EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
There are many partners in this project and it is important to recognize that this project is being conducted through these partnerships.
Mr. Speaker, Qanuippitali strives to improve health care planning, personal health and community wellness of the Inuit in Nunavut.
Communities will receive information about how healthy they are and about where health promotion efforts may be needed.
It is responding to Inuit needs and priorities and is culturally appropriate. The entire project is developed in a participatory partnership and co-owned in the long-term, by Inuit and community representatives.
Mr. Speaker, the achievement of this on-going project could not have started without partnerships.
I look forward to next year and the continued voyages of everyone that have made the health survey a success in Nunavut.
Minister’s Statement 099 – 2(4): Mineral Exploration and Mining Update (Simailak)
Hon. David Simailak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I would like to provide an update to the House on mineral exploration and development activity in the territory.
In 2006, industry invested over $196 million in our territory in their search for minerals.
For this year, the total expenditure is projected to be in excess of $230 million. This amount does not include expenditures on deposit appraisal, construction and capital costs.
In addition to the high level of mineral exploration activity, mining production is underway, providing Nunavummiut with jobs and other economic opportunities.
The Jericho Mine continues to produce quality diamonds in the western Kitikmeot, and other projects are now moving towards production.
This year, mining in Nunavut made headline news when Newmont Mining offered to purchase the Hope Bay project. In recent months other major mining companies, including Agnico Eagle and Zinifex, have made acquisitions in Nunavut.
These developments are regarded by the industry as a strong vote of confidence in the future of mining in Nunavut, and a sign that this sector is strong and growing.
These major producers, Mr. Speaker, bring significant new financial and technical resources to mining in Nunavut, and raise the international profile of our industry.
Mining is poised to provide a solid foundation to help us build a strong economy for our residents. To encourage this development, we have developed clear policies, within the framework of Parnautit, the Nunavut Mineral Exploration & Mining Strategy.
These policies will ensure that Nunavut continues to attract investment; that our environment is protected, and that impacts on our environment are mitigated. It will ensure that the industry is strong, sustainable, and provides lasting benefits to our people and our communities.
Minister’s Statement 100 – 2(4): Ikummatiit, an Energy Strategy for Nunavut (Picco)
Later today I will table Ikummatiit, an energy strategy for Nunavut.
The strategy sets out four main goals:
Reduce the reliance on imported fossil fuels, and diversify energy sources to include clean, alternative energy and domestic energy sources.
Improve the affordability of energy for services such as heat, hot water, lighting, and transportation by reducing the cost of providing energy and improving the efficiency of its use.
Reduce the impact on the environment by reducing the energy-related emissions that contribute to climate change.
Provide business and employment opportunities to Nunavummiut and Nunavut’s businesses by increasing energy efficiency and by using renewable and domestic energy sources.
Mr. Speaker, Pinasuaqtavut 2004-09 sets out the goal to “Conserve and reduce the use of energy and find alternatives to diesel fuel for electricity generation.”
Mr. Speaker, the implementation of Ikummatiit will enable us to meet this goal.
Last March of 2007, the Energy Discussion paper was tabled, in the House. This discussion paper was used to focus energy consultations and to provide information to Nunavummiut about the unique energy challenges in the territory.
Targeted energy consultations took place in Qikiqtarjuaq, Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit during April/May 2007.
The need for a comprehensive energy strategy with a focus on conservation, demand supply management and energy alternatives is self evident.
Departments and agencies have already begun work on an implementation plan for Ikummatiit and, Mr. Speaker, we will keep this House informed of that progress.
Member’s Statement 219 – 2(4): Cape Dorset Co-op Recognition (Akesuk)
First of all, before I begin, it’s Meeka Akesuk’s birthday today.
This past summer and fall Minister Simailak and myself went to Cape Dorset to recognize the Cape Dorset Co-op for the work that they have achieved in artwork.
The Cape Dorset Co-op has been in the art industry since 1958, and to date, they’re very successful. We had a discussion with the Co-op.
Usually, the art industry is very fragile but the Cape Dorset Co-op has been in operation since 1958, nearly 50 years.
From the beginning, we recognized the individuals who helped launch the art industry, so I would like to congratulate the Cape Dorset Co-op for their very successful art business.
It’s been very beneficial, financially, to the people of Cape Dorset and it has made a name for Inuit art. I would like to thank the people of Cape Dorset for this successful business.
Member’s Statement 220 – 2(4): Poor Condition at Kugluktuk School (Evyagotailak)
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to your attention the terrible conditions at Kugluktuk’s high school.
Mr. Speaker, our children deserve a safe and comfortable learning environment.
They don’t even have enough proper light in the building because of the number of windows that are boarded up.
Every time a window is broken, it is covered with a sheet of plywood. How long will this go on?
Mr. Speaker, for the last two years in a row, promises have been made to re-do the floor and painting of this building.
The carpeting is terrrible.
How can we tell our children that they are important and that they are our future leaders, and then neglect to give them the proper conditions in which to grow and develop?
Mr. Speaker, a recent fire marshal’s report has identified a number of problems that require immediate attention.
There are holes in the walls and the ceiling tiles. If these are not repaired, then the fire code will be violated.
Our children are at risk.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge the Minister of Education to work closely with the Minister of Community and Government Services to have this situation dealt with at the earliest possible opportunity.
Our children deserve it.
At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will be tabling some photographs which clearly show the terrible conditions at the school in Kugluktuk.
Question 275 – 2(4): Cost of Recruitment and Retention Strategy (Tootoo)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up a little bit on the line of questioning I did yesterday that relates to Nursing Recruitment Retention Strategy.
Mr. Speaker, in the article that I tabled of October 12 titled, ‘No Quick Fix for Agency Nurse Problem: Aglukkaq,’ the minister in there indicates and it’s not a direct quote, Ms. Aglukkaq said the plan would likely cost about $1.5 million. I would just like to ask the minister if that is a correct amount.
Minister of Health and Social Services, Leona Aglukkaq.
That is not correct information in that article as it relates to that $1.5 million.
I can only assume that the author of this article would have taken that information on the figure from another article she wrote. That figure was mentioned by the President of the NEU in a previous article, but that is not correct.
Can the minister indicate what she anticipates the cost to be for this new strategy?
Once that file has been dealt with through the FMB, I would be happy to share that information with the member.
Yesterday, the minister indicated that she would have to go back to the FMB to ensure that the commitments, financially, are also approved before she tabled the report. Is she saying that she doesn’t have an idea of what it’s going to take to implement that strategy?
I do have an idea of what it will cost; the implementation of the strategy, but following due process, I cannot release that information until we’ve had a discussion at FMB.
Once FMB has approved or whatever the decision may be of FMB, then I can work with that decision. At this point in time, I still have to work through the process of going through the FMB process, and once that’s dealt with, then I’ll be prepared to share that information with my colleagues.
Yesterday, the minister indicated, like I said, that she would have to go back to FMB to ensure the financial commitments are also approved, and I can appreciate the minister’s response there that still no decision has been made by FMB on that.  Can she indicate whether this is going to be new money that they’re looking at getting approval for?
Again, not to get into the specifics, once I’m done with the file through FMB, I will be prepared to speak to that issue. At this point in time, I will not respond to that until I’ve had a chance to go through the materials with my colleagues through FMB.
Speaker: Thank you, Minister. (interpretation) Oral Questions. Mr. Mapsalak.
Question 276 – 2(4): Power Outage in Repulse Bay (Mapsalak)
My question today is to the Minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I have been informed that the community of Repulse Bay is without power again as a result of problems at the generating station.
Can the minister update me today on the QEC’s efforts to turn the lights back on?
As many of the members know, over the last 24 hours, we’ve had some very difficult weather conditions in the Kivalliq region, and indeed, in the community of Repulse Bay, we’ve had some issues with the power plant.  Early this morning around 6:30 or seven o’clock Eastern Daylight Standard Time, from Iqaluit, a charter left to go to Repulse Bay, went into the community and are working right now on bringing up the power supply in the community.
So we have a full team in the community working on the issue with the generator.
I thank the minister for the answer. And also, I was told that even the backup generators for the school, the hamlet office, and the health centre were not working.
I do believe that the two back up generators for the school and the hamlet are working but not the health centre, and they had an emergency last night.
Mr. Speaker, my supplementary is, it appears that a number of communities have been hit by a number of power failures in the past few months, including Kugluktuk and Iqaluit.
Can the minister indicate to me whether the QEC has enough capital dollars to undertake regular upgrades to our aging power plants across Nunavut?
Just very quickly on the Repulse issue, as the member has related, the backup generator that the health centre has in Repulse Bay has failed, and because of that, the Power Corporation, I understand, there are some issues with the patients and so on at the health centre because their own generator in the building has failed.
We’ve had to divert all the power available to that side of the community to keep the health centre going because of the patient effort, and because of that, there was a concern on the other side of town where we’re not able to put the feeder on.
We’re hoping to have that rectified in the next few hours, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, on the capital replacement costs and indeed, the capital budget of the Power Corporation is several million dollars and is being spent on a regular basis to purchase new generators for the power plants, upgrade lines and so on.
Again, when we look at the efficiency rate, it’s over 98 percent for power across Nunavut in 25 communities when you look at probably some of the worst climatic conditions that our Power Corporation has to operate under.
I think mostly what we’re seeing now, is some of the outages that we’ve talked about before, are caused by high winds when you have lines flapping. The issues in Repulse Bay go a little further than that. Indeed, their issues are with the generators themselves and with some of the malfunctions present.
We know that the construction of public housing units were delayed because of problems with the sealift.
Can the minister indicate to me whether the QEC has received all of its materials yet, or have these sealift problems also affected the corporation?
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Mapsalak. (interpretation) Minister of Energy, Minister Ed. Picco.
I’m not aware of any issues with our sealift this year in regard to making sure that the essential equipment, capital expenditures, and those products that are coming in on an annual basis have been delayed, or if there has been any type of logistic as well as administrative problem with our sealift.
So I don’t have any information telling me that.
A few years ago, the power plant in Sanikiluaq was completely destroyed by fire.
Can the minister indicate to me what contingency plans the QEC has for Repulse Bay and Kugaaruk?
The member is correct. There was a tragic fire in Sanikiluaq, and indeed, within 48 hours of that fire, we had emergency generators and service up and running to the community, and indeed, brought in a brand new power plant in the community on time and under budget.
In the case of any community, we have contingencies in place where we have, if there was a fire, if there was a catastrophic failure of a generator, or indeed, if there was a fire in a given plant and we weren’t able to use it, then we have resources available to us which, if it happened right now, in this time of year, for example, Mr. Speaker, we would probably have to Herc in generators and so on.
So those contingencies are in place not just for Kugaaruk and for Repulse Bay but it is in place for all of our communities in Nunavut. Unfortunately, we have had to exercise some of those options and make sure that those plants work.
A good example, as the member related, was the fire in Sanikiluaq.
Question 277 – 2(4): The Use and Mis-use of Medication (Peterson)
My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services.  Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was interested to note that my colleague, Mr. Curley, from the Kivalliq region was hearing similar concerns from his constituents about the use of Tylenol in our health centres.
I hear a few concerns from my constituents in the Kitikmeot, in Cambridge Bay in particular.
In fact, one of my constituents thinks the Department of Health is turning her into a drug addict with the use of prescriptions of Tylenol. I requested information on the use of Tylenol in our health centre in Cambridge Bay for the last four or five months and haven’t had any success getting that information.
My question for the minister: can the minister inform the House what processes are in place in our community health centres to monitor and track what medications are prescribed and how often?
Where we purchase the inventory for medication is the tracking that we have for the medications that we purchase for services and the use of those.
Whether they are monitored by each centre or by region, I would have to get that information for the member.
You first supplementary, Mr. Peterson.
I hope she can give me that information.
I sent a quite detailed letter to their office in Cambridge Bay and I heard it’s complicated information to obtain.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that Tylenol in its smaller forms can be purchased over the counter at many stores across Nunavut.
My question for the minister: can the minister update the House on what kind of information is available through our public health and wellness programs to inform and educate people on the use and misuse of drugs, such as Tylenol?
I would have to check to see that part of the Public Health Initiative with the department and what programs they have in place for promoting or educating the use of any medication and get back to the member.
I think I have touched on a sensitive issue with the Department of Health and Social Services when it comes to drugs and prescription drugs, the use and misuse.
I hope that she can gather that information for me and my colleagues on this side of the House.
Mr. Speaker, for Inuit in Nunavut, prescription medication is paid for through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program. A few years ago a national strategy was developed to monitor drug use in the NIHB system to evaluate drug misuse and abuse and develop programs to educate people on the dangers of misusing prescription drugs.
My question for the minister: can the minister clarify for the House whether Nunavut is involved in this national strategy, and if not, why not?
Under the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, there’s a list of medication that is approved for usage that is covered` by the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program and we are involved in the delivery agents of the Non-Insured Health Benefits to Nunavummiut.
At the same time, under our pharmacy program, I’m not sure of the exact title of it, but there are approved prescription medication in Canada that is added onto that list of drugs that we can purchase for Nunavummiut, and that’s updated on a regular basis as the Canadian agencies that review new prescription drugs in Canada approve those.
So we are involved in updating our resources.
We have in place as well, through the Pharmacy Division in the Department of Health, a contract arrangement to purchase bulk prescription medication throughout the Department of Health, as well as prescribing medication to various centres through our disposing centres in each of those three regions. So there is a system in place to deliver and purchase prescription medication.
At the delivery, and in terms of what information is shared with patients and so on, that’s something that I would have to get more information on and how those are monitored at the community level.
At the same time, it should also be noted Tylenol is an over the counter product. It’s not all distributed through the health centres in the communities. So I note that yes, we do provide it through Non-Insured Health Benefits, so it is a free medication for people that fall under that insurance program, but at the same time, that medication is also available over the counter.
I thank the minister for that detailed information. I realize that a lot of forms of Tylenol are available over the counter; Tylenol regular strength, Tylenol extra strength; but Tylenol with codeine, Tylenol 3, I don’t believe they’re available without a prescription. So it’s certainly something we should look into.
Mr. Speaker, the minister touched on another area of interest related to the area of prescription drugs. Often in the House when we speak of the rising cost of health care, we end up talking about the rising cost of medical travel. However, across Canada the rising costs of drugs and medication become a concern.
My question for the minister: can the minister update the House on whether the costs of prescription drugs for Nunavut residents are on the rise?
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Peterson. Minister of Health, Ms. Aglukkaq.
A year or so ago, it seems like a long time ago, but we had found a new arrangement to purchase our drugs for Nunavut.
In the signing of one agreement for the entire territory, there was huge cost avoidance for us in purchasing our prescription drugs for Nunavut through that arrangement. Since that time, whether there has been an increase in purchasing, I would have to get that information and report back to the member.
Question 278 – 2(4): Bills Based on Estimates (Curley)
My question is for the Minister responsible for NPC.  Mr. Speaker, NPC continues to bill a number of power consumers on a monthly basis by using estimates of power consumed instead of reading the power metre correctly before billing the consumer.
Why does the minister allow NPC to bill power consumption by estimate rather than by actual power use by simply reading the metre correctly?
It is a good question. I believe the member had asked me earlier this spring a similar question on metre reading.
At that time, and again at this time, I would suggest to the member that what the Power Corporation does on a regular basis, in some cases, is read the metres.
In some cases, Mr. Speaker, the person who reads the metre isn’t able to read the metre. There could be various numbers of reasons for that. For example, in some cases, they are not able to get to the house because of snow.
We’ve had cases in some houses where people have had dogs, for example, that have been tied up near the metres and the metre reader hasn’t been able to get to a unit.
In those cases where the metre is not being able to be read, the Power Corporation would then take an estimate of what the power usage would be based on historic norms for that unit or residential unit, or that metre, and then takes an average of that for the estimate for that monthly reading.
The following month, the metre would be read, and if it’s under or over the amount, then that change would appear on the person’s bill.
It is really for the benefit of the minister, not me, that I’m raising this question.
It appears and it’s pretty much a known fact that NPC in many communities cannot abide by billing guidelines on sunny, balmy, fairly decent weather by accurately reading and billing the consumer.
And therefore, the practice of using power estimates is used, even on very decent weather and so on.
So will the minister provide this House with other options that will ensure consumers are fairly treated and accurately billed for the power consumed instead of relying on power estimates as practiced by NPC?
Minister of Energy, Mr. Ed. Picco.
If the member has information on a particular bill that estimates have been used on a regular basis and so on, and that it was a bright, balmy, sunny day, as the member likes to say, then he should bring that information forward to me as the minister.
If there has been some type of miscalculation, misreading, non reading of a bill, then the member should bring that information to me personally and say, “Minister, here is the house number.
It is our understanding that it’s been estimated. It hasn’t been read,” then bring that information forward.
For this, if you’d rather stand up in the House and suggest that the Power Corporation is doing this on a regular basis to any number of customers, then I don’t think that’s appropriate, and I certainly don’t think it’s fair to the integrity of our Power Corporation employees who work very hard in the worst type of weather to ensure that we have reliable power.
Mr. Curley: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the minister seeking help, but I believe that NPC is well staffed; they’re fairly able to carry out their duties as required by law.
Mr. Speaker, I asked the minister whether or not he would consider other options by privatizing metre readings to private services so that consumers can be accurately billed during sunny, balmy weather and not have to use excuses for not correctly reading it. I’m just offering that question to the minister.
Could he consider that and maybe institute that policy quickly?
Any time we look at the issue of privatization, it means looking at the contracting out of services being done right now by our employees. And I don’t see any evidence or information on a widespread basis as relayed in the House that this is actually occurring. So no, I would not look at the opportunity to privatize the billing services.
That seems a little balmy to me.  What I would suggest, again, is if the member has the information where an individual, a resident, a residential house or unit, indeed, a business, has been estimated on a regular basis and not getting a fair bill, bring that information forward and I will have it reviewed.
I do not think the practice is widespread. There’s no information to me regarding this issue that tells me that this is a widespread occurrence. What I do know is that it does happen time to time as I explained when you have weather conditions, for example, when you have the inability of the metre reader be able to get to the metre, for whatever reason, it could be dogs and so on.
So that’s what I would suggest to the member.