EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I believe the system will allow us to evaluate since February 2006, when we made the change, to see if there is a reduction in issues raised by people from the Baffin in the referral process.
I look forward to also providing that information to the member in terms of whether our statistics have gone down in complaints that we had received prior to February 2006.
The Member for Akulliq asked some questions in this regard, but I would like to make additions.
My constituents have indicated that elders and unilingual patients are still travelling without escorts, even when they fill out the appropriate escort request forms.
In the past, the minister has indicated that all elders are entitled to an escort.
What does the department’s Medical Travel Policy specifically say about escorts for elders?
I believe the original question related to travel coordination, and not the policy, but the two are interlinked.
The Client Travel Policy that I shared with the members that exists right now states as follows: “if the client is travelling outside of Nunavut and needs an escort to interpret if interpretation is not provided.”
That is a provision that is applied in dealing with our elders presently. Again, I will state that not every elder requires an escort.
Some elders are very capable of travelling and speak two languages and so on. So, just to change the piece of that policy to say every elder will have an escort, whether they need it medically or not, or do I say a unilingual elder that requires escort, or, a person that requires assistance travelling?
So all those the member has raised, I have to bring that back to the Financial Management Board because there has to be an analysis on the financial impact.
I said as a department we are experiencing a deficit again in medical travel, and for any change to that policy I have to get approval.
So that’s the line that is in the current policy, and if a patient requires an escort because of language issues and so on, they will be provided an escort.
That’s the current policy. But, we don’t have an automatic escort for age.
Age should not be the last piece we look at.
The patient’s condition should be the first and primary concern. So, those are things that we are challenged with, and we need to go back as a department to the Financial Management Board for a decision.
In the current travel policy, it states that if the individual requires an interpreter, they do need an escort.
We do know that interpreters work from 9:00 to 5:00, and that is the case in both Iqaluit and Ottawa.
If the elder doesn’t have an escort, and if they’re unilingual, even though they are physically able, what happens, for example, if there was a mechanical problem, or if they reached a southern destination at 11:00 in the night, after the staff have gone off for the evening?
My question is: what assurances can the minister provide to my constituents that escorts will be provided for elders and unilingual clients? What assurances can the minister provide?
The current policy is there. It’s been in place since 2002, and in that policy, again, it allows an escort for a person who is unilingual.
A person who arrives in any centre is picked up by the boarding home staff. It doesn’t matter what time the plane arrives. They are picked up and transported to the boarding home.
So that assistance is there, and I want to reassure people in the communities, the service is there for individuals that are travelling outside the territory. If the member has specific concerns from a specific constituent on an issue, I will be glad to follow up with those individuals as to what happened.
There is an appeal process in place. I’ve also attached a sample of that appeal form to my colleagues. If a person at the community level, before they travel, feels that they should have an escort, they can appeal immediately.
And those files are reviewed on a case-by-case basis on the conditions of each patient. So the process is there for an evaluation. If the member has constituents that are expressing concerns on their treatment, I would be glad to follow those up with my staff.
If the member has that information, please send it to me and I will forward it to my staff to review, and report back to the individual what transpired.
Question 027 – 2(4): Process for Overflow at Medical Boarding Homes (Tootoo)
My question too is for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, and it deals with the, I don’t know if it’s a growing unhealthy or frustrating time for people that have to leave and travel for medical travel.
I know that the department, through the contractors, has adequate facilities in the south to house patients and escorts when they have to leave for medical travel.
In a case, with, I would imagine all of them, even the one in Yellowknife, when they have an overflow problem, what kind of processes are in place when people travel down to a boarding home like Larga in Ottawa, and it’s full.
How do they ensure that adequate accommodations are in place in cases like that for people when they travel?
When there is no space in a boarding home, any of the boarding homes, we make arrangements to have the patients stay at hotels.
How does the department ensure that the hotels and the facilities that these people are going to adequately suit the individual needs of the client?
The boarding home services in Ottawa, as well as the hospital coordinate the booking of individuals into the hotels.
Suitability again, is based on patient-by-patient condition.
So those are worked out between the personnel in Ottawa, as well as the hospital here.
I recently corresponded to the minister in writing a case that was brought to my attention.
An escort was down with their unilingual elder mother who was in a walker.
A reservation had been placed at a hotel room with two beds in it on the first floor with the client but next day they were informed that they had to move to the second floor of the hotel.
The daughter had indicated that she had some concerns that if her mother was in a walker and can’t get down the stairs in case there’s a fire, or for health and safety reasons that that wasn’t suitable.
And, on top of that, the two of them were moved to a room with only one bed.
So I would like to ask the minister: would she consider that as a suitable accommodation in that particular instance?
I’m not sure why the hotel would move them from one room to the other room.
That’s something that I would have to look into and deal with.
From what he’s saying it would appear not to be, but again, why the hotel moved them, I would have to look into it.
I’ll be tabling an article from the paper today that outlines the particular instance that I’m talking about.
In a case where it isn’t a suitable accommodation, one could imagine the frustration of the daughter or anybody, any of the escorts, or even the elders themselves that cannot communicate their concerns, ‘This isn’t right for us.’ and being upset about it.
In cases like that, what happens?
In this particular case, the individual was told that they were abusive and they were sent home.
So as of now, you still have that unilingual elder down there without an escort when an escort was supposed to be there and with her at all times.
The only reason they were sent home was because they were complaining about the fact that the upstairs room with one bed for her and her mother was not suitable.
The boarding home said she broke the rules and she was abusive and that’s why they were sending her home.
Will the minister commit to looking into that? I would say that’s an extenuating circumstance and that should not have happened. So can the minister commit to looking into that particular incident and reporting back as quickly as possible to the Members of this House so that incidents like this do not happen again?
I had asked my staff to look into that particular situation around that patient.
I understand my staff has spoken to the escort directly to discuss the file.
At the same time my staff have also spoken to the managers of the boarding home in Ottawa. We have a situation in Ottawa in trying to provide our care that the boarding home is very crowded.
It’s a 54-bed facility and on average we have 90 patients in Ottawa on a daily basis. So it’s a challenging job for the staff in Ottawa.
I understand they had dealt with that particular situation with the escort.
I’m concerned about tabling a report in the House that will unveil the patients.
My approach to this would be to have the staff deal directly with the individual patients and escorts to protect the confidentiality of our patients.
What I can do is report whether all corrective measures were taken.
There are two sides to every story then I have to also seek that before I can release anything here.
Question 028 – 2(4): Consultations with Yellowknife Weather Station (Peterson)
My question is for the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation. Yesterday, I mentioned in my Member’s Statement that the Yellowknife weather station is closing.
It hasn’t closed, it has actually been transferred to North Bay, Ontario, and it’s affecting the flying safety for aviators and residents flying in my region, and it includes aviators flying medevacs and mining charters flying into Yellowknife.
My question for the minister: can the minister tell us if the Government of Nunavut was ever consulted by NavCanada on the closure of the Yellowknife weather station and the transfer in operations to North Bay, Ontario, 3,000 km away from Cambridge Bay?
Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Minister Simailak.
Hon. David Simailak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) I don’t have anything in place in my books about what happens in that case.
We have a letter from the member and I also have a copy of a letter to NavCanada from the member.
I was not satisfied with what they did to move the station to North Bay, Ontario.
I also talked to my staff to talk to the minister responsible from the federal government. That’s how we’re dealing with it today.
I thank the minister for the answer. It’s difficult to understand why NavCanada didn’t consult with the Department of Transportation for Nunavut; the one dealing with flying in our part of the world.
As we all know air travel is the lifeline for all Nunavut communities and air safety is paramount to all Nunavummiut.
My question for the minister: could the minister explain to me what role his department plays in communicating, on a regular basis, with NavCanada, that their decisions to close northern weather stations and their budget cuts endanger everyone flying in the north.
Hon. David Simailak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation) My staff spoke with the Minister for the Department of Transportation in Ottawa.
The Northern Air Transport Association has told us that they will be having an annual meeting in Yellowknife and they will be responding to the problem that the member is asking about.
So if it’s possible, we will have one of our staff attend that conference or meeting in Yellowknife because we would like to be able to rectify the problem that the member is talking about.
I wrote a letter to the President of NavCanada urging him to reopen the weather station and I’m still waiting for a response to that letter. I’m also aware that the NWT Minister of Transportation wrote a letter to NavCanada last summer, and I don’t believe he’s received a response to his letter either; at least I’m not aware that a reply have been received.
So maybe we can benefit if we lobby them jointly, the two territories, to get that weather station reopened.
My question for the minister: can the minister describe what correspondence the department is providing to their NWT counterparts to lobby NavCanada to reopen the Yellowknife weather station?
We will talk with the Minister of NWT and I will try to get his support to talk, to lobby with the federal government Department of Transportation and we will look into that to see if we can rectify the problem.
I thank the minister again for that information.
I’m glad to hear that there may be a meeting in Yellowknife and that the minister is sending an official from his department to attend and communicate our concern.
I’m wondering, can the minister commit to me that he will write a letter, a strong letter to the president of NavCanada, similar to the letter I wrote, and the Minister of Transportation of NWT wrote and urge him to reopen the Yellowknife weather station to improve the flying safety for Kitikmeot aviators whenever flying into the Yellowknife area.
I had said that the Northern Air Transport Association is having their annual meeting in Yellowknife in April 2007 and that they will be formulating an action plan regarding this issue.
I have said that I would be asking my officials to see if they can attend that annual meeting, and I had also provided in my first answer that I have already asked my officials to draft up a letter to both the President of NavCanada, and to my colleague the federal Minister of Transport, a strong letter as he is suggesting and that’s already in the works.
Question 029 – 2(4): Environmental Clean Up of Old Clyde River Site (Arreak)
My question today is for the Minister of Environment.
I could ask him, but I have to go through the procedures in the House.
Earlier this week I tabled a letter I received from the minister about the old Clyde River site in my constituency, as well as some photographs that I took last summer of the site.
These photographs reveal the current state of the old Clyde River site and it clearly shows that action is needed to clean up the site.
I recognize that the minister is working with Indian and Northern Affairs and the Department of Community and Government Services on this file.
I would like to ask him, for the public record, if the minister is satisfied with the progress to date for the clean up of the old Clyde River site.
I could also respond to the member not by standing but by just talking to him.
I am pleased to tell the members that as the Department of Environment we just let the people know that the CGS Department would be a more appropriate department to ask that question.
What is the minister doing to ensure that the old Clyde River site is listed in the federal inventory of contaminated sites?
Like I said, my department does not initiate any clean up of any site. We just look to see which sites should be cleaned up, but after we make the list, CGS is responsible for the clean up of sites. Ms. Brown’s department is one that does the clean up work.
Has the minister had any feedback from the federal government to his suggestion about cleaning up the old Clyde River site at the same time as the Cape Christian site?
I understand Community and Government Services have met with INAC on March 7, for the possibility of partnering on the cleaning up of the old Clyde River site.
Question 030 – 2(4): Boarding Home Contracts (Tootoo)
Again, my question is for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Before I get to my question, I just want to remind the minister that she had earlier committed to providing some numbers on the medical travel and between escorts and that to the committee members as she had indicated to my colleague.
I remind her that her commitment was to provide that to the standing committee prior to the session commencing. And, we’re still waiting for that.
Mr. Speaker, my question to the minister is: in its contract with the boarding home, I would assume that transportation from wherever the patients are at, whether it be a hotel, whether from the airport to the boarding home, or to the hospital, are included in the services that are provided.
Is the minister aware of what the obligations are under the contract for the service provider to provide transportation to the hospital, or whether it be the patients or escorts?
I thank the member for the reminder. We are working on that data. It’s just taking a bit of time to consolidate and separate the 26,000 files that we process on an annual basis in that.
I hope to have that information to the members as soon as it is available.
With the boarding home contract, all of the boarding home contracts, we also have a working relationship with what you call OSNI, or the Northern Medical Unit of Winnipeg, or Alberta hospital, where there is coordination of appointments with the boarding home patients.
When patients arrive, they are picked up and transported to the facility. At the same time, arrangements are made for them for their appointment.
Are there any provisions in the contract, or is the minister aware of what the provisions are for an escort to be taken to the hospital to see the person that they are down there escorting? If the person that they are escorting is in the hospital, what provisions are in place to ensure the escort has transportation to the hospital from the boarding home?
I know there are provisions in place to provide transportation to the patients, but I would have to look and ask the staff what services are provided for escorts.
If she’s asking her staff to look into it, would she specifically ask if part of the provisions would indicate that the service provider wouldn’t take an escort to the hospital because there was only one person; they wanted to wait to get more people to be able to go.
Would she be willing to look at that, or is she aware of whether that would be the case or not?
I will find out what transportation services are provided to escorts. I think the second piece of the question is more specific to an individual and that if he can give me that individual’s name, I will follow up on that particular case.
At the same time, overall, what our policy is, what their commitment is in terms of providing service to patients, I can look into that.
I believe the minister is already aware of the individual in question; it’s one that I have corresponded with her on.
As for the same incident that happened at the hotel where the escort and the mother felt that it wasn’t an appropriate accommodation, it’s the same thing that the escort was told by the driver at the facility that they wouldn’t take that person to the hospital because there was just only one person.
I think, in this circumstance, there’s a frustration felt by the escorts and the patients of their needs not being looked after.
And when they expressed that frustration, it’s just like the minister said, there are two sides to every story; we need to listen to both sides.
The frustration that the escort felt of not being able to be taken to the hospital to see her mother when she wanted to go, or when she was needed to go, and she was told she had to wait until they had more people to go.
That’s what I’m asking: will the minister look into that particular case?
And in general, are there provisions that say, ‘We’re only going to go if we get three people or we’re not going to go.’ What if there’s only one person there?
Does that mean they can’t go until they get more people come in? It just doesn’t seem to make sense.
So I would like to ask the minister if she’s aware of one, if that’s the case; and two, to look into it specifically on the matter.
And I thank the member for clarifying whether that was the same person we were talking about or not. I will look into that.
Replies to Opening Address. Item 10. (interpretation ends) Replies to Budget Address. (interpretation) Item 11.
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to provide a copy of a petition I received from people in Gjoa Haven concerning the urgent need to provide a call display service for the community.
A significant number of my constituents took the time to sign this petition and I urge the company to act on this matter.
The petition, I’m going to have to return it, and then you’ll be able to bring it under Tabling of Documents.
The petitions have to be directed to the government.
Item 12. (interpretation ends) Reports of Standing and Special Committees.
(interpretation) Item 13.
Tabled Document 021 – 2(4): Policing in Nunavut & Policing in the Territories (2 documents) (Okalik)
I am pleased to table the following document: Policing in Nunavut, Report on the Public Consultation Process, March 2006, and Policing in the Territories, Report on the Public Consultation Process, March 2006.
Can you bring the tabled document to the Clerk’s table, please.
Tabled Document 022 – 2(4): Nunatsiaq News Article “Medical Travel a Stressful Time for All” March 9, 2007 (Tootoo)
I’d like to table an article that is in today’s Nunatsiaq News, and it is written by none other than the lady sitting over there in the corner, Jane George. The title of the article is: Medical Travel, A Stressful Time for All. And the first paragraph reads: “A recent incident in Ottawa revealed the unbearable stresses that Nunavut’s patient travel system imposes on everyone involved.”
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Tootoo. Could the member provide the tabled document to the Clerk’s table, please.
Tabled Document 023 – 2(4): Petition to NorthwesTel for Call Display from Residents of Gjoa Haven (Aglukkaq)
I wish to table the copy of the petition to NorthwesTel concerning the urgent need to provide a call display service in the community, and a significant number of my constituents took the time to sign this petition, and I urge the company to act on it. I believe there are about 200 signatures.
We’ll see if it’s a tabled document.
Item 15. (interpretation ends) Notices of Motions. (interpretation) Item 16.
Notices of Motions for First Reading of Bills. (interpretation ends) Minister Simailak.
Bill 02 – Supplementary Appropriation (Capital) Act #3, 2006-07 – Notice
I give notice that on Monday, March 12, 2007 that Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation (Capital) Act #3, 2006-07, be read for the first time.
Item 16. (interpretation ends) Notices of Motions for First Reading of Bills.
Bill 03 – Supplementary Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act #3, 2006-07 – Notice
I give notice that on Monday, March 12, 2007 that Bill 3, Supplementary Appropriation (Operations and Maintenance) Act #3, 2006-07, be read for the first time.
We’ll deal with this with Mr. Arreak in the Chair and we’ll have a lunch break at 12:00.
>>House recessed at 11:30 and Committee resumed at 11:31
Chairman (Mr. Arreak)(interpretation): I call the committee meeting to order. (interpretation ends) In Committee of the Whole we have the following item to deal with: Bill 1.
We wish to proceed with the review of the main estimates for the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, followed by the Department of Community and Government Services.
Are we in agreement we first deal with the main estimates of Executive?
Bill 01 – Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2007-08 – Consideration in Committee – Executive & Intergovernmental Affairs
Chairman: I would like to ask Premier Okalik to make his opening remarks. Mr. Premier.
I am pleased to present an overview of the department and its 2007-08 Operation and Maintenance Budget. This budget is designed to assist the government in meeting the priorities of Pinasuaqtavut.
EIA Mission, Role. The Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs provides advice and administrative support to the cabinet, plays a lead role in interdepartmental coordination, and coordinates intergovernmental affairs with a focus on developing Nunavut Government positions on national, territorial, circumpolar, and aboriginal issues and works to ensure that the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is implemented.
EIA is also responsible for communicating accomplishments, objectives, and policies of the government, both within the government and to Nunavummiut.
Our mandate for the second term is ambitious and EIA will work with the departments to meet the priorities that we set in Pinasuaqtavut.
I am proud of our territory’s accomplishments to date, and by working together we can carry out what remains to be done during our term to meet our goals.
For EIA budget, the total budget for the department in 2007-08 is $11,306,000.
This is the same amount as approved for 2006-07.
The Executive Branch is responsible for Corporate Services, Statistics, Communications, Policy, Planning and Evaluation, and provides support to Cabinet and ministers’ offices and the Utility Rates Review Council.