EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
So that’s where the work took place to see what the most appropriate system would be. It was decided that an integrated system would be the most effective in the long term instead of having to set up two separate systems now and then having to mesh them at some point or amalgamate them at some point in the future.
It was better and more cost effective to do it right from the start is what we’ve determined.
Mr. Speaker, it’s nice to see how they’re looking at developing a system that’s going to be more user friendly and more useful to the government and that they’re going to look at an integrated system.
The system that they were hoping to have in place last year, I understand that he was saying that it was not an integrated system.
I’d like to ask the minister what happened to that system.
Is that another system that’s been just kind of put aside that we’re not going to use or is it still serving some purpose.
Mr. Speaker, no in fact when the assessments were, as I indicated, when they were assessing what components are put in and it was determined that it would be more cost effective to have a more integrated system, that work was just rolled over and continued on.
So there is minimal remaining additional cost as a result of that.
Or wastage if the member is alluding to that as a result of that decision.
I know we all remember the first system that we inherited and there was 4 million dollars put into it and it didn't work.
So I am glad to see that money is not wasted.
So is the minister stating that the system that they were looking at putting in last year is just a matter of doing some enhancements to it and finding ways to integrate that system to the payroll system.
Mr. Speaker, as members recall there was the PeopleSoft project with the Government of the Northwest Territories.
That is where the Interim Commissioner had entered into some arrangements.
We decided early on that that system might be excessive in respect to the needs to the Government of Nunavut.
We implemented, as members know, the ADP payroll system, which provided us with the payroll capability for our needs at the time.
This what is happening now is actually still the ADP system.
What we have done is added the Human Resource information management component of that system.
So it is being expanded so that it is an integrated system.
I'd like to ask the minister is he has any ideas when this system will be up and running and when we will start to get some of information.
I have been asking this for over a year now.
When will this system be up and running and when we will be able to see some of that information.
Mr. Speaker, I believe as I indicated in yesterday's answer, the plan is to have the system operational this coming February and as the member noted, it is approximately one year later than when we expected the stand alone system to be functional last year.
Returning to Orders of the Day. Item 7.
I am informed by the Clerk that time is up for Question Period.
Thank you, Mr. Clerk.
He is on the ball today.
Members given the fact that now it is ten after three, I believe we have a lengthy address being made under Item 9.
We will break now until 3:35.
Members can have coffee in the member's lounge.
>>House recessed at 3.14 p.m. and resumed at 3.45 p.m.
Reply to Opening Address 02 - 1 (5)
I want you to be aware that I won't just be reading from the script.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a few comments in relation to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and how relevant and applicable it still is today in the modern world.
I would like to talk about just a few of the issues that are still applicable.
The people of Nunavut have carried forward this traditional knowledge for many years but this knowledge has eroded since the introduction of another foreign culture.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, if you would indulge me.
The Inuit have adapted specifically to the harsh environment in which we live.
We live off the environment, our diet consists of marine and land mammals around us.
Mr. Speaker, as aboriginal people, we have had our own healing practices that have been practiced for thousands of years before doctors, nurses and other professionals started coming to our homeland.
Mr. Speaker, in the year 2000 there were two people that had their legs amputated because of the methods of treatment they use for exposure.
Their amputations might not have been necessary if they were treated in the Inuit traditional method.
The Inuit are not considered knowledgeable by the medical profession because of their seemingly unorthodox approach to treating severe frostbite.
Mr. Speaker, not recognizing this traditional knowledge of medicinal practices is an insult to the people.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to further state that treating severe frostbite or accidents or injuries in the modern fashion does not work.
The medical practitioners and the nurses should be taught how to treat these patients according to Inuit Traditional Knowledge.
We have treated such patients in the Inuit traditional fashion in Clyde River and it has worked.
This traditional method of treating exposure should be taught to the rest of Nunavummiut and to the rest of the world.
There are Inuit who are experts in these techniques that can teach these methods, even I have had the good fortune of being taught these techniques and I don't want these traditional methods forgotten.
The two people that I referred to in the beginning of my comments might possibly still have had their limbs today if they were treated in the traditional method.
Very possibly the amputations would have been less severe if they were treated in the traditional method.
Therefore Mr. Speaker, I strongly suggest that the Inuit traditional knowledge on medicinal practices and treatment methods be brought back and integrated into the modern practices.
The Nunavut Government should make more financial resources available so that the medical personnel can get training in the Inuit traditional healing methods and practices.
Mr. Speaker, the medical profession should not think of themselves as superior in their medical training but also complement it further with further training in Inuit practices.
The Inuit healing practices are just as important as southern methods.
Mr. Speaker, the Federal and Territorial Governments should take this seriously and implement the traditional practices into contemporary practices.
There should be financial resources made available so this can be implemented.
Mr. Speaker, I would further like to speak on Inuit traditional knowledge and how it is used for resuscitating and reviving people who fall through the ice in extremely cold conditions.
Mr. Speaker, the Inuit of today don't know how to use the techniques any more.
Today the professional way of reviving and resuscitating is to put oxygen masks on the patient and put them in a warm place right away.
The medical personnel should also be taught the Inuit traditional methods of revival and resuscitation.
Mr. Speaker, there are some Inuit out there that are very knowledgeable in these methods for use with people that have almost drowned in extremely cold conditions or for those who have had critical accidents.
I think the medical profession of today should be taught the techniques as a supplement to their present day techniques.
If the Inuit traditional method of resuscitation was used I am sure there would be some people here today that we have lost.
Mr. Speaker, we have also found that Inuit traditional knowledge is very important to us here in the north.
Mr. Speaker, we can make teaching curricula based on Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the techniques that were used and saved a lot of lives, but with the coming of the southern medical professionals, it now seems to be mandatory to use southern only techniques in the medical field and the treatment of patients.
Traditional treatments and techniques based on Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit are not practiced today because of its seemingly unorthodox approach.
Again, Mr. Speaker, there should be financial resources made available so that we can do a study and make training available to the medical profession based on Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
We have to work with the Federal Government so that the Inuit traditional healing practices will become known at the national level.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to talk about Inuit traditional knowledge and traditional midwifery.
It is imperative that traditional midwifery be taught in the north.
Mr. Speaker, there were common laws that were strictly adhered to when it came to delivering babies and practicing midwifery in the north.
Mr. Speaker, before the southern medical personnel and Canadian laws were imposed on the Inuit, traditional methods were applied when babies were born or still born.
These methods are still very well known today.
Mr. Speaker, traditional midwifery is not known by some of the medical personnel of today.
Some of the complicated births or children stillborn that have been treated by contemporary methods would still be alive today if they were treated with traditional methods.
Mr. Speaker, I could use an example of a case treated at the Iqaluit General Hospital where the baby was considered untreatable, but was brought back to life using Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
Because of that I think it is extremely important to have traditional midwifery training made available in the north.
I think it is very important to have this study done so that women can give birth in their home community instead of going out to the regional centres.
It must be very expensive to send healthy women out to the regional centres to deliver their babies, it would be a lot more cost effective to have these women deliver in their home community if there was proper midwifery training made available at the community level.
There has to be a study done so that this could be implemented properly and effectively Mr. Chairman.
I would now like to talk about our traditional ways from my heart and my feelings.
Mr. Speaker. The westerners started arriving between the 1700's and 1900's.
At that time they started hunting bowhead whales commercially.
During those years they profited quite a bit from it.
Since that time Mr. Speaker, the northerners were used quite a bit from to make clothing for them and many of them did not come back due to exposure to the cold weather.
We had to help them to survive so they could go back home.
So much help had been given and yet they did not acknowledge the fact Mr. Speaker.
When they banned the commercial whaling they said the northerners or the aboriginals had over hunted the bowhead whale almost to extinction. Mr. Speaker, according to our knowledge the northerners never depleted the number of whales.
For we never had large vessels to hunt with, the only marine vessels we had were the traditional kayak's for the north had no resources, we had to use the kayait made of skin for we had no trees.
Mr. Speaker since we don’t have much vegetation growing in the north we had to use things that came from animals to survive, we were also very conservative hunters and we never depleted any kinds of animals with over hunting.
We would only harvest enough animals to last for the winter Mr. Speaker.
I would like to say again that we were blamed for the depletion of bowhead whale stocks. So therefore the bowhead whale was harvesting was banned.
We never over hunted the bowhead whales.
The other countries had almost over hunted bowhead whales stocks to depletion and they ended up blaming us, and their blaming us has hurt us, when they did not give actual facts Mr. Speaker.
During the commercial whaling days, they hunted bowhead whales, beluga, narwhal and walrus for their blubber when the large vessels started arriving up here for the first time.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to mention that in both of the communities in my constituency, they have been experiencing polar bear problems for about twenty years now.
I will state to the best of my knowledge that we have problems with polar bears and according to my knowledge and experience, I will point out what the residents of Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq had to put up with when it comes to problem bears.
We don’t encounter too many bear problems when we have access to the campsites during the spring and winter seasons.
But we do have problems during the spring and fall when the hunters and campers are not at their camps and the polar bears end up destroying their belongings.
Mr. Speaker, the polar bear problem is serious to Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq residents because they roam around adjacent to the community for the months of August to December.
I would like to say again that not all polar bears are aggressive.
But since we have different personalities the polar bears tend to be aggressive to some of the people all the time.
Mr. Speaker, even the campers have to stay up all night long on polar bear watch to protect their family, food and equipment in those four months.
In those four months the hunters have to use their own money to scare away the polar bears by using their rifles and bullets, when they would have been better used for harvesting rather than using it just to scare away the polar bears.
Mr. Speaker, this is becoming a serious problem.
For one box of ammunition, two hundred bullets cost from thirty dollars per box up to ninety dollars.
And when the hunters use their own bullets they never get reimbursed for the loss of their bullets and the government isn’t even concerned about it.
Mr. Speaker, the hunters and their families have to have their very basic necessities every day, especially food, and they don’t receive any form of assistance in this area.
It is evident that the Nunavut Government does not understand the extent of polar bear problems or the other communities that don’t have polar bears.
Mr. Speaker, the Nunavut hunters' and trappers' organizations have had conferences and at the conferences they indicated and acknowledged that there are too many polar bears around Clyde River and they started a committee to find a solution or to deal with too many polar bears in that area.
For that reason, Mr. Speaker, since I know that polar bears exist in two of my communities I will therefore be very supportive of their endeavours to resolve this problem.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to request that the Nunavut Government find some funding or set aside some funding that could be used for the operation of the polar bear watch during the critical times of the year like September. So that the hunters and campers can enjoy the outdoors without having to worry about polar bears coming to their camps.
Mr. Speaker, nothing’s being done about this and the residents of Clyde River would like to do something about it and come up with a way to deal with this problem on their own just to protect themselves from polar bears.
Mr. Speaker, I’m very aware of this problem for I too have experience with polar bear problems and I can say that it’s quite scary.
The residents of Clyde River see this as a very serious problem where lives have been disrupted by polar bears and their patience is wearing out.
Mr. Speaker, I will now go onto another topic, that of the climate changes in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, we already feel the change here in the North.
The glaciers are starting to melt and the weather gets warmer a month earlier now.
Mr. Speaker, in observing the climate it is evident now and believable that the climate is changing.
We don’t know how long it will take but as a northern resident it is becoming clear that the glaciers are melting away a lot faster than before.
I’m sure the terrain is going to change because of it and some will be destroyed.
Well I am talking mainly about the Baffin region for it has very rough terrain.
Mr. Speaker, last summer we noticed the difference in the weather already.
The reason is global warming, Mr. Speaker, it happened a long time ago and it is happening again now.
Since the directions of the winds have changed our climate has changed drastically.
Mr. Speaker, there are other problems that we face today along with global warming.
For example, wars, tourism, world pollution and over population.
Mr. Speaker, in observing these things it is now evident that it will get harder with the world currencies going down, and it will be harder to get our basic necessities.
Even the minerals will be different in the future and there will be a world shortage of fossil fuel.
This has been foretold in the olden days.
Mr. Speaker, all these things are becoming reality today.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate that we are from the north, even with global warming the cold winter season will always come since it is part of the north's cycle.
Mr. Speaker, it is now the right time to start planning and to start looking at other alternatives for heating fuel for the future of northerners.
We may have to revert to the old ways just to have heat for we are using up our resources from the land.
We the residents of Nunavut have to find ways of alternative heating and we have to start considering this now.
We also need to start thinking about how we can maintain the animals and make sure we will have enough animals for our younger generations.
Yes, life will be harder on the younger ones in the future for sure, for we are rapidly destroying our mother earth and that is the only planet that we were born into and we need to conserve it for our young people.
I am very aware that we as northerners don't have to become extinct in the future.
We need to find ways to survive in the north because it will always be the cold north.
Mr. Speaker, I will now speak about how we must allocate more financial resources to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that the Government of Nunavut still needs to encourage or lobby the Federal Government for more funding that will be used for Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, so that the support of this can be more visible.
No wonder we almost lost our traditional ways and our culture, because the Federal laws contradicted better ways of doing things.
The Government of Nunavut has to lobby the Federal government for more funding so that we can at least have funding to do the work on these issues that I just raised, so that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit can be incorporated and used by other jurisdictions.
I don't want this to be left on the back burner, so that the lives of Nunavummiut without too many problems.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to reply to the Commissioner's address today.
Speaker: Item 9. Replies to Opening Address.
Tabled Document 046 - 1(5): Incremental Costs to the Government of Nunavut for the Legislative Assembly Sitting in Cambridge Bay
Hon. Kelvin Ng: Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the Incremental Costs to the Government of Nunavut for the Legislative Assembly Sitting in Cambridge Bay.
Tabled Document 047 - 1(5): Response to the Report of the Standing Committee Ajauqtiit on the 2001 - 2002 Budget and Business Plans of the Office of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.
I have a document that I would like to table.
I am pleased to table my response to the Report of the Standing Committee Ajauqtiit on the 2001 - 2002 Budget and Business Plan of the Office of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.
Ms. Williams: Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on November 23rd, I will move the following motion.
I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Uqqummiut that Tabled Document 41-1(5) entitled Nunavut Liquor Act report be moved into committee of the whole for discussions.
Bill 14 - An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act - Notice
Hon. Kelvin Ng: Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, November 23rd, 2001 I shall move that Bill 14-1, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act be read for the first time.
Speaker: Item 15. Notices of Motions for First Reading of Bills.
Bill 12, Appropriation Act No. 1, 2002-2003. Bill 13, Supplementary Appropriation Act No. 2, 2001-2002. Minister's Statement 96-1(5) Ulaajuk School - First of Many to Come.
And we'll have Mr. Puqiqnak as Chairperson.
I would like to call the Committee meeting to order.
In the Committee of the Whole we have the following items to deal with.
Bill 12, Appropriation Act 2002-2003 and also Bill 13 and Ministers' Statement 96-1(5).
We would like to begin with Bill 12 and go ahead with the Nunavut Housing Corporation Capital Plans for 2002-2003.
Once we finish with the Nunavut Housing Corporation we will move to Public Works and Services.
Bill 12 – Appropriation Act No. 1, 2002/2003  – Consideration in Committee
Yesterday we had Ms. Thompson in the witness chair.
We concluded with the opening comments of the minister and we also had general comments from the members.
I would like to ask the Minister Responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation to go up to the witness table.
For your information we are on the Capital Estimates for 2002-2003.
We will go to 12-6 in the Capital Estimates.
Welcome Ms. Thompson and also your officials.
Please identify who your officials are.
On my right is Pam Hine the President of the Nunavut Housing Corporation and also over there we have David Akoak who is the Vice-President, and we also have Chris D'Arcy who is a Policy Analyst.
Chairperson (interpretation): Welcome and David Akoak I would like to welcome you to the House.
I have known him since he was a little child when he used to hang out with his father.
The Nunavut Housing Corporation.
Branch Summary.
Total Capital expenditures, 17 million 700 thousand dollars.
On page 12-6. 12-7.
Total Headquarters region, 638 thousand dollars.
Chairperson (interpretation): 12-9.
Total Qikiqtaaluk region, 9 million 176 thousand dollars.
We will then go to 12-11.
Total Kivalliq region, 4 million 786 thousand dollars.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): We feel like we are going airborne down here.
I have turned off my receiver but the microphone is acting up.
My first question is in regards to the mobile equipment.
This money that is allocated for the mobile equipment.
How many pieces of mobile equipment are we looking at.
Or is that for one piece of mobile equipment.
Chairperson (interpretation): Mr. Nutarak which page are you on.
Mr. Nutarak (interpretation): I am referring to 12-11.
We were in total Keewatin region, 4 million 786 thousand.
Little bit above that is a line for mobile equipment for 104.
Hon. Manitok Thompson (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In reference to the 104 thousand dollars.
It is the money that would be distributed to the seven communities and it would be used for purchasing mobile equipment for the Housing Corporation and also we have some for the Baffin, the Kitikmeot and the Kivalliq.
I don’t think there are any further questions.
Chairperson (interpretation): On page 12-11, 12-12.
Total capital expenditures, 3 million 100 thousand dollars.
Total Kitikmeot region, 3 million 100 thousand dollars.
Total contributions, 17 million 700 dollars.
Chairperson (interpretation): Total capital expenditures, 17 million 700 dollars.
Chairperson (interpretation): Well then go back to 12-5. Nunavut Housing Corporation.
Program summary of expenditures. Total capital expenditures, 17 million 700. Any questions.
Chairperson (interpretation): Thank you. We have dealt with the Nunavut Housing Corporation and we are just about concluded.
Thank you very much Madam Minister and to the officials for being able to respond to our questions.
You can go back to your chair Madam Minister.
We also have another agenda item with the same minister who is holding the portfolio of Public Works & Services.
We have just concluded the Nunavut Housing Corporation, Bill 12 - Appropriation Act 2002/2003.
Department of Public Works & Services, Capital Estimates.
If you are prepared I would like to invite the minister to go up to the witness table and begin.
And you can proceed with your opening comments from your desk.
Hon. Manitok Thompson: Thank you Mr. Chairman and thank you for concluding Nunavut Housing Corporation.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to make some introductory remarks on the 2002/2003 proposed capital estimates and the 5 year capital plan for the Department of Public Works & Services.
Before I begin, I would like to introduce the members of my staff who are with me today.
I will introduce them as they go to the witness table.