EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I’m sure that the Canadian Rangers can help, but I have no idea what kind of procedures they have to follow.
Hamlets such as in Repulse Bay, Kugaaruk, Coral Harbour, or Baker Lake have to get more support because they are the first ones to respond to search and rescue calls.
From what I know, it seems like they are given a very limited amount of money for search and rescue operations.
They can be provided GPS, but there doesn’t seem to be any money that can be used for GPS and other equipment required.
The Canadian Coast Guard is not immediately available when they are needed and they have to follow procedures when a helicopter is required for a search and rescue operation.
So it’s the responsibility of the hamlets to provide search and rescue services.
They have less equipment than the RCMP or the Canadian Rangers, but they’re the first ones to respond to a call for search and rescue.
Under the hamlets, we have search and rescue teams.
I would like to thank the minister for trying to improve the response programs available to the public and I’m very glad that they’re trying to improve the system.
In the smaller communities, they know exactly what their area is like and it would make a big improvement if the government was willing to give more financial support in that area.
Minister Kusugak, would you like to make a comment on that?
Thank you, Mr. Ningark.
In regard to search and rescue, we are making progress. Usually, it’s the immediate family that is the first to go on an operation and then the RCMP comes in second, following the required procedures.
That’s the way it used to be, but there has been an improvement in Nunavut to date.
I think Nunavut has the best response procedure and usually, our response office is the first one to initiate a search, exactly who is going where, all of that is coordinated by our office.
If there’s a need to include the military and Hercules, and so on, those are already identified.
The local search rescue teams are involved and when there’s a requirement, the RCMP gets involved in the case of search and rescue operations.
We have a response plan which has been implemented in all of the communities and all communities have been provided with GPS devices, satellite phones, as well as locator beacons. All of those are available in all communities.
Just this summer, we will be ordering 10 locator beacons that can be used on land and water.
So there’s an improvement in search and rescue operations, and I am glad that the member brought this issue up.
Usually, we don’t think we’re going to get lost, so we never think to go get a satellite phone or a GPS, but they are available in the communities.
I have Mr. Rumbolt on my list.
I’m sorry, it’s Mr. Ningark.
I have a very short question and if you respond accurately, then I won’t have any further questions.
We usually don’t think we’re going to get lost when we’re out on the land.
Is there a number or a toll-free number that is provided by the government which is available 24 hours a day?
Yes, we have phones in the regions. In the Baffin, the Kivalliq, and the Kitikmeot, there is a number you can call on a 24-hour basis.
There is also one here in Iqaluit. You can call those numbers 24 hours a day and if you don’t get a response in one particular region, you can always call the other numbers, Mr. Chairman.
On my list I have Mr. Rumbolt.
My question is in regard to page 5 of 6 of your opening comments.
You state, “An example of another recent improvement can be found in the bundling and/or unbundling of our transportation and supply activities in the purchasing of fuel products and delivery to communities.” Can you please explain bundling and unbundling?
Thank you for that question, Mr. Rumbolt.
We used to tender it out to supply and ship as one package and now it’s unbundled and that we ask for a supply contract and then a shipping contract.
With the bundling and the unbundling, which seems to be more cost-effective?
Hon. Lorne Kusugak: The current system is much more cost-effective by a substantial amount. They can bid on both, but the current system is quite a bit cheaper, Mr. Chairman.
The next person I have on the list is Mr. Schell.
Going back to the purchase of fuel and I know I asked the minister this earlier and maybe he doesn’t have an answer yet.
But my question that I asked him earlier on was: if they would have hedged the fuel back when it was $37 a barrel, what would it have cost the government considering now that it’s $68 a barrel? I’m wondering what the insurance policy would have cost the government.
Thank you for the question, Mr. Schell. We opted to do the early purchase and then hedge because it’s much more definite and there are much more concrete numbers, so we opted for that option.
If it comes to hedging, we are not the department that does the hedging, that’s done through the Department of Finance.
I do not have anymore… actually, Mr. Aupaluktuq.
While the minister and his officials are here, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.
First of all, I would like to make a supplement about search and rescue to include the firefighters as they are also part of our local emergency response teams. I was grateful when I heard the minister mention them. The fire departments provide assistance during search and rescue operations and I would like to see them commended for the work that they do.
Some have other jobs while others are hunters, but they are all volunteers and they are an essential team in our community.
This is not really a question but more of a comment that I wanted to make as I am very appreciative of the minister’s mention of these important local safety components.
I would like to inform the minister that one of the issues facing the local fire departments is the lack of radios or obsolete equipment and I wanted the minister to be aware of the equipment deficiencies.
I just wanted to ensure that the minister was aware of this.
Minister Kusugak, would you like to speak to this question?
I would like to thank Mr. Aupaluktuq for commending our volunteer firefighters.
They are essential and they supply an essential service to protect the communities and the people.
Please make sure that you recognize the volunteers because they are a first response team and they will respond without thinking of themselves.
The hamlets, the people in the communities, and the people of Nunavut should recognize and acknowledge that they are volunteers on a more regular basis.
We will now proceed to (interpretation ends) the page-by-page review of the departmental estimates starting with page J-4.
I have a question in regard to J-4. Your department’s draft 2009-2010 business plan indicates that it will develop a legislative proposal for the Nunavut Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Protection Act.
A bill with this title was passed by the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in March of 2009.
Will you be introducing a similar bill during the upcoming June sitting of the Legislative Assembly?
Thank you for the question, Mr. Rumbolt.
Yes, we have intentions of brining that forward during this sitting.
I just had a question for the minister or his officials as well.
Your department’s draft 2009-2010 business plan indicates that it has completed a review of the Conflict of Interest Act “and prepared a legislative proposal for consideration.
What problems has the department identified with this legislation and what changes are you planning to make to it?
We are currently reviewing the issue and if I could ask Mr. Maley to elaborate on that a bit.
Mr. Maley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) I thank the member for his question.
Currently, what we found as part of the review process is that the Conflict of Interest Act and its effect are very widespread and there are many organizations that will be affected by this.
So right now, we are reviewing legislation and preparing a legislative proposal but we are also seeking more input and further direction on this. And as we do our research, we are finding the broad breadth of the issue. So the department will be reporting back some time in the future.
Your department’s 2009-2010 business plan indicates that it will “Set up a formal consultation plan with the stakeholders to propose delegation of lotteries to all municipalities under the Lottery Regulations.”
Why does the department want to move in this direction?
Thank you for the question, Mr. Elliott.
About half of the municipalities right now in Nunavut run the program. The majority of those that are not running the program have indicated that they would like to run the program, so that’s why we are taking that course of action.
Your department’s 2008-09 business plan indicated that the review of the Nunavut Consumer Protection Act has been delayed. What has caused this delay and when do you plan to review this Act?
I would like to invite Mr. Rafter to answer that question.
I’m not sure if I have the complete answer.
I may ask the member to rephrase it, but the review is taking place over the course of this fiscal year, 2009-2010.
If he can just rephrase the question, I can provide some additional information.
The other question I had asked is what has caused this delay.
Hon. Lorne Kusugak: We’re playing tag over here.
We will get Mr. Maley to answer that if he can, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Maley: Thank you, Iksivautaaq.
The Consumer Protection Act is one of the Acts that was grandfathered over from the NWT and in all honesty, it was one of the Acts that was left as other Acts.
As you know, much of the legislation we had in the early days of Nunavut, because April 1 was the date, were carried over from the NWT and subsequent to that, we have been able to Nunavutize those so that they make sense for us.
The Consumer Protection Act has kind of taken more time because we’ve got such a small consumer affairs section, it’s only actually two people, and because consumer protection is ordinarily integrated with the rest of the provinces and territories.
Where we are right now is we’re continuing to review it.
We’re hoping that this year is the year that we can actually bring forward a revised Act that truly makes sense to Nunavut and also makes sense to the current resources and potential future resources that are going to be required for us to truly engage in consumer protection, which again potentially has a broad breadth as well.
So our plan hopefully at the department is to do more work on it this year and bring something forward for discussion later on.
With respect to Mr. Aupaluktuq’s question earlier, I believe this would be under the Conflict of Interest Policy on J-4.
We are told that this is under review.
Currently, we spend a lot of money for trucks and other items.
Where are these assets bought from?
The government will have to carefully examine where they were bought from for the communities.
Who did they award the contracts to in the communities?
Also on job postings, Mr. Chairman, where they require qualifications of grade 11 or 12 to work for the hamlet in the small communities, sometimes they hire people who don’t even have grade 10.
When the conflict of interest guidelines are being reviewed, I believe my comments should be taken into account.
My question is: are you going to be conducting a review once this policy is in place?
Yesterday or the day before, I tabled the government contracts and procurement.
We table it at the Legislative Assembly on an annual basis.
Again on this issue, we have to make sure that there is no conflict of interest in the contracting and procurement done by the government.
That will be part of the review process that the member mentions.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Kusugak.
Trucks, plows, and dump trucks are very expensive heavy equipment.
Used water trucks are sometimes bought.
I think the government will have to know exactly where they’re buying that equipment and it would be up to the government to take the lead so that there are no conflict of interest issues.
Minister Kusugak, would you like to respond to that, please?
That’s an excellent question.
The hamlets are local governments and they have to make their own decisions based on their own policies.
As a department, we can’t direct the hamlets where to buy from.
Again, sometimes the hamlets come to us to see who would be the best person to buy from.
We have provided that kind of support. However, the hamlets are their own government and they can order heavy equipment or other items from anywhere they choose.
I have no other names on my list. (interpretation ends) Directorate.
Total Operations and Maintenance. $8,808,000.
Chairman (interpretation): That figure has been approved. (interpretation ends) Branch Summary.
Total Operations and Maintenance. $61,414,000. (interpretation) Are there any questions on that?
My question is: your department’s draft 2009-2010 main estimates included $1.5 million in funds for the New Mobile Equipment Block Funding Program.
This program will provide communities with annual funding so that communities can determine equipment required and maintained to a high standard.
How will the budget for this program be allocated between communities and what will be the process for communities to access this fund?
Hon. Lorne Kusugak: The way we’re working on it right now, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for question, is that the funding will be distributed equitably, Mr. Chairman.
So if the community sees a need for a new piece of equipment, do they submit some kind of proposal to Community and Government Services or what do they need to do in order to access this funding?
The money would be given to them through their budget and the municipality could decide if they want to enter into a lease, or purchase, or let the amount grow in their account.
That decision will be made by the municipality.
The next person I have is Mr. Ningark.
On page J-5, we have heard that Kugaaruk’s lagoon... there was a pilot project initiated in Kugaaruk and it would be beneficial to the community according to my knowledge.
In your department’s 2009-2010 business plan, we have heard that the communities, I believe it’s two or three communities with Kugaaruk included, were not pleased.
According to my knowledge, this would be beneficial but the communities weren’t happy. How come these communities weren’t happy?
Are you aware of exactly what they were dissatisfied with?
Perhaps you or your officials know the reason why they weren’t happy, Mr. Minister.
Why aren’t they proceeding with the pilot project funding on water and sewer?
Thank you for asking that question, Mr. Ningark.
The pilot project was going to be started in the communities, but when the pilot project was started during the winter, we ran into problems and it wasn’t able to operate smoothly.
Perhaps Mr. Maley will respond to your question, Mr. Chairman.
As a result of some issues with the water and sewer program, the department entered into a pilot project in coordination with the housing corporation.
We selected three communities of varying sizes to try and work through a new approach to delivering water and sewage services that was a win-win for the government departments involved, which was primarily the housing corporation as well as the municipalities.
What we did first of all was we brought the parties to the table and we had some pillars that we tried to adopt.
The first one was that there was a cost associated with delivering the services and those costs needed to be paid for.
The primary driver here is government and in most cases, it’s the housing corporation.
So what we did is we proposed, as a department, that we do this as a block fund.
We would give the community an X amount of dollars based on last year’s amount and they would deliver the services and just report back to the housing corporation on an annual basis.
We agreed to do that with a 5 percent reduction and that is the communities would get their money upfront and proceed.
At the end of the year, the housing corporation had issues with the reporting and the communities weren’t satisfied that the block funding arrangement was worth the 5 percent reduction and so we’re kind of back to the drawing board now. The upside to this is we do have recognition from both sides of the challenges - municipalities do a great job at this service and the housing corporation also has recognition from communities that it’s expensive.
Although that pilot project failed, we’re hoping now, with a better understanding of the issues, we can come forward with a new proposal that we can look at to try and smooth some of the problems that are ongoing with the program.
The next person I have is Mr. Schell on J-5.
Going right back to the same issue with the water and sewer fund, my understanding from the communities was that yes, there was a 5 percent reduction in the amount they were receiving.
But the main reason they refused to do it the following year was that, and I don’t know if it’s true or not and that’s why I’m asking the minister, there was going to be an additional 5 percent reduction the following year and they didn’t agree on that.
Is that correct or not?
Thank you, Mr. Schell, for the question.
The short answer is no, that’s not true.
Your department’s proposed budget for the community transfer initiative is decreasing from $4,187,000 in 2008-09 to $3,339,000 in 2009-2010.
What accounts for this decrease?
Thank you for the question, Mr. Schell.
The reduction is due to the return of some of the community transfer initiative programs from Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, and Cape Dorset Justice, Cape Dorset Health, and so on. It’s because they have given back the program.
The budget for the GN’s contribution to the Municipal Insurance Exchange is increasing from $200,000 in 2008-09 to $850,000 in 2009-2010.
What accounts for the increase?
If I can, through you Mr. Chairman, have Mr. Maley answer that question.
I’ll make my response short on a long issue.
NAMIX is basically a municipal self-insurance program that requires some government assistance.
The original funding agreement with them was a five-year agreement which sunset a year ago.
At the sunset of the agreement, we found we had a successful program. It was more successful than where we were five years ago in terms of government contributions, but then it couldn’t stand on its own.
We approached the Financial Management Board with a request for funding and we were directed to do a review, which we have done.
The review shows that it is a very cost-effective program and therefore, we are looking now, as you will see in the new budget, at an ongoing program that will allow communities to continue to run their own insurance program, continue to adopt good risk management practices, and the government remains a minor player on this particular issue.
I do not have any more names in regard to Community Support.
Total Operations. $61,414,000.
J-5.
Everybody agree?
Government Services. $67,985,000.
On J-6, does anybody have questions?
Regarding J-6, Government Services, your department’s draft 2009-2010 business plan indicates that one of its priorities is to “Undertake an open-market feasibility study which develops sealift re-supply policy options for Government consideration.”
What concerns do you have with the government’s present approach to sealift and what specific issues will the study look at?
I would like to give an opportunity for Mr. Rafter to answer that question.
There are no particular concerns with the way that we are conducting sealift at this point in time.
There was a comprehensive evaluation of dry goods resupply done in 2004-05. One of the recommendations was to examine the impact and the feasibility of an open market study.
At the time, it wasn’t explored further; it was beyond the scope of the report, though it was noted as an item of planned business for the department to examine.
One of the concerns is a cost-benefit impact on small remote communities.
By going open market, would there be cost advantages for some communities and disadvantages for other communities?
So it’s those types of issues that we are examining and will be examining over the course of this year and hope to have a report finished by the end of this fiscal year.
I look forward to that. I guess, more or less, what happens and comes out in the fall, I will be looking forward to that considering the fact that there are options now in the north for sealift as well as government services, especially in isolated communities.
It’s nice to have a variety of sealift options now. The same thing goes for airlines, competition is good. It’s nice to have sealift options within the community.
Considering Baker Lake, we have been getting a lot of sealift and people are very pleased to know that they have options now. So I look forward to the response in the fall.
Does the minister want to comment on this?
Yes, we are starting to get more and more options within Nunavut on transportation. They are growing in numbers and due to competition, the prices are going down.
So we are going to look at transportation using ships or barges and that review should be completed by February of next year.
I will be pleased to table it at that time.
Chairman: Thank you, Minister Kusugak. (interpretation) Mr. Aupaluktuq, is that all?
The GN’s 2006-07 annual reports from departmental contracting, procurement and leasing activities were tabled in the leg. on November 7, 2007.
When will you table the 2007-08 and the 2008-09 annual reports?
They should be ready by the fall session.
These reports have not included information on procurement, contracting and leasing activities of Crown corporations and agencies.
The Legislative Assembly tables a separate annual report on these activities.
Will you commit to working with your cabinet colleagues to ensure that the GN’s Crown corporations and agencies table similar annual reports on activities or provide the information to your department for tabling in the Legislative Assembly?
There’s something to be said about bifocals as I change back and forth with my glasses.
They have not historically been tabled at the same time when we table ours. I don’t have a problem discussing that issue with my colleagues.
In the business plan, there’s an allocation of $240,000 under the Informatics Cooperative Training Program.
Under J-6, what is that exactly for?
Is that a position, or is that for training or mentoring?
Hon. Lorne Kusugak: That’s to be able to train in the informatics technology profession.
Thanks for that information from the minister.
I realize that this is the first year that it might actually have been allocated to that position.
So if it’s obviously a new position within the GN, are there people lined up to fill these positions?
Hon. Lorne Kusugak: I understand that the government has been running it for three years and it is being run through the Nunavut Arctic College, Mr. Chairman.
So is this the first year that the money is being allocated to your department?
Hon. Lorne Kusugak: Mr. Chairman, I’ll have Mr. Rafter answer that, please.
The funding previously had been accumulated through vacant PYs and reallocated to Contract Services.
So it appears as if it is a new program this current fiscal year.
This current fiscal year, it has been consolidated in advance as a contribution to Nunavut Arctic College upfront to provide the funding in advance.
So if I have this correct, this is going to be $240,000 that will be going directly to Nunavut Arctic College under their IT program to provide training for however many students apply.
I have Mr. Rumbolt.
My question is along the lines of what my colleague, Mr. Aupaluktuq, was talking about with the development of sealift resupply options.
With Sanikiluaq being in its location, we used to have the option of getting barges out of Moosonee, Ontario. Will your department be looking into reintroducing that shipping route?
Not specifically, but we’re trying to figure out the best way of shipping goods to and from all communities, and it may or may not encompass that.
I understand the fact that you’re trying to find the best ways to get things in and out of communities.
One other factor that you’ve got to look at is the cost of getting things to communities.