EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Speaker, my Member’s Statement today is concerning initiatives to support homeowners in Nunavut in making their homes more energy efficient.
The federal Department of National Resources Canada offers grants for energy efficiency upgrades to existing homes as part of the Government of Canada’s One Tonne Challenge.
This program requires that a homeowner arrange for what is called the Energy Guide for Houses Evaluation prior to starting renovations. The National Resources Canada approved energy advisor will evaluate the home and give the home an energy rating. The difference between the pre-renovation rating and the post-renovation rating will determine the value of the grant.
Mr. Speaker, the additional incentive for northern residents is $175. Given the cost of goods and transportation in Nunavut, I am not sure what that is intended to cover.
In addition, the homeowner does not know if they will qualify for the grant or what the value of the grant will be until the process is complete.
Mr. Speaker, I have looked into this, and the nearest certified person is in Yellowknife.
The National Resource Canada website says that not only do you have to pay for both evaluations, but you also have to cover the transportation costs if the energy advisor does not live in your community.
Mr. Speaker, all members recognize the extraordinary cost of home improvements in Nunavut. Every year, members approve a sizeable budget for the Housing Corporation with a large portion dedicated to modernization and improvement, or retrofits for public housing. Members are also aware of renovation programs for homeowners that are delivered by the corporation.
I understand that the Housing Corporation for the government has the equipment necessary to do the Energy Guide Evaluations, but there is nobody certified by National Resources Canada to actually do the evaluations.
I wonder if the corporation has done a cost-benefit analysis associated with paying travel and boarding costs for an energy adviser to come to Nunavut for a couple of weeks so homeowners can have their evaluations completed and take part in the Energy Guide Grant program.
Every dollar that a homeowner gets from the federal government is one less dollar that they would have to apply for under our housing corporation programs. I urge the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation to work closely with his federal counterparts to ensure that homeownership programs such as the one offered by Natural Resources Canada are actually accessible by Nunavummiut.
It would be good if some of the resources for home renovations came from the federal government, through its programs, rather than out of our corporation’s very limited budget.
At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I’ll be asking the minister responsible some questions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and again Happy Birthday Teia, I love you very much.
Member’s Statement 191 – 2(3): Avataq Cup Hockey Game in Rankin Inlet (Brown)
I rise today to talk about the Avataq Cup, which is held every year in Rankin Inlet.
It is festive times, and a lot of people attend it.
The Miners won the Avataq Cup, second were the people from Arviat, and Iqaluit Men’s Hockey Association placed third.
I apologize, my son is still here. He was supposed to have left today; he just came here for the weekend.
His name is Joseph Curley. The flight just got cancelled, so he’s stuck here again.
We’re getting fog in Rankin Inlet, and he will try again tomorrow.
He has a friend here who is the grandson of the Sergeant-at-Arms.
I would like to welcome Joseph Curley to the House.
This past week, I recognized an individual in Pangnirtung.
It’s her daughter’s birthday today, our interpreter from Pangnirtung, Naimee Kilabuk-Bourassa, and since it’s her birthday I would like to recognize her and welcome her to the House.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you again Mr. Speaker.
As I represent this individual, our media person Jane George.
I would like to welcome and recognize her.
Question 220 – 2(3): Incentives for Homeowners – Energy Efficient Homes (Tootoo)
As promised in my statement, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell me if the corporation offers incentives to homeowners to make efficient changes to their home?
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk (interpretation): We try to make sure that all the programs made available are accessed by the people of Nunavut.
Is the minister aware if the corporation or another government department has the equipment necessary to do the Energy Guide audits on homes?
We will see exactly how it works and once I have the information, I will make it available to the member.
As I indicated in my statement, there is no one in Nunavut that is qualified to do these energy audits for homeowners that are already facing rising costs of everything.
Our fuel and power rates have all gone up recently, as we all know, and homeowners are trying to do what they can, and not just to meet the One Tonne Challenge set out by the federal government, but just to try and make their homes more energy efficient, therefore, cost-effective to maintain.
Given this government’s new push to promote homeownership, would the minister be willing to look at working with his federal colleagues at Natural Resources Canada to ensure that that program could be delivered here in Nunavut and find a way to have those energy audits done so that people doing renovations or planning to do renovations this summer could get the audits done prior to the renovation starting and after the building season when the renovations are done to get the audits done again so that they can see how much of a grant they would qualify for from Natural Resources Canada.
We will look into it and of course we have some programs made available to the private homeowners in Nunavut. Regarding the federal government, since they have a new government, we have not had an opportunity to have a meeting with our counterparts, but I hope we are having a meeting on April 12, which is very soon.
I wonder if the minister would commit to putting out a call to all homeowners here in Iqaluit to see if the numbers warrant the department or the corporation bringing over, as I said in my statement, flying over and accommodating an individual to do these energy audits so that those individuals can access the federal dollars for other than using our corporation’s limited resources.
So my question is: will the minister commit to doing that to see if it is worthwhile to do that on behalf of the homeowners?
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk: If I were to get someone here, I would not want it limited to just to Iqaluit.
I would like also to look into that as a Nunavut-wide issue. Again, it is something that we should do as the weather is changing. Maybe the global warming might be colder later on.
So we’ll look into that. I’ll make sure that I commit to working with a company that does that.
Question 221 – 2(3): Process for Income Support Clients – Housing (Kilabuk)
As per my earlier Member’s Statement, I want to follow up and ask a few simple questions for the Minister responsible for Education and the Income Support Program.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, Pangnirtung is no exception when it comes to long waiting lists of families and individuals in need of housing.
However, having said that, it is probably with some exceptions compared to other communities for the fact that there are vacant units in Pangnirtung through the private sector, and thus a possible solution exists.
My question for the minister: can the minister explain to me the process that income support recipients follow under the Income Support Program guidelines to be considered for housing outside the Social Housing Program?
Under the social assistance regulations, there are aspects and provisions for help with housing.
And the member is aware, I think, of some residents, for example, here in Iqaluit that are actually helped through income support.
At the same time, there are also opportunities for damage deposits Nunavut-wide. Again, that seems to be an issue for some tenants who are trying to get a unit that they don’t have the damage deposit available.
So for example, Mr. Speaker, if you go to get a unit you might be charged $1,000 or $2,500 or whatever the amount is on receiving a unit by putting up that cash amount for a damage deposit.
A lot of people haven’t got that ability and under the Income Support Program, we actually can come up with those dollar values if the person has not, for example, received a damage deposit before and so on.
On rental of units, again, there is opportunity within the Income Support Program through the regulations to be able to help on a case-by-case basis.
Knowing the communities outside of Iqaluit, or as you say, the bigger communities, hub communities, the demand tends to be lower both in the market price and also the demand for staff housing requirements from the private sector.
Having said that, will the minister commit to sending to Pangnirtung an official to work with the local housing association and also income support workers to try and find solutions to fill these vacant units while we have a long waiting list of families that are in dire need of housing?
The Department of Education actually has a regional office in the community and I think the quick answer for the member is yes, we can try to help facilitate a better program offering within the community.
We do have the regional office there and we will try to meet the member’s requirements.
As I stated earlier in my Member’s Statement, we’re not looking at units that already exist, we’re looking at the units to be used from outside the housing association, and I know that it’s very difficult.
Before we run into another difficult situation, I would like to ask the Minister of Education to work with the Minister of the Housing Corporation while you are reviewing the units so that there will be fewer unexpected barriers. Could the minister commit to this?
Yes, I can commit, on behalf of the department, to try to help facilitate that.
I think there are two points to be made here.
One, for example, is in communities where there is a ready market of available housing, they may be too high, and the next example of here in Iqaluit where you might have people working who would not necessarily be eligible for income support, but they are making income below the threshold of, let’s say, it was $30,000 and yet their rent is about $2,500. There is an opportunity to go through the Income Support Program. Let’s say the rent is going to be $2,100, I can afford $1,100, and can you kick in the other amount.
In some cases, we have been able to do that under the Income Support Program.
In the member’s community, because there are available units outside the housing stock which may be leased, I would suggest to you that what we would try to do is lease the units that are available through the housing stock and if there is a large waiting list for that and there are other units available that a tenant or an income support client can ascertain, and they meet all the qualifications and regulations in place, then we would move very quickly to help to expedite the use of that house.
So I will commit to the member and the House to review the situation in the community, and work with our staff in the regional office to see how we could facilitate the request being made by the member on behalf of his constituents.
I do thank my colleague for the response.
I am not going to let him off just yet.
My last question is: will he commit to providing me an action plan for a schedule of when these should be accomplished over the next couple days?
No, I am not going to commit to an action plan, no just kidding, I got him.
I think that is a reasonable request. I think because of requesting by the Member in the House right now, I know all departments try to follow Question Period, and I am sure my staff are working to see how we can facilitate the request. I think we will be able to do that.
Question 222 – 2(3): Housing Units Suitable for Northern Climate (Kattuk)
I have a question first for the Minister of the Housing Corporation.
I do not really believe what he is about, but I have full trust with the government.
My question is about the units that we receive up in the north. These units follow the environment or cold climate outside; when the weather gets warm the units get hot and then when the weather gets cold the houses get cold.
Could the Housing Corporation work on units that are suitable for the north or do you also work with the construction companies to make sure these units are insulated well for the north?
Yes, we do use guidelines for the northern units and we try to make sure these units can withstand the cold climate, but the older units are deteriorating and we do provide renovation funding to make sure these older units have good insulation. So we try to get the units built to make sure they’re suitable for the climate.
I didn’t quite understand him, but I do want to ask a question. The units that are sent up north to be built, could you consider, or do you have a guideline where these units that are to be constructed in the north to be suitable for cold climate?
If you don’t have a guideline for northern units, if you don’t do that, could your department work with the construction crew so that they could build units that are suitable for the cold climate?
We use the national building code standard to make sure that we are following the codes of standard and also that there’s an inspector that goes around to every house that’s being done to make sure that it’s completed right. And I do believe that we do our very best to make sure it meets our weather conditions here in our territory.
So I think we are doing our very best and again, I know that there are some improvements that we can do in the future and we are always looking for ways to make better, affordable housing units in the territory.
So I do believe we have done a great job using the national building codes and also doing the inspections before anybody actually moves into the buildings that we just built.
So if I understood the minister, the building code is what you have, it’s drywall; insulation; plastic; plywood; and then whatever is there.
So is that code for the cold weather area?
Yes it is, plus Tyvek. All of these things you build houses with, we make sure that we have the proper materials to build houses that are going to be lived in by our constituents in any community.
So we are doing our very best to make sure that the national building code standard is met and that the inspections are properly done.
Is he talking about building codes? Could he table those building codes in the House?
We will have to get them from the federal government as they are national building codes and I will do my very best to get those documents and probably give them to the MLA.
Question 223 – 2(3): Inuksuit School Project – Motion (Arreak)
The minister will clearly remember that I moved a motion in the Committee of the Whole last year to recommend that the Inuksuit High School’s addition project in Qikiqtarjuaq be moved forward in the GN’s five-year capital plan.
The motion was approved.
My motion pointed out that although the Legislative Assembly voted to approve $600,000 in the 2005-06 Capital Estimates of the Department of Education for this project, which had already been previously deferred, the current schedule for this project will not see further progress until the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
My question for the minister today is this: what exactly has his department done to respond to this motion?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Education, Minister Picco.
I do remember the motion in the Committee of the Whole. After the motion was passed in the Committee of the Whole, during the debate we had on the Capital Budget, I asked my capital planners to review opportunities within the existing Capital Budget to see if we can move the project up.
Again, we are limited by the number of dollars that are available at any given construction time for any given project. What we have done since that time is to see if there is an early construction date that can be ascertained within the capital planning cycle, and then see if there is access to those dollars.
So what that means basically for the member is to do exactly what the motion said, to see if we could move it up in the Capital Budget. Again, as the member knows, the Capital Budget has gone through in that debate.
Now, we are reviewing the Capital Budget to see in the next capital planning cycle, which is the one that is upcoming, to try and move the project up in the capital plan.
Question 224 – 2(3): Solid Waste Disposal in Repulse Bay (Mapsalak)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for Community and Government Services.
I received correspondence yesterday in regard to the solid waste disposal in Repulse Bay.
There is so much snow at the dump that they can’t see the fencing around it because it is completely covered with snow. A lot of garbage is flying around town even to the water reservoir.
I would like to ask the minister: can she advise her staff or officials to check into this as soon as possible?
Can he clarify?
No, I’m only joking while I look for answers.
Mr. Speaker, yes, I was advised about this and you already brought this up with me. I did receive that correspondence, I have advised my staff, and they are listening to us right now.
I also asked them to check into this as soon as possible and to be able to work very closely with them.
When they’re going to choose a different site, how do they decide? Is the community included in decision making?
Yes, I know that we have gone through this and I am informed by our staff where the site might be.
The communities are consulted.
For example, in Rankin Inlet, they had to look for a new site because the present one we had was getting too small. So they had to look for a new site. There were three possible sites and we don’t have much room either.
What we did was the hamlet consulted with the elders in the community.
Can the minister commit...first of all, let me ask: when do you think or how long do you think the hamlet council will have to wait until her officials come to the community?
Hon. Levinia Brown (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my colleague.
In Rankin Inlet, the regional staff there, they are currently working on this and if they have to go to Repulse Bay soon, and I’m pretty sure the residents of Repulse Bay are concerned.
So I will be working with the regional staff in Rankin Inlet and also the hamlet council and the foreman.
We will definitely try to work on this as soon as possible.
Question 225 – 2(3): Health Centre Update in Arctic Bay (Barnabas)
We heard that the construction of a new health centre in Arctic Bay was going to be deferred for two years.
What is the status right at this time?
I missed the question; can the member please repeat it?
Speaker (interpretation): Member for High Arctic, Mr. Barnabas, can you elaborate more on your question please?
The construction of the health centre in Arctic Bay was deferred for two years, not until 2008, and they moved the funding to Taloyoak.
What is the status of this at this time?
The Arctic Bay Capital Project was discussed in November. We said that we would start the planning process for that project in 2008 and 2009. It remains as we had presented back in November during the capital planning process.
It’s very difficult to fully believe the ministers when they say that, especially when they move the funding.
Is it for sure now that it will be done in 2008 as it states?
The Arctic Bay Health Centre planning has been initiated, but the actual planning for the design part will start in the fiscal years I mentioned and there’s no change to that planning timeline since we discussed the capital plans and that’s the work plan that we are working with at the present time.
I don’t anticipate that there will be changes to that schedule also.
Question 226 – 2(3): Roles and Mandate on the Issue of Homelessness (Curley)
My question is to the Minister of Homelessness. I would like thank the minister for stating yesterday that he will now be establishing a Homeless Secretariat.
Mr. Speaker, my hope is that this will not just be a bureaucratic centre, but it will actually be implementing programs for homeless people in Nunavut.
First of all, I would like to remind the minister that I stated not long ago, when we started, that there was one constituent who came to my office and had actually slept under the building.
In a place like Rankin Inlet, I thought that was shocking.
I would like to ask the minister exactly what the role of the Homeless Secretariat will be, and exactly what the mandate will be.
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Homelessness, Mr. Picco.
The Government of Nunavut was the first jurisdiction outside the federal government to actually appoint a Minister responsible for the Issue of Homelessness.
We did that about three years ago. Since that time, we’ve seen the issue of homelessness become more acute across Nunavut. The member makes a good point on what he’s observed in Rankin Inlet.
Mr. Speaker, the Homeless Secretariat was the next logical step. There is a little over $100,000 in the secretariat.
The idea of the secretariat is to bring together the best practices for homelessness across Nunavut and assist community groups and organizations to help address the issue of homelessness in Nunavut as a whole.
A good example of that is a grant we just provided to the Nunavut Status of Women’s Council who are doing a Nunavut-wide review on homelessness as it affects women’s issues. At the same time, we are involved in a project in Cape Dorset on homelessness issues.
So the secretariat is an organized group in which we are able to do interdepartmental work to help facilitate and help with the issue of homelessness.
Recognizing there are acute homeless housing needs in Nunavut, also that there has to be a baseline global Nunavut strategy, I believe there is an urgency that the minister must be compelled to establish certain housing, or at least homeless centres and places.
Will the minister tell homeless individuals in Nunavut that he will actually attempt to put in a short-term, before a long-term strategy is developed, in order that the plight of these homeless individuals, not just in Iqaluit but throughout Nunavut can be addressed as one of these priorities of this government? Will he do so?
The whole strategy behind the issue of homelessness is a very difficult one for us to deal with, not only as politicians and as governments, but as Nunavummiut as a whole.
There are two types of homelessness; there is absolute homelessness and relative homelessness. Absolute homelessness is when someone has no place to go.
It’s like the homeless that we see in Ontario, in the larger cities, in Ottawa, people on the corner pan-handling for money and so on.
We do not have a large amount of that in most of our communities.
We are starting to see that now in Iqaluit as an example.
The other type of homelessness is relative homelessness, and that’s what we have in Nunavut. When you have 13 or 14 people living a three bedroom house with no space of their own and so on, that is homelessness.
However, most of these people cannot go out onto the street because they would freeze to death.
So Mr. Speaker, although our homelessness is a little different than what we see in the south, it is no less real.
So what we’ve tried to do as a government is to address it through having more houses available.
In many cases, many people that use the homeless shelter, and we have some statistics on this because we’ve been running the shelter in Iqaluit since 1997 and we’ve just moved into a new residence for the shelter here for men, and as members are aware, we just had a protest a few weeks ago where over 40 people showed up because there is no transition home for women.
So right now, we are actually trying to get a home for women.
In a lot of cases, these individuals are not from Iqaluit, but they are from other communities in Nunavut and may not have the family ties and so on for a place to stay.