EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
At a time when school drop outs rates are high and incidents of suicide amongst the youth continue to occur in our communities, these types of collaborative community events provide our elders with a means to pass on their knowledge to our youth which builds self-esteem and pride in their culture.
This provides a better foundation for their future endeavours.
Government alone can not preserve or promote Inuit culture and heritage. Cooperation is required of all parties as it relates to cultural protection and promotion.
It starts at home and at the community level.
Our elders and youth working together are key to the preservation and protection of our heritage.
Although it is costly, this should not be a hurdle when this is an investment in our culture.
I want to congratulate the hard work and dedication of our elders of the Elders’ Societies and youth who participated in the event, and to encourage other communities to take the steps in building a strong cultural community.
In closing, the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth is committed to promoting and preserving Inuit culture and in assisting community organizations to build strong cultural programs.
Minister’s Statement 019 – 1(6): Nunavut Sivuniksavut – Naming Project
On April 22, 2002 I had the opportunity to attend the unveiling of the Nunavut Sivuniksavut-Photograph Naming Project.
This project was a partnership between the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, the Nunavut Sivuniksavut training program in Ottawa and the National Archives of Canada.
My department funded this project which was conducted in Igloolik from October 2001 to March 2002.
Nunavut Sivuniksavut acted as the project manager.
This project, which brought youth and elders together to identify people in old photos, accomplished the following goals:
Strengthened and preserved Nunavut’s cultural heritage by putting names to the people in photos taken in Nunavut during the first half of the 20th century, while the window of opportunity existed for doing so.
Our elders are continuing to die with their knowledge still not passed on and this could be our last chance.
Increased opportunities for interaction between elders and youth at the community level.
It also increased the knowledge that youth have about their past.
It provide youth with work experience in archival research, project management, financial administration and multi-media.
It also contributed to the ongoing digitisation of the National Archives photo collections, and
Enhanced the quality of data contained in the National Archives Photo Collection.
As Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, I am very proud of the worthy accomplishments of the elders and youth who collaboratively worked on this project.
Not only did this project provide elders and youth with an opportunity to work together, it also ensures that we are able to preserve a part of our heritage before it is lost forever.
I ask you to join me in congratulating and praising the Nunavut Sivuniksavut staff, youth and the elders of Igloolik for a job well done.
Member’s Statement 070 – 1(6): Community Churches
I rise today to lend my voice in support of a very important but under used resource in our communities.
Mr. Speaker, almost every community across Nunavut has at least one church, if not more than one.
As we look back at the history of the north we see the clergy were the first people to travel north and actually live with Inuit.
Priests and ministers joined our communities and shared their knowledge and wisdom while at the same time learning the language and coming to know the people.
Members of the clergy served the people of the communities in many ways.
They could speak to the difficulties of the soul and provide guidance and advice.
Since the introduction of other types of services in our communities, such as those provided by the government, many people have turned to those other services for support and assistance.
In many cases those service providers have become overwhelmed and overworked.
The ministers and priests in community churches can and offer to play important roles in our communities.
They are still there for us to turn to.
They are a resource and I would like to encourage the community members who may be seeking support and advice to remember the clergymen are there too.
Member’s Statement 071 – 1(6): Unmarked Graves in Churchill
Mr. McLean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is always sad when a loved one passes away, but that person’s life can be remembered and honoured.
One of the ways we do this is by placing some kind of marker on the graves of our loved ones, whether it’s in the north or the south.
Mr. Speaker, there are literally hundreds of unmarked graves in Churchill, Manitoba.
These are the graves of people who were sent south from their homes here in the north to receive medical care.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately these people did not return home.
It is time for the lives of parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, to be remembered.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that a memorial in Churchill would give people who do not know the exact location of a loved one’s grave a place to grieve and a way to keep memories alive.
Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time I have spoken in the House on this issue.
I believe that the Government of Nunavut, NTI and the Federal Government have a role to play in ensuring that an appropriate memorial is erected in Churchill and in other places in the south, Quebec City, to mark the lives of many northerners and maintain their link to the past.
Mr. Speaker, this afternoon at the appropriate time, I will be tabling a 12 page list of names of people from the north who are buried in Churchill with no markers.
But as a southerner Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize if I had a loved one buried someplace in the south, that went away to a hospital or some kind of centre and never returned and I don’t know where they are, that would put a lot of stress on my family also.
I think it’s time, I know this government is only three years old, but I think it’s time for all those organizations out there to get together and remember those people and give some kind of memorial erected in these locations.
And it shouldn’t only come from this government; it should come from all parties involved.
Member’s Statement 072 – 1(6): Compensation for Hunting Mishaps
Mr. Speaker, hunting mishaps are not uncommon in Nunavut, but sometimes individuals are injured or disabled for life.
One of my constituents in Repulse Bay lost his left thumb in a hunting mishap and was never compensated for his loss.
You see Mr. Speaker, the thumb is the main part of the hand for gripping mechanical items and without it one must learn new techniques to grab and hold objects.
Therefore I will be directing questions to the Minister responsible for Sustainable Development at the appropriate time.
Speaker: Members’ Statements. Mr. Picco.
Member’s Statement 073 – 1(6): Aqsarniit School Walk-A-Thon to Raise Money for the Women’s Shelter
Mr. Speaker, on April 19, twenty four grade seven students at Aqsarniit Middle School here in Iqaluit held a Walk-A-Thon to raise money for the Baffin Regional Agvvik Society.
Mr. Speaker, the Baffin Regional Agvvik Society runs the Qimarvik Women’s Shelter.
Twenty four students saw a need in our community and took the initiative to answer that call.
Mr. Speaker, the students raised over two thousand 278 dollars for the Qimarvik Women’s Shelter.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that you and this House join with me in congratulating the Aqsarniit students who walked as volunteers and teachers Carol Horn and Rodney Corkum for a job well done.
Member’s Statement 074 – 1(6): Cape Dorset Graduation Ceremony
Mr. Speaker, this evening there will be a happy event in my community of Cape Dorset.
I would like to congratulate the community of Cape Dorset for this ceremonious occasion tonight.
I will be travelling with our Premier to Cape Dorset to participate in the graduation ceremony and for that I wish to thank him and for several individuals that are graduating whom I will name.
Grade 12 graduates have been increasing annually in our community.
The graduates are; Ola Pootoogook, Lucy Ragee, Mary Taukie, Aniniq Aningmiuk, Mathewsie Ashevak, Denis Nakoolak, Peter Petaulassie, Usuituq Kovianatuliak.
These students have conducted themselves well in their life and are now completing their grade 12 education.
We wish them well in the future and encourage them to continue their education.
Although this is one aspect of their education, there are more things to learn out there.
Member’s Statement 075 – 1(6): Taxes to Meet the Needs of Nunavummiut
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk about an issue that we all love to hate, taxes.
We all hate taxes.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure that members are painfully aware that the income tax returns of all Nunavummiut were due less than 48 hours ago and I am sure that all members enjoyed filling out their forms as much as I did.
Mr. Speaker, in December last year this House deliberated a bill to introduce the so called Tax on Income System in Nunavut.
At that time my colleagues on the Standing Committee of Government Operations and Services gave their support to this initiative so as to enable our government to have greater flexibility in designing the tax regime to meet the needs of Nunavummiut.
In December we made a number of recommendations for the government to consider with respect to such ideas and issues as reducing the tax burden of low income families and elders.
Mr. Speaker, this week’s Budget brought in some welcome measures and I want to congratulate the Minister of Finance for listening and taking action.
Mr. Speaker, I do feel the need to raise a cautionary note.
As Members of this House well know, Nunavut is in a position where we have to lobby hard to make the Federal Government recognize the crisis we face in such areas as healthcare and infrastructure.
That is why I was concerned to read a recent statement from the Federal Government on the issue of so called fiscal imbalance in Canada.
Let me quote one section briefly.
“The fact that virtually all provinces have chosen to reduce taxes in recent years, implies that they believe they have sufficient revenues to manage their spending pressures.”
Mr. Speaker, I am confident that the Minister of Finance will share my rejection of this argument, along with his other Cabinet colleagues.
Especially as it applies to the northern territories, where the cost of living is the highest in all of Canada, and where our constituents struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis.
What concerns me, Mr. Speaker, is whether we have a strategy in place to convince our federal partners that we face a unique set of circumstances in Nunavut so our efforts to stimulate our economy and put more money in our constituent’s pockets will not backfire on us when we approach Ottawa for sorely needed investments in critical areas.
Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the appropriate minister questions on this issue at the appropriate time.
Member’s Statement 076 – 1(6): Nunavut a Consensus Government
I sometimes reminisce about the good old days.
Many of the people who were involved in getting Nunavut started since the seventies when we first started the process that led to 1999 when Nunavut came into place; many of the leaders in those days have passed away.
Both my adoptive father (step-father) and my real father have passed away, as well as my older brother and sister, and two of my younger brothers.
I thought to myself what would they think, now that we have our own government and the Land Claims have been settled.
I wonder what their prognosis would be, especially those who were involved in this process.
I think about my relatives who have passed away.
As we were getting Nunavut started, when it was the Northwest Territories government they was not cognizant of the issues and some of these things were not discussed.
People like Tagak, Elijah Manirajaq, John Amagoalik, James Arvaluk.
It started because they didn’t agree with a lot of the things that were going on with the Government of the Northwest Territories because the Inuit culture was not included in many areas.
Now today that we have our own government and territory of Nunavut and we were reminiscing that the Inuit wanted to see more cultural activities going on when we would have our own government.
It was felt that Inuit would be better respected and recognized for their contributions to the creation of this territory.
I think that we should keep in mind and we should remember that this whole process is a result of the Inuit who signed their land claims and this government was created and today we have a consensus government here.
This is the way it has evolved.
There are no parties, although there are MLAs who act as critics to certain ministers.
We are always looking for better ways to deal with different things in this government.
It is obvious that our bureaucracy can continue to get better.
We want to be able to work together.
We can make Inuit in the communities more comfortable with this government if they are able to communicate with us freely.
There are still certain expectations that are levied upon us by our representatives although these things are starting to improve.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to request unanimous consent to complete my statement.
Hon. Jack Anawak (interpretation): Yes, there are lot of Inuit aware that this government is getting better all the time.
Like I said before, as a consensus government we shouldn’t be thinking that this could not be a good government.
We shouldn’t be thinking that we’re not doing proper jobs because we don’t have good criticism or we don’t have opposition.
Yes, there is always room for improvement as a government.
We should not be scared and move ahead.
At times I know that when the public is not happy with what we’re doing, we should always instead of feeling down because of that; we should look for constructive criticism and improve on it.
I know that people will compliment, especially the Inuit will compliment us.
So let’s not hesitate to ask the public what they’re thinking and feeling about the government.
And ask those individuals or the public how they’re feeling.
Yes, as ministers at the cabinet level we shouldn’t be too far away from the public and there shouldn’t be a wide gap between the cabinet and the public out there.
We should allow them to speak to us and make ourselves available to the public.
What we hear from the public shouldn’t put us down.
We should just proceed more properly and use it as constructive criticism.
Member’s Statement 077 – 1(6): Taxes - Garnishees
Mr. Speaker, the minister presented the budget address and announced the reduction on personal income tax and I want to make a comment on that.
There are quite a number of people out there who are in the workforce and according to their salary they pay their taxes and sometimes they go in debt for income tax.
A majority of the people of Nunavut end up owing money for income tax and some of them are huge sums and this really hurts Nunavummiut.
The personal income tax, when we owe them money, they’re very powerful in trying to get their money from individuals and at times they can charge individuals for not paying their income tax and on top of that for individuals who didn’t pay their income tax their income tax interest is quite high.
So, it’s very painful for individuals.
It’s alright to pay income tax as Canadian citizens.
We have freedom in Canada.
But it seems like we lose our freedom when we owe income taxes. These individuals of Nunavut are hurting because of what they owe to income tax.
I don’t think this a very good goal to follow.
I think we need proper goals because we are Canadians and we should be using our freedom and rights.
We hurt each other due to income tax because they’re very powerful in trying to get money from the individuals and it seems like they don’t care if they kill us.
Member’s Statement 078 – 1(6): Absence from House
I want to inform my fellow colleagues in the legislature and the people of Kugluktuk that I represent, that I will not be here next week, from May 3rd to the 8th for personal reasons.
My wife is going to the hospital.
I just wanted to inform everyone.
Speaker: Before we proceed and just to remind the members, this one got by me.
Mr. Havioyak, you are only entitled to one Members’ Statement.
So tomorrow you’ll have none.
Member’s Statement 079 – 1(6): Commissioner’s Award – Mathew Nungaq
Today I rise to inform you that in one of my constituency ridings, Resolute Bay, there was a Commissioner’s Award presented to Mathew Nungaq and Nathaniel Kalluk.
They received these awards for saving two young girls from drowning in September.
Emily Ulajuruluk and Connie Padluq were saved from drowning that day.
I want to honour them and show respect for them receiving the Commissioner’s Award.
As well, another person to receive an award was Paddy Aqiatusuq, we all heard last year that someone who was trying to get to the North Pole fell through the ice and an award was presented for work performed during the search by Paddy Aqiatusuq.
There was a prayer yesterday in Resolute Bay.
Kiyoshi Kono was remembered and the community prayed from him.
His wife, his sisters and close friends came from Japan and were present in Resolute Bay and joined the community in prayer.
I want to inform you of this.
Mr. Havioyak, you’ve had your two for the day.
Question 076 – 1(6): Incident in Chesterfield Inlet – No RCMP Available
We have heard that in Chesterfield Inlet there was someone who had committed a violent act against another individual while intoxicated and we heard this over the radio.
We are not talking about the incident, but about the police.
The police were called to Chesterfield Inlet and they said they would not be able to get into that community until Monday.
They said that it was not an emergency.
It’s an emergency according to the community.
My question is, the procedures and policies that are followed when there are no police in the community, such as Chesterfield Inlet and Whale Cove, they are supposedly administered by the Rankin Inlet detachment.
I am wondering why this is not happening, that they are not looking after the communities?
I want to know is what is happening, could I have an update on those communities.
Hon. Paul Okalik (interpretation): Thank you. I haven’t heard this and nobody has informed me about this.
I haven’t heard any reports on this matter and I will find out more about it.
I will inform you once I get more information from my staff and I will request this information immediately and as I am informed, so shall I inform the member.
Once you get more information, could you tell the commanding officer to place police officers in those communities as soon as possible?
Yes, needless to say.
Question 077 – 1(6): Income Taxes Reduced – Owing More to Revenue Canada
I will direct my question to the Minister responsible for the Department of Finance if he could go back to his seat.
If he can hear me, in regards to my Member’s Statement earlier, I would like to ask the minister about income tax.
We’re proud and happy to hear that there was a reduction on the income tax rates here in Nunavut.
But I would like to ask the minister, since there was a reduction on income tax, then will the workers within Nunavut end up owing money to Revenue Canada because there was a reduction in our own tax.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, the reductions were for the Nunavut portion of personal income taxes and corporate taxes as the member is aware.
And we have a tax collection agreement with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency who administers the tax on our behalf.
There is no impact with respect to federal taxes.
That’s up to the Federal Government and the Federal Minister of Finance in respect to dealing with that specific issue.
I don’t know if I answered your question or not.
I did not quite understand your response although I heard it. We have various workers and staff under various entities and agencies and private businesses too, they end up owing a lot of money to income tax or Revenue Canada.
I was wondering if Revenue Canada is aware of the fact that there was a reduction in our income tax rate here in Nunavut.
I understand the member’s question now.
The protocol is that I notify the Federal Minister of Finance prior to introducing formally the tax changes on behalf of the government, on behalf of our government.
What happens is after it is formally announced we notify the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and they make the appropriate adjustment for the deductions to take place.
So that is incorporated to come into effect usually on July the 1st.
So that’s the first time that an individual’s pay cheque will see reductions in their income tax.
But having said that, our reduction is retroactive to January 1st of this year.
So for July 1st to December 31st, there will be larger deductions on the Nunavut portion of the income tax.
And then of course for the 2003 year, starting January 1st, it will be the same throughout that taxation year.
It was very interesting, but through the Nunavut Legislature and through Parliament when they initiate something, it seems really good but once you start actually implementing it they are not as positive as the announcements.
So I was wondering if it is going to have a negative impact on private businesses or some workers that might end up having to owe money for income taxes.
So I just want you to assure me that this will not happen so the Nunavummiut will have information and understand this as well.
Generally, Mr. Speaker when you lower taxes whether they are federal taxes or territorial taxes it is a positive impact on all the taxpayers.
You end up getting more money because less taxes are being deducted.
So from that perspective there wouldn’t be any negative impact to anybody.
I would think that all reductions are positive for taxpayers whether they are individuals or corporations.
Question 078 – 1(6): Compensation for Repulse Bay Hunter
Mr. Speaker my question is directed to the Minister responsible for Sustainable Development.
On April 3rd last month, I wrote to the Honourable Minister of Sustainable Development about one of my constituents in Repulse Bay who has lost one of his thumbs in a hunting mishap and wants some compensation.
My question is, will his department review my constituent’s case and see what can be done to help the individual?
Ma’na, Uqaqti. (interpretation) Usually the hunters have to fill out a compensation form when there has been an incident.
The wildlife officers have to assist the individuals who have had hunting mishaps to fill out their forms and this is done in conjunction with the health centre.
So that is usually the procedure that we follow.
Once the forms are filled out they are forwarded to the Workers’ Compensation Board and that agency looks at how they can be assisted.
In response to his question, I have not seen or reviewed the particular incident.
What I am talking about is the procedure they follow because there is a procedure to follow and there is a form that is given to the WCB.
He responded to my question and I thank him.
When hunters have a hunting mishap sometimes they become disabled or lose a limb.
I have written a letter to the minister so I would like to ask him whether he received the letter and understood the correspondence that I sent him in regards to this issue.
So, does he have the correspondence that I sent him?
Yes I have the correspondence and we are willing to assist you.
We are reviewing how we can assist the individual.
So once the session is over I am willing to discuss this matter with you.
Hunters that have had a hunting mishap although they want to fill out the forms they never know who to forward them to.
So if there could be some information as to how the procedure goes, will these individuals be given some information on the procedure after filling out the forms?
Such as where it is going, when it will be dealt with and when they should expect an answer to their application.
Yes, the wildlife officers at the community level do have those forms.
Once you get the forms from them, they can assist the individuals to fill out the forms.
The forms have to be signed by the nurse.