EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Akoak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) I appreciate that.
Firstly, I wish to inform my fellow residents of Gjoa Haven that I am thinking of them today, as we have lost a young person Friday evening. I thank everyone.
(interpretation ends) I stand today, as this is the first year that I have not been to my granddaughter’s birthday, I wish her a very big, wonderful day and I wish her the best as her future is in her hands.
I wish her all the best today.
Member’s Statement 224 – 4(3): Congratulations to Sanikiluaq’s 2016 High School Graduates (Rumbolt)
Mr. Rumbolt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon, colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, it always gives me great pride to rise in the House and congratulate the high school graduates from Sanikiluaq.
Mr. Speaker, graduating from high school is an important step that represents hard work and discipline. A High School Diploma is a stepping stone to the future.
By achieving this goal, our young graduates cannot only look forward to new opportunities for leadership and future careers, but they can be proud of the fact that they are also role models for other youth in the community. They already lead by example.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Mina Mannuk, Martha Cookie, and Jimmy Sam Mickiyuaq.
Mr. Speaker, while the dedication of our students always impresses me, it is equally important to recognize the dedication of the parents, guardians, teachers, and the entire community to encourage our youth to achieve.
I extend my congratulations to the graduates and to all those who helped our graduates achieve their success.
Member’s Statement 225 – 4(3): Tribute to Etulu Aningmiuq (Joanasie)
Good day to the visitors in the gallery and Nunavummiut who are listening.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and commemorate the late Etulu Aningmiuq, an artist who used to sing about springtime, so it seems fitting to pay tribute to him today.
Mr. Speaker, the last few months have gone by rapidly since Etulu’s passing.
He was originally from Cape Dorset and lived many years in both Pangnirtung and here in Iqaluit.
Mr. Speaker, Etulu is a household name known for the catchy tunes that he sung so gracefully from his heart.
He travelled to countless music festivals to share music and friendships with many people across the Arctic.
Mr. Speaker, Etulu recently released his final album titled, “Everything of Me.”
Mr. Speaker, join me in remembering and thanking Etulu Aningmiuq for enriching our lives through song and so much more, and we send our thoughts to those close to him that he left behind.
Mr. Speaker, springtime is a truly wonderful time to be outside and one of the best times to see the beauty of our land.
With that, I thank Mr. Aningmiuq and on behalf of my colleagues, I would like to pay tribute to Mr. Etulu Aningmiuq.
Member’s Statement 226 – 4(3): Remembering Peter Suwaksiork (Savikataaq)
I rise today to pay tribute to Peter Suwaksiork.
He’s an elder from Arviat who passed away on April 1.
(interpretation) This esteemed elder, Mr. Suwaksiork, just passed recently on April 1.
He was one of my relatives whom I would go hunting with. Whenever elders pass on, although we are aware they may pass on due to their old age, it is still very hard to deal with their passing.
When I first started working in my career, I used to go on the land with this man and I enjoyed spending time on the land with him.
Also, when I was a young man, he always asked me when I was taking classes, “When will you graduate?”
Due to completing my education, I am able to be here today.
Mr. Suwaksiork was rarely unhappy and even when hardship arrived, he would… . I apologize as this is extremely emotional. It is regrettable to hear about elders who pass away.
In Arviat, this man was very supportive of the search and rescue society, providing assistance and he was always in good spirits.
Further, without any regard for his own circumstances, this man would jump at a chance to assist others and that was his way.
The residents of Arviat took pride in Mr. Suwaksiork, especially the spring cod fishing derby that he started.
I want to commemorate his work due to this passing. He had reached about 78 years of age.
I will try to voice what he wanted me to state as he wanted to let people know “Only through striving to do your best can you move forward.”
If I were to state it in English, (interpretation ends) “You have to try really hard to get a little of what you want.” (interpretation) Further, when he finished that statement, he stated, (interpretation ends) “Once you get it, get it while you can.”
(interpretation) These are the memories we hold of Mr. Suwaksiork, as he is already missed by many residents and will continue to be missed.
I extend my gratitude to his entire family and we will remember him.
Also, my son drove the snowmobile that pulled the qamutiik with his coffin to the graveyard.
If we are to ever see each other again, we hope to see you again. (interpretation ends) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Member’s Statement 227 – 4(3): Success of Volleyball and Soccer Teams from Whale Cove (Kuksuk)
Hon. George Kuksuk (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I say “good day” to my colleagues and our fellow Nunavummiut.
It has been a while since I have been in the House. I didn’t attend the winter session, but I’m very glad to be here today.
Before I actually get started, I would like to mention my colleague next to me and I would like to also say some words about the elder he was talking about. We will miss him very much.
We knew him a great deal and he did a lot of work for the people of Arviat.
Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today and I’ll only talk about gold, not once, not twice, but three times.
To start, this past weekend in Iqaluit, many of us watched our young people from all across Nunavut. There were young boys and girls and the 19 and under volleyball teams were here for a tournament. I went there along with some colleagues of mine and had a great time watching them.
First of all, I would like to thank the organizers from Iqaluit that set this up with all the volunteers.
It ran very well and they did all the scheduling. I also thank all the people who carried all the athletes to the venues.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I was going to talk about gold today and now it’s obvious from the two communities which competed that it doesn’t matter what community you’re from. From a community, big or small, if you do good teamwork, you can reach the top.
This past tournament shows us that these two communities can do that.
Please proceed, Mr. Kuksuk.
As I stated earlier, one of the smallest communities in Nunavut, Gjoa Haven, was a finalist along with Arviat, Pond Inlet, and Whale Cove that won the gold. Gjoa Haven won the silver.
I know that everybody who watched knows this and the girls 19 and under team from Pond Inlet came in third place.
Mr. Speaker, we’re very happy about all this. We know that it has become quite obvious that no matter where you come from, as long as you work well together and do good teamwork, you can get good things in return.
Whale Cove won the gold, Gjoa Haven won the silver, and (interpretation ends) Pond Inlet (interpretation) won the bronze for the girls teams.
I will say the names of the team from Whale Cove who won the gold.
The first one is my granddaughter, Shaeylyn Kuksuk.
On the volleyball team are Lila-Marie Hapanak, Pearl-Ann Kriterdluk, Caitlyn Uqsaagaq, Jeannette Angoo, Micah Sammurtok, and Amber Sharp.
The coaches are Alex Hailey and Alana Kuksuk.
We’re happy that the Whale Cove (interpretation ends) girls under 19 (interpretation) won the gold.
In addition, in Whale Cove, there was another tournament this past weekend. It was just a regional tournament, not a territorial one.
The junior boys and girls 13 and under teams had a soccer tournament in Whale Cove and I am extremely proud of them, Mr. Speaker.
The Whale Cove boys’ 13 and under team got the gold in soccer.
Afterwards, in the same tournament, the young girls 13 and under from Whale Cove also won gold.
Whale Cove won gold all over the place. Everywhere they went, they got gold and we don’t see that every day when we see different tournaments happening like that.
Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues to join me in expressing pride in all of these athletes.
Member’s Statement 228 – 4(3): Remembering Joanasie Kuniliusie (Keyootak)
I rise this afternoon to recognize and also mention a person that is known by many people who passed away in our community.
I know we’re always losing people continuously, but each death is always different. When people who helped a lot pass away, we seem to remember them more.
One of our great helpers has passed away. He was one of the very first people to start working on land claims for Nunavut and he recently passed away.
I would like to remember Joanasie Kuniliusie. Very many people knew him.
In our community, he was the very first guy who had a business. He was an elder and a real Inuk who couldn’t speak English. He had a business, he had a hotel, and he really helped our community getting country food by hunting.
He would go back and forth to bring country food to our community. We’re going to miss him a lot because he was a very busy provider for the community.
We remember the relatives and we will keep them in mind. We know he has been sick for a long time and he was the oldest person in our community.
He was very good at what he did and he was a part of many boards. He was the very first mayor when we got hamlet status. Even before we got hamlet status, he was the chairman of the settlement council.
He helped start the Co-op in our community as well. When the Co-op was being established, he helped set up the board.
I want to make sure that we remember him properly.
He did so much work and he will be dearly missed.
I wanted to mention Joanasie Kuniliusie.
Member’s Statement 229 – 4(3): Installation of the Radio Transmitter in Pangnirtung (Mike)
I am proud of you, as you are acting as the Speaker today, so I take great pride in you today, my “younger-brother-to-be.”
I rise today to express my happiness and I wish to share it with my colleagues, although it is already in use in our community of Pangnirtung via the communications technology used for communication purposes today.
Now, in Pangnirtung, we have steep mountains that play havoc with CB radios and VHF radios that are used by Inuit in the spring or summer seasons.
There was an antenna or transmission relay pole placed at the mouth of Pangnirtung Fiord on top of the landmass called “Nasaujaq” that allows our residents to take advantage of the VHF radios.
Further, it allows hunters in most of the outlying areas to communicate.
Although it is not all covered, communication has taken a leap forward in Pangnirtung and this will provide lots of benefits to our community both for search and rescue operations and our hunters on the land.
Alternatively, it allows hunters to update their relatives on their status as well as the ice, sea, and weather conditions amenable for information to hunting parties.
It is already being used quite frequently and our residents are very enthusiastic about this development. Due to these developments and with hunters going vast distances in a single day, it makes it less worrisome for relatives, as they can communicate if they have the VHF radios.
The people who set up that new transmitter were Billy Etuangat and Leopa Akpalialuk and the technician that was brought in was Robert Howard. They installed that transmission tower.
We know that people are going to relax a bit more because Pangnirtung is known for its high winds.
Now we’re just like the people who live in the flatlands in terms of communications.
Member’s Statement 230 – 4(3): Tribute to Fundraising Efforts in Kugaaruk (Qirngnuq)
Firstly, prior to reading my Member’s Statement, I wish to voice my gratitude to my colleagues, the Government of Nunavut, and the people of Kugaaruk and Taloyoak.
I wanted to speak to this issue, as I am quite happy to speak about the gratitude of our youth when they are provided assistance and they are always happy to help.
Let us keep that in mind for our future considerations.
(interpretation ends) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to inform the House about the generosity of my constituents in the community of Kugaaruk.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, we witnessed the devastation of the wildfires in Alberta.
Tens of thousands of residents of Fort McMurray were forced to flee the city and a significant number of them have lost their homes.
Mr. Speaker, although Kugaaruk is one of our smaller communities and although we are not rich, people have a generous spirit.
After watching the devastation of the wildfires unfold on television, the grade 4 students at Kugaardjuk Ilihakvik decided that they needed to help.
Within a few hours, the students had raised several hundred dollars in donations from community residents and these donations were matched by one particularly generous individual.
Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to the efforts of Sandra Angutingurnik Niptayuq, who teaches the grade 4 class.
Her efforts have helped the young students to see the reward in helping others.
*See Appendix for full text of Returns to Oral Questions 255 – 4(3), 273 – 4(3), and 277 – 4(3).
I also want to acknowledge the support of Principal Jerry Machiuk and Vice-principal Lutgarde Angutingurnik.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all members to join me in paying tribute to the efforts of my young constituents to help others in their time of need.
Mr. Quirke, Clerk.
Return to Oral Question 255 – 4(3): Recording Traditional Law (Clerk)
Return to Oral Question 273 – 4(3): Medical Transient Centre in Churchill, Manitoba (Clerk)
Return to Oral Question 277 – 4(3): Status of Children’s Group Home in Rankin Inlet (Clerk)
I am tabling returns to oral questions 255 – 4(3), 273 – 4(3), and 277 – 4(3), all of which were taken as notice during the winter 2016 sitting of the House.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Moving on.
Ms. Angnakak (interpretation): I thought I was forgotten for a second. Thank you.
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to recognize a number of visitors in the gallery today and they have joined us from the Parliamentary Internship Program of the House of Commons.
I would like to ask you to all stand, please.
These amazing and smart young Canadians are currently working in the offices of Members of Parliament. They are in Nunavut this week for their program’s annual study tour.
I had the opportunity to meet with the group yesterday for round-table discussions, and I was very impressed by their very hard questions.
Please join me in welcoming them to the gallery.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Welcome to the gallery and to Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize a very important person in my life. She has been living with me for 40 years, so I consider her a very important person.
Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to introduce my wife to the House here.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Welcome (interpretation ends) and make sure that he never forgets.
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure today to welcome to the House Her Worship Jeannie Ehaloak, mayor of the great western community of Cambridge Bay.
It’s not very often we see people from Cambridge Bay here, so it’s a real pleasure to see her today.
She is, I think, in her third or fourth term, but she has been a mayor almost forever. She is also the president of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities. They’re doing a lot of great work for all of our communities.
Welcome to the House, Jeannie.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Welcome. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery.
I would also like to recognize individuals (interpretation ends) from beautiful Pond Inlet. (interpretation) As it happens, I see fellow Pond Inlet residents in the gallery here and I am quite pleased to acknowledge them.
First of all, our Mayor, Mr. Charlie Enuaraq, and accompanying him are Natasha Simonie, Jimmy Pitseolak, Eleanore Arreak Pitseolak, Rikki Butt, Joshua Arreak, and this young individual present here that I forecast as a future MLA down the road is Lindsey Qanguq.
Please welcome to the gallery.
Question 295 – 4(3): RCMP and Inuit Language Training (Mikkungwak)
First of all, I wish the people of Baker Lake and Nunavut a good day.
(interpretation ends) On March 1, 2013, the Minister of Justice tabled the 2012-14 Shared Directional Statement between the Government of Nunavut and the RCMP’s “V” Division.
Can the minister indicate when he will sign a new agreement with the RCMP and set out shared priorities and efforts for the upcoming years?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Minister of Justice, Minister Peterson.
Mr. Speaker, the shared directional agreement between the RCMP and the Department of Justice is currently under negotiations and as soon as it’s available, it will be signed. After the agreement is signed, I will have an opportunity to table it.
In its draft 2016-19 business plan, the department indicates that the “V” Division employees are “encouraged to take advantage of Inuktitut Second Language courses offered both by the Pirurvik Centre and the Arctic College.”
Can the minister indicate if Inuit language training is offered to RCMP members that operate in community detachments outside of Iqaluit?
Hon. Keith Peterson: Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Mikkungwak for the question.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the language training courses are offered to all employees of the RCMP where they’re available.
Can the minister indicate if he is aware of any incentives that are offered to RCMP members in Nunavut to encourage participation in Inuit language training?
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP does a tremendous job for the communities of Nunavut. The last three months of being the minister, I have been getting practically daily updates on a lot of criminal activity and other activities across Nunavut: homicides, suicides, child sexual abuse, you name it.
They do a fantastic job keeping our communities safe.
I have met with the RCMP detachment in Cambridge Bay to support and encourage them.
I talk to the chief superintendent all the time.
They’re doing a lot to protect our communities.
Through them, I have learned that they do encourage their officers, where possible, to learn some Inuktitut. Obviously, there are very limited facilities and opportunities in all the communities. Where it’s available, they are encouraged.
If the chief superintendent is listening in here, I’m sure that he will support me in saying that there are probably some incentives, something to encourage them to learn the language.
A lot of them are only here for three or four years, so it’s very challenging to learn a language in a short period of time.
Question 296 – 4(3): Search and Rescue Initiatives (Rumbolt)
Today, I would like to direct my questions to the Minister of Community and Government Services.
Mr. Speaker, I have previously asked the minister when we can expect to see updated versions of his department’s Community Based Search and Rescue Contributions Policy and Community Search and Rescue Organization Policy, which expired in 2008 and 2010.
On March 11, 2016, the minister indicated that he could not provide a deadline by which the new policies would be rolled out due to the fact that a third party is involved in the department’s process.
The minister also indicated that the new policies would be finalized as soon as practically possible.
Can the minister provide an update today on the status of these two policies?
Hon. Joe Savikataaq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague for the question.
To further explain what the process is, they’re still working on the policy. As I stated back in March, there are third parties involved and we can’t dictate on how quickly it goes, but it is being worked on.
As I stated earlier too, part of the policy is so that searchers can be reimbursed for legitimate expenses and wear and tear items on their equipment when they are on a sanctioned search.
Right now, that is being done anyway, but it will be formalized once these policies are done.
Like I stated, part of the problem is there are third parties involved, but we also want to make sure that this policy is good for the government and good for the clients that it will be serving.
On March 15 of 2016, the minister tabled his department’s 2014-15 Nunavut Emergency Management Annual Report in the Legislative Assembly.
In that report, the department indicated that “Nunavut Emergency Management committed $250,000 to the Municipal Training Organization (MTO) for Basic, Advanced and Coordinator search and rescue training.”
However, the report does not provide detailed information on the communities and number of participants that were trained.
Will the minister commit to providing this detailed information in his department’s future Nunavut Emergency Management annual reports?
I’ll just explain the way the funding goes for the training for the search and rescue committees first so that the general audience out there will know.
There is funding available through the MTO through CG&S to train local search and rescue committees and the searchers themselves.
If they want to have a course held in their community, they put in a request to MTO, and depending on what the course is and how many participants sign up, then the course would either be put on or not put on.
Obviously, even if a community wanted a certain course and there were not enough people signed up, then the course would not go ahead if there are not enough participants.
In the annual report, I can look into putting what courses are put on, where, and how many participants are on there. That’s not a problem.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Your final supplementary, Mr. Rumbolt.
On March 15 of 2016, my colleague, the member from Gjoa Haven, asked the minister a number of questions concerning the Canadian Coast Guard’s recent commitment to increase funding for marine search and rescue training in the Arctic region.
In response, the minister stated that the Coast Guard had committed $500,000 in annual funding to train search and rescue workers from the Arctic region.
Mr. Speaker, this type of training may allow Nunavummiut to join the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary and improve local and regional capacity in marine search and rescue initiatives.
Can the minister tell us when he anticipates this funding to be implemented and this marine search and rescue training provided in Nunavut?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Minister Savikataaq.
The $500,000 that was committed by the Canadian Coast Guards is committed, but we have no control when it will actually be committed to us. In June, I will be attending meetings in Churchill, Manitoba to deal with this very topic.
What it is, is the $500,000 is for the Arctic region, which includes Nunavut and Nunavik, and it is to set up training for the Coast Guard Auxiliary and what other training that might be available.
Marine searches are the responsibility of the Canadian Coast Guard, but their resources and manpower are far and few between in Nunavut.
Local search and rescue generally does it anyway because it’s a matter of life and death at many times in the marine environment.
We will be attending a meeting and I’ll be able to update Mr. Rumbolt more once these meetings are held in Churchill, Manitoba on the latter part of June.
Question 297 – 4(3): New NNI Policy (Angnakak)
As I indicated in my Member’s Statement, there are a number of elements in the new NNI Policy that are very positive. However, there are also a number of things that I believe we need to take a second look before the policy is finalized.
Can the minister explain why the new NNI Tribunal will not have at least one member who is nominated by the business community?
Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Minister Ell-Kanayuk.
This issue raised by my colleague in her question relates to the Nunavummi Nangminiqaqtunik Ikajuuti Policy and the specific provisions will only be implemented next year on April 1, 2017.