EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Their most recent meeting was in May 2016 to review the safety issues for all of our schools and they have completed a safety manual for the schools. This includes a list of action items that they also submitted to all of our schools. In English we have what are called (interpretation ends) Crisis Response Guidelines for Nunavut Schools and the Principals’ Planning Manual 2015-16. (interpretation) They are explained in great detail in various documents.
The priority is the safety of our schools.
If we recall, all schools were approved for security cameras and we are installing these in our schools.
All schools will have these security cameras and indeed all of our schools, wherever they are, need to be protected from criminals and vandalism.
Further, to respond to parents’ concerns, we are working to resolve them as a department.
The parents also need (interpretation ends) parental engagement (interpretation) as a means to involve them in the schools, as they are an important cog in developing their children’s education and safety as a rule in our schools.
Mr. Speaker, last February the minister provided information on his department’s Family Engagement program, which is aimed at “inspiring collaborative efforts between schools and teachers and communities to ensure students’ well-being and academic success.”
Can the minister clarify whether his department’s Family Engagement program engages DEAs, parents, and the wider community in addressing such issues as school vandalism, threats, and other destructive behaviours?
Yes, indeed, I completely concur with my colleague on this matter of requiring more innovative ways to resolve this challenge.
The local DEAs have responsibilities that fill their work plate, as they are responsible for schools in their communities throughout our territory. For example, we have 25 communities, so we have 25 local DEAs.
We wish to communicate with these organizations, especially when it is related to safety in our schools. We will also collaborate with them on the proper management of our schools, as the DEAs are the agents in the community responsible for local management. Further, they are the liaison between the parents and the community and thereby need to communicate that locally.
I would advise our colleagues to also provide local news through radio announcements or shows related to our local schools to showcase the importance, which includes working with the local police, fire chiefs, and the like to ensure our local schools are safe.
These are the types of different agencies we work with to ensure school safety and alternatives. This is also because our local schools are quite expensive pieces of infrastructure and locally very important.
We will always keep that at the forefront.
I recognize that education staff and local education authorities cannot tackle school safety issues alone.
Can the minister confirm whether or not he has reached out to other entities, such as municipal law enforcement organizations, security companies, or his colleague in the Department of Community and Government Services, to address school security issues?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank my colleague. I totally agree with him.
It is clear that we require further communication efforts to engage these local groups within our communities at various levels and different mandates related to safety.
I will ensure that I push for more communication on this front, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Question 395 – 4(3): Sealift Cargo Removal in Pond Inlet (Enook)
Earlier this year the department issued a request for tenders for a standing offer agreement to provide sealift cargo removal services for Pond Inlet.
The deadline for companies to submit bids was July 22, 2016.
My first question is: for the record, can the minister confirm which company was the successful bidder?
Thank you for the question and an opportunity to clear the air on some miscommunication and some not-so-good happenings with the communication.
Mr. Speaker, the contract did go out for the sealift tender in Pond Inlet and that’s to provide transportation from the shore to the Government Services location.
The contract was awarded to a company in Pond Inlet, Mr. Simon Merkosak, who is here.
There is only one person who was in charge of sealift in Nunavut and he got sick and was off work. It was just overlooked.
I would like to apologize to Mr. Simon Merkosak for the non-communication. The contract was awarded to him, but the message was not passed on and I hope he accepts my apology. We will make sure it does not happen again.
I also thank the minister, but I would like to get more information.
For the record, can the minister confirm the actual date on which the companies that bid on the sealift cargo removal services contract received formal notification from his department about the results of the tender process?
I can’t give the member the exact date of when the contract was first awarded but not communicated.
It was before sealift and the proponent was advised after sealift.
I apologize to you, Mr. Speaker, for calling you the Chairman.
Mr. Speaker, let me ask again for clarification.
After the contract was awarded for sealift removal services... .
I know it’s from the shoreline to the land and I’ll just call it removal.
Which company actually performed the work under this contract?
As I stated earlier, there’s only one person who is in charge of all the sealift for Nunavut and the fellow’s name is John Paton and he was sick at the time.
His communication just fell through the cracks.
This is a two-year contract.
The proponent had been advised but not until after sealift that the contract was awarded to him.
Question 396 – 4(3): Shortage of Student Support Assistants (Sammurtok, A)
Mr. Speaker, Nunavut’s Education Act provides for inclusive education so that all students, regardless of their different challenges, can attend regular classes with their peers and reach their individual educational goals with support.
Often that support is provided by student support assistants, or SSAs.
Can the minister clarify how his department ensures that there are enough SSAs in Nunavut’s schools to provide adequate support to those students who need it?
This is indeed an extremely important subject. Anyone or any child can go to school, as that is their right irrespective of their status. This is very important to our department.
Actually we completed RespectED. As a matter of fact, we have a new (interpretation ends) inclusive education (interpretation) program specific to meeting this need. There are several different programs now offered that are primarily based on this need.
We also created positions called student support assistants, as we agreed that this was a need related to (interpretation ends) inclusive education (interpretation) to provide this support.
Now every school has these assistants available to provide support.
All of our schools have these (interpretation ends) student support (interpretation) assistants to assist students requiring additional assistance. They are all filled and further, wherever our schools are, they all have this position due to its importance.
Related to this issue, as a matter of fact next week, I believe the school counsellors will be arriving into Iqaluit for a meeting. This will include training on providing alternatives and strategic planning. I will be making a presentation to the school counsellors, as they are an important link to the students.
They will be meeting on these issues and I will be speaking with them there.
We try to have enough student support assistants in our schools because they should be available to those who need help.
Your first supplementary, Mr. Alexander Sammurtok.
This past May the minister tabled his department’s external review of inclusive education in Nunavut.
The report, called Reaching and Teaching All Students, contained a number of observations and recommendations relating to the role of SSAs, or student support assistants, under the department’s current model of inclusive education.
Can the minister clarify whether the number of SSAs allocated to individual schools will be re-evaluated as a result of the recommendations in this report?
I will be able to provide him a copy on exactly how many student support assistants are needed in our schools. As to what he referred to as SSAs, they’re geared more towards school counselling.
I can provide the information on the exact number of SSAs to my colleague.
Your final supplementary, Mr. Alexander Sammurtok.
The Rankin Inlet DEA has noted a significant shortage of SSAs in the three schools in Rankin Inlet.
There are a number of students who require one-on-one assistance from SSAs, which leaves no SSA to help other students who need support.
Will the minister commit to looking into this issue and help those schools which require more student support staff to get additional SSA positions?
With respect to my colleague’s question, perhaps he can write me a letter requesting the information he’s asking for so that we can look into it. As I stated earlier, all of our schools in Nunavut need those positions and I believe in that.
As I also stated earlier, our school should be available to any child of school age, regardless of their status.
I’ll be looking forward to his letter for my consideration because this is important and all the schools should have those positions.
Question 397 – 4(3): Activities of the Energy Secretariat (Mikkungwak)
Hello to the people of Baker Lake and to the Nunavut people.
My questions are for the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, who is responsible for the government’s Energy Secretariat.
Over the past two years the Energy Secretariat has been offering free energy audits for homeowners in the communities of Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay, and Kugluktuk. I believe that the Kugluktuk audits are taking place this week.
I applaud the minister for undertaking this valuable work, which many of my constituents would also like to participate in.
The most recent undertaking by the Nunavut Housing Corporation indicated that there are at least 120 private homeowners in the community of Baker Lake.
Will the minister commit to ensuring that energy audits are offered to homeowners in Baker Lake within the next 12 months?
I also thank my colleague for asking that good question.
These audits on homeowners are about how they can use less energy.
From October 11 to 19 QEC auditors were in Kugluktuk.
After that they will be going to Arviat in February 2017.
Right now I have not heard which community will be next after that, but I do know that all Nunavut residents depend on heating oil and we need to find out how to reduce our consumption of it.
QEC wants to go to every community to determine how to make those energy savings.
During our recent spring sitting the minister tabled a comprehensive report on the activities of her department’s Energy Secretariat during the 2015-16 fiscal year, which I have reviewed with care.
This report states, and I quote, “…the information gathered from previous energy audits will be analyzed and may be used to study the feasibility of a targeted energy efficiency program.”
Will the minister commit to tabling the results of the energy audits before the end of our current fall sitting?
With respect to his question, it is still being worked on.
I can’t say whether or not I can table it at this session.
The minister’s report on the activities of her department’s Energy Secretariat also indicated that one of the issues that it has been working on is the topic of carbon pricing.
Earlier this month, the Prime Minister of Canada announced that the federal government will require all provinces and territories to introduce a price on carbon within the next two years or else the federal government will implement one for us.
Can the minister describe how her department’s Energy Secretariat is involved in the Government of Nunavut’s response to the federal decision on carbon pricing?
If you have an opportunity, you can ask the Minister of Environment because he’s part of that group.
Question 398 – 4(3): Status of Agreement between the Government of Nunavut, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police “V” Division, and the Ottawa Police Service (Okalik)
As the minister is aware, an agreement has been in place for some time between the Government of Nunavut, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s “V” Division, and the Ottawa Police Service.
This agreement provides for the Ottawa Police Service to conduct what are supposed to be independent reviews of RCMP actions in circumstances where a police shooting, allegation of excessive force, or other serious incident occurs in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, it is important to keep in mind that these reviews are distinct and separate from the work that the territorial Office of the Chief Coroner undertakes when a death occurs in police custody.
Can the minister tell the House today when the current agreement between the GN, the RCMP, and the Ottawa Police is scheduled to be next reviewed?
I can’t give that information; I don’t have that information.
Mr. Speaker, I have talked to my officials.
I understand that process.
I understand there are some concerns about police investigating police.
I have asked the department to look at other options.
The tragic death in Ottawa of Annie Pootoogook has called into question the attitudes of the Ottawa Police Service towards Inuit and other indigenous Canadians given what we have learned about the investigation into racist comments made by at least one senior member of the force.
Given this situation, it is obvious that the Ottawa Police Service can no longer be trusted to undertake independent and objective investigations into incidents that occur here in Nunavut.
Why has the minister not said anything publicly about this serious situation?
I thank Mr. Okalik for the question. Mr. Speaker, like most of us here, we get our information from the media. I understand that there is a bit of an investigation going on.
Of course Mr. Okalik knows that. In Nunavut he was the former Minister of Justice for many years. The Nunavut government has a 20-year policing agreement with a shared directional agreement with the RCMP that governs our operations here in Nunavut.
Again, as I indicated in my earlier comment, even prior to that incident in Ottawa, I was asking my officials to look at other jurisdictions to review what process they have in place that we could possibly use here in Nunavut to look at incidents involving the RCMP and the public.
Most Canadian jurisdictions have established some form of civilian oversight body in respect to their police forces.
A recent interview with the local commander of the RCMP’s “V” Division suggests that this would be a decision for the territorial government to make.
The minister just indicated that he would like to have this reviewed.
Does the minister support the establishment of a civilian oversight body here in Nunavut, yes or no?
As I have stated before, my officials are doing a jurisdictional review. I talked to a non-GN official about how it works in other jurisdictions. I’m not going to commit to anything.
I want to do the proper research and due diligence. It’s the proper way for governments to proceed.
At some point I’ll be able to make a decision, talk to my colleagues in cabinet, and move forward.
Question 399 – 4(3): Qikiqtarjuaq Port (Keyootak)
In February 2015 I asked some questions about the current small craft harbours plan for seven communities, including Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River.
The Department of Economic Development and Transportation’s current business plan indicates that the Government of Nunavut had submitted a business case to the federal government under the Building Canada Fund for the construction of a new deepwater port in Qikiqtarjuaq.
However, it has recently been reported in the news media that the request for funding under the Building Canada Fund has been denied by the federal government.
For the record, can the minister confirm whether or not the federal government denied the submission and, if so, can she clarify what specific reasons the federal government provided for its refusal to fund this much-needed infrastructure for my community?
Hon. Monica Ell-Kanayuk (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also thank the member for his question regarding the deepwater port in Qikiqtarjuaq.
It would be of great benefit to the community if they did get that port. They have contributed greatly to the economic development in that community.
I will be discussing this further with the Executive Council.
As the minister is very much aware, Qikiqtarjuaq’s economic future depends on our being able to fully participate in the northern fishing industry.
A deepwater port is essential to this goal.
The Department of Economic Development and Transportation has been able to find hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on a beautiful new airport terminal building for Iqaluit.
Why has the department not been able to fund a new port for Qikiqtarjuaq, which will help to bring jobs and reduce poverty in the community?
Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, Mrs. Monica Ell-Kanayuk.
There are a number of different programs offered by the federal government.
We will continue to make submissions for communities where we know there is potential for fisheries, just like the port in Pangnirtung was approved and fully funded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
We can also access this DFO program and we will continue to make submissions to that funding program as many more communities can benefit economically.
There are different pots of money that can be accessed through the federal government.
Later today at the appropriate time I will be tabling the design concept for a new Qikiqtarjuaq port that the municipality has developed.
Will the minister commit to meeting with the municipality to explore ways to identify potential funding sources for a new deepwater port, yes or no?
Yes, I have looked at the design concept for the Qikiqtarjuaq port that you will be tabling.
We are just waiting for an invitation from the hamlet.
Once we receive that letter of invitation, I would be more than pleased to accept the invitation and bring my officials with me so that we can brainstorm together.
Question 400 – 4(3): Impact of Carbon Price on the North (Angnakak)
On October 3, 2016 the Prime Minister of Canada announced in the House of Commons that a carbon tax will be introduced across the country.
The Prime Minister stated, and I’m quoting here from the House of Commons Hansard that I read with care, “Provinces and territories will be able to have a choice in how they implement this pricing. They can put a direct price on carbon pollution, or they can adopt a cap-and-trade system…If neither a price nor a cap-and-trade system is in place by 2018, the Government of Canada would implement a price in that jurisdiction.” Follow me?
Mr. Speaker, it’s likely that it’s not entirely clear to the public what kinds of carbon pricing mechanisms are being considered as part of the federal announcement, such as for example, a surcharge on gasoline, airline tickets, or a direct tax on income.
Can the minister clarify what kinds of carbon pricing mechanisms are under consideration?
Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration the announcement was made on October 3, before we even got a chance to discuss our situation here, which was scheduled for December 8.
Mr. Speaker, we already have a high price in Nunavut. The cost of food and the cost of transportation are very high.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, and as members are well aware, all our supplies come in from the other jurisdictions: Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta. All our supplies come in for any activity or infrastructure building that we do here, including our fuel.
Once a carbon price is established in other jurisdictions, of course there’s a cascading effect that our costs are going to increase.
At this time there are opportunities here. I’m really well pleased that other jurisdictions and other premiers have indicated the uniqueness of the north and so did the Prime Minister and the minister of environment.
They’re willing to discuss their options and exceptions for the north.
At this point we do not know what they are until we have our discussions at the First Ministers’ Meeting.
Your first supplementary, Ms. Pat Angnakak.
As the Premier indicated, the cost of living in Nunavut is the highest in the country and part of the reason for this is the cost of transporting goods to the north. This impacts our residents on everything, like you said, from the food to the price of pampers.
Can the minister indicate, once their meeting is done on December 8, how long it would take the government to really look at what the impacts of that carbon tax will be on the residents of Nunavut and report back to the House on it?
Speaker (interpretation): Thank you. (interpretation ends) Premier of Nunavut, Mr. Taptuna.
Again, greenhouse gas emissions in Nunavut are very minute compared to other countries. Our emissions amount to about 0.1 percent of our national emissions in Canada.
Mr. Speaker, it’s a very small amount, but we’re the most affected when it comes to climate change due to all the greenhouse gas emissions from other countries, such as China, India, Mexico, and the United States.
Having 72 percent of our population living in public units, it’s going to be very difficult to change that attitude as the government is the biggest customer for energy when it comes to power generation.
Mr. Speaker, at this point we’re in discussions with other departments at this point to determine what the impacts are and what the overall cost of $10 per tonne is going to mean to the average citizen, to our people of Nunavut.
Not only that, we’re looking forward into 2023, when the amount is going to be increased to $50 a tonne.
We’re paying very careful attention to this. I want to ensure that our departments are well aware of all the consequences before we establish a strategy moving forward with the federal government.
Thank you to the Premier for his response.
I think it’s good to start having these kinds of discussions because it’s important for everybody to understand, really, what the impacts are in Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, when MLAs held televised hearings on the budget and business plan of the Qulliq Energy Corporation, the issue of our aging diesel power plant infrastructure received significant attention.
In its recent report on energy issues in the north, the Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources pointed out 17 out of the 25 existing diesel facilities “are operating beyond their design parameters.”
I believe that one way for the federal government to assist us and make an impact on reducing carbon pollution would be to provide the resources necessary to replace or upgrade our aging power plants with modern equipment.
Can the Premier tell us if this is an issue he has been pushing with the Prime Minister?
Absolutely, that’s one of the issues that I have been communicating with our federal partners, including the Minister of Environment.
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right that the 25 separate power generating stations within Nunavut are very small and very old.
Mr. Speaker, with efficient engines to generate power, I’m sure that our greenhouse gas emissions are going to go down.
Overall, with the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that affect the north, not only Nunavut, the whole north, we’re looking at other means of mitigating some of these difficulties that we’re facing with climate change.
As you know, in the north, there’s permafrost thaw and some of our infrastructure is sinking. We know that throughout the north.
Not only that, we have initiated in the past where a department is going out mapping the permafrost zones. That will give us some indication of where not to build our infrastructure because, as you know, throughout the north where there are roads, the roads are sinking and other various infrastructure is sinking because of permafrost melt.
Mr. Speaker, we do need major assistance from our partner, the federal government, in modernizing our generating stations throughout Nunavut.