EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
If we’re sending a patient down south, let’s say from Yellowknife to Edmonton, Rankin Inlet to Winnipeg, it’s the same situation.
The federal government will only pay two hundred and fifty dollars on the cost of that ticket. Our government, the Government of Nunavut pays everything else and the Government of Nunavut has to pay 100% of the escort costs.
I believe Mr. Speaker, under the total of NIHB, which is the Non-Insured Health Benefits programs that we receive from the federal government, we only get 50 million dollars in total for all those programs on Non-Insured Health Benefits from the federal government.
Our budget as a department is 160 million, so your government pays 110 million dollars or almost sixty percent of all costs directly related to healthcare in Nunavut.
We maintain as a government, Inuit are aboriginal and the federal government has a fiduciary responsibility for our people; however Mr. Speaker the federal government has not directly concurred on that area.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): The two hundred and fifty dollars pittance that the federal government issues and which go to the Government of Nunavut, how long has this two hundred and fifty dollar assistance program been in effect that is paid out from the federal government?
Was this initiated in the previous era of the NWT or is it a new program?
Mr. Speaker it is my understanding the two hundred and fifty dollars came into play in 1988 when the healthcare transfer was done by the federal government to the NWT government and at that time an average ticket price might have been around seven hundred and fifty dollars, that’s from some of the documentation I’ve been able to look at.
And doing research in this area, the two hundred fifty was a co-payment agreed to by the NWT government and was grandfathered on April 1st 1999.
We received the same amount of two hundred and fifty dollars from the federal government.
We are, Mr. Speaker, in the process and have been for the last two and a half years negotiating with the federal government to have the co-payment amount increased.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): The Minister stated that he’s has been trying to request the federal government increase this two hundred and fifty dollars allowance.
He stated that they have been dealing with this matter for two years.
What is the status right now? What progress has been made or have they agreed to increase the funding?
Mr. Speaker the Assistant Deputy Minister of this department, Mr. Abraham Tagalik, has been leading the negotiation with the federal government on the NIHB.
One of the main areas of discussion has been the co-payment; the federal government has indicated their willingness to proceed with giving us more on the co-payment but at the same time, we want to make sure that there’s not a perversity factor involved in that payment.
What that means Mr. Speaker, is if the federal government increases the co-payment from two fifty to a thousand dollars or eighty percent of the ticket costs that they don’t take it back from some area.
Meaning if they give us the extra amount on the ticket, they don’t cut our CHST grant or cut the NIHB amount that we receive from the federal government at the same time.
So that is where the discussions are. Right now we’re in the process of negotiations.
We hope to have something ready for presentation, probably to the Cabinet, by the end of March.
Question 335 – 1(6): Social Workers Immediate Supervisor – Nurse In Charge
Could the Minister, based on their existing operational data, indicate to me or tell me if there’s a head nurse for all the health centres in Nunavut?
Mr. Speaker in each community there is a designated NIC or Nurse in Charge position, if I understood the question correctly.
I’ll ask my question in English.
The Social workers in the communities, is their immediate supervisor the NIC in the community?
Mr. Speaker the Nurse in Charge in each community and the Department of Health are trying to put together a holistic model where a social worker, a team of the nurse, dental therapist, drug and alcohol counsellor, and everyone works together, and in that type of model, Mr. Speaker there has to be someone who has overall direction or supervision and in most communities Mr. Speaker, that is the Nurse in Charge.
I’ve worked in this field before for a number of years.
I’m having a hard time with the nurse in charge in my community being the immediate supervisor.
It’s because the two roles, they refer cases to each other.
Can the Minister tell the House how that is working, to make sure that the communities are getting services?
Mr. Speaker, I haven’t through the Minister’s office, heard too many concerns raised from communities or from the staff on the designation of the NIC being in charge.
I have heard concerns raised by the member and that is correct and Mr. Speaker, in one other community there was a concern with the NIC but since then, the NIC has left the community, that doesn’t seem to be the same case.
So, I have not heard too much concern with the NIC being in charge of the, I guess, of the model as we talked about earlier for health and social services at the community level.
I do hear concerns in that regard, maybe because they can easily talk to me, but for example, if the social worker is dealing with a sexually abused child, then they have to go to nursing station.
As the immediate supervisor, will that person be able to do performance appraisals for the social worker when they’re not even social workers themselves?
Mr. Speaker, when performance appraisals are usually done, through the collective agreement process and as well as the human resources process that they have in place, they are done usually by the immediate supervisor as well as the regional coordinator.
In this case, Mr. Speaker, when the report is done, the performance appraisals are done for social workers, they are done usually through the regional office in cooperation with the regional supervisor of social workers.
The NIC role would be very limited in having, in my understanding, the NIC’s would be very limited in just like saying, I guess, well, what the nurses are doing at the community level with the social worker, not on the actual social work being carried out.
Because a lot of the work being done by the social worker, as the member has said, would be outside of what the nurse would be privy to, for example, family counselling sessions and so on.
Question 336 – 1(6): Bilingual or Inuktitut Speaking Counsellors in Communities
My colleague from Amittuq asked a question related to this and I would like to elaborate on it a little further.
Mr. Speaker, like I said earlier, our social worker does a commendable job in our community given the circumstances, but our counsellor does not speak Inuktitut.
Some of the parents out there should be working with this individual but are unilingual and they have to then be sent down to Iqaluit to get counselling which eats into our limited budgets.
And the reason why that is, is because we have a unilingual English person providing unilingual counselling services and this is costing a lot of money which could be better utilized rather than having our clients sent to Iqaluit to be provided those services, especially psychological cases.
I think it is essential that we have bilingual or Inuktitut speaking counsellors available, especially as it would cut costs tremendously.
Have you done a review of the present situation, the added costs of sending clients outside and what savings you could accrue with bilingual counsellors?
Speaker: Mr. Picco again.
Very popular today, it must be the throat singing.
As I said earlier to the member for Amittuq concerning the counselling services and development, I agree with both of the members for Hall Beach and Igloolik and for Clyde and Broughton that we have to be able to put more counsellors in place.
We are moving in that direction and we’ve had more, for example, another one, in one of our programs, most of our women counsellors are Inuktitut speaking.
We have moved forward to try to get more designated social workers or Inuktitut speaking, however Mr. Speaker, we have not been as successful as we would like to be.
We continue to do that through Human Resources, trying to hire more people with the necessary skills and qualifications to be able to do the job. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister is well aware that there has been a tremendous amount of effort in my community in respect to healing and other community wellness activities, especially programs that are conducted outside of the social workers’ mandate.
In respect to counselling, we have a qualified counsellor who has been trained to deal with life issues, and a lot of times they are dealing with social issues, but there is no lifestyle or life wellness position within the departmental structure; in that type of situation, the counsellor is not doing what they should be doing because we are utilizing other people from Clyde River or from outside of the community altogether.
I would like clarification in regards to the counsellor’s qualifications or papers that are required.
What is required?
These positions are not implementing Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit at all.
Who is determining that these counsellors have to have these specific qualifications or certificates?
Mr. Speaker, I can see the, just for clarification, we have several of those occupations and positions within the Department of Health and Social Services.
For example, under the different acts that we have, we have social workers and there’s a regulatory process and another license that has been put in place for a social worker who’s also a counsellor.
However as the Member has just pointed out, in the community of Clyde River, the community based projects that have been launched by the Ilisaivik Society in Clyde.
They’ve done a very good job of training, for example, some of the trainers are unilingual and that’s a different type of counselling.
That’s one of the most formal types of counselling, done through Wellness Projects and so on, which is the very best and we support that process.
For example, Mr. Speaker, we provide some of the core funding to be able to run those programs in Clyde River.
That type of counselling, we can put people into place and they deal with certain areas, for example, maybe family counselling and so on.
It depends on what kind of aspect of counselling we’re talking about.
In the House last week, we saw some of our hiring of new child and new outreach workers, or working with children and youth and families in trouble.
These people have a different set of skills that are needed in the jobs, so it depends on the position and it depends on the type of job the person would be doing at the community level.
A person who would be doing alcohol and drug counselling for example, we have a different set of skills that will probably come in handy for family counselling. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, those are very interesting topics but looking at the huge amount of funding that the Department of Health and Social Services expends, I think that we have to look at innovative ways to provide the services at less cost.
Inuit can provide midwifery, they can resuscitate people in these situations and they have no certificates or qualifications but they are well skilled and well practiced in these life saving methods and birthing and everything else.
It was only when the Europeans came, that all of a sudden we had to follow those regulations and qualifications of the government which were imposed on the Inuit.
Why is it possible for the Nunavut Government to keep saying that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is going to be implemented, but not possible for the departments to utilize those people who have the traditional qualifications or the skills for these duties?
Mr. Speaker, the member is correct, and we have been doing that, we have been putting people in place, using Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, not as many as we’d like to put into place, but for example, some of the counsellors who have graduated from the program in Clyde, some are not but some are unilingual who are working at the community level in different communities throughout Nunavut.
That is an excellent model, the Premier and I and the members who were in Clyde last year; we were there when some of the people graduated.
So we’d like to begin those types of programs and maybe expand them to all those other parts in Nunavut, so what the member is asking for is happening, however it’s not happening enough as the member has said, and we need to be able to pick it up, in the coming months make sure we have more councillors on the ground who are at the very least bilingual and who, if the need arises, could be unilingual like we have in some of the communities right now.
So, Mr. Speaker the Government of Nunavut respects, accepts and supports that kind of initiative.
Our counselling strategies amongst the different cultures are totally different.
This is a cultural barrier which is the main concern of our constituents.
With those students who are completing this type of program, are they getting permanent jobs as counsellors in their communities?
Mr. Speaker it is my understanding that some of them have been offered a full time position and that is correct.
Question 337 – 1(6): Dry Goods Cargo Negotiation
Mr. Speaker my question today is to the Minister of Public Works and Services.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to drag out the petroleum products contract awarding to Woodworth Oil in Newfoundland and not NTCL in Kivalliq, but at this point Mr. Speaker there’s a lot of uneasiness in the Kivalliq.
Can the minister responsible inform us of what negotiations or where he is in awarding the dry cargo or the RFP for the dry cargo in the Kivalliq?
Just this past week, we discussed this issue in regards to the awarding of the dry goods transportation service; it is in the negotiation stage but we have not finalised it to date.
In regards to the Kivalliq dry goods transportation issue, we are looking at how best to proceed at this point and that’s in regards to the transportation of dry goods in the Kivalliq and the Baffin areas.
I would also like to ask the minister in regards to the dry cargo issue.
The Kivalliq residents have been used to dealing with NTCL, the port of Churchill and all the suppliers in Manitoba and I know yes, it gets best value for the dollar in the government like you know, and I urge the minister to get that value.
But the issue here is, if it is only pennies, and the price is not overwhelming between the next bidders on the dry cargo, would he consider when he’s looking at the RFP’s, if NTCL is in the ballpark, their level of service means something, and would he consider also the level of service in the delivery of dry cargo?
In regards to the first question, the RFP, we will be dealing with it in January.
We are looking at the price but it is not our sole consideration.
The question is that we are not looking at Churchill or Montreal, but the concerns of the Keewatin should not be focussed on that because we are going to have options that we can use at that point.
Mr. McLean: Mr. Speaker, you can do business down south cheaper, and operate Nunavut from down south cheaper.
That has been shown over the years.
NTCL is supposedly a northern company and I still think that they are a northern company.
But the issue here is that the level of service means something to people and we went through that in the Kivalliq with air services into Coral Harbour and Repulse Bay.
We have heard from them.
Sure it is a little cheaper to fly in there on this airline, but people in that region wanted to fly in an airline that had a washroom and had meal service in it.
I am sure that Woodworth’s could provide a cheaper service of dry cargo out of Montreal into the Kivalliq and the Baffin.
The issue here is delivery time.
What I want to ask the Minister, and I could be ruled out of order, would the Minister, before he makes his decision on dry cargo contract in February or March let the MLAs know before it hits the newspapers, so we have a chance to talk about it beforehand, so we don’t have to go through this issue again in the House.
Like I say, Mr. Speaker, the question is, will he please consult with the Members in the Kivalliq if it directly affects them and the Baffin communities before you work this contract because it has a definite impact in Nunavut.
In regards to your question, maybe I should start consultations with the community local businesses who will buy services and products of quality and at a good price.
The Government tries to do the same thing on behalf of the people of Nunavut.
I don’t know who will bid that RFP when we release it.
In regards to your last question, if we have to, I am sure that it would go through the Cabinet and at that time we will decide whether we are going to let the Members know or not prior to the news being released.
Mr. Speaker, this is a consensus government.
It is not party politics.
I am very proud of this consensus type of government that we have up here.
All the business plans and all of the Capital Plans have to go through the Standing Committee before they are brought into the House.
This is the first time I have ever stood up and asked a Cabinet Minister on the other side of the House if he would inform the Members on a very important issue that affects all our communities in regards to an issue that is going to affect every community and pretty well all the MLA’s on the very important issue of dry cargo rates.
I am just asking the Minister before he makes his decision to advise the MLA’s so we could go back and advise the Mayors so we know what is going on.
It’s very true.
We are a consensus government and the priority is to represent the needs and wishes of our people and before anything hits the newspapers, we’ll let the members know prior to that.
Question 338 – 1(6): Legal Proceedings on Bill 1
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Uqaqti.
Uqaqti, last November, on November 28th to be exact, I questioned the Minister of Education on whether he’d provide the Members of this House, the copy of the legal opinion that was prepared on Bill 1.
It’s quite some time ago and I’m just wondering if and when the minister’s going to follow through on his commitment to provide it to the Members of this House?
Well certainly, to give that to the member, that would be a very long time to wait for the response.
So what I’ll do is that I’ll check my records and see when and if a response on the opinion has been forwarded.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister said that he’s going to check to see when and if it has been sent to the committee meeting; that he’s not sure if the commitment he made in this House when we were sitting in Pangnirtung has been followed up on.
Well, with what I’ve been getting, and stop me if I’m being totally blunt starting with this question, but I will have to check and see if this is in the works.
Mr. Speaker, could the Minister then commit to reporting back to this house to find out where things are at tomorrow?
Well definitely we’ll give it a good shot.
Question 339 – 1(6): Guidelines for Providing Fire Trucks in Communities
I have a question for the Minister of Transportation about her statement on fire trucks.
In bigger communities they only have one fire truck.
For example Pond Inlet is a bigger community.
I wonder if the federal government has a ratio where they have to follow a code where, for example, if the population was one thousand, do they need one fire truck?
For example if the population is one thousand then they require two RCMP officers in the community.
I wonder if it isn’t the same way in providing fire equipment, fire trucks to the communities.
There is a standard that we follow where it is mandatory that we provide certain equipment to a community but I am not exactly sure of this particular question, but there is a guideline that we have to follow in providing fire equipment for the communities.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): The federal government once they have set out guidelines, I wonder if they provide funding to improve these services, let’s say that if they required two fire trucks because of the increasing population.
Do they have those guidelines and once they do, can they also provide financial support in order for the community to be able to obtain this equipment?
The federal government, sometimes they give us guidelines but there are different guidelines and sometimes they offer financial assistance if we require a particular piece of equipment for the communities.
Mr. Speaker, for this particular question in regards to the fire equipment, I can’t give him a definite answer at this time.
But the fire trucks that go to the communities are channelled through our department and we check with the community to make sure that they are prepared to deal with emergencies in their communities and these new fire trucks are channelled through us.
And Mr. Speaker, we also secured some funding from the federal government that would be used for essential services in the community; I would be willing to list them but there are so many programs where we get federal government funding on emergency issues.
I’m not Mr. Tootoo, for your information.
My last question to the Minister of Transportation; I was asking her a question in regards to fire trucks and she said that in regards to the question I’m asking that she doesn’t have the information offhand.
My question was not if they have the standards or not for this particular item but if there are guidelines for the type of equipment required based on the population.
There are probably lots of guidelines they have to follow in other areas.
According to the population numbers, at what number would you require two fire trucks for a community of this size?
I wonder if the minister can get back to me after she finds more information on this type of required fire equipment.
Mr. Speaker I will be able to get that information to him as soon as possible, which might be by tomorrow on how many fire trucks are needed, according to the population and the criteria for fire trucks being given to communities.
Item 11. Reports of Standing and Special Committees. Item 12.
Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills. Item 13.
Tabled Document 071 – 1(6): Report and Recommendations to the Nunavut Student Financial Assistance Program
I’d like to table the following documents on information and recommendations on FANS.
Tabled Document 072 – 1(6): Response to the Interim Report of the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act
I wish to table the following documents in response to the Interim Report of the Standing Committee to Review the Official Languages Act.
If not, we are moving to Item 14.
Second Reading of Bills, Second Reading of Bills.
Item 19. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters: Bill 13, Bill 17, Bill 18, Bill 19, Bill 21, Bill 25, Bill 26, Minister’s Statement 072-1(6) and Minister’s Statement 095-1(6) with Mr. Irqittuq in the Chair.
In the accordance with the authority provided to me by Motion 002-1(6) the committee of the whole will stay in session until it reports itself out.
Before we proceed to committee of the whole, we’ll take a short 20 minute break.
>>House recessed at 15.17 p.m. and resumed at 15.47 p.m.
Premier Okalik, could you provide the names of your staff?
Mr. Chairman, with me is Simon Awa and on my right Pierre Chartrand.
Does the Chairman of the standing committee have any opening comments?
We already had our opening comments; we can just go to general comments Mr. Chairman.
Does any Member have any general comments?
Perhaps if I could make brief comments, like I stated on Friday, the Kitikmeot region has requested the healing centre and correctional facility in the Kitikmeot region, and my community has a proposal to have the rehab centre in Clyde River.
In regards to the healing facility we have had dealings with people that want to take healing, they would like to be able to get some jobs in a community, and they have knowledge of traditional healing practises in my community of Clyde River.
This is healing and it is very important to the people of Nunavut.