EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
However, with respect to the federal legislation, I don’t really understand the federal legislation that pertains to this issue.
Once they have identified the issues related to this matter, we would like to advocate our need for laboratories to test our country foods.
I believe we can now begin with the page-by-page review and we will start off with page H-4.
Do we agree that we are ready to do the page-by-page review starting with page H-4?
During Christmas of this year, you probably know that there was a pretty extreme illness that was going around in the community of Sanikiluaq.
Our nurses were working like 24/7 and they seemed to get pretty exhausted from the amount of work they had do to. Did the nurses, at any time, request any additional nurses to come into our community and help at this time?
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Rumbolt. (interpretation ends) Deputy Minister Campbell.
Mr. Campbell (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Yes, we have been getting requests from the nurse in charge in Sanikiluaq to get additional support services in the community.
We have been reacting to those requests. I understand Sanikiluaq has been experiencing some outbreaks of influenza-like symptoms there, so we are trying to be on top of that as a department to make sure that we do have the adequate nursing staff there at the community level.
With the ever-increasing populations in the communities, will staffing levels in the communities and health centres be reviewed, and when will residents see an increase in the number of full-time health professionals in the communities?
Mr. Campbell (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Thanks to the member for that question.
Yes, as a department, we are currently reviewing the level of services that we’re providing in the communities.
We’re also taking an inventory of exactly what’s out in each of the communities in respect to both capital infrastructure and human resources in the communities.
As the minister indicated earlier, we will be preparing a recommended model of health care delivery for Nunavut in the coming year. So that’s something that we have been working on over the past two years.
With respect to having full capacity at some point with health services in the communities, that’s going to be a bit of a challenge. We are challenged right now in trying to recruit the existing positions that we do have in the department.
Currently, as we speak, we have a vacancy of about 24 percent in the department.
Those are some of the realities we are facing right now. We hire people, they come in, and others leave. So this is an ongoing circle of recruiting, orientating, and training new staff to get to Nunavut.
Our long-range plan is for us to develop our own resources here in Nunavut and having more people from Nunavut, Inuit specifically, trained for some of these health care professionals.
Your business plan discusses the Nursing Recruitment and Retention Strategy.
How many nursing positions are currently filled with agency nurses, how many are filled with indeterminate staff, and how many positions are still vacant?
Mr. Campbell (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) I can provide the figures as of January 31, 2011.
We had a total of 16 agency nurses as of that date.
As of January 31, we had 242 nursing positions on our PY approved listing; 107 positions were filled, 63 were vacant, and 2 are currently what we call frozen in favour of other initiatives for hiring agency nurses in those communities.
Allan Rumbolt.
Recent media reports show that Nunavut has one of the lowest doctor-patient ratios in the country, with only five doctors per 10,000 people, compared to the Yukon, which has 38 doctors per territory.
What steps are being taken to address physician shortages in Nunavut?
Mr. Campbell (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) We are taking a number of initiatives in the department.
More recently, there was an announcement that we would have an agreement with Memorial University out of Newfoundland to have some of the doctors who are being educated down there to do their training up here in Nunavut.
We had an agreement signed off with Health Canada to make that happen.
We will have a return of service as well. That’s one thing that we have done.
As I said earlier, we’re preparing a more strategic action plan, if you want to put it that way, to make sure that we’re attracting enough doctors here. One of the things that we have submitted is to increase that budget for the physician service program. That’s in recognition of the challenges that we do have in attracting doctors.
This new strategy or action plan that you mentioned, when do you expect that to come into force?
Mr. Campbell (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) We do have the tentative action plan already in the department, so it’s just a matter of formalizing the approval process.
Once we get the main estimates approved by the Assembly, we can do an implementation plan to roll that out.
Chairman: Qujannamiik, Deputy Minister Campbell. (interpretation) Thank you.
I spoke to a nurse just recently in Coral Harbour regarding the request for maintenance work. They had apparently requested assistance from various offices to see about maintenance work on the health centres, including painting and renovating the nursing station. It has been brought up numerous times that it needs to be renovated.
It seems that the requests for maintenance are being set aside as nothing has been done with any of their requests.
I would like some clarification about the issue and when the nursing station in Coral Harbour will be repainted and maintenance work completed for the areas that need work. Can we expect any work to be done?
The reason why I’m asking this question to Minister Curley or to his deputy, Alex Campbell, is that I would like a response.
With the facility becoming fairly old, any maintenance work that is not undertaken only serves to exacerbate the problems with the facility.
With this issue in mind, I would like this clarified.
I was led to understand by the head nurse that she had forwarded all of her requests to the regional offices in Rankin Inlet. As far as she was concerned, it was as if they were sent to a black hole since nothing has come out of those requests.
What then do we have to do in order to have the maintenance work undertaken in the nursing station located in Coral Harbour?
Hon. Tagak Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I think we all recall that we used to have a position in our department in Rankin Inlet which was entirely focused on capital projects and maintenance of the nursing stations throughout Nunavut. This position was responsible for all of Nunavut, but the worker prepared all of the capital projects and collaborated with CGS to determine all of the required work for the nursing stations.
We haven’t been able to fill the position that is responsible for that aspect of our maintenance and capital needs in our department. The director or manager position has been advertised, but we haven’t filled it yet.
If there are urgent issues, we can deal with them by collaborating with CGS to complete the maintenance work.
However, with respect to buildings that are too old, we have to complete a comprehensive condition rating on the buildings.
Perhaps Mr. Campbell will be able to elaborate further.
Mr. Campbell (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Thanks to the member for the question. Just to add to the minister’s input. We do have small capital projects under our capital program that was also approved earlier by the Legislative Assembly.
What will happen next is we will have the request going out to all of the regional offices to identify small capital projects that they want to carry out in the coming year. We do have a departmental committee established to review those requests, so we will be taking that. Now that I know that there is an official request from Coral Harbour, we will be following up to make sure that request is on the table as well.
I would like to make a motion to report progress at this time.
I would like to thank Minister Curley and (interpretation ends) Deputy Minister Campbell, (interpretation) as well as Ms. Voth.
Sergeant-at-Arms, if you could escort them out, please.
Going back to our orders of the day. (interpretation ends) Item 22. (interpretation) Member for Amittuq.
Your committee has been considering Bill 1 and would like to report progress. Also, Mr. Speaker, I move that the Report of the Committee of the Whole be agreed to.
The Member for Akulliq is the seconder.
We are on (interpretation ends) Item 23 (interpretation) in our Orders of the Day.
Third Reading of Bills. (interpretation ends) Item 24. (interpretation) Orders of the Day.
A reminder that there is a meeting of the Regular Caucus tomorrow morning at ten o’clock in the Nanuq Room.
Speaker (interpretation): Oh, is that so? Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
This House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Enjoy your evening.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Pages 97 – 165
Opening Prayer 97
Ministers’ Statements 97
Members’ Statements 100
Returns to Oral Questions 106
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery 106
Written Questions 128
Reports of Standing and Special Committees on Bills and Other Matters 129
Tabling of Documents 135
First Reading of Bills 137
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters 138
Report of the Committee of the Whole 164
Orders of the Day 164
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 97
007 – 3(3): Power Plant Superintendent and Operator Training (Kusugak) 97
008 – 3(3): Environmental Technology Program Students Plan Southern Expedition (Shewchuk) 98
009 – 3(3): Partnership with Greenland (Tootoo) 99
010 – 3(3): Update on Public Engagement for Poverty Reduction (Taptuna) 99
015 – 3(3): In Memory of Simeonie Amarualik (Elliott) 100
016 – 3(3): Suicides in Nunavut (Schell) 101
017 – 3(3): Standards in Education (Ugyuk) 102
018 – 3(3): Appreciation of Kugluktuk Volunteers (Taptuna) 103
019 – 3(3): Medical Concerns in Igloolik (Tapardjuk) 104
020 – 3(3): Congratulations to Karetak Family during John Lindell Memorial (Shewchuk) 104
021 – 3(3): Constituency Concerns (Ningark) 105
022 – 3(3): Elder Appreciation for Inuit Custom Adoptions (Curley) 105
Return to Oral Question 007 – 3(3): Airport Shelter for Chesterfield Inlet (Taptuna) 106
028 – 3(3): Accountability in Municipal Government (Aupaluktuq) 110
029 – 3(3): Assessment of Students in Nunavut’s Education System (Ugyuk) 112
030 – 3(3): Homeowner Fuel Rebate Program (Rumbolt) 115
031 – 3(3): Policing Needs in Pangnirtung (Komoartok) 116
032 – 3(3): Protection for Reservists under the Labour Standards Act (Elliott) 119
033 – 3(3): Homeownership Issues in Kugaaruk (Ningark) 121
034 – 3(3): Government of Nunavut’s Fiscal Position (Schell) 123
035 – 3(3): Investigation into Child’s Death (Tapardjuk) 125
036 – 3(3): Sanikiluaq Airport Parking Garage Issues (Rumbolt) 127
002 – 3(3): School Non-attenders (Ugyuk) 128
001 – 3(3): Report on the Review of the 2010 Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on Human Resource Capacity in the Government of Nunavut (Schell) 129
011 – 3(3): Baker Lake HTO’s Comments on the Revised Draft Guidelines for the Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for Areva Resources Canada Incorporated’s Kiggavik Project (Aupaluktuq) 135
012 – 3(3): The NNI Review Committee’s Summary of the 2008-2009 Comprehensive Review Report (Taptuna) 136
013 – 3(3): Resolute Bay Retailer Grocery List for Nutrition North Review Project Website (Elliott) 136
014 – 3(3): Responses to Ministerial Directive No. 1 dated April 15, 2010 for Nunavut Housing Corporation (Curley) 136
015 – 3(3): Responses to Ministerial Directive No. 1 dated April 17, 2010 for Nunavut Housing Corporation (Curley) 136
016 – 3(3): Responses to the Reporting Obligations for Territorial Corporations, 2010-2011 for Nunavut Housing Corporation (Curley) 136
Bill 02 – An Act to Amend the Scientists Act – First Reading 137
Bill 03 – An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act – First Reading 137
Bill 04 – Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2011 – First Reading 137
Bill 05 – Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2011, No. 2 – First Reading 137
Bill 01 – Appropriation (Operations & Maintenance) Act, 2011-2012 – Consideration in Committee – Health and Social Services 138
Speaker (Hon. Paul Okalik) (interpretation): Good day.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister Taptuna.
Looking at our orders of the day, the first item is Ministers’ Statements.
Minister’s Statement 007 – 3(3): Power Plant Superintendent and Operator Training (Kusugak)
Let’s have a wonderful day today.
(interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform my colleagues about Qulliq Energy’s ongoing power plant superintendent and operator training which recently took place here in Iqaluit.
The superintendent training took place between February 5 and 11 and the operator training from February 21 to 27.
Each year, QEC brings all of the plant superintendents to Iqaluit for a full week of training.
This is followed up by including the plant operators two weeks later as well.
We had approximately 25 participants in each of these recent training sessions.
Mr. Speaker, in the vast and extreme environment of Nunavut, it is vital that all power plant employees are prepared to deal with emergency situations, at least until the appropriate maintenance staff are able to travel to the community to assist with the problems.
Currently each power plant operates with a plant superintendent and a plant operator, with the exception of Iqaluit, which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week due to the size and critical infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, QEC’s plant superintendents and operators are trained to have an understanding of all facets of the power system, from generation to distribution.
This is required in order to ensure that they are able to maintain power for as long as possible, if required due to unforeseen circumstances.
In addition, they are provided with training and updates on environmental issues, such as EMS [Emergency Medical Services] training, spill reporting, and soil testing.
Training updates are also provided for MSDS/WHMIS [Material Safety Data Sheet/Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System] to ensure staff safety. Plant employees are also updated on administrative topics, such as billing, customer services, sealift planning, pensions, benefits, and payroll.
Mr. Speaker, this annual training is an excellent team building opportunity for the corporation and QEC received a lot of positive feedback from the participants in reference to what they gained from the training.
The Qulliq Energy Corporation will continue to be a leader in providing training opportunities to their staff following the principle of Pilimmaksarniq and Pijariuqsarniq. We consider ongoing training to be a cornerstone of our employee advancement programs and critical to meeting our obligations under Article 23.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the recent participants of this program and I would also encourage all QEC employees to take advantage of training opportunities offered to them whenever possible. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister responsible for Nunavut Arctic College.
Minister’s Statement 008 – 3(3): Environmental Technology Program Students Plan Southern Expedition (Shewchuk)
I would like to inform the Assembly that 12 students from Arctic College’s Environmental Technology Program in Pond Inlet are planning a unique, once-in-a-lifetime research expedition to southern Canada.
Since October of last year, the students have been working to raise funds to visit government departments, universities, and researchers in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.
While in Ottawa, the students will visit Parks Canada and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to learn about how environmental legislation and policies affecting the Arctic are developed and implemented.
Mr. Speaker, every summer, researchers from Quebec’s Laval University travel to Pond Inlet for their fieldwork.
Our students will have an opportunity to visit these researchers in their workplace to understand how data and scientific research conducted in our communities is analyzed, applied, and communicated.
Our students will visit the Vancouver Aquarium, where they will share traditional knowledge about arctic wildlife and marine mammals to aquarium staff and southern Canadians.
Their knowledge will contribute to building a better understanding of our environment from a northern, Inuit perspective.
Mr. Speaker, those of us who live in northern communities know how incredibly difficult it can be for students to raise the large amounts of funds required to make these kinds of trips possible. On behalf of the students and Arctic College, I would like to acknowledge and thank the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth for providing $8,400 of financial support towards the cost of this southern expedition.
Mr. Speaker, I must also express our sincerest thank you to the Vancouver Aquarium, Parks Canada, and the Seltzer-Chan Pond Inlet Foundation.
Without the support of these organizations, none of this would be possible.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to the very generous assistance of these fine organizations, our students have been able to secure more than $88,000 towards the cost of their trip.
That is truly a remarkable accomplishment, Mr. Speaker, to raise that amount of funding in such a short period of time.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend our Pond Inlet environmental technology students for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to their studies.
We wish them all the best of luck, safe travels, and many enjoyable life and learning experiences during their southern expedition.
Minister’s Statement 009 – 3(3): Partnership with Greenland (Tootoo)
I would like to take this opportunity to tell my fellow members about recent developments in the Department of Education’s partnership with Greenland’s Department of Culture, Education, Research and Church.
Mr. Speaker, Nunavut and Greenland share many of the same circumstances in terms of language, culture, population, and traditions.
Our two jurisdictions can learn so much from our respective best practices and initiatives in education.
As such, representatives from the departments of Education in Greenland and Nunavut met in Iqaluit and Pangnirtung from February 8 to 13 to share educational program information.
Mr. Speaker, as a result, our two governments are developing an Education Appendix to our current Memorandum of Understanding. The intent is to broaden the scope of information sharing in educational reform, student assessment, language of instruction, early childhood education, cultural support within the school system, and inclusive education.
The goal of this endeavour is to strengthen our partnership on a number of educational programs and ensure the sharing of ideas and resources continues.
Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Education, I am confident that we will share in Greenland’s successful language revitalization and learn from each other. I would like to thank all of the members of the Greenland delegation for their help, dedication, and commitment to helping our two lands succeed in the field of education.
Minister’s Statement 010 – 3(3): Update on Public Engagement for Poverty Reduction (Taptuna)
Good afternoon/Unnusakkut, my colleagues and Kuglukturmiut.
Mr. Speaker, I want to update the House on the work of the Nunavut Anti-Poverty Secretariat on public engagement for poverty reduction.
As members may be aware, since the launch of our campaign to reduce poverty last October, we have been encouraging each of our communities to bring people together for an open and honest discussion about the issue.
We need to share our ideas about poverty in our communities, about its effects on every one of us, and about what we can do about it.
Communities have been asked to collect this information which will be compiled in a report to be prepared by the Nunavut Anti-Poverty Secretariat.
In May, I will co-chair regional meetings at which we will discuss this report with representatives of each community.
We will consider what options we have for action on poverty as governments, communities, Inuit organizations, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, and ordinary citizens.
This information will be brought here to Iqaluit late next fall to a summit on poverty during the month of November 28 to 30. At the summit, we will decide together with our partners on the actions each of us will take to reduce poverty in our territory.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize, along with every Member of this House, that there are people in our communities who do something every day to fight poverty, who help one another when a neighbour or family member is in difficulty, who work in community organizations to try and make where they live a better place for everyone.
We need to build on these efforts.
We need to bring the wisdom of our communities into the rooms where the decisions about the future of Nunavut are made.
For this reason, communities will be directly involved in the discussions on our policy options for poverty reduction and communities will be directly involved in our decision-making about what must be done to reduce poverty in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our communities and in particular, the hamlet councils, who have responded to our request that they get involved in the fight against poverty.
Mr. Speaker, working this way together, we can be successful.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you, Minister. Item 3.
Member’s Statement 015 – 3(3): In Memory of Simeonie Amarualik (Elliott)
I rise today to inform this House of the sad passing of Elder Simeonie Amarualik earlier this morning.
Mr. Speaker, Simeonie had been battling cancer for the past year. He received treatment in Ottawa and recently I met with him here at the Iqaluit airport on his return to the community of Resolute Bay a couple of weeks ago.
He passed away at home with his family around him.
Mr. Speaker, Simeonie was well known for his carving skill.
This past summer, when I was in Resolute Bay for my extended stay in the community, I had the opportunity to watch him at his craft.
He was a very talented artist and took the time to explain to me how and why he became a carver.
He was the artist who created the Resolute Bay High Arctic Exile Monument which was unveiled this past September. He taught many of the students at the Qarmartalik School and passed on a great deal of his traditional skills and knowledge.
Mr. Speaker, Simeonie was highly respected and contributed greatly to the community. He held a number of positions within the community and was deputy mayor of the Resolute Bay Hamlet Council.
Mr. Speaker, Simeonie’s wife, Sarah, passed away a number of years ago.
He leaves behind his sons and daughter, Paul, Peter, Joe, and Angie, and granddaughter and grandsons, Lizzie, William, and Lucas.
Of course, the community as a whole will miss him greatly.
Mr. Speaker, this is the third Resolute Bay elder to pass away within a very short period of time.
It is definitely a difficult time for the community and I send out my condolences during this time of mourning.
The family is in our thoughts. Simeonie was quite outgoing.
Member’s Statement 016 – 3(3): Suicides in Nunavut (Schell)
Today I’ll be speaking on a subject that is very sensitive to all Nunavummiut and that’s in regard to suicides in Nunavut.
I commend the member, John Ningark, for brining up the tabled documents here with statistics on Nunavut for the last 10 years.
When I look at it, for my community of Cape Dorset in the last six years, we’ve had an average of three suicides a year. I am sad to tell you and inform the House that in the last week, we’ve had two suicides in Cape Dorset, and I speak with a deep heart as one of these suicides that happened yesterday is from my immediate family.
Mr. Speaker, there is nobody to blame, no one person to blame for our rate of suicide in Nunavut.