EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
It is very likely that the northern most communities are going to be left out again.
I hope that all the information at least will be given to the Hamlet Councils and to the appropriate agencies.
I don't know if that was clear Mr. Speaker.
Of course we can understand you, you were speaking in Inuktitut.
We will be writing to all the Nunavut communities.
We are not only going to be directing the letters to the Hamlets but we will be utilizing other agencies and providing them with the contact numbers.
Another reason why we are not going to be able to go to all the communities is because in following the statement that I made, I mentioned some community names where there were large and small communities.
I do know where the member is coming from but there are differences in communities.
We have contracts with some social services and some are being handled by the Government Departments.
Because of that we are going to try and get in touch with each of the communities.
Question 288 - 1(3): Department of Education O&M budget
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.
I would like to ask the minister about his budget address.
Under the area of education it indicated a number of areas of additional funding being allocated.
One is to provide additional Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun curriculum.
Two for investing in additional teachers and the third area was in the area of income support of 1.5 million.
Mr. Speaker, these three areas that the minister mentioned total about 3.1 million dollars, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the minister about Table 3 of the report, it only shows the O&M budget for the Department of Education going up by roughly 534 thousand dollars, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask if this is additional dollars that is going to be coming in from elsewhere.
Mr. Speaker, in the budget address there are a number of initiatives that are outlined.
Some is new funding as a result of utilisation of some of the expected surplus funds.
There are also internal reallocations within government itself so it is hard to be specific about where the money is coming from for each program because it is a global summary of all government spending.
I would suggest that it is more appropriate to direct this either to the Minister of Education on the specifics of funding in his department or obviously during the Committee of the Whole review of the departmental estimates when he has all his officials here that worked on all the ins and outs of the balancing of the budget allocations within that department.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Minister Ng. Mr. Tootoo.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my first question, I believe the increase in the O&M budget for Education is only 543 thousand.
As the Minister of Finance indicated yesterday, a very small amount, similar to the amount that I talked about in relation to housing, which he said was more like an adjustment, there was a point 3 percent decrease.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the finance minister if, as far as new money going into education, the other area that this government has also said is top priority, if he considers point 4 percent of an increase in O&M funding a significant amount.
If you consider the total budget of education, the honourable member refers to the operating and maintenance allocations proposed of 135 million dollars, which is the largest single departmental expenditure of this government, then I would say yes that is a significant amount of dollars Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Tootoo, your third supplementary.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Finance if there is an indexing or a way to compensate for the higher cost of living or inflation from year to year in the department.
As I indicated in my earlier question, Mr. Speaker, there is only an increase in the O&M budget of 543 thousand dollars, of which I might say Mr. Speaker, that the Minister of Finance indicated that 500 thousand of that is coming from savings as a result of the dissolution of the Boards.
I would just like to ask the minister if there is a factor, an indexing factor in there to calculate the funding.
Mr. Speaker, all the allocations for each department, the authority to set the targets is given by the whole Financial Management Board and at that time, as I had indicated in questions in the past, all the proposals come forth from the departments based on their existing programs, based on some new initiative that each department might want to undertake.
There is an extensive review and discussions on each of those initiatives and on departmental spending.
We try to relate that to the government priorities from the Bathurst Mandate and from the budget consultation process that took place, and then the targets are set.
But as far as specifics on indexing or forced growth issues, again, it would be based on the merits of each proposal that came forward from each department, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Minister Ng. Oral questions.
Question 289 - 1(3): Income Support Review Locations
My first question will be directed toward the Minister responsible for income support.
Some of the question was brought up by the member from Pond Inlet, he mentioned some communities are going to be visited, like Igloolik, Baker Lake and so on.
But these are not the highest, most expensive communities.
Why do you not go to the high arctic communities because they are very expensive for food and clothing.
I would like to suggest that you visit the high arctic communities.
You have identified communities where it is a lot cheaper for the cost of living.
It's going to create an unrealistic picture if we visit just the communities where the cost of living is not that high.
I think Mr. Minister that I would like to ask you to include also the high arctic communities.
Minister responsible for income support, Mr. Arvaluk.
Hon. James Arvaluk: Yes, we can make those adjustments.
Question 290 - 1(3): Community Government and Transportation Budget
I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Community Government and Transportation.
In the budget estimates, there has been a lot less money allocated because of course the communities are growing very rapidly and there are going to be more programs and services required.
There was originally 80 million and 81 million and now in the year 2000/2001 there is only 78 million dollars in there now and I think that is quite scary.
Is it possible to make some adjustments to reflect the growing communities and to reflect the growing expenditures for programs and services.
When we were tallying up the budget figures we had members' statements saying that we want to go in a new direction with the Nunavut Government and also with the Bathurst Mandate.
We had agreed that Education, Housing would be priorities of this government.
I believe we also agreed that Housing and Education are very much a priority.
Of course we have to make a budget proposal that would reflect these priorities.
We are not going to be making any changes to the O&M but like I said and the member stated there are some communities that will get decentralized positions.
This will give them growth and there is no money made available in the budget.
Member for Hudson Bay, Mr. Kattuk.
Question 291 - 1(3): Sanikiluaq Fuel Tank Farm
In the Main Estimates for this fiscal year, 2000/2001, last year I thought you had agreed that in my community of Sanikiluaq we were going to improve the fuel tank facilities and the minister had made a commitment that the improvement would take place next year.
When he stated that there would be nearly 1 million dollars directed towards the Sanikiluaq fuel tank farms, I was wondering if this money was in addition to that money that you stated was too small for last year. Is this another additional funding.
Mr. Speaker, I wish I had all the information for every department, but I don't.
That will be when each department comes before the Committee of the Whole, they will have more detailed information.
I can say that there is 1 million dollars, approximately 1 million dollars for the 2000/2001 year.
Whether or not there is more funding I don't have the full substantiation for that project, but I am sure that the minister and her officials will have that information.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister of Finance.
Question 292 - 1(3): Fire Insurance Coverage for School
Mr. Speaker, my question is again for the Minister of Finance.
In his budget address the one table that I referred to last week was Table 4 on Capital Expenditures.
I would like to ask the Minister of Finance if that money for that particular project as he had indicated it was burned by fire, if that has been covered off by insurance.
Mr. Speaker, a significant portion of it is covered off by insurance proceeds, I don't have the specifics right here with me but that information will certainly be provided, again when the budget is dealt with.
Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that the minister doesn't have all the details on the departments and I don't expect him to but I was just wondering if some of it was being covered off by insurance.
In light of the fact that the majority of it, as he indicated, is being covered off by insurance, the total amount of capital, again, for an area that this government has stated over and over again is a top priority, education.
If one were to take the dollars for that particular project that are being covered off by insurance out of the capital, then in actuality the capital for the Department of Education dropped by about 1.8 million from the previous year.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to ask the minister again, how something like that has happened in an area where we have all said it is a top priority.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Member for Iqaluit Centre, Mr. Tootoo.
Minister of Finance in Nunavut, Mr. Ng.
Mr. Speaker, when the government collectively puts together a budget, obviously the sources of revenue are important but for the purposes of allocations of dollars for each department, and in setting targets, it is not what we look at for each individual department of where the funds come from.
We look collectively as a whole all of the governments' fiscal performance.
As I indicated earlier and then in the budget speech, the fact that we have a bit of a surplus estimated for the 1999/2000 year is taken into consideration.
Then you base your setting of departmental expenditures based on that Mr. Speaker.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Minister Ng. Member for Iqaluit Centre, Mr. Tootoo.
Mr. Speaker, again to the Minister of Finance.
He indicated that collectively they take a look at the budget and priorize.
In light of the very minimal or small increases in the budgets of the top two priorities of this government, I would like to ask the minister, who is also the Chair of the Financial Management Board, if there was a concerted effort to ensure that we have increased spending in the two priority areas of this government.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Member for Iqaluit Centre.
Yes, but again not specific to just capital but relative to all the departmental spending across government, in trying to balance out the needs of all the departments and all the needs of programs throughout Nunavut, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Question 293 - 1(3): Decentralization to Smaller Communities
Perhaps I could direct this question to the Premier in regards to decentralization.
My question is have you considered the smaller communities in Nunavut for decentralization.
Yes, although we have discussed this with our colleagues, we are not going to have any decentralization for the smaller communities but we are looking for ways to benefit them.
I know that the Department of Sustainable Development have been working on ways they can help the smaller communities get more job opportunities.
Although we won't be transferring any positions or offices to these communities, we are looking for ways to help and assist them in any way we can.
Member for Akulliq riding, Mr. Alakannuark.
When, in what year will you consider the smaller communities.
The reason I am asking this question is because I have two smaller communities in my riding and there is no decentralization for these two communities.
In what year will you start considering assisting the smaller communities.
Yes, I would like to ask the member, in your constituency community of Repulse Bay, I visited that community and they want to establish a park in that area.
As I have stated before I would like to find ways to support Repulse Bay when they are looking for an office facility and I would like to meet with the community too.
So in any way we can we will try and support the smaller communities, with job creation.
Going back to the orders of the day, oral questions.
Question 294 - 1(3): Budget Process to reflect Nunavut
I will direct my question to the Premier.
Since March the Federal Government or the Northwest Territories Government, since we have just followed their procedures for the Main Estimates, this is our fiscal year, I don't know if these Main Estimates reflect Nunavut requirements and needs.
I don't know if we have followed our own procedures.
As the Nunavut Government we had inherited legislation and statutes from outside of our jurisdiction which I am not happy about.
I was wondering if we could amend our statutes and legislation to reflect the requirements and the needs of Nunavummiut.
I think we should be utilizing the requirements and the needs of Nunavut when we are amending legislation and preparing for the Main Estimates.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Iqaqrialu. Mr. Premier.
Deputy Premier, perhaps you would like to respond, Mr. Ng.
I think that would be appropriate given that it's a fiscal question I believe on the government priorities and how it has impacted on the Main Estimates.
I believe that was the question from the honourable member.
Again, I would say that no, we have not overnight dramatically reformed or eliminated or changed our existing programs or services.
I think we all recognize that, but I think what has happened, quite frankly, as a result of the confirmation of hearing some of the priorities during the pre-budget consultation hearing that we undertook and we were all involved in.
As a result of some of the concerns and priorities that were articulated in this House during various debates in the legislature, the government as a whole has tried to recognize that and tried to incorporate some of those changes in the current 2000/2001 Main Estimates before you.
We will be having some further extensive debate on them over the weeks to come, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Deputy Premier.
As a true blue Inuk, and I am a member of this Nunavut Legislature, I am a member of the House during these current estimates and I am still in the learning process.
Just a couple of days ago there was a budget address and today they have been tabled.
Only after the fact, after the budget address, and I do have to review them to make sure that I agree with them and I have to know the details on the days when we deal with the Main Estimates.
For that reason, when that happens we are going to be rushing around and we will lack time and opportunities to ask questions in regards to our concerns.
I was wondering if you could reconsider this process, I would be very happy.
Also if you can give the regular members more opportunity to review the Main Estimates.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for clarifying his question.
As you know this budget process was somewhat unique I would say, given that we all agreed to carry out Nunavut wide consultations in the fall. That took place over pretty well the whole month of November and into early December because of some problems with missed meetings due to weather conditions and other events that happened in some communities.
So, this budget process was a bit prolonged that way, or delayed that way in getting all the information put together.
As you know, all members of this Assembly had an opportunity in January and in February internally to review all the budgetary information that the Government had in respect to the capital and in respect to the Main Estimates and O&M.
But having said that Mr. Speaker, the plan would be for this coming 2001/2002 year budget that we would have the work start on that, obviously after this budget process is finished.
I believe I indicated also in my budget address that we plan on having a five year capital plan document to work with hopefully in the late summer or early fall over to all members as a working document.
At the same time we would be putting together the estimates during this coming fall for the 2001/2002 operating year budgets, Mr. Speaker.
With that again, on that type of a time line we can expect to have an earlier review by the Standing Committees during the course of either late this 2000 year or early 2001 year in time to have a late January, February budget debate for the 2001/2002 budget year.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier.
Question 295 - 1(3): Nunavut Transportation Strategy
With the recent signing of the MOU between Manitoba and Nunavut and today's statement from the Minister of Transportation regarding a transportation strategy or study for Nunavut.
Has the minister established a working group yet between Nunavut and Manitoba in regards to this transportation strategy.
Minister of Transportation and Community Government, Mr. Anawak.
No the work at this point is strictly within the Department but the Deputy Minister will be in contact with the Government of Manitoba to set up that working relationship.
Mr. McLean: My apologies I didn't have my microphone on.
Would the minister let me know, the members know if there are going to be any kinds of terms of reference and when we can see these.
Hon. Jack Anawak: Yes, Mr. Speaker, we can do that.
Would the minister also inform me as a MLA for the Kivalliq, who is going to be involved in this strategy.
Hon. Jack Anawak: I am sorry, I am getting ahead of myself here.
As I said during the statement that we will involve the regular members as well as the whole caucus in this study as well as the people of Nunavut so we will make sure that the regular members are kept up to date and have a role in the whole exercise.
Question 296 - 1(3): Criteria for School Construction
Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Minister responsible for Education.
Mr. Speaker, my questions today are just of a general nature and I will follow them up with more detailed questions through the week.
My first question to the minister is what criteria has the minister used in the capital selections of capital projects for schools that were selected for the upcoming year.
We used the same criteria as we used last year.
Those are safety and health issues.
We have used the same thing, it is just that although we wanted to do more there is only so much we can spend for the capital section of education so we used the same criteria as last year.
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister could refresh our memories as to exactly, at least in general terms, the criteria that was used and if every school, every school in Nunavut was looked at prior to the actual selection of capital projects.
Hon. James Arvaluk: Mr. Speaker, I believe so, because we rely on the information from the Divisional Boards of the different three regions.
They do our fieldwork.
I did not personally go to every school to check them out but I believe that's the guidelines that were given by us to the Divisional Boards of Education, and depending on their recommendations then we would look at that particular school to see if they qualify under the criteria.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Minister.
Mr. Speaker, the reason I raise this general question is for the simple fact that for 1998 the school in my home community was on the books, I believe for planning and design.
After that point the school I believe was delayed for a year and the project actually fell off the books and I think fell off the end of the world.
At this point in time it is my understanding that there is not even a file or a record to indicate that there was a need for school improvements in my community.
Having said that, if there are no files or records in the regional office in the Keewatin, even going back to the Yellowknife headquarters from the last government, I fail to see how the minister's staff could fairly assess the need for a school in my community or an improvement to it if the records have been destroyed or lost conveniently by some individuals.
So I would put the question to the minister that I would think it would be difficult for his staff to assess the needs of my community, one of the fastest growing communities in Nunavut.
We expect for example over the next five years, that on the average of 70 – 80 children will be entering the school program.
So again, I say to the minister, in my case, if the minister could endeavour to find out whether or not the needs for my community were looked in to.
There is no way that the Department can approve or reject the missing documents or the missing plans from the five year capital plans.
We looked for it everywhere even trying to find it from Yellowknife on behalf of Arviat.
Depending on the outcome of my department’s discussions with Public Works, I may be in a position to contribute some of the anticipated minor capital projects manage to work in making the playground area more pleasant place for the children to use.
I know what the condition of the playground is and I will be willing to work with member later.
If they are enough surplus dollars from the dissolution of the divisional boards perhaps that could be used for minor capital.
But, I’m not in the position to make a commitment right now before we’ve had a chance to talk to the department of Public Works.
Mr. O'Brien : Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the playground issue is a minor component to the overall problem of over crowding of schools.
I realise that the Minster is trying to deal with the issue and there are so many dollars to go around.
But, I would ask the minister once again, if he can go to his staff and locate the report that indicated very clearly there was a need for an upgrade to our high school in Arviat and report back to myself and to other members on where it stands.
Hon. James Arvaluk : Even without the document the member is talking about. We can start, I already promised that we will start looking with the 20 year plans for all the schools in Nunavut.
And, I also got a letter from the Arviat’s DEA chairman, Robert Leonard, talking about the problems of overcrowding of the schools and I have the numbers here.
I’m not disagreeing with the Member.
It’s just that last year and this year’s criteria have been for safety issues in all the schools.
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide the necessary renovation and expansion of schools in every community that need them right now.
So we concentrated on the problem areas like the schools in Baker Lake and Clyde River and Pond Inlet.
So, I certainly will be looking at all the schools for the 20 year plan and get back to the member.
At least work with the member and the Arviat community along the same line as with the other communities that need them very badly.
Going back to our orders of the day.
Item 6 oral questions.
Member for Hudson Bay. Mr. Kattuk.
Question 297 - 1(3): Francophone School
Mr. Kattuk (interpretation): thank you Mr. Speaker.
During our last meeting in Rankin Inlet, we heard that here in Iqaluit, the Francophone Association would be getting their new school in Iqaluit.
I just wondered how many Francophone students would be attending that particular school that will be built in Iqaluit.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Kattuk, Minister of Education Mr. Arvaluk.
Mr. Speaker, it’s always difficult to estimate how many students will be entering schools.
It also differs from year to year.
You also have to consider the growing community.
I cannot estimate how many students will be entering the Francophone school in Iqaluit.
I think I would like to explain to the Member that the Federal Government has contributed money to the tune of 5 million dollars in building of the school.