EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
My question is for the Minister of Community Government and Transportation.
As you are aware, although Resolute Bay is a small community, when there was Arctic Winter Games, at least one of our athletes from Resolute Bay won a gold medal.
The design for 2007/2008 for our community arena, could we possibly move it forward?
Minister for Community Government and Transportation and Sport Nunavut.
The Member for high arctic has been working really hard for the needs of her community.
I will look into possibly moving it into an earlier date.
I have asked my staff to work with their hamlet and they will be going to the community shortly to talk with the municipality concerning the arena that has been proposed to be built in the near future.
I think the residents of Resolute Bay are very grateful for that because they thought the community was too small to receive an arena but now that they will be receiving an arena we thank you.
Question 372 – 1(6): Construction of Docking Facilities Update
Last year construction was to begin on the docking facilities, because of the Fisheries and Oceans study that’s happening there.
I would just like to ask the Minister, what is the status of that today and has the study been done from Fisheries and Oceans?
Where do you stand today on the construction of the docking facilities in Kugluktuk?
Minister responsible for Community Government and Transportation.
The study has been done.
Public Works will be going out for invitational tender for the construction of the breakwater.
The construction contract will be awarded in March, this month.
It has been very positive, it was DFO that delayed it for a year but we’ve been progressing very well and so it’s happening now.
Mr. Havioyak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for your response Minister.
It would be great if we could see a copy of the studies of the DFO.
I don’t know who has the test results on that and I think it would be great for me anyways to see the results of that study from the DFO.
The report from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans study, it’s up to them whether they want to publicize it or not.
But, Mr. Speaker, all I can say is that the study that was done last year has been concluded and we had to postpone that project for a year.
So we will be constructing the dock this year and I don’t think we really need to have a report handed out to you because it’s the responsibility of DFO.
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Akulliq. Mr. Alakannuark.
Question 373 – 1(6): Plans to Use Elders as Counsellors
My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services; we have social workers based in communities to work in the field of helping Inuit but our elders have a lot of experience in social issues as well and maybe our elders can be used in the area of social work to help eradicate suicide in Nunavut.
Do you have any plans to use our elders in helping the social workers in the communities?
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the Member.
Part of the Mental Health Strategy that was tabled in the House was able to use outside resources and to look at the opportunities to integrate work by elders into counselling sessions in those training sessions.
That’s something that the department is doing, is using elders.
This month, Mr. Speaker, we’ll be using a unilingual couple from Pangnirtung.
Meeka and Abraham Arnakak will be delivering programs and sessions on healing and so on through a productive plenary session in regards to counselling and so on.
The hope would be, Mr. Speaker, to get them to other communities, like some of the work that they’ve already done under healing with some of the inmates in Fenbrook, a fantastic program that they were running down there before Christmas.
That’s just an example, Mr. Speaker, of using elders and using unilingual people to be able to do some of the counselling services as outlined in the Mental Health Strategy.
Your comments are very clear and as I mentioned earlier, mental health specialists and workers really do help people.
The way I see it, I think the mental health workers have a barrier in trying to counsel Inuit but on the other hand, the elders know how the person is feeling in their traditional way.
They have a feel about what the person is going through and since the elders are mostly volunteers most of the time, do you have any plans to at least pay them a little bit if they’re going to be working with mental health officers.
Mr. Speaker, when the department, through government policy, hires people Mr. Speaker, when they’re hired officially, they are receiving remuneration for that work.
If the department contracts the elder, for example Mr. Speaker, to do specific work on behalf or for the department, then those people would also be paid.
I think that’s a very important point to be made.
Several new things have occurred, for example even with youth.
We have advertised and we’re in the process of staffing five new youth outreach positions or outreach workers across Nunavut again to work in cooperation and conjunction with some of the elders’ work that is going on.
So if the department has hired an elder, Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct, they will be paid.
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Iqaluit Centre.
Question 374 – 1(6): Formal Policy in Closing Down Government Offices
Mr. Speaker, as we all know, our sitting was cancelled yesterday and I took the unexpected opportunity to go and do something I usually have to rush around and do on Saturday mornings and that’s shopping.
While I was in the stores, Mr. Speaker, which were open, there were a number of people who asked me how come the government was shut down.
I’d like to ask the Minister, so that I can clarify for those people when they do ask me, what is the governments’ formal policy for shutting down offices in the communities?
Minister of Human Resources.
The question you have raised has been asked to me for a number of times.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that when the government has to close their offices, I have given my Deputy Minister the authority to close the government offices if they need to.
We have to keep in mind, safety matters, for example, we have to make sure the roads are safe to close down the daycares or other places where there’s a safety issue.
Mr. Speaker, is that a formal written policy of the government that it has on those closures?
As I have said earlier, just in case I missed a thing or two, I will provide information, written information on what factors are considered when closing offices to all the Members so that all the Members will have that information.
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to getting that information so that I can answer people when they ask me why.
But, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister in that written information, also include specific criteria that’s used in determining whether a complete shut-down is warranted?
Also, if he could include in there, as to who has the final authority in shutting down the offices for the day?
Yes, I will provide detailed information including the reasons and criteria for closures of the office.
As I have stated earlier on, I have left this responsibility to the Deputy Minister and she has that responsibility of closing the Government Offices.
I will provide them, in written form, to all of Members.
Do you have a Supplementary question?
Oral Questions. Member for Qamanittuaq.
Question 375 – 1(6): Update on Shipping Dry Cargo to the Kivalliq
By the way, Mr. Speaker, you look dapper up there and good, if you could look every time I ask a question.
You are doing a good job and keep it up.
Mr. Speaker, over the last six or seven months, there has been a tremendous amount of controversy in the Kivalliq Region regarding shipping and transportation in regards to NTCL and dry cargo.
Mr. Speaker, the sealift season is coming along with spring.
I have been answering a lot of phone calls from concerned constituents in my community and I am sure other MLA’s in the Kivalliq have been getting the same phone calls.
We have been dealing with Manitoba and Winnipeg for over thirty years and a lot of the suppliers and shippers that we have been dealing with.
Now, all of a sudden, NTCL pulls out of the Kivalliq.
So, all of these people in the Kivalliq that do not know how to deal with Montreal, can the Minister update me on how we are going to get our dry cargo into the Kivalliq now that the NTCL has pulled out?
Today, we are working on this issue of contracts and we will be releasing a press release, perhaps on Monday.
So, rather than talking about this before the press release, I will provide information to the Members on the issue of the contract.
And in regards to your question about NTCL, I apologize that the company had to pull out, because they also did it for the contract.
I just want the Member to know about that.
I know, thank you, Minister.
I know it was a good question because we have got hundreds of Kivalliq residents wondering how they are going to get their Sealift, if they should start ordering stuff out of Winnipeg, because I order supplies from Winnipeg.
And, I can say myself that I do a sealift every year and I do not know how I am going to order stuff out of Montreal because I do not know any suppliers.
Like, the business community over there, private people are going to be in a real predicament if they do not find out how they are going to get their goods from the South.
Like somebody casually said to me, well, we know how we are going to get our fuel this year, but what about our groceries and supplies then?
So, can the Minister commit to me that he will know by Monday, how we are going to get our stuff into the Kivalliq?
As I stated before that your request, in regards to your request, I will speak with you and inform you first before I publicly make a Minister Statement on this issue.
Speaker (interpretation): He will provide a Minister Statement and then, he will provide Minister's Statement before he speaks to you.
Question 376 – 1(6): Study on the Academic Students and School Dropouts
I’m glad that you called my name again because I do have another question for the Minister for Education.
Although I had asked this question in regards to the high drop-outs of students in Nunavut, I was wondering if they can do a study within the school of the academic students and the lower competent students to verify for sure which students are dropping out.
I hope my second question is clearer.
Minister responsible for Education. Minister Kilabuk.
Yes, I do understand your question.
I don’t want to receive that information or tomorrow because this process will take a quite a while because we have to look at various things.
We have to look at the academic students and the students that are far behind and the younger ones.
If the younger students have problems, the older students who drop out are not going to have an effect on the lower, younger grade students.
We all know that the younger students don’t usually drop out.
It’s the older students that usually drop out of school.
Those are the ones that we will have to focus on if we will be doing a study on the number of dropouts.
Mr. Speaker, we need goals and objectives.
I know that the students who have dropped out have given their reasons to the teachers.
This process will be a slow process and that’s what I’m trying to explain to the Member.
Thank you, very much for your good response.
Although the process will take a long time and will be slow, there’s a requirement now.
We need it now because of the status of the students with the high number of students who have dropped out.
I’m not trying to tell you that this be a priority, but I do want you to act on it because we need a plan to help and develop and keep the students in school.
I’m very glad that the Minister understood my question.
So, therefore even the process will take a long time, I was wondering if the Minister is committed to doing this.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Mr. Kilabuk.
Yes, I understand your question.
First it’s evident that we’ll have to resolve what we’re going to be reviewing, along with the high number of dropouts.
Also, that study will accumulate and correct the number of students who have dropped out and the reasons why they have dropped out of school.
I will speak with my officials and also the District Education Authorities in regards to this issue on how we can best proceed with this so that the Members of the Legislative Assembly can be involved and I’m sure that they want to participate during the process.
Question 377 – 1(6): Automatic Investigation When a Child Dies
It’s a difficult question for me to ask, but I have to.
Mr. Speaker, over the course of being a politician in Nunavut and serious issues arising in your community, in the health field, and you don’t know when to ask a question sometimes because sometimes it is a very delicate nature.
As we know, everything in Nunavut, our statistics, when it comes to bad statistics, we have the highest of everything.
On the good side, we do not have any very good statistics.
My question is for the Minister.
When a child passes away in a community, is there an automatic investigation?
The Minister responsible for Health and Social Services in Nunavut. Minister Picco.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I appreciate the question from the Member.
He is correct; sometimes there are difficult issues to be discussed.
I can tell you that under Health and Social Services, indeed that is the case on many occasions.
I also note that the Member said this question today, and that he has already asked the question before.
Maybe the phraseology at the beginning, we want to change that.
Mr. Speaker, depending on what the occurrence is with the sudden death of an infant or a child, Mr. Speaker, the circumstances surrounding it are different for each individual case. For example, if the situation was a case of SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, SIDS.
When a young child, a newborn for whatever reason seems to have expired without cause or incidence, for those cases those are investigated to find out what the cause is.
The investigation could include, for example Mr. Speaker, an autopsy.
Again it depends on the situation at hand.
Mr. Speaker, not a lot of us are doctors in the communities, or healthcare professionals.
The average person on the street does not understand the medical terminology.
We do not understand why people die when they are very young.
There could be different reasons for it.
He explained that there could be some obvious reasons, but a lot of us are not well aware of why young people die when it is very quick.
We sometimes get an explanation that we do not understand. I, for one, am one of those people.
There is a hesitancy of saying, well it is life, and it happens, and this is the reason it happens.
Sometimes some of them can be prevented.
What does it get down to when we ask, and I am getting to my second question, when do we have a right to ask, because of our limited knowledge, and I am saying myself and people in our communities, if it is acceptable or not, why this person passed away?
Can I go to the Minister and ask him to have an investigation if one of our young people in our communities had died?
And would he give me the answer?
Mr. Speaker, it is a very difficult question to answer because of the component parts that the Member has brought into it.
For example, Mr. Speaker, if a person dies very suddenly, there is a clinical review that is done to ascertain, to make sure, for example, that there were no contusions to the body, that the child might not have been physically abused, for example.
So there would be a clinical review of the body.
After that has taken place, after the clinical review, there may be suggestions that maybe there was foul play.
Maybe further investigation would be warranted, which would include an autopsy.
The specific request by a Member to me to review a death would depend on the circumstances surrounding that death.
For example, Mr. Speaker, is it not for me as Minister to know the health concerns, or the Member to know the health concerns of a second party.
It is very difficult to be able to communicate confidential information on what occurred in this case.
For example, Mr. Speaker, when someone dies, when a child dies very suddenly, it may the result of a medical condition called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A group of different issue are put together that causes the death.
However Mr. Speaker, in all cases, a clinical review is done and from that clinical review, there may be judicial proceedings.
It may be a legal matter.
Or indeed, Mr. Speaker, in some cases you may have to go to a full autopsy.
But the officials do that and as the Members know, I’m a politician; I’m not a medical professional, like the Members, and when a person dies, then professionals do that review.
Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, if there is a question on that and if someone has not been assured of why someone has died, or there is an misunderstanding around the situation, then Mr. Speaker, bring in that information to the Member, or as a constituent or bring it to me as Minister of Health, then that’s something we would be able to look at.
At this point, we’ll take a 45-minute break for lunch.
>>House recessed for lunch at 11.43 a.m. resumed at 12.34 p.m.
Speaker (interpretation): Welcome back.
Motion 017 – 1(6): Removal of Minister from the Executive Council
Mr. Speaker, whereas the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council Act provides that the Members of the Executive Council hold Office at the pleasure of the Legislative Assembly.
Now therefore I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Kugluktuk, that the Honourable Jack Anawak be removed as Member of the Executive Council.
To the motion. To the Motion.
Before you start on the Motion, I have an announcement on the proceedings we will follow.
All the Members can speak to the Motion once.
For a total of 20 minutes each.
The mover and the seconder will speak to the Motion first.
The Mover will have a chance to have final comments to the Motion.
Mr. Speaker, this is not a motion that I make or take lightly.
This is not a direction I would have preferred to go.
However, I believe we have not been left with any other choice.
I believe that there has been a consistent effort by this Minister to work in direct contradiction to the Mandate and responsibilities that I feel, we as Members of the Legislative Assembly, have given him as a Member of the Executive Council.
Fundamentally, Nunavummiut expect their Government to work in the best interest of all residents.
Ordinary citizens must trust this is what happens when decisions are made and carried out by Cabinet.
Not horse trading or a barter system, but a serious examination of the issues and consensus decisions to move forward in a given direction based on a mandate and value system and supported by the government leadership.
Nunavummiut need to know that when they elected us as MLA’s, we would make the best decisions in the interest of Nunavut to further elect those among us to lead us in Cabinet.
That responsibility to work in the best interest of all Nunavummiut is what we, all of the Members of this Assembly, through the people who elected us, have given to the Members of the Executive Council.
As regular Members, we must be confident that Cabinet Ministers will hold themselves to this higher standard of representing all Nunavummiut, not only their constituents, when they are asked to be chosen as the Members of the Executive Council.
I believe the Member for Rankin North has not met this standard.
Nor has he fulfilled promises he made to us when he asked the Members of this Assembly on March 5th 1999, to elect him to Cabinet.
Mr. Speaker, on the day, he acknowledged, I quote, “It is going be hard and we have to work together as one and give our full support to the Premier.
And that we might disagree now and then, but we always have to remind ourselves why we are sitting here.”
And it goes on, I am sure at times during our disagreements, we will have a tendency to forget why we are sitting here.
We have to give our ongoing support to our Premier, because the Premier not only representing us, but also the people of Nunavut.
Members of the Executive Council, as I said earlier, are held to the highest standard.
The Member for Rankin Inlet North acknowledged this four years ago when he said that we each have our own constituents, but we all have to keep in mind that our first priority will be the people of Nunavut as a whole.
Mr. Speaker, Inuit have a long and successful history of cooperation.
Our ancestors knew that for a community to survive, grow strong and prosper, that the leaders needed to make the best decisions in the interest of everyone.
In creating the Government of Nunavut, there were great expectations that the fundamental values and beliefs of Inuit would be incorporated into our system, our values such as teamwork, patients and adaptability.
I believe that is the direction cabinet, with the support of this Assembly had been working for the last four years.
It is our trust that these fundamental values will guide the Members of the Executive Council and their decision-making.
This is the kind of government I believe Nunavummiut hoped for, expected and have.
Mr. Speaker, it is imperative for cabinet to work together, maintain solidarity and confidentiality.
Perhaps all Ministers won’t always agree all the time.
But once a decision is made, all Ministers must publicly support it.
There must be confidence in cabinet decisions.
And this wavers when Ministers publicly criticize the decisions.
It also threatens the integrity of the government and of this Assembly.
As people begin to lose trust in government, the results can be chaos.
If confidential cabinet conversations become public conversations, that can also lead to chaos and confusion.
I believe in an open government but I also believe in cabinet confidentiality and the need to maintain respect and order.
I agree that there is a lot at stake.
Cabinet decisions have significant impact on people’s lives.
They can influence serious personal and business decisions.
They can impact the development, growth and success of Nunavut.
And they are a direct measurement of how the interests of Nunavummiut as a whole are being addressed and served.
It is for these reasons, that I believe that we, as Members of the Legislative Assembly have no choice but to support this motion.
I do believe that it is very unfortunate that we have been forced to deal with this issue.
As I stressed before, government must speak as one.
It is the role of regular Members to question and hold the government accountable. Mr. Speaker, this issue needs to be dealt with so that in Inuit tradition, we can move forward.
I’m going to make my comments short.
Regardless of how sad we are that we are getting into this situation, I know as a former Minister, I’m not personally against Jack, but we have to follow procedures in order for us to operate properly.
I will be discussing this again later on and I want to say this to the House, Ministers have to work together as Ministers.
My colleague here mentioned that regardless, we can’t all agree on everything but sometimes we have problems working together but at the end of the day, these people should be working together as one.
Also, I have mentioned this because we can’t always be happy, and we can’t always look at it in one situation but we have to because we have to work together so that the people behind us will follow these rules.
As the Minister, Honourable Jack Anawak has worked very hard for the people of Nunavut.
Today, I said earlier, the Ministers have to work together.
One individual can’t, if he waivers, but he will have to as part of Cabinet because he is trying to help his community of Rankin Inlet.
But if he’s only going for Rankin Inlet, I think that Nunavummiut are considering that they can’t waiver because they have to work together.
The people of Nunavut and we as regular Members, we put him in as Minister.
He’s responsible for all of Nunavut, not only to his community.
But, that was his goal, to help the people of Nunavut, so that our generations can work together.
But we all have to work together, so that we’ll serve the people of Nunavut.