EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
The Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit looked at some things and we have made some changes.
For that reason I cannot give him a definite number as to how many elders are abused, but it is a problem, and like I mentioned before it is a hidden problem, and people don’t feel comfortable talking about it.
So I can’t tell him how widespread it is for the elders who are abused by their grandchildren or even by their children. When they get their old age pension checks, their children or grandchildren just take their money, so I can’t give him a definite number.
It certainly is a hidden problem, and I remember when I was mayor and the President of NAM, we used to hear about it quite a bit, and it’s a difficult issue to address. A lot of people have difficulties coming forward with concerns of possible abuse situations in communities.
My question for the minister: can the minister provide further clarification on what kinds of systems or procedures are in place for individuals to report their fears or suspicions of elder abuse and have them addressed?
We haven’t even discussed those because we will rely on the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit as to what step government should take next.
I would like to supplement my comment that in Clyde River and Cambridge Bay we have asked the counsellors to deal with the elders if they suspect that they are being abused and what strategic plans that they have to make or what options they have.
But to this present question from my colleague, this would be a very good issue to bring up to the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit Council because, like we said, it is a hidden fact, and we definitely have to make improvements, and I heard his comment and I will definitely do something.
I thank the minister for that answer and I am glad to hear that he’s heard. The elders of Nunavut have a lot of faith in the minister to help them with the elders’ abuse.
A few years ago, in Cambridge Bay, the local RCMP detachment had an initiative underway where they would visit all the elders to talk to them about elders’ abuse I never saw a copy of the report, but I understand it was quite informative for our community. Perhaps the minister can contact the RCMP to see if he can get a copy of that report.
Mr. Speaker, abuse does not always take the form of violence. Neglect is another form of abuse. Can the minister update this House on what steps his department has taken to identify elders in our communities who may need additional support and services?
Minister responsible for CLEY, Minister Tapardjuk.
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did not quite understand the question. I do not know whether you were talking about the elders or the youth.
I did not get the question, so I would like clarification please, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker (interpretation): Mr. Peterson, could you please clarify your question for the minister.
I thank the minister for asking for clarification about the type of elder abuse. A lot of elder abuse is violence, but sometimes an elder who is locked away in his or her room does not get fed, they do not get taken to the health centres for health purposes and do not get taken out to community events.
I wanted to ask the minister if he could update the House on what the steps are to identify elders in our communities who may need additional support services from the government if their relatives will not help them. Can the government help them?
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker and thank you for that clarification.
In regards to elder abuse, there is a variety of abuse.
There are elders who are neglected, or who are not fed the traditional foods that they need, or are being abused by their children or their grandchildren by having their old age pensions taken away from them.
It is not only physical abuse. It could be anything abusive such as an elder who is intimidated, and being scolded by the children or by the grandchildren. There is a whole variety of abuse and we do want to help the elders, and I am sure that the Department of Health and Social Services would like to help them.
We want to know and understand what is happening.
It is going to be World Elder Abuse Awareness Day tomorrow, and we want the full participation of the elders.
Hopefully tomorrow, we will start hearing about elder abuse and about anything that will help us in protecting the elders.
If the government can help, they are more than welcome.
There is our department who provides money to take the elders and the youth out on the land so that there would be healing between the elders and the youth, and to participate in doing cultural activities.
We can also work with the Inuit organizations on this subject. We are just not aware of how big the problem is and we have to find out. What we are trying to say is that we have to listen to the elders more and to respect them more because they are wise advisors.
That is what we are trying to say. We just do not know where we can help them.
I would like to remind the members to keep your responses as brief as possible and to the point.
I was going to ask a long of question. I will keep it short.
The minister stated in his statement that education is important: the education to prevent the neglecting of elders. I would like to ask the minister if he would commit to regularly updating the House about the ongoing efforts of the Government of Nunavut to educate the public about the special needs and problems of the elderly and about the risk factors of abuse.
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): In regards to the question, it is something that will be considered by the government.
I will consult with the departments. There is an Elders’ Strategy that we will be using, but I can’t say if I will be giving an update on a regular basis before I consult with my staff.
Mr. Curley: Mr. Speaker, I request that we extend question for one or two more questions in lieu of the fact that we have an extended time until November and also we only have a couple of days to conclude and deal with some very serious issues we’re facing with respect to energy.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, member. The member is requesting unanimous consent to extend question period.
And, to remind you, question period has been extended. It will only be set for one hour.
Question Period has been extended and we’ll set the time clock for one hour. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
Question 315 – 2(3): Rate Increases for Energy (Curley)
Mr. Curley: I would like to thank all the members for the unanimous consent.
Mr. Speaker, the issues that we are facing are really quite significant and important because we really don’t know what’s going to happen with the energy prices, as well as the rate increases and rate structure that Qulliq Energy Corporation is proposing.
I thank the minister for trying to clarify some of the proposed rates that the government is considering through a Utility Rate Review Council recommendation to the minister, but I would like to ask further a question.
The application contains that the public, the ratepayers are being asked to take additional costs over and above 6.1 percent to cover the deficit generated.
If paid over 18 months, it would increase an additional 5.4 percent for the total of 11.5 percent.
Why should the minister consider approving such an additional 5.4 percent if it were collected over 18 months?
On the asking for unanimous consent for question period, you have an opportunity as members to debate that on the pros and cons and so on.
I believe, and I stand to be corrected, that to extend question period, it should be asked before the end of question period.
In our case, the question period was over, and had continued on for several minutes. So, I would ask the speaker to rule on that first.
I will have to rule you out of order and Question Period will proceed.
So I will ask you to respond to that question please.
Thank you very much for your ruling.
I have no problem clarifying and asking questions. The role of the House is to take questions.
The short answer to the member’s question again: that is the reason we have the Utility Rate Review Council in place. The Power Corporation makes recommendations based on the rate, and we went through this in the last year, in the last 12 months.
The Power Corporation has asked for a 6.1 percent increase in rates, and that was what came out of the GRA. They’ve also indicated in their Act to the Utility Rate Review Council that there may be a deficit shortfall, which all members again aware, because it came out through the General Rate Application again in the last year.
So they’ve asked, is there an opportunity within that structure to recoup those monies.
I can’t say one-way or the other what the recommendations of the Utility Rate Review Council will be. Again that provides a check and balance for Nunavummiut. I may have, as members know a year and a half ago, we went through a consensus of people saying it is going to be 80 percent, 100 percent, 70 percent, 60 percent; and it turned out to be only 16 percent.
So I think that should, hopefully, put the members at ease.
Mr. Curley: Thank you. The minister was attempting to clarify what exactly the Utility Rate Review Council would recommend.
I also want to remind the minister that he can either accept or reject the application, or recommendation, from the Utility Rate Review Council. I believe the minister has that prerogative to either recommend a rejection or approval.
It is now clear the Nunavut Power Corporation is recommending that they be allowed to recover the deficit that may be incurred, or may not be incurred from April 1, 2005 to October 1, 2006.
Could the minister say to the ratepayers of Nunavut that ratepayers will not be responsible for covering the deficit, whether it is done through the application process, directly to his desk, and be responsible for paying the deficit of Nunavut Power Corporation, because this is not fair? It could be a mismanagement of some sort, and therefore I urge the minister to be very clear that he not consider passing that onto the rate payers because if paid over one year it would be 14.5 percent in total.
I understand the member’s concern.
Again I don’t want to get into answering hypothetical questions: what if the Utility Rate Review Council report is this or why is it this? That’s what happened almost a year ago: what if it’s 80 percent, and 100 percent, and so on. I don’t think we should go through that exercise.
What I can say is that we have the Utility Rate Review Council in place. The Utility Rate Review Council has already said that a rate shock of more than 15 percent wouldn’t be permitted. That’s why they allowed the increase that we saw a year ago.
So I guess that’s the best answer that I can give. We have to be sure that the independence of the Utility Rate Review Council is moving forward, and they do provide that check and balance, as they have demonstrated time and time again on these types of issues.
I think it is not only this member that is concerned with the rate shock that our ratepayers are facing. It is a serious proposal that has been made by the Nunavut Power Corporation to the Utility Rate Review Council. There is no possibility, or information that we have that it has been rejected.
Could the minister assure the public of Nunavut that they will not be responsible for covering the deficit from April 1, 2005 to October 2006, because a chartered accountant might not verify these statements?
Again I can’t determine what the recommendations will come forward from the Utility Rate Review Council; that’s why they’re tasked to evaluate all of that.
Part of their task is to evaluate the rate shock, and so on, and so forth.
I would suggest to you that what we’ve seen over the last several times with the Utility Rate Review Council, that they’ve taken all those in place and indeed, looked at the consumer to make sure that, in fact, isn’t there.
I would suggest to you that we have to let the Utility Rate Review Council do their work. They will report back. When they do that they will have to opportunity to look at what the recommendations are.
Yes, I think it may be hypothetical, but I don’t believe it is hypothetical when NPC recommends to the URRC that they may have to include a deficit that has been incurred.
I am urging the minister that, in terms of policy, he can say to this House that deficits should be not be passed on to the ratepayers of Nunavut because they should be addressed through a different arrangement.
So could the minister, once again, clarify exactly what he means that this may be just a hypothetical situation? If it’s true that URRC does recommend that deficit incurred to be recovered through the additional 4.5 or 5.4 percent, will the minister assure the public that he will not support this kind of recommendation?
As the member knows and the House knows is that the Utility Rates Review Council is reviewing an application, and in that application they ask for 6.1 percent, and he said there might be an opportunity to recover some of their deficit and that’s the amount the member is talking about.
The URRC will take all of that into consideration; they will make the recommendations and I will come back to the member. It would not be correct for me before the URRC has even had a chance to report to say what it should be and should not be, then that would be interfering with the semi-judicial board, that’s why they had that independence.
So, no, I’m not prepared to say what the recommendations should or should not be, that’s the job of the URRC; they will come back and then we will have an opportunity to look at it.
So I’m going to stop the clock for now and we’re going to take a break for 20 minutes, and once we come back after the break, the Question Period will continue.
>>House recessed at 15:32 and resumed at 15:54
We are on Item 6.
Question 316 – 2(3): Licensing of Health Professionals (Tootoo)
I understand that there is a...I don’t know if it’s a board, or a division within the Department of Health and Social Services that looks at any professional licensing issues.
I would just like to ask the minister, I think it’s a professional licensing board that look into any concerns or investigations for people with professional licenses. I was just wondering if she’s aware if they have had any investigations.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Tootoo. (interpretation ends) Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Minister Aglukkaq.
Within the Department of Health there is a division and it’s in Kugluktuk. There is a Professional Practice Division that looks at all of the licenses for professionals such as physicians or dentists and so on, and that is within the Department of Health.
Have we investigated matters for any person before they can practice in Nunavut; there is a committee that reviews a person’s credentials and that committee will evaluate all of the person’s background before they are licensed to practice dentistry or physician services and so on in Nunavut.
Can the minister indicate if that’s also for nurses and if they have done any investigations specifically into that area?
Before we proceed, I would just like to comment about the volume problems some channels appear to be having. It’s probably fluctuating for some unknown reason.
The volume was off when he asked the last question. Can I ask him to just repeat that?
Your request is granted.
Mr. Tootoo, can you please repeat your question.
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, as long as it doesn’t count as a supplementary.
Mr. Speaker, my question was; I was just wondering if that area also looked at licenses for nurses and if any specific investigations have been done in that specific area.
The Professional Practice Division of Department of Health looks at the credentials of physicians, dentists, certified nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses in order to practice in those fields.
As an example that process goes through, for registered nurses, that would be outside that division and that process is managed by the Nunavut Registered Nurses Association for Nunavut and NWT. It’s a combined process, but they work very closely to ensure people are licensed at both fronts.
So the information from the Registered Nurses Association would be shared by them to us before those individuals can practice nursing or dentistry and so on in Nunavut.
I would like to thank the minister for answering one part of the question but the other part was: has her department received any complaints or has that division done any investigations into any cases where someone may be questioning the credentials of a nurse?
I apologize for not responding to that question, but yes, anyone can, at any time, put forth a complaint to the division, the Professional Practices Unit of Department of Health, or if it’s related to a registered nurse, anyone can file that complaint to the Registered Nurses Association who ensures that nurses are licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. So there are those two processes.
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I would like to ask the same question: has her department or has that division received any complaints or done any investigations specifically to anyone with questioning someone’s credentials for being a nurse?
Specifically, have they and what were the findings?
We have investigated a number of complaints in different areas and depending on the case, the results would be different; some favourable and some not.
So we have investigated on complaints from people that have come forward and sometimes it is favourable and sometimes it is not.
I do not have any other names on my list on Oral Questions.
Question 317 – 2(3): Case Investigation Process (Tootoo)
I guess my question again to the minister of Health and Social Services: in an instance where an investigation is done and there were unfavourable findings in the investigation, what process would be followed?
Would that department or that division, through her department inform, say if that individual worked for another government department or someone else, what would be the process that would follow once they come back with an unfavourable finding?
Mr. Speaker, the one situation that I am aware of that has not been favourable, that information was communicated to that individual. If it were the case of a person that is practising nursing, physician, or dentistry we would have to deal with that within the Department of Health.
You cannot practice in that field within the Department of Health positions unless you have been registered to practice by this division, and if you are not then you cannot practice.
So in the case the registration is an annual registration, just like if you are a lawyer, you have to then register in the Northwest Territories, Alberta, or British Columbia. It is the same for professionals. That insures that the people that are carrying out those jobs as physicians are qualified to do their jobs.
In the instance that I am aware of, the individual was not an employee of the Department of Health, and that information was communicated with the individual directly that the person was not registered to practice in Nunavut.
Did the Department of Health notify the government department, if it was a government department that that individual was working for, of their findings?
Yes, the concern was raised with the appropriate department.
Is that something she would have conveyed herself to the appropriate minister or was it more of officials-to-officials exchange of information?
The professional practice unit has conveyed that information to my deputy and that was conveyed to the appropriate deputy in regards to the finding of that particular investigation.
Speaker (interpreted): Thank you, Minister.
Can the minister indicate if she shared that information herself with the appropriate minister or if she was aware if the appropriate minister is aware of that situation?
I had conveyed the concerns that were expressed by my staff to the appropriate minister.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.  Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Tootoo.
Oral Questions. Thank you.
Reports of Standing Committee and Special Committees.
Even though the light is off we can hear you. You may proceed, Mr. Alagalak. It still works, even though it doesn’t light.
Item 11: Reports of Standing Committee and Special Committees
Committee Report 004 – 2(3): Report on the Review of Nunavut Arctic College (Alagalak)
I am very pleased to have the opportunity today to provide the House with the Standing Committee on Health and Education’s Report on the Review of Nunavut Arctic College.
One of the roles of the Standing Committee on Health and Education is to provide support and direction on issues that relate to the mandate of the Department of Education.
As members will recall, during deliberations in this House in March of 2005, a number of members, including the Minister of Education, expressed their support for the idea of consulting directly with Nunavut communities to hear what Nunavummiut has to say about adult learning.
Following those deliberations, the Standing Committee on Health and Education was empowered by way of a motion to conduct a review of Nunavut Arctic College.
This motion was adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on March 16, 2005.
The committee’s review process began with the consideration of several documents, beginning with the landmark 1982 Special Committee Report, Learning, Tradition and Change, which first proposed the establishment of Arctic College.
Committee members reviewed a number of reports relating to the role of Nunavut Arctic College and the challenges faced by northerners in the area of adult education and its relationship with employment and the economy.
The committee then sent correspondence to the Minister of Education requesting comprehensive baseline information from Nunavut Arctic College, in addition to the related materials, such as the full text of the External Review of Nunavut Arctic College that was commissioned by the Minister of Education.
A review of the baseline information allowed members of the committee to achieve a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the programs delivered by Nunavut Arctic College, the status of its operations, and the relative successes of adult students across Nunavut.
Members of the committee would like to thank the Minister of Education for making this information available.
In preparation for its public hearings, the committee developed a discussion guide. The discussion guide certainly helped to encourage and focus public discussion on many issues.
The committee was pleased to receive a total of 55 completed discussion guides. An additional 33 written submissions were also received many of them addressing specific questions posed in the discussion guide.
The committee held public hearings in seven communities across Nunavut and also held meetings at the three regional campuses of Nunavut Arctic College.
Before presenting our findings, the standing committee would like to thank and acknowledge the students, educators, and a number of the public who took time to contribute to the committee’s review of Nunavut Arctic College.
In particular, the committee would like to recognize the support, assistance, and contribution of NAC’s three campus directors: Fiona Buchan-Corey in Cambridge Bay, Mike Shouldice in Rankin Inlet, and Peesee Pitsiulak in Iqaluit who made our campus meetings such as success.
Mr. Speaker, throughout the standing committee’s review of Nunavut Arctic College, a number of themes and issues consistently emerged. These included:
Student preparedness;
Literacy and upgrading;
Prior experience and academic qualifications;
Funding for students and programs;
Services and support provided by the college;
Inuit language and culture;
Curriculum;
Linking education and employment;
Program delivery; and
Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Health and Education recognizes that a number of strategic proposals directly relating to the operations and services of Nunavut Arctic College are currently being considered by the Department of Education and the Government of Nunavut as a whole.
These include the recently tabled Nunavut Adult Learning Strategy and the development of a new Education Act.