001, in the estimates that 275 thousand will be used to finish this side of the river.
When you looked at the budget under the capital estimates, there is about 1.525 which will be used for the second phase of the work that is going to be done.
This amount of money is for this year's project for the Sylvia Grinnell Park for interpretative parks and camping areas on this side of the river.
In the coming years they will be building a bridge.
I just wanted to make that clear to the members at this time.
If everybody is here we have a quorum.
We are under Baffin, total Baffin region, 920 thousand.
We are on page 11 – 5.
Chairperson (interpretation): Going on to the next page, 11 – 6, Sustainable Development.
Detail of capital, branch summary.
Total Kivalliq region, 305 thousand.