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March 3, 2006

Netser joins cabinet

Nanulik MLA Patterk Netser was elected into cabinet this past Monday, when members of the legislative assembly held a vote to replace Peter Kilabuk.

Netser was chosen over Uqqummiut MLA James Arreak, the only other nominee for the job.

In his five-minute speech to members right before the vote, Netser, who represents Coral Harbour and Chesterfield Inlet, said he wished to represent the non-decentralized communities in cabinet, as well as single parents who need jobs.

He said the government should “not be afraid” to look at a decentralized trades school or Heritage Centre, and said that small communities needed more support for sports hunting and commercial fishing opportunities.

He also mentioned that he and his wife had celebrated their 28th anniversary just the day before.

Netser is scheduled to be sworn in today. After that, which portfolio he gets, or whether he even gets one before the end of this sitting, is up to Premier Paul Okalik.

March 3, 2006

Kelowna all the time

Premier Paul Okalik told the legislature on Tuesday that he was “very pleased” with last weekend’s meetings in Ottawa with the new Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Okalik said the many promises made last year in Kelowna, B.C., by the former Liberal government was the “primary focus” of the talks between Harper and the three territorial leaders.

Okalik said he heard some “very promising words,” but he didn’t know the outcome of the weekend’s discussions or the former government’s promises for more housing, among other things.

Devolution and Arctic sovereignty were also brought up at the weekend meeting with Harper, Okalik said.

March 3, 2006

Don’t wait for the trees to fight climate change

Pangnirtung MLA Peter Kilabuk told the legislature this week how recent high winds and unusually high temperatures are causing damage and distress in his community.

To bring home the impact, Kilabuk tabled photographs of a two-bay garage, which was completely destroyed, and of open water on the Pangnirtung fiord.

“As well, our only bridge in Pangnirtung to access our water reservoir and dump [was affected]...for that reason, there has already been an accident occurring by an individual on a snowmobile, and we regret that,” Kilabuk said.

Kilabuk also told the MLAs that frozen meat stored outside in shacks was melting in the unseasonal above-zero temperatures.

“With the temperatures we’re having, it will be hard to go out hunting,” he said.

Kilabuk called for Nunavut to work on providing more assistance to Nunavummiut affected by climate change and damage from extreme weather.

“There are a lot of hunters and fishers that don’t want to wait until they get forests” before they get reimbursed for losses, Kilabuk said.

March 3, 2006

Sealskin debate continues

In the wake of last January’s controversial ban on Canadian sealskins imposed by Greenland, Uqqummiut MLA James Arreak asked Olayuk Akesuk, the environment minister, if Nunavut officials have persuaded Greenland to lift its restrictions.

Akesuk said Greenland and Nunavut had “started meeting on strategizing” and agreed “to work together as to how we can provide support to each other,” referring, apparently, to a Greenland-Nunavut “working group” created after a team of Nunavut officials flew to Greenland in late January.

But Akesuk apparently didn’t know that the controversy in Greenland over Canadian sealskins is far from over.

Last week, the chief executive officer of Great Greenland, Michael Køllgaard Nielsen, was fired after “reliable information” alleging the fraudulent use of public funds. In a recent interview with Greenland’s KNR radio, Ellen Kristoffersen, the chairman of the Greenlandic parliament’s finance committee, said she had received reliable information about fraud within Great Greenland.

According to Kristoffersen, an informant said Greenlandic sealskins were exchanged for Canadian sealskins. The Greenlandic government now wants a full investigation into the transactions at Great Greenland.

Akesuk made a safe promise to Arreak when he said that the GN would continue trying to sell sealskins to countries willing to buy them.

March 3, 2006

Promises for winter trails, improved medical travel and school bus

Promises from cabinet ministers helped to quell persistent questions from MLAs on several issues in the legislative assembly.

“I will see what I can do on this issue of building a more permanent trail or road in between communities... we’ll look into it and see what we can do to make it a reality,” Environment minister Olayuk Akesuk told Arviat MLA David Alagalak, who wants to see better winter ice roads in the Kivalliq.

Akesuk, who is also the minister responsible for transportation, told Hudson Bay MLA Peter Kattuk that he would look into alleged breaches of security in medical travel from Sanikiluaq on Kivalliq Air flights to Winnipeg.

“I will be writing to the airlines that operate in Nunavut asking them to make sure that they are following the rules and procedures, also to get an explanation as to why they do that, and reinforce that they follow the rules,” Akesuk promised Kattuk. “If my staff is listening, then I’m asking them to start writing the letter. So I will try and do that immediately.”

And Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq promised Kattuk she would make sure all medical flights from Sanikiluaq to Winnipeg are equipped with a bathroom.

Kattuk also wrested a promise from Ed Picco, the education minister, to look for money for a new school bus in Sanikiluaq. The community now has only an aging bus capable of seating about 20 kids.

“I would agree with the member that there is a need for a new bus in Sanikiluaq,” Picco told him.

Rankin Inlet North MLA Tagak Curley got Picco, as minister responsible for Nunavut’s power corporation, to review the senior’s fuel subsidy for homeowners over 65.

“What I will do... as per the member’s question, is to review the senior’s fuel subsidy and other programs this government has in place, to make sure that, in cases where there is hardship, that our elders are taken care of.”

March 3, 2006

Igloolik stand-off a wake-up call

Louis Tapardjuk, who represents Igloolik in the Nunavut legislature, told his fellow MLAs he was happy that the four-day armed stand-off in his home community ended peacefully.

“It seemed as if the whole community was held in hostage,” Tapardjuk said in a member’s statement.

Tapardjuk attributed this week’s upheaval to changes in the Inuit lifestyle as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

“We have to bring up our children properly so they will have a healthier adult lifestyle.”

Tapardjuk deplored the bad relations between many in his community and those who work for health and social services or the RCMP.

The situation will improve only when Inuit take back “ownership” of these services.

“We can’t just follow non-beneficiaries advice,” Tapardjuk said.

March 3, 2006

Tracking system being tested

Levinia Brown, the minister of community government, responded to a question raised by Arviat MLA David Alagalak about new technology which could be used for tracking hunters out on the land.

Brown told him that the Nunavut Emergency Management is conducting testing on two systems that might be able to offer “real-time location information” when people are traveling or hunting outside of the communities.

But she said the tracking technology is expensive.

“One system was first tested in winter 2004-05, but due to serviceability issues, required further testing this winter. The second system was purchased in winter 2005, however, due to technical issues with the system, testing was unable to commence until this January,” Brown said.

Brown said a detailed report on each of these systems should be ready in June 2006.

March 3, 2006

New all-male liquor board

On Feb. 23 in the legislature, David Simailak, the minister of finance, announced the appointment of eight new board members of the Nunavut Liquor Licensing Board:

• David Wilman, Iqaluit (Chairperson)
• Hamish Tatty, Rankin Inlet
• Stu Kennedy, Iqaluit
• John Ningark, Kugaaruk
• Peter Peetooloot, Taloyoak
• Percy Kabloona, Whale Cove
• Ronald Tologanak, Kugluktuk
• Joshua Curley, Arviat

The members of the board will hold office for a period of two years.

The board controls the conduct of licence holders, the management and equipment of licenced premises and the conditions under which liquor is sold or consumed on licenced premises. The board also issues, renews, transfers, suspends or cancels licences, and will advise Simailak on all matters of policy and legislation relating to the sale and consumption of liquor.

“As Nunavut grows in population and sophistication, liquor issues will become more complex and I have complete trust that the new liquor board will meet the future challenges in a fair and unbiased manner,” Simailak said in his minister’s statement. “The new board is a mix of people from all walks of life, from hunters to business people to academics.”

However, the new board does not include any female members.

March 3, 2006

Peterson fears transport deficits will hurt region

Last week Cambridge Bay MLA Keith Peterson said he fears the lack of transportation infrastructure in the Kitikmeot will be a barrier to the region’s development.

Peterson said Cambay is counting on receiving at least some of the $4.9 million earmarked by the GN for airport improvements over the next five years.

The community’s runway needs to be lengthened so airplanes can operate with their full payload weight and new jets can land.

This week, Olayuk Akesuk, the minister responsible for transportation, told Peterson, that communities with jet traffic would receive “priority.”

March 3, 2006

Remember Nanisivik

Quttiktuq MLA Levi Barnabas asked Ed Picco, the minister responsible for education, if he would mention the former mine site of Nanisivik as a possible military training site or base for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Picco said that Nanisivik, unlike Cambridge Bay or Iqaluit, hadn’t been mentioned as a possible site for boosted military presence in Nunavut.

“Nanisivik would be a site I would suggest to you, that myself or the Premier or any member of the House would probably recommend because of the infrastructure, the logistics, as well as the administrative abilities of Nanisivik, to be an Armed Forces training site,” Picco told Barnabas.

Picco said he had requested a meeting with the new ministers of national defence and human resources to discuss training issues.

“I would make a commitment to the member to see if there are opportunities for outside training interests in Nunavut with our Armed Forces,” Picco said.

Picco also promised Iqaluit Centre MLA Hunter Tootoo that he would discuss the training possibilities attached to the proposed deep port facility in Iqaluit.

March 3, 2006

Wanted: ice making machine for Kugluktuk

Kugluktuk’s ice rink was built five years ago, and pipes were laid under the arena for an ice-making machine, but the hamlet hasn’t been able afford one.

Now, the pipes act as a heat conductor, drawing warmth from other parts of the building, and the ice, Kugluktuk MLA Joe Allen Evyagotailak told the legislature, is more like slush.

Evyagotailuk said an ice making machine for the rink would cost $320,000 — and he’s hoping mining companies in the Kitikmeot will make sizeable donations towards its purchase. After the legislature’s sitting, he plans to travel by snowmobile from Yellowknife to Kugluktuk, stopping off at mine sites along the way.

“I hope those community-minded corporations will assist me in promoting support in my communities through donations towards getting artificial ice in our arena.”

March 3, 2006

Barnabas decries child care underfunding

Quttiktuq MLA Levi Barnabas says the underfunding of child care in Nunavut means child care centres face a daily struggle just to keep their facilities open.

“Due to mismanagement, or improper budgeting, [some] have run out of funds to heat the buildings,” he said in the legislature last week.

Education Minister Ed Picco reminded the legislature that every new school in Nunavut is supposed to be built with a child care centre or space reserved for child care.

The department plans to spread $600,000 of federal money around Nunavut’s 39 child care centres and seven Aboriginal Head Start programs — but that could be the last chunk of money if Stephen Harper’s plan to give money directly to parents for child care goes through.

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