EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
I know our Assembly, as you know, Mr. Speaker, the only jurisdiction in Canada that has seats, especially for elders to show the place that they have, the important role that they play in our lives here in Nunavut and I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a constituent who is here in the Gallery and that is Ms. Enoapik Sageaktok; she is here and she is usually at many public meetings voicing any concerns that she has over any issues that are going on in here in the community and I am very pleased to have her here in the Gallery today.
I recognise my wife walking in the foyer.
Are there any further recognitions?
I’d like to recognise a former constituent of mine from Baker Lake who couldn’t find a job in Baker Lake and has moved to Iqaluit and now he’s working two full time jobs and his dad is a famous author, unilingual business man and all around great guy, I would like to recognise Robert Tookoome.
Speaker: Welcome Robert.
Do we have any further recognition of visitors in the gallery?
I would like to recognise an individual originally from Kimmirut, Pitseola Akavak and beside her is Mr. Quirke’s wife, Annie Quirke.
I used to go to school with her for two years in the Sivuliuqtiit Program and again behind me I would also like to recognise Enoapik Sageaktok and every individual who is in the House.
Speaker: Welcome to the gallery, Annie and your friend.
Question 686 – 1(6): Update and Status of Igloolik Community Hall
A little earlier I was talking about the Igloolik community hall and I will be asking questions to the Minister Responsible for Community Government and Transportation on that matter.
We have been working for quite a while on this issue and I would like to ask the Minister to give us an update on what has been happening with the Community Hall.
Mr. Irqittuq and I have been working very hard on this issue and we are still working on the project.
After the review, our Cabinet will deliberate on this issue and we will work on it until we identify some capital dollars and I would like to assure the Member that I will keep working on this until it becomes resolved.
I will be able to keep the Member updated on this issue.
I understand exactly where the Minister is coming from but there is one that I don’t quite understand in your response.
The life of the First Assembly is coming to a close and we will not be able to complete any projects in the First Assembly.
What I do not understand is that the Minister stated that he is talking about the plans, where the dollars are going to be coming from.
So I am asking the Minister do you have funds and plans in place?
It is in front of the Standing Committee and when we were dealing with the Capital Estimates, I mentioned that the hamlets were going to be working with the Federal Government and also to identify some funds through the Infrastructure Program.
The Federal Government and our Government will be negotiating an agreement.
Once that has been completed and the funds are available, and all of us heard, the Members, that we are going to be working with the municipal officials and representatives to review and to identify what kind of Infrastructure Projects they will place as a priority.
Question 687 – 1(6): Which Jobs are Most Suitable for Decentralization Plans
Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Premier, who is responsible for decentralization.
Mr. Speaker, as you know last week I made a Member’s Statement regarding the stability in the workforce, and the security in the workforce, and also I mentioned that it seems like the targets, the numbers that the Government has been moving jobs into decentralized communities is just based on meeting numerical targets.
I would like to ask the Premier if they have done reviews to find out which jobs would be most suitable to be moved to the decentralized communities.
The reason why it took three years to complete decentralization is that we wanted to make sure that it worked, and that our Government could continue to function properly in the interest of the public and our constituents.
I am pleased to report that we are almost complete and will be done after this year.
Mr. Speaker, I know that this has been something that I believe that everyone in Nunavut, including the people of Iqaluit, have endorsed, and agreed with, and knew going into the creation of Nunavut in 1999, that Iqaluit be the capital.
People accepted the fact of decentralization.
At that time, Mr. Speaker, there was a plan and people made career choices in choosing positions within the Government based on those original plans that have been made.
My question is again to the Premier is what type of analysis has been done in order to come to the changes that have been made?
I understand the initial plan for the Workers Compensation Board, for example, was supposed to be decentralized, and they are still here.
Some other civil servants have been moved as a result of them not wanting to move.
My question is, based on things like that, who had the opportunity to say they can decide that they should be decentralized or not?
And what kind of analysis was done to see which jobs were, again most suitable, to be decentralized?
When we assumed office, we were presented with a plan for decentralization and there were high expectations of those communities that were receiving new jobs.
Unfortunately, the plan that was in place was not workable.
So we have had to make adjustments along the way.
That is why it took three years to complete the plan.
I could not and the government could not function with all Wildlife Officers being situated in one community where their jobs are to enforce our laws in each of the communities.
That’s the plan that we inherited, so we had to make some changes.
In terms of the Workers Compensation Board, we couldn’t commit to relocating it to a location of our choice.
Unfortunately, it runs by itself and is governed by a piece of legislation that we don’t have full control over.
So, those things we’ve had to adjust and what we’ve done is make it as workable as possible and at the same time, meet the expectations of communities.
The benefit that we have had over the last little while is that we have had many vacancies within our own government.
It has given us flexibility to offer alternate jobs for the employees affected, in particular Iqaluit.
Workers Compensation Board is something I’d like to get into with the responsible Minister at another time.
I know that’s a piece of legislation that we’re going to be looking at here in the next few days.
My question to the Premier is he had indicated that it wasn’t a workable plan.
I know that there are a number of specialized positions, like biologists and engineers.
Looking at the relocation of those types of positions, was the type of work that they do taken into account when making those decisions?
A large portion of the plan, in particular, Sustainable Development’s jobs were already on the plan when we inherited it.
We’ve had to make adjustments in a few cases but we’ve largely stuck to the plan.
For biologists, I believe there are some Inuit who are completing their studies and would love to go back to their own communities.
So, it’s always nice to say that this doesn’t work or that doesn’t work but we have to make it work.
That’s our job.
Mr. Speaker, I’m just wondering if the Premier could indicate at what point, I know he talked about he did not have a workable plan and I don’t think that there’s anyone here in this room that will argue that point.
Mr. Speaker, can he indicate when the decision was made and why the decision was made to decentralize engineer positions with the Nunavut Power Corporation?
Yes, we have been making plans and have had to revise those plans to make sure that we meet the expectations of the communities that were expecting those jobs.
For the Power Corporation, we could not commit ourselves to making finalized decisions up until recently.
There were tentative plans that we reached as soon as we created the Power Corporation to move many of these jobs to Baker Lake.
In the past few months, while we were finalizing the plans, it became clear that for us to meet the expectations of that particular community, we had to find further employment from the Power Corporation.
That is when we finalized our plans as a cabinet, later this year.
I can tell the Member that there are no further plans to decentralize as we have met the expectations of the communities.
I’ll ask a question a little bit later on.
The Minister responsible is not here.
Speaker: Just a reminder to Members that as part of our House rules we do not identify a Minister when he is not in the House.
Question 688 – 1(6): Gymnasiums for Athletes
Mr. Speaker, I made a Member’s Statement today in regards to gymnasiums and community halls for athletes to use.
These athletes might not be able to develop their skills if there are no gymnasiums.
I would like to ask the Minister of Community Government and Transportation for those communities that do not have a community hall or a gymnasium, is there anything in place for those communities to be provided with gymnasiums and community halls and is there any funding for these facilities?
Mr. Speaker, if his question is for all of Nunavut, I believe it is in reference to the inadequate number of facilities and what their status is at this point.
Mr. Speaker, there are different communities that have gymnasiums and some have community halls.
Some of them don’t even have one.
Some of them need renovating.
The facilities that require renovating or for those that have requested a facility, we are still working on that issue.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague made a statement about fire marshals closing down community halls.
I will use Gjoa Haven for example, Mr. Speaker, if there are 135 people in the community hall and that is their capacity then according to the fire marshal’s regulations, we have broken the law.
What kinds of powers do they have under the Minister’s portfolio, because the fire marshals have regulations; so do they have the power to close down buildings?
Yes, I’m sure that is a concern in his community where the population is over 1000 and the occupancy capacity was just 135, so the whole community cannot get together in that centre.
It’s unfortunate and I don’t want to be misunderstood by Members but it’s more unfortunate that because of the occupancy capacity the whole community cannot participate in an event.
There are many community centres in the communities that lack occupancy capacity large enough to meet the needs of the community and so the whole community cannot get together at one time.
Regarding his question regarding the authority of the fire marshal, yes, I made a Minister Statement regarding the fire marshal’s fire prevention strategy for Nunavut because it became a concern with the fires that were occurring and for assessment reasons for insurance, that we needed to follow the fire marshal’s code.
It is fortunate that it is generally understood what state the communities are in.
Knowing this there is some hesitation when they ask to close down the facilities.
If they closed them down right away it would not be very good in the communities.
I can further explain to my colleague that we are aware of this issue in the community and we have been in constant contact with this mayor of that community since spring.
We report to each other on what the progress is of that project.
Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the government’s tight fiscal reality and that we can’t just go ahead and plan for a community hall when we want.
With that reality in mind, we have tried to support our government through the hamlets, through contracts or with the private sector and that is what the hope was but the Department was not agreeable to that.
Is there a policy in his Department that allows for partnering with the private sector?
There is that option out there to ensure the benefit of the community, but perhaps because it is against their policy, is there a policy in that regard.
When we’re reviewing the needs of the communities, we also always have to remember our policies and processes and if we are going to build infrastructure that will not come along with operations and maintenance budget, then we would have to look for further funding in that other area.
We try to be quite careful in reviewing the needs of the communities.
We are unable to approve all requests for funding.
For instance, for community halls or any infrastructure needed in the communities, we have to follow our policies to ensure we have ongoing support for those communities and not overburden them.
For those communities that are lacking recreational facilities, for those communities that do not have a place to assemble whatsoever, in my earlier statement, if there was a lack of space in the community, can there be some sort of assistance given to them so those communities do not fall behind.
Are they open to getting help from outside agencies so that they are kept up to date along with other athletes within the territory?
So, I’m wondering if there are any plans for any alternative sources for facilities in the communities.
To clarify the matter, the facility in Gjoa Haven is inadequate, and we are aware of that.
In the high school, the gymnasium, and I’m glad to say along with them that they will be expecting an upgrade to the other school gymnasium that will be an addition to the elementary school.
And there will be a tender process that we have to follow.
For instance, within Nunavut, the communities before they start planning for the future, they have to ensure that they prioritize what the needs in the communities are.
Due to the lack of funding, we have to follow these procedures.
Question 689 – 1(6): Social Assistance or Income Support Inadequate
I want to direct this question to the Minister of Education.
Yesterday, I had mentioned in the House regarding the issue of social assistance.
We have heard from other Members here that social assistance is people who have not other options left to them.
I think that social assistance is inadequate for the communities.
Are you going to increase the social assistance to the people in need?
Are you going to increase social assistance to the people who need it?
I welcome all the visitors to the House.
Mr. Speaker, there was a review done on income support before I took over this portfolio.
Mr. Speaker, we have a better understanding that in Canada because of the high cost of living in Nunavut that we are lagging behind.
That is a fact, and it has been confirmed, Mr. Speaker, if there were to be any further funding, I think that it is $23 million dollars that we give out in Income Support to the residents of Nunavut.
If we were to increase this we would have to increase the overall funding for this Program.
Thank you, Minister for answering my question.
I am glad that I heard right.
Last year we asked for the Minister regarding that the money was too small for social assistance to buy groceries and clothing.
We know that it is too small in Nunavut and I would like to see that and I think that the Federal Government have mentioned that food here is very expensive and everything that is required in Nunavut is very, very expensive.
I was wondering if the Minister can improve on the Social Assistance Program.
The question is everything is so high that the social assistance that people get is too small.
Since the Minister is here, I would like to them make some improvements in social assistance to the individuals, and it is too small because the groceries are getting very, very expensive and the assistance that these people get is too small.
The review that was given to the Committee on November 27th, in 2002, in there was a recommendation to increase it by $10 million dollars to increase the individual income support recipients.
We would have to look for an additional $10 million dollars to be included into the budget for Income Support.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, we now understand the high cost of living in Nunavut and that was already confirmed through the review process and I do agree because that was one of the recommendations.
And if we were to find further funding, we’d have to find an extra $10 million dollars and that would enable us to increase the income support levels.
Thank you, Minister Thompson for answering my question.
As you know I like to see that the Minister makes improvements to the social assistance program.
When will the money be improved for the recipients to get groceries?
When will the improvements be implemented to the social assistance program?
As I said, once we find an extra $10 million dollars then we would be able to increase the income support levels.
Mr. Speaker, what I can say is that because of the school emergencies that puts an extra strain on our budgets.
Although we want to increase the income support levels we are unable to do so.
If we find an extra $10 million dollars to increase the income support program than we would be able to increase the amount of money available for that program I will continue working on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 690 – 1(6): Number of Staff Houses Vacant in the Communities
My question is directed to the Premier regarding the Decentralization Secretariat.
The decentralized communities in Nunavut have benefited through the creation of employment and the building of staff houses in those communities.
How many staff houses are vacant in the decentralized communities?
There are different reasons in those communities and the status of the decentralization of those positions is not the same.
Some of those positions are not staffed.
I can get that information to him at a later date.
Question 691 – 1(6): Syllabic Writing System
I will direct my question to the Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth and I’ll be making reference to the statement he made earlier.
It’s in regards to the Nunavut Literary Award.
I made reference to the loss of our language.
Do you have any plans in place for our syllabic writing system?
In regards to the comments he made during the Members' Statements, the Inuit Tapirisat Kanatami set up the new writing system, which took down one column of our ai, uu, aa. The present system is used to write the curriculum in Inuktitut.
The Inuit language is weakening and changing.
I believe that the Minister should look into the writing system and also set up policies for the Inuktitut alphabet.
My question is once the policies are set, do you do a review of the material that is produced in Inuktitut?
In regards to Bills, and since the creation of Nunavut, there has been a lot of terminology that has been compiled, and usually it is the interpreters or stakeholders who have those terminology conferences.
The terminologies that are compiled is reviewed and used in the workplace.
Once the terminology is compiled the Department will have to review the translated Inuktitut material to make sure that they comply with the lists that have been compiled.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): I am talking about the Inuit language and usually many of the words are not entered into a database.
Does the Minister have a compiled set of Inuktitut words that will be standardized?
My colleagues, I probably did not respond to his first question correctly.
We have had to invent new words in order to be able to translate, or interpret legal words or medical terms, and so on.
We have a database where we have a collection of standardized Inuktitut terms.
And you can pull them from the computer if you should want to look at the standardized terms.
Since the Minister stated that they have a compiled list, when are you going to be completing this project?
We do not have a deadline set, because of course we are always inventing new Inuktitut terms.
We have the Living Dictionary, titled Asuillaak, where we have a compilation of Inuktitut terms and definitions.
And we look forward to getting and increasing the volume of standardized terms.
Question 692 – 1(6): Plans on Starting a Youth Art Program
Mr. Speaker I was glad that the Minister made statement today about the Nunavut Economic Development Strategy and I just want a preamble here.
This question is for the Minister responsible for Sustainable Development.
The largest group who make up the unemployed is our youth.
The unemployment rate per person aged 15-24 approaches 50 %.
In preparation for the entrance of young people into the labour force we need more jobs and better education.
Mr. Speaker, if we cannot provide jobs and education, and as our population continues to grow we leave our youth with few options but to seek employment outside the territory or to stay home and to lose hope for the future.
Neither option is acceptable and understanding the pressure population growth will place on the economy in the immediate future demands that we take strong action today.
My question today to the Minister, and I know that he has been involved in this document for the last year and a half, does he have any programs in his department today that helps young people gain employment, get into the business community or start arts and crafts programs?
Hon. Olayuk Akesuk: That’s a good question Mr. McLean.
Mr. Speaker, yes, we have programs to help young people to start businesses to make sure that we recognize that we have programs that they could access for them to start new programs or start businesses in the future.
We are also working as a department with other departments from the government to come up with training programs that will contribute towards youth training programs in the future.
Coming from the fourth largest community in Nunavut and having the highest unemployment rates in Nunavut and a lot of it young people who have moved to Iqaluit and other communities to seek gainful employment and I’d certainly like the Premier to decentralize more of these jobs in Iqaluit that they can’t fill into Baker Lake.
So on that I know it’s going to be difficult to happen and some of us will probably work in our next term if we are re-elected to that.
But the question I have today for the Minister again, is carving was perhaps the first Inuit export and with over $30 million dollars a year in carving exports out of the territory what has the Minister done to try and get younger people into the carving business?
The carving industry is a big project here in Nunavut for us to promote more throughout the world to get people to buy our art and I believe that as a government we are doing our best to make sure that we all have programs through Arctic College or other programs to educate our people in art not only in the jewellery but also in carving and sewing.
So I think that we will continue to help them out with programs that we want to see with our contribution programs, small business tools or other stuff where we have available for the people who want to try and start in the art business.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister has the answers today.
Another part of the summary was that over $30 million dollars a year in country foods according to Canadian dollars, country food is caught in Nunavut and it’s hard to say what that does to the economy but it does two things; it gets people out on the land and hopefully the younger people are going with the older guys to learn how to hunt and be sustainable, and that brings in over $30 million dollars a year into what I call groceries, into the house.
Also on that, there is the issue of what the government does, I’m being distracted here, Mr. Speaker, what the government does to encourage young people to get out and become hunters and other issues.
Are there any programs available, are you looking at making programs available because we know to go out hunting and fishing, it’s an expensive venture when it comes to buying boats and motors etc. etc.
As we all learn from our fathers and grandfathers, it was our fathers, or our brothers or our uncles who trained us how to do the hunting.
I believe it is very important for us to continue to ask our youth to follow us and to teach them how we were taught before.
So I believe it is in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit that we got to use for us to train our young people to do the hunting the way we did and the way we want to do it.
I wish I had about three more questions today.
On that issue, I’ll just into the fisheries issue.