EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Social promotion was in the news for many years and that’s one of the things that we want to tackle as a new government to ensure that we have the best available processes to educate our young people of Nunavut.
There are many promises that were made in the past too, not just my promise of 2013, where we’re going to end these things that we will continue to try to get done throughout this mandate. I know there are only a few months left in this term.
With the help of our ministers that were selected by the House here, we will certainly make the effort to get to that point where, through a renewed and amended Education Act, we will hopefully see the differences being made.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, this is not an overnight fix.
This has been going on for a long time and we intend to tackle it step by step to ensure that our students get the possible education.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) The Education Act does not deal with social promotion.
It’s a policy matter for the government to deal with.
It was signed off in the dying days of the last government to continue it as an executive order. When will the Premier end social promotion?
*See Appendix for full text of Committee Report 13 – 4(3).
There are a number of things that we try to adhere by. One of the things that we want to write into the Education Act is to end some of these things that are happening.
Mr. Speaker, there are other students that move down south after living up in Nunavut for a number of years who have indicated that the education levels in Nunavut are just as good as what’s happening in other jurisdictions, both in languages and in academics.
Mr. Speaker, once we have a good understanding of how the amendments to our Education Act are going to be taking place, we will certainly have everybody involved through public consultations to ensure that we get the best available processes and Education Act for our children of Nunavut.
Mr. Okalik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) Social promotion is a very difficult issue for students. It raises false hopes and it is a nasty surprise for a lot of parents when they discover that their children have been promoted unfairly.
I’m still asking the Premier: when will this practice end?
The practice is going to end as soon as we get our Education Act in order.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, the five-year review has taken place.
We installed a special committee to go through the amendments as required, involving many organizations and communities. Once that is in place, we will have a good understanding of what’s going to be needed.
Social promotion can be interpreted in many ways, but at the end of the day we want our children to have the best possible education through an amended Education Act that is made for Nunavummiut.
Committee Report 013 – 4(3): Report on the Review of the 2015-2016 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nunavut (Angnakak)
I rise today to present the report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Independent Officers and Other Entities on its review of the 2015-16 annual report to the Legislative Assembly of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nunavut.
I would also like to note for the record that she has served as the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories since 1996, when that jurisdiction’s legislation originally came into effect.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2015-16 annual report was backdoor tabled under the provisions of Rule 44(2) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on July 24, 2016.
The government’s 2014-15 annual report on the administration of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on November 3, 2015.
However, the government’s formal responses to the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2013-14 and 2014-15 annual reports have not yet been tabled in the House.
This year’s appearances of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and Government of Nunavut officials before the standing committee took place in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly from September 13 to 14, 2016.
The standing committee’s hearings were televised live across the territory and were open to the public and news media to observe from the visitors’ gallery.
The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs has recently produced a formal privacy breach and incident policy as well as a privacy management manual.
This means that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act now applies to local housing organizations.
However, further action is required in other areas, such as the application of access to information and protection of privacy legislation to municipalities and district education authorities, and addressing the need for health-specific privacy legislation in the territory.
The public disclosure of information concerning the contracting, procurement and leasing activities of the Government of Nunavut’s Crown agencies and territorial corporations.
The standing committee’s report raises a number of continuing concerns regarding the extent to which information concerning the activities and expenditures of these public bodies is accessible to the public.
At present Nunavummiut have statutorily prescribed rights under federal and territorial legislation concerning access to information and protection of privacy in relation to the institutions of the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut.
Nunavut remains the only Canadian jurisdiction without health-specific privacy legislation.
The manner in which public bodies facilitate the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s work to conduct privacy audits on public bodies.
The obligations of the Government of Nunavut’s departments, Crown agencies, and territorial corporations to report material breaches of privacy.
During her September 13, 2016 appearance before the standing committee, the Information and Privacy Commissioner indicated that her office had conducted its first privacy audit in Nunavut during the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Members look forward to reviewing the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s final report on her office’s privacy audit of the Qikiqtani General Hospital.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner also indicated that she is currently planning to expand her office to include a deputy commissioner to assist her with her duties as mandated under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The standing committee is of the view that this will help enable the Information and Privacy Commissioner to continue to engage in more training, education and outreach activities, as well as helping to ensure that her office has the resources to meet its requirements in both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
The importance of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner meeting with the Government of Nunavut’s Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit (IQK) to exchange perspectives on issues related to access to information and protection of privacy.
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s upcoming comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Bill 20 – Supplementary Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, No. 3, 2015-2016 – First Reading
Hon. Keith Peterson: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Arviat South, that Bill 20, Supplementary Appropriation (Operations and Maintenance) Act, No. 3, 2015-2016, be read for the first time.
Bill 21 – Write-off of Assets Act, 2015-2016 – First Reading
Hon. Keith Peterson: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Arviat South, that Bill 21, Write-off of Assets Act, 2015-2016, be read for the first time.
Bill 22 – Supplementary Appropriation (Capital) Act, No. 3, 2016-2017 – First Reading
Hon. Keith Peterson: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Arviat South, that Bill 22, Supplementary Appropriation (Capital) Act, No. 3, 2016-2017, be read for the first time.
Bill 23 – Supplementary Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, No. 2, 2016-2017 – First Reading
Hon. Keith Peterson: Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Arviat South, that Bill 23, Supplementary Appropriation (Operations and Maintenance) Act, No. 2, 2016-2017, be read for the first time.
Bill 25 – An Act to Amend the Consumer Protection Act – First Reading
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Cambridge Bay, that Bill 25, An Act to Amend the Consumer Protection Act, be read for the first time.
Bill 26 – An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act – First Reading
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Arviat South and Whale Cove, that Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act, be read for the first time.
Speaker (interpretation): All those in favour.
First Reading of Bills. (interpretation) Minister of Environment, Mr. Joe Savikataaq.
Bill 27 – Waste Reduction and Diversion Act – First Reading
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Cambridge Bay, that Bill 27, Waste Reduction and Diversion Act, be read for the first time.
Bill 28 – An Act to Amend Certain Acts Respecting Codes and Standards – First Reading
I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Cambridge Bay, that Bill 28, An Act to Amend Certain Acts Respecting Codes and Standards, be read for the first time.
First Reading of Bills. (interpretation) I have no more names on my list.
Moving on. (interpretation ends) Item 18.
In accordance with the authority provided to me by Motion 30 – 4(3), the committee will stay in session until it reports itself out.
>>House recessed at 15:59 and Committee resumed at 16:24
Chairman (Mr. Akoak): Good afternoon, Nunavummiut.
Welcome to the committee, members.
Welcome to the people watching TV and listening to radio.
In Committee of the Whole we have the following item to deal with: Bill 24. What is the wish of the committee?
Hon. Monica Ell-Kanayuk: Yes, I would. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To my left, Deputy Minister Sherri Rowe, and to my right, John Hawkins, Manager of Iqaluit Airport Operations.
Before we proceed, I wish to make a statement.
This will be the fourth consecutive day on which the proposed 2017-18 Capital Estimates of the Department of Economic Development and Transportation will be under consideration.
As Chair, it is my responsibility to balance the desire of the members to ask questions with the need to ensure that the committee makes progress.
As of the end of Friday’s sitting, I had only one member remaining on my list wishing to ask questions on page K-3.
All regular members have now had a reasonable amount of time in which to ask questions concerning this page.
Once the final member has finished asking questions, I will exercise my discretion under Rule 77(2) and we will proceed to the next page.
I thank the committee for its attention.
I would now recognize Member Mr. Enook.
Good afternoon, Madam Minister. Welcome.
I was going to pose my questions, but I think that it would be better as a written question. It would be too cumbersome and it would take too long to respond, so I would prefer to ask those questions in written form.
Mr. Chairman, please correct me if my question is out of line.
We’re talking about capital proposals.
Just recently, Madam Minister, you reported that you attended a meeting of the Arctic Circle Forum in Reykjavik, Iceland.
You spoke about different topics at that meeting.
Constructing housing units is different in the north since we live in a unique climate.
Did you discuss that topic on how we can build facilities for the north so that they can last longer and cost less?
Did you discuss those things at that meeting?
That’s just to get clarification.
What type of construction or infrastructure?
Perhaps he can elaborate or clarify his question.
Chairman: Clarification, Mr. Enook.
Let me clarify.
If I reference the circumpolar conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, I imagine discussion was revolving around circumpolar issues, including arctic-specific infrastructure.
Whenever our government ministers have duty travel or meetings, I tend to ask and think to myself the reasoning behind it such that it would provide a benefit for Nunavut, which is why our government is included.
I know for a fact that ministers do not just jump on a plane to travel around or to land at a specific community only and I know you have more concrete reasoning for these trips.
Nonetheless, I always return to the question of the benefit accruable to Nunavut, especially where ministers attend such meetings or conferences throughout the globe.
As an example, during the (interpretation ends) Arctic Circle Forum (interpretation) where Arctic nations discuss issues, would discussions have been held on, let’s say for example, how other Arctic nations construct terminals? Where can we learn from them?
Since they also live in the Arctic regions, another matter would be how they construct roads. Do they pave the roadways or use any other substances?
What can we learn from our neighbours in the Arctic to lower the costs of projects for Nunavut?
Does the department conduct research on best arctic practices that can be utilized to alleviate the challenges facing Nunavut, such as exorbitant costs or even long-lived infrastructure? Does your department look to innovative ways other nations deal with their Arctic regions during these meetings? Is that what would have been undertaken?
Just as a reminder, Mr. Chairman, I was invited in my role as the Minister responsible for the (interpretation ends) Status of Women Council (interpretation) and that was the reason why I attended that conference.
I was invited to that meeting as the Minister responsible for the Status of Women.
While we were there, I was asked on the side since the news media knew of my ministerial responsibility for economic development and transportation.
I agreed to participate in the arctic oil and gas discussions. There were many speakers and they wanted to know the most appropriate approach for the Arctic from the perspective of the government in light of preservation of this area.
I was asked if I had learned of the best practices of the other Arctic nations and which was more appropriate for the territory in the future in order to ensure a safer resource extraction method.
It was more of a political discussion, not appropriate for staff members or for the petroleum industry representatives, in light of the possible impacts on our environment and our lands.
It was stated that with more research, work could be undertaken to develop safer practices prior to opening up the arctic waters. This is just an example of one issue, as hundreds of topics were debated at the conference.
Due to the low numbers of our group we could not attend them all. There were over 50 countries that were involved at the conference, so 50 nations were represented with over 1,000 delegates.
We were able to discuss tourism, airports, and not just be information presenters about Nunavut, which included the steps required.
We also went to listen to various forums and if we weren’t directly involved, we listened to debates about Canadian legislation, as other nations can reference them when they are developing their own legislation.
If we weren’t involved, we would not be able to find out about developments, such as ship traffic and proposed arctic shipping routes, in the discussions with the countries that have different information. They were discussing arctic issues, for instance, shipping traffic or ships travelling through the Arctic and what are better ways of dealing with ports.
Yes, I started to believe that we have to be involved or we would be left behind and we wouldn’t have the opportunity to speak from our own experiences.
I’m sure it’s understandable we who live in the Arctic don’t want to be bypassed in these kinds of discussions.
You were able to be involved in arctic oil and gas discussions.
You were involved as minister. How did Nunavummiut benefit?
We were able to make comments as there were questions on it.
If I say it in English, (interpretation ends) “Rethinking shared interests in arctic oil and gas – can we actually manage more effectively?”
(interpretation) That was a question that was posed. I was able to talk about how we have dealt with the issue and who did the exploring.
It’s obvious in the future as a result of exploration that investments can be realistically made and therefore be economically viable.
We have to keep in mind that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and hunters must be part of how wildlife and their movements are to be considered.
This question just cannot be overlooked.
We want oil and gas development, but people in the Arctic pursue a hunting way of life and share a connection to wildlife.
I was able to stress this key point which participants at the conference heard and learned from.
There were professional experts on the Arctic who sat with me.
My transportation officials were able to talk to different airlines on the construction of the international airport in Iqaluit.
Iqaluit enjoys the status of being an international airport and there’s no reason why it couldn’t take on more international air traffic.
We were able to discuss a whole range of topics and met with many people, some of whom were very supportive.
If we are not involved in meetings such as this, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn more ourselves as well as to teach others.
Just for clarification, Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask about the written statement.
It states that your officials attended a lot of discussions.
For instance, if you go there for this purpose, how many of you were there and how much money would Nunavut spend to attend such a conference?
I’m not sure if we can respond to that question. I want my deputy minister to respond, if she put something like this together.
There were three of us from the Department of Economic Development that attended the Arctic Circle Assembly.
There was myself, Mr. John Hawkins, who looks after the airport side of things, and also our director of tourism.
During the course of the conference we were able to have meetings with Icelandair to discuss issues about how to maybe attract international flights to Nunavut, not just to Iqaluit. We also spoke about the connection with Greenland.
We were able to get some really good ideas from those airlines and also the ability to get data that they are aware of on how you can purchase that we were not aware of here.
With tourism, we met with Scotland, Quebec, Iceland, and Greenland about establishing or trying to establish some tours of either culture or industries or tourism between these countries to try to attract more visitors to Nunavut.
Iceland is very good at marketing and selling what is produced in Iceland.
It was a very good learning opportunity to see how they can use everyday things that are available and turn them into beautiful art and then sell them.
The amount of tourists they have there is amazing and also the number of people flying into Iceland, which is a big hub.
As for the dollar amount, we have only been back about two weeks, but I could get some information on the dollar amount and provide it to the member.
Once you get the figures, I would like to get them through you as Chairman.
With respect to her comment, as I stated earlier, when our ministers or government officials travel, especially outside of Canada, I presume it’s only because it will benefit Nunavut.
You stated that you were able to have discussions with different airlines about tourism.
Mr. Chairman, perhaps I can ask a short question and get a response.
You stated earlier that you were told good ideas. Can you use an example of what good ideas you heard?
As my deputy minister talked about it, I’ll have Ms. Rowe respond. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
Some concrete items that have come out of our meeting in Iceland are on the tourism cultural industry side.
Right now we have an art exhibit called the Floe Edge, which is currently being displayed at Canada House in London, and it’s promoting the works of 18 artists. While we were at the Arctic Circle, we were able to make connections with Scotland and also with Ireland.
What we’re hoping to do now is move that exhibit onto those countries to expose these Inuit artists.
With the airlines, again, we learnt valuable information that we were not aware of on how you can track where a flight starts from, where they stop, and where their final destination is.
You can actually purchase that data and that was something we weren’t aware of.
Mr. Hawkins can tell you more airline-detailed information.
This conference gave us the ability to meet with people that we would not generally meet with and the ability to meet with the ambassadors to Canada who now, after talking with us, are now also promoting our arts and tourism in the countries they are present in to hopefully attract more tourism to Nunavut.
Let me ask you first of all if we are still on page K-3. Can I ask a question about something on page K-4?
Chairman: We haven’t approved K-3 yet.
I don’t have any more questions about K-3, so I approve it.
Economic Development and Transportation. Transportation.
Go to page K-4.
I’m sorry, there was something written and it was explained properly on that sheet, but that was a while ago and I can’t find it right away.
I want clarification on K-4. It is written on K-4 that there are equipment parking shelters for Arctic Bay and Igloolik.
I just want a reminder of what sort of equipment that is.
It’s for airport equipment.
Are you just asking about Arctic Bay or for all of it?
Mr. Enook (interpretation): My apologies, Mr. Chairman, if I wasn’t clear enough.
In our information here on K-4 it has the Arctic Bay Equipment Parking Shelter and right below that is the Igloolik Equipment Parking Shelter.
I’m asking what those are.
It’s an equipment parking shelter for mobile equipment at the airport.
It would be good if you can respond to me right away and, if not, I can wait for the response.
Arctic Bay and Igloolik will be getting an equipment parking shelter. Do the other communities have that already or is this program just starting?
Our airport manager is here with us, so I would like Mr. Hawkins to respond.
There are several communities that do not have equipment shelters or parking garages for the airport equipment. Some of them are stored in hamlet facilities still.
About seven or eight years ago we started putting initiatives together to make sure that the airports themselves... . Some of them had their own equipment parking shelters. Some of the contracts are no longer with the municipalities and felt it was best to have a place to protect the equipment actually owned by the airport.
Mr. Chairman, I have no more questions.
I approve K-4.
Chairman: Thank you. Members approved K-3. We will now go to page K-5.
Total Capital Expenditures. $2 million.
The detail of expenditures of the request is on K-6.
Economic Development Transportation.
Economic Development. Total Capital Expenditures. $2 million.
Go to page K-2. Department Summary.
Economic Development and Transportation. Detail of Expenditures. Total Capital Expenditures. $61,332,000.
Do members agree that we have concluded the Department of Economic Development and Transportation?
Minister Ell-Kanayuk, do you have closing comments?
I also thank my officials for their preparations and being able to provide me with responses forthwith.
Mr. Chairman, as I stated previously, I was going to table the photographs of the jet bridge that will help disabled people board the planes, so I will provide them to you through the Chairman right now.
I would like to thank my colleagues for all the good questions they had.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the officials from the table.
Bill 24 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2017-2018 – Community and Government Services – Consideration in Committee
I would now like to ask Minister Savikataaq: do you have officials you would like to appear before the committee?
Chairman: Does the committee to let the minister and his officials go to the witness table?
For the record, Minister Savikataaq, please introduce your officials.
To my right is Lori Kimball. She is the DM of Community and Government Services.
To my left is Mr. Darren Flynn. He’s the ADM for Community Services with CG&S.