EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
In addition to providing independent reviews of decisions made by public bodies with respect to requests made under the legislation, the Information and Privacy Commissioner may offer formal comments on proposed legislation, as well as providing public education on the Act.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2012-13 annual report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on September 16, 2013.
Her 2013-14 annual report was backdoor tabled under the provisions of Rule 44(2) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut on August 13, 2014.
The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs has overarching responsibility for the government’s administration of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The government’s 2012-13 annual report on the administration of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on September 6, 2013.
The September 18 and 19, 2014 appearances of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and Government of Nunavut officials before the standing committee took place in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly.
The Standing Committee’s hearings were televised live across the territory and were open to the public and news media to observe from the Visitors’ Gallery.
Transcripts from the standing committee’s hearings are available on the Legislative Assembly’s website.
The Standing Committee notes that the government has made progress in some areas, including amending the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act to provide the Information and Privacy Commissioner with clear authority to investigate privacy breaches. However, further action is required in other areas, such as the application of access to information and protection of privacy legislation to municipalities and addressing the need for health-specific privacy legislation in the territory.
The public disclosure of information concerning Government of Nunavut contracting, procurement and leasing activities.
The standing committee’s report raises a number of concerns regarding the extent to which information concerning the government’s activities and expenditures in these areas is accessible to the public.
The application of access to information and protection of privacy legislation to municipalities.
At present, Nunavummiut have statutorily-prescribed rights under federal and territorial legislation concerning access to information and protection of privacy in relation to the institutions of the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut.
The development of health-specific privacy legislation and the management of electronic health records.
Nunavut is now the only Canadian jurisdiction without health-specific privacy legislation.
The application of access to information and protection of privacy legislation to local housing organizations.
At present, local housing organizations are not covered by the territorial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Amendments to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act in relation to the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s discretion to extend the time for requesting a review.
Privacy audits of Government of Nunavut departments, Crown agencies, and territorial corporations.
Mr. Speaker, I would note for the record that the Standing Committee is requesting that the government provide a comprehensive response to this report, pursuant to Rule 91(5) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.
With that, I move that the report of the Standing Committee be received by the House and entered into the record as read.
The report has been received by the House and will be entered into the record as read.
Tabled Document 042 – 4(2): Fuel Tax Rebate Program Summary Report for 2012-13 and 2013-14 (Peterson)
Tabled Document 043 – 4(2): Interim Financial Report March 31, 2014 (Peterson)
Tabled Document 044 – 4(2): Grants and Contributions 2013-14 (Peterson)
The Fuel Tax Rebate Program Summary Report for 2012-13 and 2013-14;
The Interim Financial Report March 31, 2014; and
The Grants and Contributions 2013-14.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters. Bills 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 with Mr. Mikkungwak in the Chair.
>>House recessed at 15:22 and Committee resumed at 15:43
Good day to the people of Baker Lake and Nunavut.
I would now like to call the committee meeting to order. (interpretation ends) In Committee of the Whole, we have the following items to deal with: Bills 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
We wish to continue with the review of the capital appropriations for the Department of Education, followed by the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
Are we in agreement that we continue with the capital estimates for the Department of Education?
Chairman: Thank you. Does the committee agree that Minister Quassa’s staff go to the witness table?
Sergeant-at-Arms, please allow the officials to go to the witness table.
For the record, Mr. Quassa, introduce your staff.
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to appear before you.
To my left is (interpretation ends) Deputy Minister Kathy Okpik (interpretation) and to my right is (interpretation ends) Manager of Capital Planning Barry Cornthwaite. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Members, we were on page G-3.
The first member on my list, Ms. Angnakak.
Yesterday, we finished off just before I was able to ask my last question.
I just want to talk about the busing issue again. I think there was a lot of discussion about the purchase of the buses.
I’m wondering if the minister can just, I guess just to make things clear, describe the different types of contracts you have, what types of contracts you have in providing busing services in the communities.
I thank my colleague for that question, as people need to comprehend them as Nunavummiut to understand how the process works.
I thank the member for raising that matter in his question. (interpretation ends) First of all, there are three different scenarios we can look at as to how a community can get a bus.
First of all, number one, the department hires a contractor through an approved RFP process to provide busing service, including operations and maintenance of the bus.
In this scenario, the bus is the property of the independent contractor and not a GN asset, and I’ll give you an example. Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet, including Baker Lake, are examples of the communities that fall under that scenario.
Just one more thing, the DEA is not involved in the contracting of the bus services in this scenario.
Number two, the department, again, purchases the bus, making it into a GN asset.
Through an RFP process, we award the contract for busing service, including maintenance and storage. Once again, the DEA is not involved in the contracting of the bus in this scenario. Two communities I can give an example as to this process that is followed, which are Pangnirtung and Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), are examples of the communities that fall under this category.
Thirdly, the department, once again, purchases the bus, making it into a GN asset, but the DEA is responsible for hiring someone locally to operate the bus.
The department provides the contribution agreement to the DEA to cover the cost associated with the bus and the DEA is responsible for the maintenance and storage of the bus.
Again, to give you an example of which community follows that scenario, Cambridge Bay and Uqsuqtuuq (Gjoa Haven) are examples of the communities that fall under this category. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. [Angnakak] is done. Following my list of names, Mr. Savikataaq.
The last time we sat here, the minister indicated that one of the criteria to get a new school is when they’re at 85 percent capacity.
In last year’s substantiation sheet for a new school in Arviat, the attendance for the three schools were at 83 percent, 95 percent, and 89 percent.
A new school was allotted for 2015-16, but I can see now that it has been bumped away a year.
Currently, the attendances are now at 83 percent, 96 percent, and 90 percent.
Can the minister indicate why the new school for Arviat was delayed by a year?
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. Mr. Quassa.
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank my colleague for that question.
We should know that the Department of Education, when we talk about 85 percent and we get the ball rolling in terms of capacity, a community could then make a request.
However, we need to know, regardless of this, that communities have different schools.
Look at Arviat, for example, when they reach 85 percent capacity, we can arrange for the people who are in overcrowded schools to be moved to another area or another school while still following the same grades.
As a government, we will be aware that we all try to follow through with what our policies are and what the communities agree to.
As far as the construction season and when it starts, we really need to know annual budgets and capital projects that have been projected.
Now, one of the communities that are being looked at is Arviat, for example. It has been looked at closely in terms of when the construction of the new school could be initiated.
The contract could be given out for Baker Lake, Arviat, and Igloolik, as those communities are being looked at.
We have stated previously on this subject matter that requests have now been put out for 2015-16 with the construction ending in 2017.
That is my reply to the member, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
On percent enrolment, the minister said that they can move people around if they are less than 85 percent to different grades in schools. That’s my understanding.
The Levi Angmak School in Arviat was at 83 percent, the Qitiqliq High School was at 96 percent, and the John Arnalukjuak School was at 90 percent.
That’s enrolment capacity, so there’s not much to move around.
Either there’s a typo or someone can’t add because it says that for the Qitiqliq High School, 90 percent enrolment with a capacity of 187 students. Either there’s a typo or it should be at 100 percent, at least in the math that I learned.
That’s not the only delay. Can the minister just explain why the school projects in Arviat, Baker Lake, and Igloolik all have been pushed back and they are not being built when they were supposed to?
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. (interpretation ends) Hon. Minister Mr. Quassa.
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps in relation to the statement by my colleague, if I can provide further details on the Qitiqliq (interpretation ends) Middle School, (interpretation) the capacity is standing at 96 percent that we are referring to here and this relates to 180 students who are enrolled at that facility with the total capacity standing at 187 students.
I just wanted to clarify that to our colleague.
Furthermore, as per my earlier statement, (interpretation ends) tender documents (interpretation) have been prepared and sent out for competition. For the next fall, in 2015, the tenders will be completed. In 2017, our expectations are that the school construction could be completed in Arviat.
The third issue I want to speak to includes Arviat, Baker Lake, and Igloolik.
They have had to be reviewed further in order to fine-tune the construction plans.
In order to make these changes, we had to revisit it and part of the reason was the review of all the Nunavut government capital projects. That is why they were placed into the 2017 fiscal year and we now have concrete expectations for the completion of these three community schools.
As an example, to use this analogy, if I were to drink some tea and every time I sipped some, the tea would continuously be refilled and I wouldn’t be able to finish my cup of tea.
That is where the situation finds us at. I wanted to make that analogy to help the member understand.
Sometimes it isn’t possible to convey Inuktitut thoughts completely into English, as the concepts may not be the same.
In order to convey the message, I will state it in English. (interpretation ends) Realignment (interpretation) has occurred for these school projects, particularly these three.
To date, our department has about $150 million in capital carryover funds and this is the reason why we had to revisit the planning process.
Staying on the same line of questioning, at 85 percent capacity, that’s when you start the process for a school. Does the department look at births? If you have an extraordinary amount of kids being born at the same time in the community, then you can anticipate that the kindergarten size will be fairly large.
Does the department look into that at all?
Hon. Paul Quassa: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do thank the member for Arviat for asking that question.
We do annual projections. Of course, we do a look at births within the communities. We put all those into factors.
Again I would just like to reiterate that the percentage factor is not the only thing that plays a role in deciding the need for a new school.
There are other factors that we also look at and certainly, the percentage rate is one of them.
We look at the birth rates of the communities. We look at the economic development. We look at mining, for example.
If there’s mining in the area, again, that will put an influx of more people coming into the community.
These are all various factors that we look at. I would just like to reiterate that the percentage factor does play a role also in deciding to get a new school.
Certainly, as I said earlier, we constantly consult with the communities, the hamlets, the DEAs, and the schools.
There are various factors that come into play when we are going to decide on a new school or renovation for a community. (interpretation) Thank you.
Can the minister just clarify what he means by having to realign the schools and have them deferred for the committee just so we’re all on the same understanding?
I touched on this a little bit earlier and I stated that there was $150 million in carryover.
That’s for the whole government, not just the Department of Education.
Maybe if I explain a bit further. The schools that will need to be built have not been taken out of the plan at all.
However, as I stated, we anticipate that by June, we will be able to announce which schools we will be able to do. In looking at the three main schools, be assured that none of the schools have been taken out of the plan.
When a new school is going into a community or a renovation to expand a school, does the minister start talking with the housing minister right away and try to figure out staff housing issues?
I imagine that may be a concern in some communities because a renovation to get a school bigger or a new school would probably entail having more teachers working there.
Has the minister started any talks in Arviat for more staff housing?
I raised the issue earlier in the House too and there appears to be a government staff housing shortage in Arviat. Has he looked into that issue at all?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for asking about the lack of housing, which really affects the Department of Education.
I thank him for asking that question.
Right now, in Arviat and other places, if we’re going to be building a new school, we look at that. (interpretation ends) We include those in our [substantiation] sheets. In fact, in Arviat, we have identified two PYs that would need housing.
Again, this is a normal practice that we carry whenever we are going to be building a new school with additional classes.
We certainly include housing needs to these sheets that we provide. (interpretation) Thank you.
Has the lack of staff housing issue in any community stopped the department from hiring any teachers anywhere yet? Has there been an incident where you could not hire a teacher even though you needed one in that community because there was no staff housing?
We are still on capital estimates.
I can say that the school year always continues every year and certainly this is something that we don’t want to do.
Fortunately, that hasn’t stopped us in opening schools on school days on time.
We have experienced situations such as what we had seen in Whale Cove, where we had to delay a few days due to the fact that we couldn’t get any housing for the four teachers that we had coming into the community of Whale Cove.
We had other situations, for example, in Repulse Bay. We had a lot of shortages for housing.
I would just like to reiterate that we ensure that we open the schools on the day the school is supposed to start, but we have been very fortunate in that. (interpretation) Thank you.
Chairman: Thank you. May I remind the members that we are on Education.
Branch Summary. Corporate Services. Capital Items.
Following the list of names, Mr. Rumbolt.
I just have a couple of quick questions.
Back in, I think it was, 2005 when they were doing the planning and design of the high school in Sanikiluaq, it was put before council to decide a location for the school.
One of the driving factors to decide the current location was the fact that eventually, the school would be hooked up to the power corporation’s grid for residual heat.
I’m just wondering if there’s any money in your small capital for this year or future years on hooking the new high school up to the grid for residual heat.
I don’t have that information in front of me.  (interpretation ends) Excuse me. (interpretation) I apologize for coughing as I am fighting a cold, so please bear with my coughing.
I apologize for the fact that I don’t have the information you raised in your question. Perhaps once we have the pertinent information, we can provide the explanation to the member.
I can respond with that for now, but I can commit to researching exactly where we stand on this issue.
Further, with respect to the costing of the project, we can look into those figures and once the information has been provided, we will be able to present it to the member.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. We are on (interpretation ends) Education.
Branch Summary. Corporate Services. Total Capital Expenditures. $37,755,000.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a few questions, not too many.
Firstly, I refer to the minister’s statement yesterday that the Sam Pudlat School requires a new boiler.
What is the timeframe for completing this replacement of the boiler by the Department of Education?
At this time, I can’t respond with any details on this question either, so I will have to get back to the member.
His question is quite relevant and I will be able to explain it further when I have the information.
I apologize for being unable to respond at this time.
My other question relates to school additions and how it is done. Actually, you stated yesterday that your department works with the local DEAs as well as the Department of Community Government and Services if an addition will be added to the school. For example, the design of the addition or how it melds into the current school or the paint colour of the addition, these are the types of decisions made by the DEAs in conjunction with the Department of Education.
What authority does the DEA have? As an example, in Cape Dorset, the Peter Pitseolak School received an addition that included a sealskin processing area. It included a (interpretation ends) small engine repair (interpretation) shop that will be used for teaching students about small engine repair.
I have been advised that they are already faced with a lack of space.
With this process of making additions to our schools, does the department canvass the teachers or the students about the uses of the new spaces?
As an example, since this is inside of school operations and it would become part of the school, what type of consultation is done to try to meet their needs? If I said it in English, (interpretation ends) end-users, how much consultation is done with the end-users of, for example, a renovation or expansion of school facilities?
I thank my colleague from Cape Dorset and Kimmirut.
I was actually in Cape Dorset just recently, so I am aware of the subject of his question. I was able to tour the school with the school staff as I toured the school with the principal highlighting the different areas.
At this time, as the Department of Education, we try to have written standards and as an example, (interpretation ends) set standard criteria. (interpretation) This applies to the proposed size and these criteria are laid out in writing.
With respect to what we are discussing regarding Cape Dorset, that is the criteria we have to follow.
These are (interpretation ends) standard criteria (interpretation) laying out the size, such as the 150 square-metre requirement for sealskin processing areas.
These criteria are followed for every school that has a sealskin processing area and that is the minimum size identified. So that area has to be 150 square metres. Other types of classrooms have different criteria.
These are already set out, as we follow this criterion.
I will have to do more research on the consultation with the end-users. I do know there is consultation with the end-users who use the schools.
Also, in our future, we will be reviewing these requirements further and that is obvious.
That question is quite relevant, as I had an excellent tour of the school while in Cape Dorset, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Joanasie (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the minister for his response.
Actually, with that, I encourage the Department of Education to consider them wherever they are contemplating additions to schools or if there will be renovations of the schools.
The examples I used in my question have good reasons, such as the sealskin processing area and small engine repair classrooms. However, when the spaces are not large enough, the purpose for the space becomes meaningless. I wanted this issue taken into consideration by his department as well as the Department of Community and Government Services.
That was a comment, but Mr. Quassa, if you want to make a comment.
I agree with my colleague in regard to this and we’re in support of that.
May I remind members that we are on Education.
Education. Detail of Expenditures. Total Capital Expenditures. $37,755,000.
Do you have any closing remarks? (interpretation ends) Hon. Minister Mr. Quassa.
I also would like to thank my colleagues for their questions. Your questions provide very good information. We need to provide that information to the communities to make sure that the communities know how the Department of Education operates.
Further, our government uses education as their priority. I would also like to thank the members for making education their priority. I would like to thank the members for approving the capital estimates of our department.
We have concluded the review of the Department of Education.
We will take a five-minute break while we prepare.
Please remain seated during the break.
Bill 08 – Appropriation (Capital) Act, 2015-2016 – Nunavut Housing Corporation – Consideration in Committee
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. (interpretation ends) In Committee of the Whole, I would now like to ask Minister Kuksuk: do you have officials that you would like to appear before the committee?
Yes, I do. (interpretation ends) Thank you.
Here with me today to my right is Lori Kimball, (interpretation ends) President of the Nunavut Housing Corporation, (interpretation) and (interpretation ends) to my left is Tim Brown, Manager of Policy and Planning.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you very much. (interpretation) Please proceed with your opening comments, Mr. Kuksuk.
Hon. George Kuksuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) The corporation’s capital plan for 2015-16 consists of $30,072,000 from the Government of Nunavut and additional funding of $4,290,000 from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), for a total capital budget of $34,362,000.