EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
More than one cruise ship arrived into my constituency communities of Kimmirut and Cape Dorset.
I also want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the coordinators in Cape Dorset and Kimmirut, as they welcomed the tourists when they landed into the community.
They also provided cultural shows and events showcasing our traditional activities that the tourists partook in.
Mr. Speaker, tourism can provide benefits to our local economies, especially for our artists who are able to incur some revenue, albeit for only one day. It makes a big difference and it highlights our cultural and societal values.
Mr. Speaker, when tourists arrive into our communities, they are included in such activities as traditional games or by a guided tour of different sites. Mr. Speaker, I happened to be in Kimmirut when a cruise ship was anchored offshore as tourists even visited our constituency office to ask questions.
It was quite scenic to take in that sight.
I want to name the people in Kimmirut responsible for the Katannilik Territorial Park as they organized the tour along with their assistants.
I want to also mention the Cape Dorset hotel that welcomed the tourists into their establishment.
Further, I want to thank the cruise ship coordinators who organized the landing parties on the zodiac boats.
It was very good to see the soccer match held in Kimmirut between the residents of Kimmirut and the crew of the ship.
It was quite an honour and uplifting as it was a beautiful day, showcasing the tremendous beauty of Nunavut.
I want my colleagues to share in thanking the cruise ships and to try to increase tourism opportunities in our communities.
Member’s Statement 356 – 4(3): Arviat Recipients for Long-term Service Awards (Savikataaq)
I, too, last night attended the long service award and it was well arranged and entertaining time at the function.
I would like to congratulate five people from Arviat that were recognized for long-term service there.
Two were able to come and attend and three were not able to, two of them are in the House and at the appropriate time I will recognize them.
I would like to congratulate these people for 25 years of service with the government. I would like to congratulate Julia Angalik, Sandy Ranahan, and Obed Anoee.
For 30 years service, I would like to congratulate Mary P. Mamgark, who is in the House currently and Molly Kidlapik for 35 years of service.
I would like everyone to rejoice with me with their long-term service awards.
I am very happy to extend a further welcome to Sally Seeteenak, who was my Inuktitut teacher when I was a youth in high school.
I would like her to be welcome in the House.
The person sitting next to her is a past resident of Baker Lake who now lives in Iqaluit, but she has relatives who still live in Baker Lake, Sandy Kownak.
Please welcome them to the Legislative Assembly.
I would like to recognize one of my constituents who was part of last night’s ceremony.
I would like to correct the Premier. He said her name was Tachel; her name is Rachel Hiqiniq.
She is one of the 35-year recipients.
When they announced how many kids she had and how many grandchildren she had, I lost count, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you.
Welcome to the House, Rachel Hiqiniq.
Speaker (interpretation): Welcome to the gallery, those who were just recognized.
I, too, am quite happy in that a fellow resident received a long service award.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome them to the gallery and I’m pleased that they were able to travel here.
Mary Kopak is sitting over there along with Ducas Milortok.
I also want to recognize this person, although she isn’t from Naujaat. She lived in Coral Harbour for many years and when she lived in Coral Harbour, she was very welcoming to my wife.
My wife was in Coral Harbour for over a year to take a course and Marion billeted her.
I wish to recognize Marion Love.
Unfortunately she isn’t visible from my spot, but I wish her to be welcomed to the House.
I would like to recognize two individuals from Rankin Inlet.
The first person I wish to recognize is Sam Aliyak. He is sitting in the gallery.
You may remember an old TV show back in the day when a man would introduce himself, (interpretation ends) “This is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl.”
Sam has a brother named Sam...
...so you can figure out where I’m going with this one.
Anyway, welcome to the House, Sam.
(interpretation) The other person whom I wish to recognize is also a Rankin Inlet resident, although she was just recognized, and that is Marion Love. (interpretation ends) Welcome to the House. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I, too, wish to recognize some people from Taloyoak.
Gina Pizzo has spent the last 30 years as the principal of the school and she is a long-serving worker. I also want to recognize her daughter, Megan Pizzo, who is from Taloyoak.
Please welcome them to the gallery. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.
Good afternoon. I would like to recognize Susie Ishulutak, my constituent.
I would also like to recognize my constituent from Clyde River, Elisapee Jaypootie, who is here right now in the gallery.
It took too long to reach me, so the visitor is long gone.
I would like to recognize Rachel Hiqiniq, my namesake. Welcome to the gallery.
I would like to recognize residents of Arviat who are here.
They are both teachers. I recognize Molly Kidlapik and Mary P. Mamgark.
I would like to welcome them to the gallery as they watch us do our work here.
I appreciate the fact that the Member for Gjoa Haven is always paying attention. I appreciate that.
Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the special people that are here within this gallery.
Thirty years of service is a long time, Mary Mamgark from Arviat, Department of Education; Gina Pizzo, Department of Education; and Ducas Milortok from Naujaat, Department of Education.
These folks with 35 years of service: Marion Love, Rankin Inlet, Department of Finance; Rachel Hiqiniq, Gjoa Haven, Department of Education; Elisapee Jaypoody, Clyde River, Department of Education; Molly Kidlapik from Arviat, Department of Education. And 40 years of service, a school teacher, Sally Seeteenak from Baker Lake. (interpretation) Thank you.
Hon. George Kuksuk (interpretation): Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon, my fellow Nunavummiut, the people of Arviat and Whale Cove, as well as my colleagues.
I don’t know the names of those who weren’t recognized. I will recognize them, although I won’t mention their names.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize today my fellow community members from Arviat.
This week has been the week of recognition of our Arviat residents.
It is good to see that this month during our session.
I would like to recognize Molly Kidlapik, who was just recently recognized for education, and Mary P. Mamgark.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to them in the gallery.
Although this lady has already been recognized a few times before, I would like to recognize her again.
Although she works for the Department of Finance, she actually looks after one of our subsidiaries, the Nunavut Liquor Commission and previous to that, the Human Rights Tribunal in Coral Harbour.
Marion Love, welcome to the gallery.
She introduced me to her son last summer or two summers ago.
He’s one of my biggest fans in all of Nunavut.
He came down and wanted pictures with me. It is great to be an inspiration to young kids.
I would also like to recognize another lady. I met her when she was a young girl. I was at her high school graduation and now she’s a city councillor in Iqaluit and possibly a future MLA for Nunavut, Megan Lyall.
Although they were recognized, I would like to recognize my fellow residents of Rankin Inlet, Sam Aliyak and Marion Love. (interpretation ends) Welcome to the gallery. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to recognize some of my constituents that I see in the gallery, the first being a current councillor within the City of Iqaluit. I’m sure she has been riding the sidelines for the last couple of days of recognition, but I’m sure she’s very happy to stay on the side.
I’m sure she’s enjoying the visit with Gina, but I would like to recognize Megan Pizzo-Lyall.
I would also like to recognize Sandy Kownak, who is also a constituent, and Joy Tilley.
I would also like to make special recognition in the House. Mary Kopak from Naujaat, I was very pleased to meet you last night and I look forward to many years of continuous service with the Department of Health.
I would also like to make special recognition to somebody who shares my Inuktitut name, Samuel Aliyak from Rankin Inlet.
I would also like to recognize my cousin from Gjoa Heaven, Casimir Tungilik.
Question 467 – 4(3): Assessing Services at Long-term Care Facilities (Angnakak)
Mr. Speaker, as the minister will be aware, there are a number of facilities across Nunavut which provide care services for elders, adults, children, and other vulnerable individuals with long-term care needs.
Can the minister provide an update on how often the level of care and services at these facilities is monitored and assessed and indicate whether he would be prepared to make these assessment reports available to members?
I would like to get back to the member and I agree with her question.
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) I’ll take that as taken as notice. (interpretation) Oral Questions.
Question 468 – 4(3): Nunavut Food Security Coalition (Enook)
Before I ask my question, good afternoon to the people of Pond Inlet and our fellow Nunavummiut.
Mr. Speaker, I want to use my question from yesterday as the basis for this question I am about to ask by first clarifying the issue.
Yesterday I was asking about Nutrition North Canada, as the government documents outlining the activities reported that a meeting was being planned in Igloolik.
In particular they were going to review foodstuffs that originate from the south and discuss ways to lower the costs of nutritious foods. This also included ideas to increase the availability of nutritious foods in our stores that are bought by residents.
When the minister responded, he was referring instead to Inuit foods that we call country foods, but my question was not in reference to country foods.
I will rephrase my question, Mr. Speaker.
This meeting took place in Igloolik for the purpose of reviewing foodstuffs that people in Nunavut purchase, how to lower the costs, and increase the availability of nutritious foods, as that was the stated purpose.
What type of tangible ideas did the meeting produce specific to these purposes?
Yes, I tried to include all the areas of discussion in my response.
With respect to the funding, actually the nutritious food and the best subsidies that can be provided were the main points of discussion at the meeting.
If country food was available in Nunavut or if it included store-bought foods, we have to remember that Inuit now sell country food for personal gain from animals they harvest.
That is the reason I brought up this subject.
Any foods that are sold now include country foods, which is why I mentioned it.
Ideas on how best to provide tangible benefits included representatives from the communities, particularly from the Baffin region. They deliberated on many issues and how the increasing cost of nutritious food was the reason why subsidies or further funding issues were discussed.
This is still at the consultation stage, but this issue was included in the discussions to look at the prices of food shipped to Nunavut for sale and how to reduce the costs of shipping of the foods.
This includes a further detailed review on how to ensure this subsidized food can be sold so that it can be included in the Nutrition North program list of foods.
This was also considered.
I raised this question in order to explain the rationale.
The department for which the minister is responsible had an announcement that the main focus would be on the program, with a future report and meeting on food that is sold through the stores.
I know that Inuit country foods are now sold in various communities, but let’s step aside from the issue as I am not asking about this subject, so if the minister can place that on the backburner.
What I was asking about solely was foods imported from the south and the availability of nutritious foods and increased subsidies to lower the costs.
Since this meeting took place, what can you tell me about the actual subjects that were discussed? I do understand it is under review. Nonetheless, when you were in Igloolik, what items were under discussion on how to improve the Nutrition North program?
Indeed, that is why I stated that foods imported from the south and all foods were a part of the review.
We are working with the Nunavut Food Security Coalition, the departments of Health, Environment, Economic Development and Transportation, and Culture and Heritage.
They were included in the group that reviewed each of the issues and each department reported on their programs and their position on the subsidy.
This meeting was successfully collaborated on.
However, I can’t speak for the others but only for Family Services on a future program. It is still under development at this time and it is so early in the process of reviewing the subsidies specific to foods sold in the stores. I can’t speak to how best to apply the subsidy.
The reason is I have not received any feedback from the other (interpretation ends) departments. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I also want further clarification related to a question I raised previously, including the response to the question.
Yesterday I asked if the Government of Nunavut would support the Nutrition North program after the revisions have been incorporated and the program is offered again. My question was if support would be forthcoming from the Nunavut government.
Mr. Speaker, in the Blues for Wednesday, October 26, 2016, specifically the English version page 20, I will quote from this section, although I know that this isn’t the final edited version.
Here is the response provided by Minister Mike, and I quote, “No, we do not want the old program back called the Food Mail Program.”
Further on, part of the same response includes a statement that “different retail outlets were able to compete, as an example, the three main retail outlets, including the Food Mail Program.
This is why food was less expensive in those days.”
With that statement, I want to ask the minister: since he responded that the Food Mail Program resulted in cheaper costs, why didn’t the government support the original program when they knew it resulted in cheaper prices?
The issue I keep referring to, which is the (interpretation ends) Food Mail Program, (interpretation) is an old program, which I stated was the first program.
Without referring back to the response, what I am saying is it was as if the Food Mail Program was the third retail store, competing with the actual retail stores.
Due to the perception of the program as being a third retail store, competition resulted in aggressive price reductions in the two actual retail outlets.
Please understand that.
The (interpretation ends) Food Mail Program (interpretation) benefited any person who wanted to order foods through the program, from drinks to meats from southern retailers, the same wholesalers where the stores bought their items.
The fact that this program acted much like a third retailer is what I was speaking to.
Further, that program he mentioned is no longer in place.
Now I thought I was being asked if we were trying to return to that old program, which is why I said no.
I want it clearly understood that my response was related to the perception of the program as being the third retailer.
As an example, if I wanted to purchase something from Wal-Mart back in those days or from another retailer, then this would result in the two northern retailers competing with stores from southern locales. That is what I was trying to say and again I am saying it in Inuktitut.
That is how I want this understood.
Further, with how the (interpretation ends) Nutrition North program (interpretation) is to be applied is what is being reviewed.
That is why I am repeating that any foods sold in our retail stores are not the only things under review. However, all factors specific to each individual community will be reviewed separately.
This was also discussed as the topic for a meeting on the review of the (interpretation ends) Harvester Support Program (interpretation) as administered by the Department of Environment, including the Department of Health and ED&T, on how sales of country foods from the Arctic could be supported through this program by amalgamating the various programs.
This is what I was trying to portray and the reasons why it is very important that the federal government be informed of why the current subsidy as applied isn’t reaching the people who are most food insecure, as they can’t purchase country foods or the nutritious foods.
This included people with low incomes who depend on other programs.
I was trying to be inclusive of all of these issues.
Mr. Chairman, these are the reasons the current subsidy program requires improvement in all areas in order to see a reduction in food prices at our retail outlets.
Question 469 – 4(3): Nursing Shortage in Gjoa Haven (Akoak)
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s Statement, I noted the shortage of nursing staff at the Gjoa Haven Community Health Centre.
This time of year is flu season and it affects everyone, from babies to the elders. We have 1,300 people living in the community.
My question to the minister is: how many nursing staff do they have at the health centre from now until the next few weeks?
Hon. George Hickes: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member for bringing forward his concerns.
When I looked into the situation there in Gjoa Haven, it is a five-nurse station. There are currently four staff, one supervisor of community health programs or nurse-in-charge and three community health nurses. My office has not been made aware of any anticipated shortages.
That being said, we are in the process of interviewing for indeterminate nurses throughout the territory.
With the current four nursing staff, we are still getting complaints of delays in patient-nurse connections. They’re having a hard time being seen. There are a lot of complaints that there are too many delays.
I’m just wondering: can the minister clarify what steps are currently being taken to fully staff the nursing positions at the Gjoa Haven Health Centre?
Hon. George Hickes: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member again for that question.
It gives me an opportunity to highlight some of the work we are doing to fill indeterminate nursing positions throughout the territory.
We have recently closed an RFP to work with a nursing recruitment company and we’re just finalizing the contract with that organization to actually look at filling indeterminate positions versus agency nursing contracts that we currently have in place.
Another thing that we’re doing is there used to be a Nunavut nursing recruitment and retention strategy. We have reviewed that program and are in the process of finalizing and implementing a new strategy for health professionals’ recruitment and retention.
Like I had mentioned in a response, I believe it was earlier this week or maybe late last week, my goal as Minister of Health and as this government is to provide our communities with indeterminate nurses all the time as possible.
We work very hard and I know the nurses in the communities work very hard.
The member alluded to some of the challenges that our community nurses face if they’re working late into the evening answering to calls from the residents of our communities and still having to show up for work the next day.
I have nothing but admiration for the nurses that are working within our system.
I am working with my colleagues across the country to help develop better health care services and continued funding so that we can not only maintain what we are currently doing, but improve the services that we’re providing to Nunavummiut.
I was going to ask a question he answered, but he got to me.
There’s a camera behind me, but thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 470 – 4(3): Facing the Hardship of Funeral Costs (Joanasie)
Mr. Speaker, from time to time, MLAs are approached by constituents who have had a loved one pass away, sometimes in another community, and they are faced with a large bill for funeral costs that they cannot pay for.
I recognize that when a person dies in their hometown, the community often comes together to make the necessary arrangements.
However, when a person dies in another community, such as Iqaluit where there is an undertaker, the related expenses of returning their family member to their home must be paid for.
Can the minister clearly explain what support is provided to families who are asked to pay funeral costs for a loved one and they can’t afford it?
I truly do appreciate the member bringing forward this question.
I had a recent interaction where I raised the exact same question. If the member says that the public is confused about it, I can relate because I was confused about it in some respects.
There are a lot of different responsibilities. There is the Department of Health.
There is the Department of Justice. There is the Department of Family Services. There is the Coroner’s Office.
There is Inuit organization involvement.
At that time I spoke to my officials at the Department of Health and they’re in the process and have already reached out to their colleagues within the other departments from a government standpoint and working together to see how this file can be arranged in a way that’s understandable. They’re putting together an information sheet that can be distributed throughout the territory to really clarify what services are provided by the Government of Nunavut.
With respect to the Department of Health, the only time we’re responsible for funeral services and transportation of the body to a community is if that person were to pass away while on medical travel.
There are other circumstances where Family Services is involved, if that person is on income support or under a trustee.
There’s another category in there that I just can’t remember off the top of my head. Again it goes into Justice. If somebody were to pass away while they’re incarcerated, then the Department of Justice is responsible.
Like I said in the preamble of my response, it is a very complicated scenario and the three government departments that I mentioned are working together to make the information a little bit more easily understood.
Again, I really appreciate the member bringing forward this issue.
Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Department of Health has a policy which covers various costs if a medical client passes away while on medical travel and the Department of Family Services has a similar policy for its clients who are under care.
Can the minister provide some clear guidance about where families can turn to for assistance in paying for funeral costs if their loved one was not on medical travel when they passed away? The minister stated that they can pay for the costs when they’re under medical travel, but if they weren’t on medical travel, who can they approach?
Again, it’s a very convoluted system.
Here in Iqaluit there has been a number of correspondence directed to the Department of Health and the government overall to help clarify the member’s exact question.
The Coroner’s Office has been, in some instances, paying for caskets that they would normally not be responsible for.
They’re asking for clarity on what kinds of services that we can provide as a government.
Regional Inuit organizations also have some bereavement policies where they can help assist in transporting bodies to another community, if I understood the correspondence from them correctly.
In addition, when someone does pass away, there are monies that usually get paid to the estate from the Canadian government.
Again, depending upon whether there’s a will in place and how their trusteeship gets set up, it can be a lengthy process where families are left with very unclear avenues to explore to help pay for funeral costs.