EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one final question here. I’m sure that some members are relieved to hear those words.
Mr. Chairman, on the Bureau, on the Language Bureau, it indicates that this department is basically a watchdog regarding the government’s legislative responsibilities as directed by the Official Languages Act.
Mr. Chairman, I was just wondering if somebody could just kind of give me a little brief overviews what those responsibilities are?
that we have underneath or as a result of the Official Languages Act?
Chairperson (interpretation): Mr. Havioyak?
Yes, as I stated before, we still have a lot of work to do.
My staff are trying their best .
After we've done this we will be going to the cabinet and Peter we'll proceed to answer your question.
As I stated before we are still working on the policies.
Mr. Chairman I wondering if the Minister or staff could at some future point provide us with a brief summation of what the Legislative responsibilities are as directed by the official languages act.
Chairperson: Minister Havioyak.
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Yes, thank you. We will definitely be doing that.
We really apologize that we are very new and we are just working on the policies.
Peter will be elaborating a bit more on this.
Yesterday in the Minister's opening comments he noted the Language and Communication bureau will be starting from now, in the office in Cambridge Bay, working on this.
Whether it is the language or interpretation services while we are working on the languages with the other agencies such as Nunavut Social Development Council.
We're working with that agency to enhance the language, to preserve the language.
In regards to interpretative services we have three interpreters in Igloolik and at times some of the interpreters are utilized in the sessions.
In regards to language it's to preserve and to enhance the use of traditional languages.
Mr. Puqiqnak (interpretation): Thank you. At least we're pronouncing our names well now.
Mr. Chairman, on culture and enhancing and preserving our traditional languages and enhancing the youth programs and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit traditional knowledge, your department is responsible for these things and I'm quite proud and happy of the fact that you are working on these issues.
However, traditional ways of doing things is part of our history.
For example in 1958, 1959 at the time we were going through starvation and the food was scarce and some of the parents are still alive today, but those of us who grew up in that generation are still alive today.
For those of us who experienced the hardships of the traditional way of life we know it and it's still a part of us.
I know that all the young people not in my age group have not gone through this experience.
But there are people who have gone through this experience as young children and they're elderly now and they should be working for your department because they are experienced.
I have experience and I can talk about my experiences myself.
I could talk times of famine when the food was scarce and we were going hungry.
I know that in Baffin Region, Kivalliq, and other regions I'm sure that there were Inuit people who went hungry, if possible these people should be utilized as professionals.
The Inuit who were being sent to communities from their camps and to the settlements should also be included because those are all a part of our history, this is Nunavut history.
It should be part of your responsibilities here with your department.
I think we have to find dollars to enhance all this knowledge and the history of Nunavut.
As Nunavut we should document all the experiences of our older generation.
I could just use myself as an example.
I was wondering if you can work on these history issues.
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Chairperson.
Yes, you are very correct in what you are saying as a we talked about elders yesterday that it's very important to pass on their traditional knowledge to us.
Yes, we will use workers in the very near future so that we could get elders to work with us.
We call our elders professors of our language and this is what we want to start doing because of their traditional knowledge.
We will be definitely be utilizing the elders whom we respect very much.
I also appreciate the Minister for giving me a great answer so therefore I have good expectations.
I'm just making a supplementary.
As I have stated, I have experienced these things myself.
It's just in 1958 that I have experienced this.
There are other elders too that have experiences prior to 1958 and who went through hungry times.
The people who are older than me can talk about their experiences more than I can, even though I feel that I'm experienced in that area but my elders have more knowledge than I do.
Although I feel I have pretty good traditional knowledge but when I work and talk with the elders I realize that my knowledge is so small, so therefore my request is for you to work with the elders.
Chairperson (interpretation): Mr. Havioyak.
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Yes, I agree with you.
We will be working with the elders.
Chairperson (interpretation): I have no more names on the list.
We'll go to the main estimates.
Total operations and maintenance. 2 million, 89 thousand.
Are you agreed. Agreed.
Capital, total capital zero dollars.
Total expenditure 2 million, 89 thousand.
Going to the other page, Culture, Elders and Youth.
Operations and Maintenance. Total Operations and Maintenance 2 million, 893 thousand.
In here under grants and contributions it states one million forty-six thousand.
At the top on Culture, Elders and Youth if we look at the explanation line by line that the part of this money would be utilized for Youth.
I feel that we should increase the number for youth.
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Yes, looking at this very carefully because the youth are very important so that the younger generation can utilize the language.
Yes, we are working on it.
Does that answer your question.
Chairperson (interpretation): Let's go back to the page.
Total Operations and Maintenance 2 million 893 thousand.
Total Expenditures 2 million 893.
I have forgotten my glasses again so I can't focus too well.
Mr. Puqiqnak (interpretation): Mr. Chairman, in regards to enhancing traditional languages and what, there must be a typo.
Chairperson (interpretation): Where are you Mr. Puqiqnak. 8-7.
There is a typo somewhere. Mr. Puqiqnak, it should say Culture and Heritage.
Mr. Puqiqnak (interpretation): Mr. Chairman I forgot to mention what I was going to say earlier on.
One issue that we are quite concerned about because of when we were going through hungry times in my community.
In those days we did not have any writing material.
We could have recorded all our experiences and all the survival skills that we had learned because we had survived from the land.
I wanted the elders to be interviewed about the experiences but there was one Qallunaat person who wrote a document in regards to what we're speaking about.
About Inuit people going through famine periods.
There was one report done about that era.
I would you to see and find out if there are any reports on that.
Chairperson (interpretation): Do you want to respond or comment?
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Yes, definitely.
We will be.
This is exactly what we do in Igloolik.
We have our staff members collecting traditional knowledge of the elders.
This is what they're doing right now.
Igloolik is the first community, but all these staff members will be going to the Nunavut communities to interview the elders so that our tradition will be written.
This is the reason why we have people in Igloolik that are doing this right now. Definitely we will collect our traditional knowledge and it will be put in paper.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you. Mr. Irniq.
Mr. Irniq (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Chairman. In regards to the question that was posed to the Minister. I did not quite understand the question that was posed.
Mr. Iqaqrialu (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Chairman. I believe the question was; in the past there have been many documentaries or publications made about Inuit people and some of the statements that were made in the publications are not entirely true and the rest of the world believes what has been published about Inuit.
I think his question was that if you can also look into all the documents that have been published about the Inuit people because in the past they have been publishing untrue facts about Inuit people.
I think that was his question.
I would like to know more about it.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you. Mr. Arvaluk.
Hon. James Arvaluk (interpretation): I might be mistaken but I think during the Committee of the Whole or when we're in the Legislature I believe we're not supposed to talk about untruth.
I can say that they're misleading. Or we can use other words.
But I believe we cannot say that they're not the truth.
Yes we are a new assembly and we will learn the process and the rules.
Thank you Mr. Arvaluk for reminding us.
Mr. Havioyak you may proceed.
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Yes we will definitely work on this.
Right now it is very difficult to answer that question about how we will be working on this.
Perhaps I mislead the House if I misunderstood the comments in respect to Mr. Puqiqnak's question.
I misunderstood the question.
Go to 8-7 to detail of Grants and Contributions.
The total Grants and Contributions, this is for information purposes only.
The detail of worked performed on behalf of third parties, again this is an information item.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): I believe this is geared towards the French language.
I believe that's a Federal regulation.
Did we inherit that from the Federal Government or regulations?
Where did this appear?
The agreement for French and any language in Nunavut.
Chairperson: Mr. Havioyak.
It is for French and Inuktitut languages.
We are still working on this.
We are working on the agreement, official languages agreement.
Chairperson (interpretation): Is that it?
Thank you. I would like to pose this question again in respect to the informational items.
The detail of the work performed on behalf of third parties.
Again this is for information purposes.
The details of distribution of budget.
Again this is for information purposes only.
I believe we're on 8-9.
The middle in respect to total operations and maintenance.
I'm not sure what that means because I don't understand the Inuktitut portion of it.
Chairperson (interpretation): Mr. Iqaqrialu. We don't understand either. Can you put it more clearly.
The grants and contribution, it say EA. I believe it's other Operations and Maintenance.
Other O&M that he is referring to.
Hon. Donald Havioyak (interpretation): Yes the other Operations and Maintenance.
This is what it means. Operations and Maintenance.
Chairperson: Mr. Akesuk.
Mr. Akesuk (interpretation): Thank you …. Mr. Chairman I'm sorry. I apologize.
Mr. Iqaqrialu's question in respect to the Grants and Contribution in the Inuktitut version it's A8. We're trying to understand what this means in respect to 8.
Chairperson (interpretation): I believe it use to be "A" it used to be but it wasn't quite correct.
I believe it's clearer now.
I would like to ask again, there is nobody on the list.
To return, 8-3 in respect to the details of expenditure.
Detail of Expenditures. Operations and Maintenance.
Total Operations and Maintenance 6 million, 262 thousand.
Capital items.
Total Capital is nil.
The total expenditures is 6 million, 262 thousand dollars.
Are you agreed to the department and the main estimates.
I've cooled off.
Thank you Mr. Havioyak, Mr. Bain and Mr. Irniq for having sat before us for over a day and for being so patient and we look forward to seeing you again.
The members I believe as we're going to go back to the session I would like to propose a 15 minute break.
No you do not want to take a break?
Mr. Chairman I believe the Legislative Assembly is up next maybe we can take a short five-minute break just to get organized for it and then go back into that department.
Chairperson (interpretation): Agreed?
Agreed .
>>Committee recessed at 2:28 and resumed at 2:38 pm
Chairperson (interpretation): The five minute break is over can you please return to your seats.
Okay I think we can proceed with the meeting.
What is the wish of the members?
Mr. Akesuk (interpretation): I don't think the Speaker is here yet Mr. Chairman.
I am sorry I didn't see you.
Chairperson (interpretation): What is the wish of the members.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Chairman. I would like to return to the committee to report on Health and Social Services department.
I move to return to the official session.
Chairperson (interpretation): Mr. O'Brien I think you had your hand raised.
I think it is the wish of the members that we return and do the report on the Legislative Assembly.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you. We will return to our official meeting.
Perhaps if the Speaker could return to his chair.
Is that what you were asking, you want to make a report to the Speaker.
I think I am making procedural mistakes here.
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, I believe that moving into dealing with the Legislative Assembly, either the Speaker or the Clerk would make opening comments, and then the committee would make it's report.
Maybe just ask them to take the witness stand.
I would like to ask the Speaker if he could return to his Chair.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Chairman.
I know that we are a new Assembly and whenever someone is going to sit here our Sergeant At Arms has to go and get the people that are going to sit in the witness Chair and you have to tell the Sergeant at Arms.
I am clarifying this for the Chairman.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Speaker.
Office of the Legislative Assembly 1999-2000 Main Estimates
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you Mr. Chairman. I am very pleased to appear before the Committee of the Whole today to present the budget for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.
After my opening remarks and the presentation of the Standing Committee's report, the Clerk and I will be pleased to answer questions from the Members.
Members know that it's not often that the Speaker sits in the witness Chairperson, so, please take advantage of this opportunity.
I should begin by outlining the mission statement of the Office of the Legislative Assembly, which reads:
"In keeping with the Vision of Nunavut, the traditions of Northern governance and established democratic principles, the Office of the Legislative Assembly provides quality programs and services to create an environment in which elected Members can best fulfil their roles and responsibilities as representatives of the people of Nunavut."
To accomplish this in the coming year, the Office is requesting approval for our 1999-2000 main estimates, which are 9 million 749 thousand in O & M expenditures; and 3 million 402 thousand in capital spending.
There are not decentralized positions associated with the Assembly.
Our legislative base is the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, a statute that was inherited from the NWT.
I would briefly like to provide Members with an update on progress in staffing positions within the Office.
As of today, a total of 17 permanent positions within the Office of the Legislative Assembly have been filled out of 25.5 FTE's that have been funded in the budget.
Two of these positions have had offers accepted, with start dates in the next 4 - 6 weeks.
Ten of these positions have been filled or will be filled by Inuit, a total of 58%.
Eleven of the 17 are filled or will be filled by women, a total of 65%.
I should note though, that one significant human resources challenge lies in the provision of adequate interpretation and translation services for Members.
With the possible exception of the federal Parliament of Canada, this Assembly is, on a day to day basis, the most bilingual in Canada.
However, the staffing model which we largely inherited provides for only two full-time Interpreter/Translators.
Clearly, the needs of the Members will have to be carefully assessed in the months ahead, and co-operation with the Department of Culture, Language, Elders & Youth will have to be undertaken.
At the same time, we have a responsibility to control our costs--it simply may prove prohibitive for every dialect to be interpreted in the House.
As Members can appreciate, there are a number of significant challenges associated with the creation of Canada's newest legislative institution.
One obvious first challenge, as Members will appreciate from looking around this room today, is the move in to the new Assembly Building.
I look forward to our next session being held in the new chamber, which is planned for late October.
Occupancy of the building will allow us, in the years ahead, to use the facility as a showcase for Nunavut art; as a place for youth and elders' events to be held; and as a meeting facility for national and international events.
I am again pleased to acknowledge the number of donations that we are receiving from people and organizations across Nunavut.
Another initiative I would like to mention is the Assembly's website.
A request for proposals has been issued, and we will be evaluating the responses in the near future, with a view to having the site up by the end of June.
Another challenge, and this again goes back to the language issue, is Hansard.
The three northern territories contract their Hansard service to private sector firms.
I am pleased to remind Members that the local Iqaluit firm which provides the service to us is an Article 24 firm.
However, as Nunavut is one of only three Canadian jurisdictions with a bilingual Hansard.
The others are the Parliament of Canada and New Brunswick.
The first of these, of course, enjoys human and financial resources far beyond what we could ever hope to secure.
When the Assembly issued an RFP for the provision of Hansard services, it received assistance in evaluating proposals from the Hansard Association of Canada, which is an inter-parliamentary organization of Hansard professionals.
The Association provided a number of insights into how challenging the task of producing a Hansard actually is.
Even in larger centres, such as Ottawa, the time required for fully training Hansard editors and transcribers is quite significant.
Given Iqaluit's small population, and given the intensive, time-consuming nature of the work, bringing our Hansard up to full capacity will take some time.
It should be recognized that, to a significant extent, a number of expenditures cannot be precisely forecast at this point, as we do not yet have the institutional memory and experience necessary to extrapolate future spending requirements from past trends. Should a Standing Committee decide, for example, to travel across Nunavut to hold hearing on a Bill, that is something that can't be routinely predicted.
The 1999-2000 budget, however, is closely based on the NWT Assembly's budget, adjusted for the difference in Members, the lower number of staff and the higher costs of living in Nunavut.
There are a number of extra one-time costs that we are now experiencing for which funds have not been specifically identified in the budget. These, include, for example, the costs associated with holding our sessions in venues like this; furniture for Member's constituency offices; signage for the building; and the telephone system for the building.
Additional capital funds will be required if we are to avoid having these sorts of items not be taken from our operating base.
In October, we will have had a half-year of experience behind us.
At that time, I look forward to updating Members on all aspects of our operations, as we will have had time to assess and analyze our spending patterns.
I would like to refer to the number of positions and Acts which the Assembly has responsibility for.
These include the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, the Access to Information and Privacy Commissioner, the Chief Electoral Officer and the Commissioner of Official Languages.
These positions are all appointed by the Commissioner of Nunavut, on the recommendation of the Assembly.
Funds for the independent operation of these offices are provided for in our budget.
I anticipate that these positions will be filled over the coming months, as the Caucus agrees to processes for their selection.
I should mention that the Final Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on Nunavut's first election should be available in the next few weeks.
I would like to stop now, Mr. Chairman, and invite Members to ask questions of myself and the Clerk, Mr. John Quirke, who is not a stranger to any of us.
He will be sitting beside me, Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Quirke, if you could go to the witness table please.
Mr. Tootoo the Chairperson of Ajauqtiit.
Ajauqtiit Report on Legislative Assembly 1999-2000 Main Estimates
Mr. Chairman, I along with other members of the Committee will be reading over the report of the Ajauqtiit Standing Committee.
I will start off and pass it off to another member and then it will come back to me for a couple of motions.
I would just like to start off with a brief introduction.
The members of Ajauqtiit reviewed the draft Business Plan and Preliminary Budget information for the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday April 27th, 1999, during a presentation from the Speaker, Levi Barnabas, and the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.
Members had an opportunity to review some of this information during an orientation and other meetings with the Speaker and the Clerk of the Assembly.
However in this meeting, the Speaker, in effect appeared as the Minister and the Clerk as the Deputy Minister and members asked questions, as they would do with any other Minister or departmental official.
A total budget allocation for operations of the Legislative Assembly as indicated was 9 million, 748 thousand dollars.
The operations and maintenance budget, the detailed breakdown provided to the members is as follows.
Office of the Speaker, 158 thousand 800 hundred dollars.
Office of the Clerk, both sessional and committee admin, 1 million 771 thousand 5 hundred.
Research and Library services 548 thousand 5 hundred dollars.
Corporate Services 923 thousand 8 hundred dollars.
Clerk and Deputy Clerk Offices, 886 thousand 3 hundred dollars.
Expenditures on Behalf of the Members 4 million 802 thousand 5 hundred dollars.
Office of the Chief Electoral Officer 299 thousand 7 hundred dollars.
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages 357 thousand 8 hundred dollars.
Mr. Chairman it was noted that independent operations of the Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner and the Office of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Commissioner are included under the Assembly's budget, Office of the Clerk.
Members were advised that, as with other departments, the budget projections were largely based on the experience of the GNWT and estimates have been made for Nunavut.
Until the Legislative Assembly has gone through the first year or at least part of the year, it would be difficult to determine how accurate these projections would be or whether sufficient funding has been allocated for these expenses.
For example, it is not known how many times members will meet as a group in committees or the number of sessions there will be over the next year.
As well, the work of the Legislative Assembly and the Standing Committees may not be typical in the first year of operations.
For example, the new Legislative Assembly building will not be complete until the fall.
So outside space has had to be rented for sessions and committee meetings.
On the other hand, some appointments or staff may not be placed until later in the fiscal year and there will be savings in this regard.
There will also be one-time expenses, which may not have been factored in completely, such as opening celebrations.
Members will wish to review these expenditures and budget items again at mid-year.
The Speaker noted that if there were not adequate funding in this budget then supplementary funding will be necessary and members will want more information on this process.