EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
As I said, it may have been rewritten that there was $170,000 transferred, good, but that doesn’t mean it was done.
I have asked for it to be rewritten, looked at closer, come up with a strategy and action plan that will have the intended results.
I hate to raise people’s expectations unduly because when you raise expectations and you don’t meet them, people are dissatisfied. We just set ourselves up for failure.
What I want to do is have a strategy and action plan and actually accomplish what we want to do with the action plan and strategy.
I don’t know what else I could say.
Mr. Speaker, I am on this constantly with my officials to give me a document or something I can table. There’s a draft, but I’m still not satisfied with the draft.
The hon. minister mentioned “measurables.”
I believe the “measurables” are seen and felt every day and we interact with them. Specifically, I would like to give thanks. I think we should give consideration as well to frontline workers, such as social workers, foster parents, nurses, RCMP, and teachers.
I think the fact that we are creating discussion as well as want to implement the strategy, it is a strategy that we should move forward collectively with.
I think we should have it implemented as soon as possible to ensure that the most vulnerable residents are protected and for those who can’t speak for themselves or who are reaching out and asking for help.
Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that the minister wants to get it right the first time and it’s going to be a very extensive as well as a very worthwhile cause to make sure that we use this to ensure that we are all protected.
However, while the strategy is being polished, the most vulnerable residents of our territory continue to suffer.
Will the minister commit to tabling the Family Violence Prevention Strategy before the end of the fall sitting?
Minister of Health and Social Services, Minister Peterson
I thank Mr. Aupaluktuq.
Of course, I can’t say enough for frontline workers out there; the social workers, the mental health workers, the RCMP, and all the other people who work so hard in our communities to make our communities safe.
As the Minister of Health and Social Services, I get updates regularly from the communities about incidents that occur. Many of our social and mental health workers face verbal and physical threats in the communities. It’s very hard for me to see that because they’re there to help people; they’re not there to hurt people.
It’s the same with all of our frontline people.
As I said to Mr. Aupaluktuq earlier, I only have a draft document, so I can’t commit to tabling anything in this fall session.
Question 444 – 3(3): Youth Centres in Nunavut Communities (Curley)
My question is for the minister responsible for youth.
Many young people are saying that there has to be a youth centre where they can have discussions and interact with the elders.
For example, I read a letter from one of the youth and it indicates that there’s too much underage drinking because they don’t have the support staff.
I would like to ask the minister if the government is considering the needs of the youth, especially youth centres or establishing youth centres. That’s my question.
Minister responsible for Community and Government Services and Sports, Minister Kusugak.
I thought it was being forwarded to the Minister responsible for Youth and Elders, but I couldn’t agree with Mr. Curley more.
There is a big need for more recreation facilities and places for young people to gather.
In reference to the letter that I read and another letter that I read last year, it states that the youth are saying there should be a youth centre where they could interact or gather after school because the schools are not available for after school activities for youth.
Due to this reason, can the government indicate whether or not there are any plans to establish teen centres in the communities, as it would assist in crime prevention?
I would like to ask if the government has any strategies towards youth or are the needs of the youth not even in the picture?
Minister responsible for Sport and Recreation and Community and Government Services, Minister Kusugak.
I also thank Mr. Curley for speaking to the youth issue.
I totally concur with your assessment and I agree wholeheartedly with the youthful author of the letter.
I know the author was speaking to the issue in Rankin Inlet. However, I believe all youth in Nunavut are voicing those feelings that they require a teen centre in their communities.
We are working with the hamlet councils to identify the needs of their communities, such as arenas, gymnasiums, or drop-in centres. As hamlets identify their needs, our department will work with the hamlets to identify their priorities and to look at how they can meet the needs and how to ensure it can be included in their plans.
We have to put a priority on the youth because we’re not only talking about the youth. There are other youth out of the school environment and I think we have to start planning. They bring up issues.
Like he said, there’s too much underage drinking. Their brain cells are busting because they are drinking under age. They’re not developed yet.
The youth of Nunavut need a future and we should be there to give them support.
The government should have a strategy for youth. Could the minister tell us if there’s a youth strategy within the government?
Minister responsible for Community and Government Services and Sport and Recreation, Minister Kusugak.
In regard to recreation and leisure activities, there are more and more communities that are focusing on different sports activities like basketball, baseball, and so on, but we also have to look at the non-sports activities and I’m sure that they’re lacking… .
We’re lacking on those types of issues.
I understand exactly where you’re coming from and when I first became the minister for recreation… . I will look into it and we will see what we can do about leisure activities or drop-in centres.
My department will look at it and consider some of the factors that have been brought up.
I understand that it’s not going to take overnight.
It’s very obvious that we have left behind the youth, not only in leisure and gathering places, but in other areas. After school, they’re just walking around town and some of them are just walking around late in the night.
There are a lot of departments that we can talk to, such as the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, and the mayors of communities because I know they’re very big on youth activities. I think it would help a lot if the government sets up a strategy.
I’m sure you can work with the Minister of Finance, but could you give us an update on what kind of strategy your department might bring?
The government has to work in partnership and with other entities. I urge the minister to give us an update, possibly in the winter session.
Is that going to be possible?
We shouldn’t just be writing strategies. If there is an opportunity arising at the community level, they can take the initiative and start it and we, as a government, can support them.
We can’t only follow rules or strategies.
We know that each individual community has initiated some activities for youth.
I know that during the Kivalliq Inuit Association meeting in Coral Harbour, they talked about youth activities being set up.
In Rankin Inlet, there is a youth drop-in centre which is administered by the hamlet.
I’m not exactly sure where it is at currently, but there are some activities happening in some communities, not all communities, only in some communities.
I can tell my colleague that we will look into it. I agree with you completely that the Members of the Legislative Assembly should be lobbying on behalf of the youth, including the Inuit organizations and the people out there.
I know that in Rankin Inlet, during the KIA annual general meeting, the president stated that she gets the youth together on a regular basis and have discussions with the parents and the youth, and so on. We hope to see those types of activities flourish at the community level.
As it goes forward, when there is an update available, I will do so.
I can’t tell you whether there’s going to be an update for the winter session or not. If it takes too long, I’m sure that my colleague will remind me.
Question 445 – 3(3): Planning Community Specialist Visits (Enook)
I would like to go back to the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Hon. Minister Peterson.
Mr. Speaker, providing health and social services to Nunavummiut is an important issue across the territory. Specialist visits to communities for services, such as dental and eye care, are critical to the health and well-being of our residents.
However, in far too many cases, the appointments fill up completely and many people are left to wait until the next visit, which may not be for another two or three months.
Can the minister clearly explain why specialist visits are not planned so that the specialist team stays in the community until every person who needs to be seen is seen?
Mr. Speaker, I can’t give a clear answer to that, Mr. Enook.
Mr. Speaker, non-insured health benefits pay for the eye exams and dental. We have contractors who are on contract to provide services to the communities and they have schedules that they work on.
I know the opticians and ophthalmologists try to coordinate their visits. The appointments are scheduled three to six months in advance.
I know there are a lot of people in many communities who do need to see the specialists.
The department makes a very concerted effort to make sure that all the people with critical needs do see the specialists when they are in the communities and, if not, if it’s really urgent, I’m sure there are alternative arrangements available.
This issue has been raised on many occasions and by a number of my colleagues.
After hearing the same concerns raised so many times, can the minister indicate whether he has ever asked his officials to look into the planning of specialist visits to Nunavut’s communities and, if so, what improvements have been suggested?
Hon. Keith Peterson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank Mr. Enook for the question and for the concern for the constituents in his riding and of course, all of Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, of course, I talk to my officials all the time. I am aware that the dental contracts are coming up for renewal or extension or going out to RFP. I have asked them to look at incorporating clauses in there that would provide longer services in communities and better coordination.
I’m striving to push for the idea that the Department of Health and Social Services should be more efficient, more effective, see as many people as you can. I even talked to them about, rather than sending people down south, if we can use the Qikiqtani General Hospital, the operating room to bring, especially our younger folks in Nunavut, children… . There’s quite a backlog of kids who need to see a dentist and use the operating room up there.
There are ways.
It’s just a matter of focusing our energies on finding efficiencies and effectiveness that reduce the waiting times and provide a timely service to Nunavummiut.
I assure my colleague and all members that Health and Social Services is very committed to providing good health care and programs and services to Nunavummiut.
From time to time, specialist visits to Nunavut’s communities are arranged when people are not in town, for example, when we traditionally go out on the land.
In those cases, if an individual is unavailable for an appointment because they like to go on the land, they lose their priority on the list and sometimes have to wait another year before they can get another appointment.
Can the minister indicate what steps are taken to ensure that an individual is not unfairly deprived of their right to timely services from visiting specialists?
Mr. Speaker, it’s an interesting question. I think the individual and the department would have to work together to coordinate the appointments.
If that individual has planned to be out on the land at a certain time when the dentist or eye doctor comes to town, I think they should let the department know so they can coordinate around that.
I don’t think an individual, in most cases, would wait a year.
I know that there are three or four visits by a specialist every year to communities. Every community, most communities receive 50 to 100 days of visits by specialists per year. So it’s just a matter of making sure that the department knows if you will be in town or if you will be engaged in some other activity and they can work around that.
Question 446 – 3(3): Fire Prevention Initiatives (Oshutapik)
Thank you for providing me this opportunity. (interpretation ends) Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Community and Government Services.
The current business plan of the Department of Community and Government Services indicates that one of its current priorities is to review and amend the Fire Prevention Act.
Can the minister indicate what issues the department is looking at and what changes it is considering making to the legislation?
The Fire Prevention Act has to be updated and that’s what we would be dealing with.
I would like to thank the minister for responding to my question. (interpretation ends) Earlier this year, the minister tabled the 2011 Annual Report of the Office of the Fire Marshal.
The report indicated that a general level firefighting course was delivered in Pangnirtung last year in partnership with the Municipal Training Organization.
Can the minister indicate approximately how many fire service training courses will be delivered this year across Nunavut?
I don’t have any figures to tell me how many courses will be offered within this year and there are courses being offered already.
Once I find out how many there are, I will bring it up.
Mr. Oshutapik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (interpretation ends) The 2011 Annual Report of the Office of the Fire Marshal indicated that Nunavut suffered over $53 million last year in fire-related damages.
Can the minister indicate what new fire prevention initiatives his department has undertaken this year?
With respect to fire prevention and fire safety, this is an ongoing matter being dealt with here in Nunavut.
These procedures are being drafted for the firefighter brigades to comply with, especially fire prevention and safety.
These training courses are provided by the firefighters through written material as well as classroom presentations.
This is to be aware of fire hazards.
This program is ongoing this winter.
The 2011 Annual Report of the Office of the Fire Marshal indicated that 2,382 fire prevention inspections were performed across the territory last year.
Can the minister tell me how many inspections have been performed this year in Pangnirtung?
I don’t have that level of detail, in fact, in terms of how many inspections were done in each individual community available at this time.
As soon as I get that information, I would be more than happy to forward it to my colleague.
Question 447 – 3(3): Suicide Prevention Action Plan (Elliott)
Could the minister confirm that the Nunavut Suicide Prevention Strategy Action Plan is being implemented as outlined in the action plan or is it one of the action plans that, as he stated earlier, is collecting dust?
I thank Mr. Elliott for the questions.
As in the matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, that particular strategy isn’t collecting dust because I’m checking on it quite regularly to make sure that all the “measurables,” all the timelines and everything else are being followed.
It is a magnificent document.
Mr. Speaker, I have to say it’s a very important document and this government takes suicide very seriously.
It’s no question that suicide is one of the most pressing issues in the north. I was up in Fairbanks in August 15 at the 15th International Health Congress.
I learned from my colleagues over there from all the circumpolar countries that suicide is an issue in all circumpolar countries.
So that wasn’t particularly good news, but I learned that we can all work together on this.
I was very proud to tell my colleagues up in Fairbanks that we do have the strategies, action plan and we’re implementing it with our partners, the RCMP, the Embrace Life Council, and NTI.
Could the minister elaborate on some of the milestones or some of the tangible, measurable outcomes to date?
Well, it’s quite a long document here; you can see. Mr. Speaker, it covers a period of September 1, 2011 to March 31, 2014.
One of the tangible outcomes is we provided more funding to the Embrace Life Council. That was a recommendation. I can’t point to the specific item in here, a clause that was done.
There has been more ongoing work on the Mental Health Strategy. We’re doing an internal review of the Mental Health Act. We are having meetings regularly with our partners, as I indicated earlier, four partners, to make sure that everybody’s engaged and working hard on this strategy and action plan.
In regard to the ASIST workshops that were supposed to be happening across the territory to help frontline workers and constituents to better understand and help deal with or talk someone down from suicide, I was wondering if the minister could update the House on how well those are being received with it being “Nunavutized,” as it was described, and whether the workshops are being implemented across the territory.
Mr. Speaker, that program is going well.
Nunavummiut, communities, and organizations continue to request the program.  I have a schedule of workshops delivered to date since April of this year, April 2012, to their most recent, September 26.
I have a schedule of programs and workshops to be delivered in communities from September 26 this year all the way up to February of 2013.
The uptake on the program is going well.
There have been over 600 Nunavummiut who have taken that program.
One of my friends is a trainer. He was recently in one of the communities offering the training and he said that it is well received; people are very enthusiastic about the program. The more training we can provide, he feels, the better it will be.
Keep in mind, Mr. Speaker, the ASIST program is only a first responder. It only helps people identify or potentially identify the signs that someone’s suicidal.
It’s not going to work in all cases. It is something the people appreciate, but it’s not going to identify everybody who could be suicidal.
I know, during the consultation process and the development of the strategy and action plan, NTI played a vital role.
Mr. Speaker, our government spends a considerable amount of money on the implementation of the action plan.
How much financial support does NTI provide?
The Government of Nunavut appreciates and welcomes the support of all of our partners in this strategy and action plan.
As I indicated earlier, NTI and Embrace Life Council are engaged with other organizations.
I can’t provide a figure of how much funding everybody puts in, but it’s not always about funding; there are other intangibles that organizations or individuals provide to this action plan.
Question 448 – 3(3): Lack of Essential Social Services (Tapardjuk)
I would like to ask the minister about the Member’s Statement that I made earlier today.
In my member’s Statement earlier, I spoke of the need for community social workers to focus more on counselling instead of immediately resorting to child apprehension.
My first question, Mr. Speaker, is: can the minister clearly describe how many social workers there are in Nunavut and how many of these social workers are aboriginal or Inuit?
Mr. Speaker, I believe there are over 40 social workers in Nunavut right now. I can’t give him a breakdown between beneficiary and non-beneficiary at this time.
The reason why I raised that question was to provide some background for the questions I wanted to ask.
Mr. Speaker, I understand the workload for the social workers is already full, which seems obvious to people who see the social workers in action.
Can the minister provide more details as to whether social workers’ mandates include counselling for families in crisis, to develop healthy families or are their mandated focus only on apprehending children?
I thank Mr. Tapardjuk for the question. Mr. Speaker, the apprehension would be the easy part.
However, that’s when the social worker’s job starts. That’s when you apprehend a child, and then you start working with the family, the individuals involved, and the community on how to bring the family back together and reconcile them. So that’s when the social worker’s job really begins, on the counselling side.
I know many social workers across Nunavut, many of them are my friends, and I know that they work hard to bring families together.
It upsets them that they do have to apprehend children.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if my colleagues will recall, last year, in this Assembly, we had Madam Sheila Fraser, who tabled her 2011 report on child, youth, and family programs and services in Nunavut.
It documented a lot of horrible things that have happened to our children out there in our communities.
It’s incumbent upon us as politicians, leaders, and officials to support our social workers and support our communities to help our most vulnerable.
That’s why this government has decided to create the Department of Family Services, so that we have more focus on our families, our children, and our communities.
That was a cookie-cutter response.
Indeed, in this House, we have continually heard the government line. Actually, our Nunavut residents are given this government’s line that Inuit societal values will form the basis of the government’s operations.
They keep giving us this line to date, stemming all the way back from1999, that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit will form the basis of government policies and operations.
Can the minister provide an update on the incorporation of Inuit societal values, as well as Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and cultural and family principles, and when will these values be implemented into government operations?
I thank Mr. Tapardjuk for the question. Mr. Speaker, we heard from Nunavummiut on the Child Welfare League of Canada in consultation with communities. We heard through the Knowledge Forum what people felt.
We have read the Office of the Auditor General’s report. We’ve had people involved in the establishment of the family services department. I have spoken to the new Deputy Minister of Family Services, Aluki Rojas, about the absolute necessity to incorporate Inuit societal values in the new department.
I believe it will be reflected in the legislation that the department is currently reviewing.
Mr. Tapardjuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank you for allowing me another opportunity. Mr. Speaker, we all know that with Inuit best practices, counselling, and advice provision, along with improving one’s self, is how Inuit traditionally corrected a person’s behaviour.
Apprehension of children leads to anger towards the system.
As per the minister’s statement, their priority is to protect the child by apprehending the child from the family and the end result is anger towards the system. He further states that this will be part and parcel of the draft legislation.
Mr. Speaker, let me reiterate this question. In what other area can social workers provide assistance to dysfunctional families or those in crisis that lead towards child apprehension? How can we stop them from getting to that point?
Speaker: Thank you, Mr. Tapardjuk. Minister of Health and Social Services Minister Peterson
Mr. Speaker, under the current Act, there’s an option to look at plan of care communities and community plan of care committees. I have sat on several plan of care committees in my community of Cambridge Bay where the social worker and the family members would come together to help the family. We make recommendations and then we support the family.
On a plan of care committee, there would be individuals like the mayor or elders or family members or anybody they know and trust who will support them. I believe this, again, starts at the community.