EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
This was especially the case with Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. The price of fuel went over $100 per barrel after the hurricanes and severe weather, so it seems that the price increases started with those events.
In the past, we paid $29 to $60 a barrel, so I will look into this issue as per the member’s recommendation.
I am pleased to hear that from the minister. There definitely has to be an independent study done.
The federal government should be paying right up front and we should stop forcing the unemployed and consumers in Nunavut to pay these additional costs.
I thank you ahead of time if you would initiate that study.
When it comes to government institutions such as the schools, why are the consumers charged back?
You didn’t have to pay when the price was at its highest. Is it possible to take out the surcharge to ensure that the best price is made available to the consumers?
As well, when that is being reviewed, you should look at all options and see what can be cut, such as the operations and maintenance costs. In my opinion, the GN costs should be taken out of these figures.
Madam Minister, if you’re going to do a study, you should factor in all those costs that I just outlined, especially the cost of gasoline that we charge back to our consumers. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
As a government, the Petroleum Products Division and the Department of Finance are always looking at options and means to minimize the price of fuel and petroleum products.
However, Mr. Speaker, this government is coming to an end.
Possibly the third government will be better prepared to initiate studies and other cost saving measures.
I could talk to our officials and also other government departments to see what else we can do, especially with the terms of reference for this study.
The Petroleum Products Division and the Department of Finance have ongoing dialogue on these issues.
Question 659 – 2(4): The Need for Real Docking Facilities in Nunavut Communities (Arvaluk)
I had to clear my throat as I wasn’t speaking for quite some time.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation a question with regards to a Minister’s Statement that he made.
During his opening comments, in the second paragraph, he stated that eight communities would be receiving floating docks.
There are people who provide outfitting, people who go out fishing, as well as ordinary hunters that need this infrastructure.
I was ecstatic to hear the announcement made by the minister. However, the government should be considering permanent docks, not floating docks. I want to ask if this program is not designed to replace the communities’ needs for permanent docks.
Hon. Patterk Netser (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the member for the question.
This program is intended for those eight communities and the funding was allocated to our department.
I can state unequivocally that we have lobbied the federal government for a long time to fund these docks and I can reassure the member that this program is not intended to address the need for permanent docks.
First of all, I would like to ask you: is this my second or first supplementary question, Mr. Speaker?
Speaker (interpretation): I apologize, Mr. Arvaluk. That was the first time you asked me a question, Mr. Arvaluk.
This is indeed your first supplementary, Mr. Arvaluk.
I thank the minister as well for his response.
The issue, as I see it, pertaining to commercial fishermen is causing me some trepidation, primarily because the scenario we heard related to a floating dock.
If we are to get a floating dock in Pond Inlet, as soon as we get a major storm in the summer or fall, that floating dock would be spirited away.
I believe that those of you who have seen the community would completely understand this.
Due to the present state of affairs, is the government still discussing or negotiating with the federal government on the communities that were identified for the Small Craft Harbours Program?
To cite an example, down in our southern provinces, they have harbours stretching from the Atlantic to Vancouver. This applies both to marine and Great Lakes’ harbours and they have no shortage of harbours, but here in Nunavut, North of 60, our deficiencies in this area stand out since we don’t even have rudimentary docks.
Is the government still negotiating with their federal counterparts on our harbour infrastructure requirements?
This spring, the Senate Committee visited Nunavut to check into this matter by consulting Nunavummiut and our government and to ascertain our position with respect to the need for small craft harbours in some of our communities.
As we all know, Pangnirtung is getting an extension to their dock and I also presented the position of our government that Pangnirtung getting this harbour is not the last of our communities for which we are lobbying for inclusion into the program.
We still have six communities that were identified that require docks and harbours, and this project is only the beginning of the program.
Other communities were included in the list of seven communities and we will continue to advocate for the completion of this program by having the other small craft harbour projects completed. That is what I presented to the Senate Committee.
If that is the case, I appreciate your efforts to include the other communities in this program.
As the Premier also stated earlier, there was a protocol signed by the Nunavut government, NTI, and the federal government on an Economic Development Strategy.
When I heard that, I was wondering how we can benefit from future development stemming from the focus on Canadian sovereignty these days.
Is the government providing a list of issues to the federal election candidates or parties?
This issue may be impacted by the federal elections and campaign promises, so have you told them that they ought to be looking at our deficiencies in Nunavut and how these infrastructure projects can impact our future economic growth, whether it’s through commercial fisheries or small craft harbours?
With respect to the federal election candidates, including one of our former colleagues, I believe that they are listening to the proceedings, we are not just advocating for small craft harbours but for all of the items listed in this document.
All of Nunavut’s communities are lacking in infrastructure necessities, including replacement buildings.
If the candidates are listening, I would encourage all of them to highlight the gross deficiencies in basic infrastructure of our communities and to work towards meeting the very basic needs of our communities.
We would prefer that all the candidates voice the infrastructure deficit we are in here in Canada’s last frontier.
I understand that point now. I assume that the candidates for the three main parties who are running in this federal election have been apprised of our housing shortage, lack of basic infrastructure, lack of schools, shortage of nurses, and that part I understand.
With respect to the leadership of these main parties, are you also highlighting the challenges that we face here in Nunavut? We all know that Nunavut’s challenges will not be met through the militarization of the Arctic but through the proper presentation of the people’s needs, especially as it relates to economic development and our need to get basic infrastructure that our neighbours take for granted. My question is: are you also passing along these issues to the leaders of the main parties?
At this time, I will have the Premier respond to that question.
I will be working with my fellow government leaders in the North to voice the common concerns we share to the political party leaders and we will lobby the political parties running for election to include these concerns in their election platforms.
Question 660 – 2(4): What’s the No-Smoking Policy near Entrances on Public Buildings (Simailak)
One of the ministers rarely gets questions asked of his department, so I would like to ask him a question.
There’s a new Minister of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, the old WCB.
I would like to ask about a policy in effect for public buildings.
There are public buildings such as terminals that are occupied by a lot of people.
How is the no-smoking policy being implemented in the immediate vicinity of terminals? I would like to get an answer.
Honourable Levi Barnabas.
Hon. Levi Barnabas (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member for the question.
All government buildings have a law whereby you have to be three metres away from a building in order to smoke outside.
This applies to all of our government and public buildings.
If that’s indeed the case, how do you enforce it? How does your staff enforce that policy in the communities, especially when there’s no representatives from the WSCC? How does the WSCC enforce that law within a community?
In all of the communities, there are individuals who are responsible for government buildings. I will take that question as notice and get back to the member with respect to his community.
What if there are no individuals working for WSCC in the communities and the hamlet operates the terminal? What do the hamlets have to do? Are they collaborating with the fire and safety agencies?
I know that the hamlets that have the responsibility usually have a no-smoking by-law for public places. All hamlet buildings are also non-smoking places, especially in public places.
With that being the case, perhaps I would have to revisit this issue with all the hamlets and deal with how these by-laws are enforced.
As a government, we have already approved the policy and all public places have the three-metre zone where people cannot smoke.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Your final supplementary, Mr. Simailak.
It’s good to hear that they will be working with the municipal government in Baker Lake because it’s beginning to be hazardous when a lot of people are smoking immediately outside the terminal and you have to go in or out of the building.
Can the minister state to me if the no-smoking policy around public buildings can be aired on local radio stations or have written information for the public out there for that purpose?
We have to remind the public that these policies apply to public buildings and that this has to be enforced.
I will work with Minister Brown and her staff to ensure that we have information with respect to the no-smoking policy and precipitate more information with respect to this policy which has already been passed by the House.
We can also make a public radio ad about the no-smoking policy and air it on local radio stating that people should not be doing that.
Question 661 – 2(4): Justice Issues in Nunavut (Peterson)
Mr. Speaker, the issue of access to the justice system is a national concern. In my community of Cambridge Bay, this issue hits home every day when residents face difficulties in obtaining legal assistance because of a lack of resources in our legal aid system. This lack of resources is particularly apparent in the area of civil legal aid and family law.
Mr. Speaker, I’m aware that there’s a high burnout rate among lawyers. Government of Nunavut lawyers can earn up to $20,000 more and housing for legal aid lawyers is non-existent.
So it’s very difficult to attract qualified, competent lawyers and keep them. Continuity is very important at the community level.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Justice met in Quebec City to discuss legal aid among other issues. My question for the minister: can the minister update the House on his efforts to obtain increased federal resources for our legal aid system in Nunavut?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I want to thank my colleague for Cambridge Bay that this issue remains one of the top priorities for all justice ministers in the country.
Nunavut is not alone in lobbying the federal government for additional legal aid funding and we will continue to press our federal partners to return to the days where it was a cost-shared program, where at least half of the funding came from the federal government. Today, that’s not the case.
And I was very encouraged by my colleagues from all across this country in our efforts to try and get additional resources for much needed legal aid for not just criminal but also civil matters. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the minister’s answer and I support the minister and all the provincial ministers in their lobbying efforts with the federal government.
It really is a serious issue in Nunavut.
The government makes the laws and then people can be charged, but then they have to wait two to three years for justice to be decided on.
Mr. Speaker, an important component of a strong justice system is effective policing.
In June of this year, the minister and the Chief Superintendent of the RCMP’s ‘V’ Division were scheduled to sign a shared directional statement on policing services in Nunavut.
My question for the minister: can the minister indicate to the House what the contents of this statement are and will he commit to tabling the document in the House before the end of this week’s sitting?
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Yes, absolutely, I look forward to tabling the report and I believe I was planning to do that anyway. So I appreciate my colleague’s ongoing efforts in supporting, in particular special constables, which is in the shared directional statement.
I believe that we’re getting some movement on that from our federal partners and that hopefully we can move on this fairly quickly after the elections are done.
But the number one priority is to try and get Inuit officers working either in special constables or in regular forces for the RCMP.
So I look forward to more progress on this file in particular. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, at their recent meeting in Quebec City, the Ministers of Justice “strongly endorsed enhancing Aboriginal policing capacity to ensure adequate resources to address the unique needs of Northern and Aboriginal communities across Canada.” The minister touched on more Inuit RCMP officers.
I wonder if the minister could share with the House today what other specific enhancements he is hoping to achieve in this area.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) There were some wonderful happenings that took place over the summer.
There were at least over 20 young cadets at work with the RCMP in all the communities learning about policing firsthand so that they can learn firsthand about a career in policing.
So those things are happening, which will help us in recruiting additional Inuit officers throughout Nunavut.
And as I said, we’re working with the RCMP and making sure that the Special Constable Program is instituted once again so that it will allow for more community-based officers that know the communities and that can improve policing throughout Nunavut.
So those are the biggest sets of priorities that are coming forward soon. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Speaker: Thank you. Your final supplementary, Mr. Peterson.
I appreciate the minister’s answer and I look forward to further improvements in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, at the recent ministerial meeting in Quebec City, the ministers addressed the issue of organized crime. In Nunavut, the problem of drug trafficking in our communities seems to be getting worse.
Hardly a week goes by where we don’t hear or read in the media that there’s a huge drug bust somewhere with tens of thousands of dollars in street value of the drugs. It is getting really bad in some of the communities, at least from what we hear about.
I wonder if the minister can tell the House today what specific anti-drug initiatives his department is currently working on to combat drug trafficking in Nunavut.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) I must say that that news is very encouraging that policing is working, but I must say that it’s working where the communities are helping the police out. So the police can’t do their jobs by themselves, we need the support of all communities to make these laws enforceable throughout Nunavut. So I’m very encouraged with those communities that are helping out in policing of getting rid of drugs in particular throughout Nunavut.
I must say that I have been very encouraged by the RCMP’s proactive efforts in going to classrooms and teaching our students of the potential harm that these drugs can inflict on young people.
So I hope that we can continue on with additional efforts in preventing more drug use throughout Nunavut. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 662 – 2(4): How Does NNI Policy Apply to WSCC (Tootoo)
I, too, would like to direct my question to the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission.
Mr. Speaker, I asked a question to his predecessor knowing that the commission is a joint commission for both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut and given that a good chunk of their operations are here in Nunavut, when they would put out… especially now that they have changed their name, they’re going to have a new letterhead and all the new kinds of things like that out there.
I had asked at the time if the minister would look into the fact that for the Nunavut portion of any other promotional items, or any letterhead, or anything like that, that the NNI Policy would apply.
I’m just wondering if the minister can give us any update on that.
Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, Minister Levi Barnabas.
We were looking at people to appoint to the board that would be responsible for those issues. We called for some names from the members so that we can form a board.
We now have a board and our representative is John Vander Velde. There has been improvement to our representation since his appointment.
I appreciate the minister’s response. I know that we have a board member now, but my concern at the time was when his predecessor said that it’s something that they would bring up with his counterpart in the west. So I’m just wondering: has that issue been raised with his counterpart in the NWT?
Right now, as far as the way I look at it and my understanding of the situation is when they put out a tender for a letterhead, or calendars, or any type of promotional item, that firms from Nunavut really don’t have an opportunity to bid on it because they’re competing against firms from the south and they don’t have a requirement, the way they are right now, to follow the NNI Policy and look at northern and Inuit businesses first.
So I’m just wondering if the minister could commit to following that up with his counterpart in the NWT to try and ensure that businesses in Nunavut benefit from the operations of the commission here in Nunavut.
I had a meeting with the new minister who is our NWT counterpart and I told the minister that I wanted to resolve all of the issues related to Nunavut.
I will look into the member’s recommendation and I would like to ensure that we implement all of the measures that pertain to our territory so that we can make them work in Nunavut.
He indicated that he had a meeting with his counterpart.
Was that one specific issue that he said he raised with his colleague in the NWT as the previous minister had committed that he would?
Hon. Levi Barnabas (interpretation): Yes, I can table the information once I have it.
However, with respect to some of these matters, we are waiting for the Auditor General to complete her assessment on the documents.
We cannot control the actions of the Auditor General, but once she has completed her audit, I can bring this issue forward to the members.
Then is the minister indicating that that isn’t an issue that he raised specifically with his colleague in the NWT?
Hon. Levi Barnabas (interpretation): We dealt with a number of issues at that meeting.
One of these issues is indeed up in the air.
Perhaps I will look into it further and make sure that the member is informed in writing about my findings.
Question 663 – 2(4): New Marshalling Contract (Tootoo)
I would like to direct this question to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, as you will recall, about last year at this time, there was a lot of concern being raised over the Housing Trust’s resupply of materials that “missed the boat,” I think was the actual term that was in the newspaper.
Again, something that was discussed lots here in the House is that they had issued a new marshalling contract.
I’m just wondering if the minister can inform the House and the people across Nunavut that their housing materials did make the boat this year.
I’ve had the privilege of going down to Ottawa two times to meet with the Illamar Marshalling Company and I can tell the Members of this House and indeed across Nunavut that the marshalling for this year is on track.
I think everyone will be relieved to hear that as I know there were issues last year of materials that were supposed to go to one community ended up in another community.
I’m just wondering if the minister could indicate if that’s something that they have kept a close eye on this year and if he could again assure that those kinds of mistakes haven’t happened again.
My staff from the corporation have been, I think on a daily basis, contacting with the Illamar Marshalling Company and also, we have addressed the issues of last year’s marshalling fiasco.
I think a lot of people across Nunavut would be happy and relieved to hear that.
The minister said that the deadline and everything was being met, but can he confirm that, in fact, all the materials that were ordered for this year’s delivery were actually delivered and on the boat to wherever they were supposed to end up?
Illamar Marshalling began delivering the containers and crates to the carrier’s dock as of April this spring and I can say that we are on track and we have been monitoring this contract very closely, we don’t want a repeat of what happened a couple of years back.
I think we all know that the sealift resupply is not finished for this season, we have two ships out in the bay here right now and I’m sure there are still trips being made to other communities.
But can the minister give us an indication of when they anticipate being able to confirm that all those materials that were ordered and shipped actually made it to where they were supposed to?
We continue to be delivering the materials. As for the question, we have to wait until the end of the season as to what, if any, has missed the barges and we can certainly address them again if need be.
Please be aware that Question Period is now over.
I would like to return to Item 5 if it’s okay with my colleagues.
Speaker (interpretation): The member is seeking consent to return to Item 5, Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery.
Mr. Premier, you may proceed with your recognition.
I am taking this opportunity to recognize an individual from my executive colleague, whose constituency this individual resides in, so I would like to thank him first of all for allowing me to proceed with the recognition.
I would like to warmly extend my welcome to this person who used to be a special constable when I was growing up and who knew me from that time. Mr. Sandy Akavak was a special constable then, but he currently manages a young offenders’ outpost camp.
I wish to thank him profusely.
If there are no more, (interpretation ends) Item 7.
Committee Report on Bills 017 – 2(4): Bill 7, Inuit Language Protection Act (Mapsalak)
I wish to report that Bill 7, Inuit Language Protection Act, has been reviewed by the Standing Committee Ajauqtiit, and that the bill, as amended, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 68(6) and have Bill 7 immediately moved to Committee of the Whole.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. The member is asking to have Bill 7, as amended, referred immediately to Committee of the Whole.
Speaker (interpretation): The members clearly agreed, so Bill 7 can now immediately be moved into Committee of the Whole.