EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
We started the fisheries and we didn’t even know that there were any fish or if the fishing was viable up here; and, because we didn’t get any support from the federal government we had to initiate our own studies to find out if fishing was viable up here.
We didn’t get any support from any departments.
Now they are talking with southern fishing companies and they are going to be allocating those quotas with southern companies so we are left out in the cold again.
This a viable business in Pangnirtung and we have been at it for a long time and we wanted to become a viable business and I am disappointed and ashamed of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for allocating those quotas to southern companies.
And, I will note that there also have been decreases in the quotas.
Now they are asking for our fish to compensate that.
I would like to ask the Members of the Legislative Assembly here to support me, to lobby the Minister, and to allocate those quotas to Nunavut companies including the community of Pangnirtung.
Member’s Statement 031 – 2(3): National Childcare Day (Tootoo)
I rise today in anticipation of tomorrow’s events in Iqaluit to mark National Child Care day, which is this week.
Mr. Speaker, children are our most precious treasures in our lives. Like every treasure we keep our children safe.
Starting at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon a parade will begin here at our Legislative Assembly parking lot and end up in the Cadet hall, although I don’t think they are going to cut through the parking lot.
Mr. Speaker there will be different activities for all participants.
The daycares in Iqaluit do their job with very few resources and I want to pay tribute to all the child care workers who take care of our kids.
What I would like is to express our appreciation to Rachel Clow of Pairivik Daycare centre and everyone else who has worked hard in organizing this event.
Mr. Speaker I know that Rachel is also an expectant mother as well - in the next few weeks.
She has a lot of practice. She has worked at the daycare for a number of years doing a great job and I wish her well in all of that.
Mr. Speaker, the members of this house are fully aware that the recently announced federal plan for early learning and childcare funding will not adequately meet the needs of the north.
Like a couple of my colleagues this morning, I want to offer my support to the Minister of Education on this file and I know that he is working with his counterparts in Yellowknife and Whitehorse in stick handling their negotiations with the Federal Minister, Ken Dryden, to drive to the net and score a goal for our kids.
Although I’m not sure if the minister is playing left wing or right wing, I am certain he thinks he’s playing centre. Mr. Speaker, much like old boxers who have taken too many punches to the head, in this case when the Federal Government and the Federal Minister are saying that Inuit aren’t Aboriginal. Me, I’m not sure.
It’s questionable whether they’ve taken too many or not enough pucks to the head.
Mr. Speaker, I would add that in this case, our minister is doing absolutely the right thing; he’s identified an issue where more needs to be done.
He’s not satisfied with federal excuses that tell us to be quiet and to be uncritical and to be content with what we’ve got.
I certainly wish that... At this time Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Knowing the next line, no, Mr. Picco didn’t write that for me.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, he’s identified issues and gone right to the point and not taken “no” for an answer and has not taken excuses.
I would certainly like to see him be much more consistent in this regard when it comes to issues here at home.
Mr. Speaker, every member of this House is committed to our children.
I ask all members to join me in acknowledging National Child Care Day.
Going back to Orders of the Day. Item 4.
Return to Oral Question 002 – 2(3): Literacy Programs and Initiatives (Picco)
Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not Mr. Tootoo. I’m a little taller and a little better looking.
Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an Oral Question asked by Mr. Tootoo on November 15, 2005.
Mr. Speaker, the literacy survey results, in response to the member’s question, I am pleased to provide the following information: the summary of the 2005-06 monies in the budget for literacy.
Mr. Speaker, we have in the budget $150,000 for GED testing. $5,000 of which is a contribution to the Literacy Council, $212,000 for the Literacy Coordinator, and $4,215,000, Mr. Speaker, for adult basic education programs and literacy.
Mr. Speaker, the total was $4.5 million for literacy across Nunavut and I want to add Mr. Speaker, the member had mentioned that the Yukon had put in the exorbitant amount of $1 million. I believe we’ve almost quadrupled that.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Returns to Oral Questions.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome a visitor to the Gallery.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman needs no introduction of course, but I did want to make one quick comment on the editor of Nunatsiaq News who has had long service in Nunavut, almost 30 years, maybe more than 30 years.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Mr. Jim Bell, the Pulitzer Prize Winner from Nunavut, for being here in the Gallery today.
I would like to recognize one of my constituents who is our Audio Visual Manager; Mr. George Metuq.
Question 022 – 2(3): Polar Bear Quota Study in Kivalliq (Curley)
I would like to direct my question to the Department of Environment.
First of all, there was an agreement between the Greenlandic hunters and trappers. It stated that in Greenland some family groups and their hunting areas have their quotas recognized.
I am very proud of those family groups. First of all, I would just like to say that in regard to the Davis Strait polar bears that the Nunavut Government indicated that they are not at risk. The number has increased.
I would like to ask the minister, I wonder if you can work the same way similarly in the Keewatin region with the different organizations, like the way you did in Qikiqtaaluk?
I wonder if this can be initiated in the Keewatin.
I am more than willing work with the region because we want to work with the regions equally.
We involve the communities. As you might remember in Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak we used Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit when we did a study around that area. The communities will be included more and we’ll convey this to the Canadian organizations that do the surveys.
We are more than willing to work with the residents of the Kivalliq in regard to polar bears. I personally believe that the population of polar bears is increasing and we will be working closely with those different organizations.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Mr. Minister.
My concern is the Canadian Wildlife Service. Just this past spring they said that there are only 1,000 in the western Hudson Bay polar bear population and that there was a decrease of 200 from ten years ago.
That is the statistic that was given through the Northern News Service and it is not accurate information. I wonder if using your authority that it can be amended.
I was told by an elder that about 30 years ago they didn’t have anything to shine their runners on their Qamutiks but they have all kinds of things now because this does not support the Inuit.
Yes, I will look at this closely.
I have not yet received the information from CWS and when I have it in front of me I will be able to review it with the affected communities.
We will be able to take a closer look at those figures because the Government of Nunavut is more than willing to do further work in regard to the polar bears.
And once we have that information we will take a closer look along with those affected communities in the near future.
Yes, that would be very well taken by the Kivalliq residents.
This article that was in the News North edition of June 22, 2005, Ian Sterling, and he said and I will read it in English:
(interpretation ends) “Increased sightings of bears in towns may just be hungry bears attracted to the smell of food and garbage and not an indication of great numbers.” Sterling said. Mr. Speaker, I think our elders are much more intelligent than that.
You need to advise the Canadian Wildlife Service, who is a respected agency providing information not only to Nunavut but to all world, that they do a proper job in respecting elders and the advice of elders.
So I urge you to get in touch with them and that they need not undermine the wisdom of our people.
Yes, it was very clear.
Whether, it was just recent or a long time ago, the communities, the people, had enough food.
I would be more than willing to take a look at this closer with the Member for Rankin North. I wish to thank him for giving his report in regard to polar bears.
My final supplementary in regard to the Davis Strait polar bears is that there was a press release that you put out last month.
It stated that there is a survey that will cost half a million dollars, which will involve HTOs and Nunavik.
Can you tell us when you think this will be completed?
The surveys that we do in Nunavut are three-year surveys.
The cost will be between $1.5 million to $2 million for three years.
Question 023 – 2(3): Criteria for Cancellation of Competitions (Tootoo)
My question today is to the Minister responsible for Human Resources.
Mr. Speaker over the last year I guess I have received, not only locally but right across the Territory, concerns from individuals that have applied for positions with the Government of Nunavut and turn around and find out those positions or those competitions have been cancelled.
I guess my question to the Minister is: are there criteria in place that the government follows when it decides for some reason or another to cancel a competition after it has been advertised?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister for Human Resources, Mr. Tapardjuk.
Yes, the job competition, the department, they take the job competitions, or they put job offers out and it’s up to the individual department whether they should go ahead, whether there have to be improvements made, or whether it has to be further reviewed so it can be cancelled.
If they find that there have to be improvements to the way it was written, and the other thing is that sometimes they don’t even know if there is funding allocated for that job competition, even though it is specified, they might not have any funding to open or to carry out that job for that particular position.
That could be one of the reasons that the job competition advertisements can be cancelled even though those positions might be available.
It states in Article 23, that if there were not enough beneficiaries that are applying for the job and sometimes, if there are beneficiaries that don’t have the qualification for that particular position, some of those can be reasons for cancelling the job competition.
We go by what the departments decide.
For example, if it’s health or social services and they wish to cancel the job competition, we try to find out what their reasons were to put a halt to it and if they wish to cancel then those departments have to make a requisition to the Deputy Minister of Human Resources whether it shall go through or not.
It’s good to hear that any of those requests have to go through the Deputy Minister of Human Resource for approval I guess, if that’s what the minister has indicated.
But it is disturbing to hear that departments put out job ads for positions that they don’t even know if they have funding. I know those job ads are not cheap to run.
I would hope that the Department of Human Resources is only advertising for positions that they know they can fill and are not just trying to fill space in newspapers, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I guess my next question to the minister is; since the department, or all of those cancellations as he had indicated have to go through the Department of Human Resources, do they have a record of all the positions that have been cancelled after they’ve been advertised?
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that information in front of me but I can give my colleague that information as to how many have been cancelled and how many per department.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can provide that information to him later.
I wonder if aside from providing a department-by-department breakdown of cancelled competitions whether the minister could also commit to include what those positions were and the reasons why they were cancelled?
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): Yes, it should be quite easy to get the information and I will be able to provide all that information of those competitions that were cancelled to my colleagues.
I will also be able to provide the reasons for those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The minister indicated that it should be quite easy to get that information.
I’m just wondering if he could give us an idea of when we can expect to see that.
Hon. Louis Tapardjuk (interpretation): I will be able to provide that information during this sitting. I can reassure him that I will be able to provide that information during this sitting.
Question 024 – 2(3): Update on GN’s Transportation Strategy (Barnabas)
I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation.
Earlier today, I talked about some of the issues facing constituents in the High Arctic.
Over the last few years, the Government of Nunavut has produced many strategies, documents, and studies on transportation and air services, and they are quite thick.
(interpretation ends) My question for the minister is: can he update the House today on the status of the Government of Nunavut’s transportation strategies?
The report that my colleague was holding on to, it was created quite a while ago and it’s a strategy for the whole transportation of Nunavut.
In that strategy, the Department of Transportation, I know, are making various transportation plans.
Some of those plans have been completed, and once they are completed, I will table them in the House because they have more detailed information.
Mr. Barnabas (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) What is his department doing to work with groups like the Affordable Food Alliance to make it easier for our communities to reduce the cost of shipping healthy food into our communities?
If we look at the plan for the government, they are trying to make it easier for communities to reduce the cost of shipping.
The airlines own the freighters. If for example, they can be shipped cheaper, it makes the groceries a lot lower or when the cost of fuel is lower.
Mr. Speaker, through the Government of Nunavut’s Income Support Program, we do look for ways to give more support; we look at the government’s overall plan.
Mr. Speaker, the benefit programs that we have in the Department of Transportation make it easier and they point of entry.
They set up the point of entry from down there.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Your second supplementary, Mr. Barnabas.
Mr. Barnabas (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How does his department work with our airlines and the Northern Air Transportation Association on the quality of service provided to our communities?
He is asking if I work with these airlines.
Yes, our officials work with these entities.
I attended their meeting, and observed their meeting, when they had their meeting over here, when I was first given this portfolio.
The officials from various entities do have a say. As I have stated I went to observe their meeting.
Our department is looking for ways to assist with lowering the cost of transportation or freight.
Question 025 – 2(3): Diabetes and Healthy Living Promotion (Evyagotailak)
I was talking to the Minister of Health and Social Services and this was raised by the member from Quttiktuq two days ago. (interpretation ends) Last month Arctic Cooperatives Limited wrote letters to MLAs on the issue of providing healthy, affordable food to our communities.
One of the issues that Arctic Cooperatives Limited raised is the increase in such serious health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.
My question to the minister is this: what is Health and Social Services doing to help fight diabetes and other lifestyle related diseases?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister for Health and Social Services, Ms. Aglukkaq.
The department is looking right now to develop a Public Health Strategy for Nunavut. The Public Health Strategy will address some areas related to nutrition, not only that but also in the area of healthy living.
One of the things that we have been talking about in the department, looking down the road, is that in order to address the issue of the rising costs associated with health care we have to put more energy and resources in the whole area of prevention.
One of the areas that we are concentrating on is the whole area of public education for youth; one example is Drop the Pop in the north.
We had a contest last year for the youth to educate youth about the harm associated with pop.
As it is right now there is work underway for nutrition programs and education in partnership with, not only the Department of Health, but also the communities and the Department of Education.
Healthy living and healthy communities are the responsibility of each and every one of us and not just the Department of Health.
The work is underway to partner with a number of agencies in the communities and in government to address the issue around healthy lifestyle and healthy eating.
Thank you, Ms. Minister.
Having access to affordable nutritious food is a health and wellness issue.
What can her department do to help make healthy food more available to the communities?
The Department of Health and Social Services is continuing to partner with INAC in relation to food mail.
But as it relates to actually putting the prices for food in the stores, we don’t do that, but what we do is try to promote food mail, and at the same time we have two pilot projects in Cambridge Bay and, I believe, in Kugaaruk on food mail products and education on healthy choices.
Mr. Evyagotailak: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister.
Has the minister raised this issue with her federal counterparts and if so what can Health Canada do to assist us up here in our territory?
We approached them not only in the areas of food but also the area of healthy living under the Public Health Strategy. We participated in developing a Canada-wide Public Health Strategy with the federal government and at the same time within the Nunavut territory we are looking at developing our own public health strategy for Nunavut.
It will cover not only the area of food but also the area of healthy choices of foods.
We continue to work with INAC related to food mail and I have mentioned earlier we have two pilot projects in Cambridge and Kugaaruk in the whole area of promoting healthy food.
So, yes we have been in contact with the federal government, with Health Canada and, INAC.
Question 026 – 2(3): Addressing Bullying in Schools (Peterson)
Earlier today I spoke about the destructive effects of bullying in our schools. We hear from our parents, concerned members of the community, and hear dramatic stories in the news.
We have not heard Nunavut-wide about this problem.
My question to the Minister is: can the minister tell the House if there has been a Nunavut wide assessment of bullying in our schools?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister for Education, Mr. Picco.
The issue is bullying not only in school but on buses and also in playgrounds and it has actually become a national issue and concern.
In the last meeting this fall, in September, where I met with the Council of Ministers of Education for Canada, the issue was raised not only how do we deal with it on a regional, provincial or territorial level, but at the national level.
Mr. Speaker, some work has been done with the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada.
Here in Nunavut we haven’t put in a coordinated effort on the subject itself, but Mr. Speaker we have been made aware of the issue not only as parents but as politicians and as people who are involved in the education system in general.
Can the minister clarify for the house the number of incidences of bullying across Nunavut that are reported on a consistent basis by the schools?
Very quickly, as the members know in the House, the school operations are centred in the community. They are community-based schools with a local District Education Authority.
Most reports of bullying are usually dealt with at the first level within the classroom and within the school and then usually forwarded to the District Education Authority.
So Mr. Speaker, that information is then passed onto the department, to the regional operations of the Department of Education. That is how the information is brought forward.
Mr. Speaker, it is usually dealt with at the local level at the community level with the local education authority and the school itself.
Mr. Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the minister.
Can the Minister clarify for this House what initiatives and resources are currently in place to assist teachers in schools and the district education authorities in addressing the problem of bullying?
As I said earlier, we’ve seen issues, and the issue of bullying across the country on national news stories where it’s gone beyond the usual name calling and so on to actual violence, and so on, such as hazing.
Mr. Speaker, we haven’t seen that type of bullying on any large degree or scale in Nunavut.
However, at the same time, we have recognized that there is an issue and we’ll be working with the local District Education Authorities at our local regional offices to deal with it.
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s very important as parents and as members, and myself as the Minister of Education, to make sure that children know that they do not need to be bullied at the classroom, on the bus, or in the playground. It affects their ability to succeed as students both academically and socially, not only in the classroom but in the community.
That is something that Mr. Speaker, I’m glad the member has raised because it is an issue that needs to be addressed at home, Mr. Speaker, in the community and in the school.
I thank the minister. I’m very encouraged by the minister’s comments that he recognizes that bullying is serious in Nunavut and in many of our schools.
I’ve had several parents come to me or call me up to ask for help in dealing with it.
I’ve assured them I would bring it up with the minister.
But I’m not quite clear. He says that it’s an issue that the District Education Authority looks after and I know the current Education Act puts the onus on individuals and District Education Authorities to establish codes of conduct. This one falls into it.
Can the minister tell me or clarify for me in the House whether any consideration has been given to providing territorial-wide support for District Education Authorities to address this territory-wide issue?
In the process of looking at students at risk, some District Education Authorities have actually brought forward some good programs. I don’t correlate the information on bullying as something as a student at risk, however I see students being at risk if there’s a habitual problem of bullying.
As I said earlier, at the local level, at the school level, teachers and principals try to deal with it. If they’re not able to deal with it within the classroom then they usually bring it forward to the local District Education Authority.
At the end of the day Mr. Speaker, it’s important to note that a lot of the bullying begins from issues that occur sometimes in the home.
In the past budget, not only did we increase the number of school positions, teachers and instructors, but we actually put counsellor positions, for example, in a lot of our schools.
So Mr. Speaker, the counsellors can actually do family visits at home and so on.
Mr. Speaker, most of the bullying that we have seen that has been reported in Nunavut, is at the K to six level. Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I just recently, in the last couple of days, have been given information on bullying that has occurred on buses.