EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
In Nunavut, maybe if they tested the Inuktitut literacy, what would their mark be then? I think we would probably be a little bit higher. Mr. Speaker, the facts speak for themselves.
I’m glad that the minister himself raised the point that if it was done in Inuktitut they would probably do better.
Mr. Speaker, again in our consultations, another comment that we heard from presenters was that people were not literate in English or Inuktitut.
Mr. Speaker lets get the facts straight here and I won’t make them up, baffle, and dance around on the issue.
Maybe Mr. Speaker I could ask the minister if he could report for the record: what will his department spend on literacy programs and initiatives this year?
You approved the main’s Mr. Tootoo you should know what the amount is, $230 million, that’s the budget of the Department of Education. How much is spent on education programs; $16 million for the college and base funds for adult literacy in all of our communities.
Mr. Speaker, the short answer to the Member’s question is this.
Even up to ten years ago, we didn’t have grade nine in most of our communities so how could the literacy rates be as high? Mr. Speaker, if you look at where we were and now look at where we are going I think this is a good news story yet we have a long ways to go. That’s why the literacy coordinator was hired for the first time in May.
That is why we just tabled the adult learning strategy.
Mr. Speaker, when you look at the 42 percent of Canadians who had an opportunity to go to grade 12 and have had for the last 50 years in the country of Canada, they fell below the literacy number. Almost 25 percent of all university entrants for university or colleges across the country have to do basic remedial programs in some cases to get acceptance to a university. So, Mr. Speaker, in that light, why are we trying to put down Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker, we are doing a lot better than 10 years ago and we continue to improve. Mr. Speaker, the current concerns and comments heard by the standing committee are legitimate and Mr. Speaker that is why we are trying to address them.
I am not trying to put down Nunavut as the minister is implying. I am trying to identify an issue to get the government and the Department of Education to pull its head out of the tundra, as I have said earlier, quit acting like an Arctic ostrich, and address the problem.
Mr. Speaker, again I ask the minister as I did in my previous question. I’d like to ask him if he could specifically tell us this year what his department is spending, specifically on literacy programs and initiatives this year.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does he know?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister Picco.  Hon. Ed. Picco: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The member refers to ostriches which I believe are found in sub-tropical areas. I believe Mr. Speaker, that is where the line of thought and questioning of the member is coming from.
Mr. Speaker, we have moved forward, we have hired a literacy coordinator, and we have an adult learning strategy. We are trying to address the issue of literacy. It is an on-going issue.
As the numbers the member keeps pointing out, it is a national issue when you have 42 percent of Canadians that fall below the number. Mr. Speaker, the amount of money that is being spent on the total literacy in Nunavut includes adult basic education programming that falls under Arctic College’s budget and was voted on in the mains of the House. Mr. Speaker, I will have that exact number for him tomorrow so that Mr. Tootoo will be able to go to sleep with it and feel comfortable.
There are only 60 minutes allotted for oral questions.
I would like to tell the members to rephrase your questions and to rephrase your replies.
Question 003 – 2(3): Kugluktuk Women’s Shelter (Evyagotailak)
My question is to the Minister for the Status of Women.
(interpretation ends) Yesterday the minister made an announcement regarding the needs of reducing the violence against women.
The minister stated that all women deserve to live free from violence and I completely agree with the minister. However, we need to make sure that our actions match our words. At my community meeting earlier this month residents spoke of the need to help the Kugluktuk shelter to stay open.
I understand that the department is aware of the situation. The shelter continues to face challenges in meeting the government’s financial reporting requirements.
I have raised this issue before.
The staff at the shelter are focused on helping women and children in need and they don’t always have the financial background to do bookkeeping.
My question to the minister is: does she agree that it is important to keep the Kugluktuk Women’s Shelter open?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Status of Women, Ms. Aglukkaq.
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker and yes, I agree with the member that it is important to keep the shelter open in Kugluktuk.
In fact, I met with my staff in Cambridge Bay in regard to the women’s shelter in Kugluktuk and we have also had discussions with the Municipality of Kugluktuk to see if they could take on the responsibility to deal with the problems he has identified.
Those discussions, as far as I’m concerned, are ongoing. We understand there have been some changes as well in staffing and that they were not able to continue to operate the shelter but the discussions are now with the hamlet to see if we can come up with additional options to manage that facility.
Thank you, Minister. (interpretation ends) What is the department doing to help the shelter staff meet the government’s financial reporting requirements?
I think it’s important to also note that many community shelters operate on a contribution agreement from the government and each agency that signs off the contribution must meet the requirements of providing financial reports to the government before funding is dispersed to agencies.
As I mentioned earlier, the department’s officials in the Kitikmeot are meeting with the hamlet councils to try and address those concerns and those discussions are ongoing. We presented the idea to the Hamlet of Kugluktuk and to date we have not received a response back from them.
Speaker (interpretation): Your second supplementary, Mr. Evyagotailak.
I thank you Madame Minister. (interpretation ends) Can you commit to getting back to me before the end of our sitting on the action plan to keep the shelter open?
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Absolutely, I will commit to having that hopefully by tomorrow, in terms of whether we received a response back from the hamlet to address that concern.
Question 004 – 2(3): Medical Travel Escorts (Mapsalak)
Mr. Mapsalak: Thank you Mr. Speaker.
This is an on-going question that I have asked of the government in regard to medical travel escorts. There has always been an on-going problem with this issue and I know that my community is not the only community to have problems with medical escorts.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the minister what kinds of problems there are with the medical escort policy.
Speaker (interpretation): Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Aglukkaq.
I made a commitment to the members that I would be showing them a draft copy of the Medical Travel Escort Policy and I hope to have that distributed to the members during this sitting for their information as well as to receive their feedback. It is near completion.
The process that we follow internally is that the draft policy has to go to the policy officials group to get feedback from the regional operations.
I did commit to the members that I would have that draft to them during this sitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am sure that it is going to take a long time to do this but I have been talking about this issue for a while and I would like to get feedback from the communities and try to make sure that my community is well informed about the travel policy.
When do you think that it is going to be finalized?
I mentioned that I will be sharing a draft copy of the Medical Travel Escort Policy with members of this House during the sitting of this House. Once I receive feedback from members on that, I hope to have the policy approved for implementation in the New Year.
I am also prepared to sit down with all regular members to brief them on the proposed changes to the escort policy during this sitting if there is time. If not, I will also be seeking their feedback on the draft policy in written format.
I would also like to thank the minister for her response.
We definitely need to make changes to the travel policy. Usually the patients that require escorts are denied a lot of the time. We will keep seeing those problems if there is no change to the policy.
So is the minister saying that she will be showing us the draft policy at this sitting?
This is very important to our department.
I know and I have heard about the escort policy for people that don’t speak English going to the hospitals and requiring assistance from interpreters. The main concern is that we have to look at the policy. I will pass out the policies for that program to the members before December.
And then around 2006 maybe we will finish the policy.
The minister stated, I think it was before the draft, that they would provide the information to the communities prior to the approval of this draft policy. She stated that they would consult with the Nunavut communities and have a consultation tour prior to getting final approval.
Ms. Aglukkaq: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My plan is to introduce a draft and share the draft copy of the Medical Travel Escort Policy with the members of the Legislative Assembly to seek their feed-back and I’m also prepared to meet with all the regular members to explain the draft Medical Travel Escort Policy and also to seek their feed-back.
Once I have that finalized and receive the feed-back from the members here, a communications strategy will be developed by the department to inform Nunavummiut of the new and revised policy.
That information will be shared through the regional offices of Health and Social Services in the Kivalliq, Kitikmeot, and Qikiqtaluk, once it is available. I will also share the communications strategy with the members of the House.
Question 005 – 2(3): Health Issues with Rankin School (Curley)
My first question is to the Minister of Education.
The elementary school is closed today in Rankin Inlet due to fumes associated with the mechanical system.
I would like to first of all thank the school officials for their actions as the health and safety of our kids is fundamental.
I would like to ask the minister exactly what the problem is and when will the school reopen at Rankin Inlet?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Education, Mr. Picco.
I appreciate the member raising the issue and the question.
First of all, as the member indicated this morning, there were some fumes located in the Leo Ussak School, and indeed the principal and staff decided to close the school.
Community and Government Services staff proceeded to the school where they were able to ascertain that the fumes in the school were actually not from, or not solely from the school themselves, indeed they came from an external source.
The external source seems to have been snow clearing equipment which was working around the school. The air intake vents for the school were in line with the snow clearing equipment and it would seem that the fumes from the equipment entered the school.
The Community and Government Services staff immediately set about, after closing the school, to vent the school, and it was my understanding Mr. Speaker, it was hoped for, that the school would open up again this afternoon.
I haven’t been able to confirm that as of sitting time.
Mr. Curley: I appreciate the answer.
Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question is: will the minister work with the local District Education Authority to ensure that; perhaps the snow clearing if that was actually the case, they time it so that the school kids will not have to be ushered out of the building with the temperatures dropping quite rapidly at Rankin Inlet?
I would like the minister to ensure that this kind of thing will not continue to disrupt school activities because for the size of the community, it’s really quite something else, trying to transport kids around and bring them back home while the parents are working. I would like the minister to see if he can work with the local officials to try and ensure that kind of thing does not happen.
Yes, the department and I will work very closely with the District Education Authority and the officials in Rankin Inlet.
Again, the concerns seem to have been where the air intake for the school was located and the wind direction, so the fumes from the snow clearing equipment entered.
I’m surprised that this is the first time that we’ve heard of this because we know that during the winter there is a lot of activity with snow clearing equipment around the schools.
That’s something we need to be able to follow up on.
Mr. Speaker, I would hope to have a full report within the next couple of days and then be able to inform the member, as well as Minister Brown, on the status of the situation with the school and indeed some of the proactive work that can be done between us and Community and Government Services.
Question 006 – 2(3): Federal Gun Legislation (Arreak)
In regard to the gun legislation, we have had a lot of problems in Nunavut.
Is there going to be training provided to the people of Nunavut either here in Iqaluit or in the other communities?
They now have an office open here in Iqaluit. The federal government has opened the office again but I don’t know if they are going to close it again.
I hope that they keep it open.
The staff at the Department of Environment are providing training on a volunteer basis and they are looking at how they can provide more services to the people of Nunavut.
We are doing all we can to provide support and we are grateful.
We have been opposed to this gun legislation since it was created.
I had a meeting with my counterparts and told them to just scrap this and put the money where it’s more useful.
We have been working extremely hard to get that out of the way.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. Your first supplementary, Mr. Arreak.
I would also like to thank the Premier for his response.
While it’s still in use by the federal government, is it possible to urge your federal counterparts to go to the communities so that they can help the people of Nunavut to fill out those applications?
It’s not only for Inuit and it also affects when you are trying to buy ammunition and guns.
We are trying to deal with this through the courts; it does create a lot of problems for the people of Nunavut.
We are working with the Department of Environment to find out how we can provide more services to the people of Nunavut.
I could give you further details afterwards, once we get that all compiled.
We are a part of Canada, and of course, we have to abide by the legislation because it’s for the whole nation.
I would like the Minister of Justice to respond to my question: is it possible for you to talk to your federal counterparts and ask them to come up to the communities to help the people of Nunavut to fill out those applications?
As you are all probably aware, the elections are coming up; we are going to be voting for our government, maybe the first question we should ask is if they are going to repeal that piece of legislation, if there are talks on this piece of legislation, or if we are just going to be using money on this legislation that we are concerned about.
We are working with the Department of Environment to see what we can do to provide services as long as this piece of legislation is enforced.
Speaker (interpretation): Your final supplementary, Mr. Arreak.
I don’t know whether he said yes or no about asking the federal government to go to the Nunavut communities.
What we can say is we cannot really see that we won’t be voting for the government. We will only have one representative down in Parliament.
People cannot buy guns and people can’t buy ammunition because of this piece of legislation.
Is it possible for the minister to urge the federal government to go to the communities because it is their legislation and it is a federal piece of legislation? I think it is their responsibility to go to the communities to make sure that applications and everything else is completed.
This past week we had a meeting on this piece of legislation and I had a meeting with my federal counterparts.
I told them that this legislation is creating a lot of problems for the people of Nunavut.
I told them to enact a piece of legislation that only applies to certain parts of Canada. I told the federal government that we use these guns to hunt for food.
We are urging the government and we are working with our western counterparts.
It is something that we are not going to put on the back burner. We are going to keep working on it.
We are going to see what we can do to further lobby the federal government to have this piece of legislation repealed. We will work closely on it as long it is enforced.
Oral Questions. Mr. Netser.
Question 007 – 2(3): Docking Facility for Chesterfield Inlet (Netser)
I don’t know when legislation does not apply to Inuit and only applies to non-natives.
I can not really understand (inaudible) I will be directing my question to the Minister for Transportation.
The Chesterfield Inlet residents have been requesting a dock facility for quite some time.
What is the status of it? Could you update us?
Speaker (interpretation): Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Kilabuk.
We announced seven docking facilities and we will be giving this responsibility to the Deputy Minister of Transportation.
The last report has already been submitted to the deputy minister and the report has been given to the minister.
I’ve asked my staff today if they can set up a meeting for me with the federal minister about the applications and proposals.
When did they give the applications to the federal government?
Yes, we submitted the report more than a year ago to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans during their consultation tour.
After their tour they reviewed our proposal and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans staff worked with our staff to come up with a final report.
The minister now has the report.
To support them and to encourage them, I have requested a meeting with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
As you have stated, the federal government were doing their consultation tours, I would like to know when they are going to Chesterfield Inlet or have they already gone there?
I can’t tell him right now of whether the consultation tour visited Chesterfield Inlet when they were reviewing the docking facilities.
We are still waiting for a response from them and once I get that information I will look for that information.
Question 008 – 2(3): Nanisivik Airport Problems (Barnabas)
The minister received a letter from our mayor about our problems with the Nanisivik airstrip.
I know that the beacon is the responsibility of NAV Canada but we are having problems with the beacon. The staff at the airport can’t even purchase any parts for the equipment that they are supposed to use in order to maintain the airport.
I know that in 2006-07 we have a plan for the airstrip in Arctic Bay, but there are people filling the planes and the planes can’t even land due to bad weather because of the beacon that’s not working.
What is going to be happening to that airstrip before they construct ours?
In regard to the airport, we will have to operate and maintain the airstrip in Nanisivik. Although my colleague had elaborated on it, I do want to explain further that the beacons require work.
The beacons are the responsibility of NAV Canada and they need to be repaired. We know what the problem is now. I asked my officials to look into that and to inform NAV Canada right away that the beacons require repair.
Mr. Speaker, one of the bigger problems is that the airplanes require aviation fuel.
I am going to write to the Mayor of Arctic Bay and have asked my officials to draft the letter.
Then I’ll be sending it to Arctic Bay and will copy it to my colleagues.
Yes, we have problems with the bad weather; we also have problems with our equipment.
In regard to the lack of aviation fuel, the planes don’t even land there because there’s no aviation fuel.
They try to land once and then they don’t even try to land a second time because they have to have enough fuel to go to another community if they need to.
Mr. Speaker, although I know that the Co-op is now trying to get the contract on delivering aviation fuel, when will you make a decision on delivering aviation fuel?
I will ask my colleague to respond to the member.
Contracts are not under my department.
I will look into this with the appropriate minister then I will relay the information to you.
I would like to thank him for his response because my constituents will hear his response.
I do want to ask: is it due to lack of money that they cannot buy parts for the equipment at the airport?
So that is my question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I stated before about who bears responsibility, the price of repairing a beacon in Nanisivik is the responsibility of NAV Canada.
We have the responsibility for the airstrip.
If the airstrip requires any equipment it is paid for by the GN. If it is required as an addition to the capital plan, we’ll have to provide the funding.
Then it is purchased. Money is not always available even though the communities require parts for their equipment.
Question 009 – 2(3): Fuel Price Increases (Kattuk)
For those of us who are elected we are given some questions and some concerns by our constituents. My constituents had concerns last summer about the government’s decision to increase the price for fuel and gas.
My question is why the government provided only four days of notice before they increased the price.
Minister responsible for Community and Government Services, Ms. Brown.
Yes, they had only given four days of notice and I will try and provide the answer according to my understanding.
On September 1, there was an announcement made, but prior to that, it had to be approved by the Cabinet, and that’s how it was.
If I understood her, the Cabinet had to approve the increase first before it was made public. My question is why we were given only four days of notice. That was one of the questions that were posed.
They were wondering if perhaps there could have been given a longer notice before the increase. Before they increased the price they were interested in purchasing some gasoline prior to the increase and they wanted to know why they were given only four days of notice; 29, 30, and 31.
Those are the only three days that we were provided. What was the reason they gave us only three days notice before they increased the price?
I would like to thank my colleague for asking me questions.
There were not too many days of notice because the planners and others and FMB were also involved.
I understand your question why you were given only four days of notice before increasing the price. There was hardly any room for notice because the fuel price went up internationally. If we waited more days then the price would have been higher.
So we tried to put it at the appropriate level. I do feel for you. I know that three or four days of notice is short.
I know that when the prices go up internationally the Nunavut Government purchases fuel and gasoline once a year but elsewhere, outside of Nunavut, down south, they buy their fuel daily, literally. So that is why they had to follow the increase of the price. In Nunavut we only purchase our fuel in bulk once a year.
The price would remain the same. The gasoline is already paid for.
Why do we have to get an increase too? And, we don’t understand why the international prices of fuel have an impact on us. Perhaps sometime in the future if the fuel price is going to increase again, perhaps the government or the minister can provide more days of notice than what was given.
I feel your concerns.