EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
At this point in time, I’m not able to provide a prediction as to what financial impact the next collective bargaining will result in.
Mr. Alagalak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Although that is the case, I know that the union is going to increase their salaries.
Negotiators, perhaps, I believe were not too strong.
There are huge sums of money in there and it’s evident just looking at the decentralized communities, and their assets and looking at their infrastructure, and there is a lot of things missing.
When we expect to see an increase after the agreement has been signed, I know that it’s impossible to make predictions or to make forecasts as to how much they will cost, I know.
It’s impossible to make predictions but I believe that there is room for improvement.
Under contingency plan, as members of the Legislative Assembly, we want to utilize some of the money for other purposes.
I know this is a very difficult situation, but I believe and I’m urging the government that they give strength and truth to the negotiators.
I’m in support of this.
I believe because of the agreements being signed, the funding that could have been used for other services is now being used for those.
Those are just some of the comments that I wanted to make.
Finance, operations and maintenance, branch.
Various department.
Total department, $8 million 823 thousand.
Does this committee agree?
Page 7, Human Resources operations and maintenance.
Human Resources, operations and maintenance, branch.
Various total.
Department, $1 million 368 thousand.
Justice, operations and maintenance.
Justice, operations and maintenance, branch.
Total Department, $459 thousand.
Public Works and Services. Operations and Maintenance branch.
Total Department, $1 million 179 thousand.
Page 10, Community and Government Services.
Operations and maintenance. Any questions.
Community and Government Services, operations and maintenance branch.
Various. Total department, $546 thousand.
Chairman: Thank you. Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth.
Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, operations and maintenance.
Total Department, $312 thousand.
Chairman: Number 12, page 12, Education.
Total department, $4 million 104 thousand.
Page 13, Health and Social Services, operations and maintenance.
Health and Social Services, operations and maintenance.
Total department, 1 million 753 thousand.
Sustainable Development, operations and maintenance.
Various. Total department, $588 thousand.
Operations and maintenance. Are there any questions.
Various. Total Department, $180 thousand.
Going over to page 3, back to page 3.
Operations and maintenance. Branch Not previously authorized.
Total operations and maintenance, $20 million 27 thousand.
Going to Bill 1.
Supplementary Appropriation, Operations and Maintenance Act number 4, 2003-04, definition 1,
Clause 1, do you agree.
Chairman: Clause 2, do you agree.
Chairman: Thank you. Clause 3, do you agree.
Chairman: Thank you. Clause 4, do you agree.
Chairman: Sorry, I’m going ahead again.
Go to schedule, under clause 3.
Clause 3, go to schedule, page 2, schedule, vote 1, operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $20 million 27 thousand.
Chairman: Total supplementary appropriation, $20 million 27 thousand.
Chairman: Thank you. Clause 3, Do you agree.
Chairman: Clause 5, do you agree.
Chairman: Clause 6, do you agree.
Chairman: Clause 7, do you agree.
Does the committee agree to Bill 1 as a whole.
Chairman: Are you agreed.
Are you agreed that Bill 1 is ready for third reading.
Supplementary Appropriation Operations and Maintenance, Number 2, 2004-05.
Does the committee have the document.
Page 4, Legislative Assembly.
Oerations and maintenance.
Branch, not previously authorized.
Office of the clerk.
Total office of the clerk, $102 thousand.
Does this committee agree,
Expenditure on behalf of members.
Total expenditures on behalf of members, $90 thousand.
Total Office of the Speaker, $5 thousand.
Any questions. Page 5.
Branch not previously authorized.
Total office of the Chief Electoral Officer. $14 thousand.
Office of the Independent Commissioner.
Total Office of the Independent Commissioner, $13 thousand.
Chairman: Thank you. Total Department, $224 thousand.
Chairman: Page 6, Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs, Operations and maintenance.
Total Directorate, $39 thousand.
Chairman: Communications Policy, Planning and Evaluation.
Total Communications, Policy, Planning and Evaluation, $75 thousand.
Chairman: Thank you. Statistical Service.
Total Statistical Service, $13 thousand.
Total Nunavut Cabinet, $123 thousand.
Total Commissioner of Nunavut, $5 thousand.
I can’t hear you.
Chairman: Intergovernmental Affairs.
Total Intergovernmental Affairs, $25 thousand.
Chairman: Branch, Aboriginal and Circumpolar Affairs.
Total Aboriginal and Circumpolar Affairs, $28 thousand.
Chairman: Total department, $308 thousand.
Chairman: Page 9, Finance, operations and maintenance.
Any questions. Any questions.
Total Directorate, $111 thousand.
Total Fiscal Management, $149 thousand.
Internal Audit Service.
Total Internal Audit Service, $39 thousand.
Finance, operations and maintenance.
Under the second part, administered funds, there is the amount of $3 million 159 thousand that is noted as a short fall in Government of Nunavut wide programs administered by the department.
I’m wondering Mr. Chairman, if the minister could tell us what is causing these shortfalls.
The shortfalls, a lot of it has to do with the increases associated with the collective bargaining process.
Some of the essentially administered programs include WCB premiums, dental premiums, employee medical travel that resulted in the increase in that section.
Could the minister clarify for me, are the costs of the medical travel increasing or is it the cost of the programming increasing.
I wasn’t quite clear on your answer.
I listed the areas that are essentially administered in the area.
There is a shortfall in the medical travel.
It’s due to an increase in people accessing medical travel, having to travel outside of their communities to receive medical treatment.
Being relatively new to the government system, I wonder if the minister could tell us, aren’t the departments themselves responsible for paying that or do you recover some through the interdepartmental transfers of funds.
In terms of the program itself, of course, that’s administered through the Department of Health.
For our government employees, the costs associated with medical travel for employees is administered centrally through the Department of Finance.
I was just wondering if the minister could give us a breakdown of how much of this is $3.159 million is going to worker’s compensation fees, how much of it is going to employee medical travel and how much of it is going to the dental premiums.
Yes, WCB premiums is $1 million 161 thousand; dental premiums are $158 thousand; Government of Nunavut employee medical travel $1 million 940 thousand.
I don’t know if that’s a good thing that we have more people taking advantage of medical travel or not.
I guess I’m just wondering if this is a reflection of the staffing levels increasing throughout the government and we’re seeing more usage of this area and also, if that’s the case in all these areas, are we going be seeing base budgets increased in future years so that we don’t run into the same problem again.
The increase since 2001 has been around 20 percent in all those categories.
In terms of taking advantage of the medical travel, I don’t know if they’re taking advantage of it.
I think it’s more of a necessity to take and get the health care service down south in outside jurisdictions and what not.
Hopefully, with the regional hospitals, that level of travel will be reduced down the road.
We do monitor that.
And my deputy is getting older.
So, anyway, the areas, we do monitor those.
There has been an increase in 20 percent all around and of course some of the information you provided in terms of more employees being in the system, they have the same benefits as all the other employees to, so.
The other day, the minister’s deputy was saying he was feeling younger and he said he had some proof too.
Mr. Chairman, I’m glad that it’s because there are more people taking advantage of the program because we have more staff and not because anyone working for the government makes people sick.
So that’s what I was getting at.
I’m glad because we have more people working out there.
Mr. Chairman, my next question deals with another item on that page.
It’s liquor management area.
There is over a half a million dollars being requested to operate the Liquor Commission and the Liquor Licensing Board in Rankin Inlet.
I’m just wondering if the minister could elaborate a little bit on the status of the repatriation of those functions.
The funding of $524 thousand again is to operate the Liquor Licensing Board Office in Rankin Inlet.
The funding covers the Liquor Board as well as the Liquor Licensing and Enforcement part.
In the past, this function was covered by the territorial government.
That arrangement ended this year and we had to identify in our books the cost of operating the establishment in Rankin Inlet as a separate item, as a new item under our Department of Finance.
In the past, we had arrangements with the Government of the Northwest Territories to provide that service for us and that was through a contribution type of arrangement.
So, we again didn’t have to show this as a separate item.
This year, we have direct control and management of that function now, so that’s a new item under the Department of Finance.
Well it’s good to hear that we’re repatriating these services from the Government of the Northwest Territories or the other territory, one of the other territories.
Mr. Chairman, that agreement expires this year.
I’m just wondering if all the staff are in place to be able to take on these functions now or what is the status of the staffing floor of that office there.
Staffing is under way in Rankin Inlet.
There is a director in place.
There are also staff at the liquor warehouse here.
The board is in place.
So, there are some vacancies, but of the 7 positions that are vacant, I believe probably half of those are filled.
Those continued efforts are made to fill those vacant positions.
We have a casual on in Rankin Inlet as an example in filling that service.
Staffing is well under way.
I know when the Minister’s predecessor, I recall him doing his Minister’s statement on the location of that warehouse in Rankin Inlet and he’s indicated that there was going to be 2 positions there and I’m just wondering what the new total of positions located there for these functions is.
The previous finance minister is correct in that there are 2 incremental positions.
The rest of the positions were transferred from Gjoa Haven to Rankin Inlet.
In the past they had identified the liquor warehouse management would be in Gjoa Haven, but of course we all know Gjoa Haven is a dry community so we had to look at alternative arrangements.
Rankin Inlet was selected, so those positions make up the 7 positions that I mentioned, 7 or 8.
Yes, that’s good old footprints.
It’s nice to see some common sense change is taking place.
Mr. Chairman, just on that facility, where the offices are, is that a government owned facility, does the Government of Nunavut own it or does the commission lease it out or do they lease it from someone.
The facility is leased.
Are those lease costs included in this half million dollars.
My other briefing binder is on the other side that covers that detail, but in terms of the coverage, the funding to cover the lease is covered through the Liquor Commission Revolving Fund.
Mr. Tootoo: I was going to ask if that information could be made available to members at some point as to the lease of that facility.
That’s not something that I don’t expect her to have it right now, but if she could provide that information, it would be good.
I don’t believe there was a question.
He was making a comment to provide the information some time down the road and we’ll look into it.
I just am kind of curious, in the Kitikmeot, the folks there have to order all their alcohol through Yellowknife because we don’t have a liquor outlet there.
How does the Nunavut Liquor Licensing Board, if it’s based in Rankin Inlet, how does it service the Kitikmeot.
I am going to ask Deputy Minister Vardy to answer while I pick up my other briefing binder.
Deputy Minister, Mr. Vardy.
The warehouse in Rankin Inlet will provide a better service to the Baffin communities, and the communities in the Kivalliq are not dry communities.
I am not aware of any immediate plans to provide the service to the Kitikmeot region because of the geography.
We’ll look into that option.
One of the issues in the Kitikmeot, and I hear quite a bit in Cambridge Bay, is the logistics that is required for folks to do the paperwork, to put an order in to the liquor board in Yellowknife.
They have to go through Kugluktuk to get the license.
There is a concern that because of the paperwork and the red tape involved, that people are finding it easier to go to bootleggers and buy a bootlegged bottle of booze.
There are some people asking why don’t we have a liquor board, a liquor warehouse in the Kitikmeot, somewhere.
So I just wanted to bring it up as something that the minister might want to comment on.
I was just going to ask that of Mr. Vardy too.
It has been a long few weeks.
In terms of the inefficiencies to providing that service to Nunavumiut, we recognize that and we are trying to improve the services to individuals in each community, in getting liquor from Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet or here.
Basically I want to with Mr. Peterson’s observations that, yes it can be improved and we’ll continue to do that.
The one advantage to our part is that we now have that service directly under the Government of Nunavut, whereas before it was in the Northwest Territories.
We will be able to take on some of those issues that are within our control, so that will help.
Operation and Maintenance Branch not previously authorized.
Finance Operations.
Total Finance Operations. $529,000.
Chairman: Total. Centrally administered funds. $3,159,000.
Chairman: Liquor management.
Liquor management fund. $524,000.
Chairman: Total department. $4,511,000.
Chairman: Page 11.
On this page there is $30,000 for interdepartmental transfer from operations and maintenance to the capital, to complete the office renovations at the Trigram Building.
I am just wondering exactly where did that money come from, what the department does in provision of services to be able to put that money into capital?
I am just going to go through the notes for a second.
The information that we have from the department is that $30,000 came from Purchased Services, under Staffing Branch, another $30,000 from travel, materials and supplies, from the Job Evaluation Branch and $40,000 from Purchased Services under the IEP Branch.
Mr. Tootoo: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in cases like this where departments, you know the old saying in budgeting circles is use it or lose it.
This is a good example where you are taking out of O&M and putting it into capital.
Do they really need it in that area.
I would just like to ask the minister if this is something and her staff will take a look at to try and, hopefully, help generate more accurate and reflective budgeting figures for the departments in the future.
I agree with the member’s comments and concerns.
We’ll continue to monitor that.
It doesn’t happen too often.
I believe that we have, in this last year, three or four transactions of this nature.
The amounts were insubstantial, but I agree with the comments.
One of the other question that I have on that as I recall last year, or the year before, that we did look at a supplementary for some renovations to the Trigram Building, the relocation of all the staff for human resources, specifically the IEP positions that are located up in the Brown Building, to relocate down to the Trigram Building, there was a supplementary to prefer some amounts to do those renovations there.
I am just wondering if this is for the same thing.
What is the total amount of renovation being paid for by the government to the Trigram Building for human resources?
I think it’s important to recognize that there are more departments outside of human resources that are located in the Trigram Building.
There has been some funding that has been spent on that building, Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, as an example, Human Resources is there.
I believe that the WCB or the Housing Corporation was there in the past, as well.
This new division was created under the Department of Human Resources in order to accommodate the development of that division; we needed to do some adjustments to the building.
So the department has put forward reallocations from its divisions to cover those additional costs.
In the last few years, in 2003 the total spent was $756,000 prior to the IEP Division was established.
That $756,000, does that include the money that is in here.
That we are looking at.
What is the overall total for human resources?
The figure that I provided was from previous years, the money spent on renovating the Trigram Building and is not included in the sub-bills, as well as the funding from previous years that was approved covered to departments, I believe that the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth was one of them, and the other was the Department of Human Resources.
I know that Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth was in there, Education was upstairs there for a while.
The Housing corporation used to be there.
WCB used to be there.
I am just wondering for Department of Human Resources, what are the total costs of the renovations for Department of Human Resources since they have been in there?
We don’t have the figure, the $756,000 broken down by Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth and Department of Human Resources, I believe, and I was the Deputy Minister at the time of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, the project was in simultaneous with Department of Human Resources at the time.
We were looking at a department building and not two separate buildings, so it was one contract that was awarded, I believe, from what I remember from that file.
The information may be covered through more details through Public Works and Services, but from what I recall, it was a one project initiative.
Total Directorate. $51,000.
Total Staffing. $20,000.
Community operations.
Total Assistant Deputy Minister.
Community operations. $89,000.
I am just wondering why we are seeing that one in here for this department, but we don’t see it listed separately in other departments, for Assistant Deputy Minister.
Community Operations fall under the Assistant Deputy Minister, perhaps that is just the way it is described in the books.
Community Operations.
Total, Assistant Deputy Minister Community Operations. $89,000.
Does this committee?
Any questions to page 12?
Job evaluation and organizational designs.
Total job evaluation and organizational designs. $1,000.
Total Inuit Employment Plan.
On the job evaluation and organizational design there is $30,000 taken out, as the minister mentioned earlier and in the one you are talking about, the $40,000 from the IEP section.
Exactly where in there did they, is because they are not doing job evaluations, or they have done enough of them.
There are vacancies within that within division for both.
I am just wondering if we could get an explanation on that.
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I ran through that list earlier.
The $100,000 from Purchased Services, under the Staffing Branch, the other $30,000 from travel, $4,000, materials and supplies $9,000, purchased services, $11.000, fees and payments, $6,000 that swelled up for under job evaluation and under the IEP Branch, the $40,000 came from purchased services under the IEP Branch, and totals $100,000.
Total Inuit Employment Plan. $60,000.
Total training and development. $35,000.
Employment Relations.
Employment Relations. $47,000. Does this committee agree?
Total department. $303,000. Does this committee agree?
Page 14.
It is on the law enforcement.
The RCMP contract, is that a one time increase, or an increase to the department’s base budget?
The $1,227,000 is for the additional funding for the RCMP contracts with respect to law enforcement in Nunavut.
Is it an increased cost in the base?
This increase under the law enforcement part is a one time increase but there has been an increase in the base within the Department of Justice, overall.
Could the minister tell us if we are going to have more police officers in every community with this increase?
I believe that this increase is a result of total incremental costs that was related to their collective bargaining process.
There has been an urgent request by the mayors in Nunavut for more police officers; they are bringing it up at their Nunavut Association of Municipalities Annual General Meeting every year, so I was hoping that some of this funding would go to more officers in the communities?
I believe the Premier, and the Minister responsible of Justice is quite aware in terms of the demands for increasing the RCMP at the community levels and is working to try and address that.
As a result this item is strictly related to the collective bargaining increases for the RCMP contract.
On a side note, the separate issue that he has raised, I believe is being looked into.
Total Directorate. $95,000.
Chairman: Law Enforcement.
Law Enforcement. $1,227,000.
Legal Services Board. $45,000. Does this committee agree?
There is an amount indicated under Lawyer Support Services of $750,000, for the payment of Government of Nunavut’s share of the costs being incurred in defending sexual abuse claims.
My question to the minister, is this all for lawyer’s fees?
That is to cover the legal fees; travel costs, hotels and what not, in representing our case.
Could the minister tell us if the Government of Nunavut is fighting the claims?
One of the areas is also covered under this funding is the requirements or the victims, themselves, have to travel to these other jurisdictions to see psychiatrists, and what not, that also covers the travel of those individuals.
In terms of what I want to comment about the actual court case, itself, I don’t have that information to speak to the details of what our position is in regards to that file.
The minister may have partially answered my next question.
Why is this process proving so costly to the Government of Nunavut?
This particular case, I think that many individuals in the north are aware of the file, indirectly or directly.
The first lawsuit involved about 90 claimants.
That was settled in 2002.
It cost the Nunavut Government a substantial amount of money.
The second lawsuit involves about another 70 plaintiffs, and those individuals are all over Nunavut; they are not in one community.
So that requires the travel of legal lawyers, and what not, and them to go down and see medical psychiatrists, and what not, so the cost is quite high, and why it is taking long because there are more cases that are coming out with the settlement of the first lawsuit that resulted in a successful settlement.
Thank you for that answer, Madame Minister.
Could you give us an indication of what the total liability may be to the Government of Nunavut from this lawsuit, and having to pay compensation to the victims?
We are estimating our share of the cost to be approximately $8,000,000 under the second case.
Mr. Peterson: No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman: Justice.
Lawyer Support Service.
Lawyer Support Service. $844,000.
Chairman: Registrars and Court Service.
Registrars and Court Service. $188,000.
Page 16.
Correction and Community Service, Total Correction and Community Service, $610,000, does this committee agree?
Chairman: Thank you. Human Rights Tribunal, $6,000, does this committee agree?
Chairman: Total Department, $3,015,000, does this committee agree?
Culture, Language, Elders and Youth Operations and Maintenance, any questions? Any questions?