No promises on children’s secretariat

Almost half of Nunavut’s population is under age 19, said High Arctic MLA Rebekah Williams, citing data released this month by Statistics Canada.

“That means close to 12,000 Nunavummiut depend on us to make decisions that affect them,” she told MLAs meeting in Pangnirtung this week for the fall sitting of the legislative assembly.

She urged the department of health and social services to establish a Children’s First Secretariat and to create legislation to support it. “What does the department have in place to protect children?” she asked Health Minister Ed Picco.

Picco said the role of “children’s advocate” was created in the 1999 sitting of the assembly in Cambridge Bay. He added, however, that it is currently an ombudsman position, and not supported in law.

An ad-hoc committee to review the position met in July with members of the Nunavut Association of Municipalities, and is in the process of reviewing legislation from eight Canadian jurisdictions.

Picco made no committments to speeding up the process. “There is still a bit of work to be done before we can bring it forward as legislation,” he said. “The legislative calendar between now and the next election is quite full.”