Nunavut’s legislature to reconvene for spring sitting next week
Government will table Education Act amendments, House Leader says
John Main, chair of the standing committee on legislation, says the committee will extend the period for public submissions on Bill 25 and the committee’s review period of the bill. (File photo)
Nunavut’s cabinet plans to unveil its latest attempt to overhaul the territory’s Education Act during the spring sitting of the legislature, which kicks off next week on Tuesday, May 28.
Bill 25, an act to amend the Education Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act, is expected to be tabled at that sitting, said Government House Leader Elisapee Sheutiapik.
The government held territory-wide public consultations this past fall on its latest ideas for amending the Education Act, whose current version was passed in 2008.
During their last sitting, MLAs introduced the Interim Language of Instruction Act, which aims to protect the Government of Nunavut from lawsuits for failing to provide education with Inuktitut and English as languages of instruction from kindergarten to Grade 12 by the fall of 2019, under a schedule set out in the 2008 Education Act.
In 2013, an Auditor General of Canada report found the GN does not have the capacity to meet that objective by 2019.
So the interim law suspends the application of the Inuit Language Protection Act and the 2008 Education Act for the school program from Grade 4 to Grade 12 until after a new Education Act comes into effect.
A previous effort to overhaul Nunavut’s Education Act and Inuit Language Protection Act, introduced in 2016, contained in Bill 37, drew accusations from critics like Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the office of Nunavut’s languages commissioner that it weakened Inuit language rights.
In the fall of 2017, Nunavut’s regular MLAs decided not to debate Bill 37. It later died on the order paper.
High hopes
John Main, the chair of the regular members’ caucus, said he looks forward to discussing the contents of the amended Education Act and hopes to see it tabled next week.
“I have high expectations in terms of what this new Education Act is going to look like because there’s been so much money put into it. I have high hopes that it will be an excellent piece of legislation that I can get behind,” he said.
“It’s a very important topic and one that goes right to the heart and the future of our territory, which is our children,” he added.
Although only 10 days are scheduled for this session, Sheutiapik said no extensions of sitting hours are expected.
Sheutiapik said several bills will be introduced “right off the bat.”
Bill 22 will be one of the first items on the agenda, which deals with a supplementary appropriation of money for operations and maintenance in the fiscal year ending in March 2020, Sheutiapik said.
As is typical for the first sitting following the end of a fiscal year, some of the legislation introduced will deal with government spending to determine what funds in different departments will be carried into the next fiscal year.
Bill 23, which discusses the government’s supplementary capital spending for the past fiscal year, does just that, while Bill 24 will look at the write-off of various debts from 2018-2019.
Other pieces of legislation to be introduced at this sitting are Bill 26, an act to amend the income tax act, and Bill 27, which amends the Senior Citizens Benefits Act to update its terminology and privacy provisions, Sheutiapik said.
Election of new Speaker
Also expected is the election of a new Speaker, after Speaker Joe Enook died at an Ottawa hospital on March 29.
Main said he expects this session to be “jam-packed.”
“It’s a case of when you only have limited time, then you have to make the most of it and make sure you’re raising the issues that are of the most importance to your constituency,” he said.
As MLA for Arviat North-Whale Cove, Main said he will continue to focus on the issues he has raised in the past, including the need for more staff in health care centres and the need for mental health services in his community.
Another issue Main wants to continue fighting for this session is the balancing of needs between regional centres and smaller communities in the territory.
“We have 25 communities in Nunavut and we need to make sure that every one of those 25 communities is taken into account and is given consideration,” he said.
Holding government accountable
Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone said he intends to use part of the spring sitting to follow up on a long list of questions he brought up during the last session.
Although he did receive responses to some of those questions, Lightstone said some of those answers will require another follow-up.
“Some of the responses weren’t adequate and didn’t really respond to what I put forward,” he said.
That includes Lightstone’s questions about the treatment of contract workers within the Department of Community and Government Services, he said.
Lightstone said he also plans to use his time in the legislature to continue discussions about several topics, including affordable housing and home ownership, domestic violence, teacher recruitment and retention, and the environment.
“I’d also like to renew my focus on environmental issues, specifically climate change and what Nunavut needs to do in order to follow suit with the rest of Canada and the rest of the world,” he said.
As the government approaches the two-year mark of their mandate this fall, Lightstone said things are not moving as fast as he would like.
“I find it a bit alarming considering we only have two years remaining. And it seems like we haven’t seen much traction on our government,” he said.
Universal food programs
If there is one thing Lightstone would like to see accomplished over the next two years, it is the implementation of universal food programs in every school in the territory.
He noted that several schools have food programs run by teachers and staff.
“Given our current situation with food insecurity, I think it’s imperative that we ensure children aren’t going hungry, he said. “The Department of Education is not doing their part. All the weight is on the teachers’ shoulders and that’s just not right.”
As he prepared for the spring sitting, Main said he is also taking time to reflect on the last two years of his mandate.
“I think it’s important to remember to look back in terms of why we as MLAs were elected,” he said. “We will have projects and initiatives that don’t work out. We need to be able to try new things and to push the envelope in terms of addressing some of our fundamental challenges in this territory.”
He added that the regular members’ caucus will continue to hold cabinet to account throughout the short spring session.
“When it comes to issues of importance or issues of common concern, we as a caucus are prepared to vote together to bring change in Nunavut, when appropriate,” he said.
It is interesting to see the difference in the legislative agendas of the leadership between Nunavut and the NWT, as both assemblies prepare for their spring sitting.
The GN agenda is clearly focused on laws related to how the government provides its services -Education Act, language of service, and support to children.
GNWT’s agenda this spring is mainly about how the government influences and manages non government activities – Oil and Gas regulation, Carbon taxation, Environmental Laws and Forestry Laws.
I think this points to real differences in perspective east and west. In the east, government is seen as the dominant and controlling force in public life. In the west, government is seen only as the arbiter of public affairs, setting the stage for business, consumers, indigenous governments and the individual to function.
It makes a person wonder, as Nunavut continues to look to government to solve and do everything, how many more years of bitter disappointment lie ahead.
I think an important addition is that much of what you discuss is still a Federal responsibility in Nunavut.
Oil and gas generally, and environmental rules on ‘Crown’ lands are all currently Federal responsibilities in Nunavut. Forestry regulation seems a bit unnecessary in the territory, but what is perhaps our equivalent activity (mining) is still basically Federal – I don’t believe any active mines are on Commissioner’s lands.
Having had devolution in 2014, I would absolutely expect the NWT to now be in a position to continue evolving their legislation in a way that Nunavut simply cannot.
Here’s a few to bring forward………
Why has nothing been done about the crazy cost of living. People are going hungry because they can’t feed their families. They can’t even afford the equipment they need to go get fish and game anymore. Life is day to day subsistence.What happens to all those hungry kids when school shuts down for the summer and there’s no more breakfast programs or lunch programs? Imposed diet?
Homelessness is a crisis and is getting worse and worse day by day. Does every homeless person need to camp out on the front steps of the legislature to get a place to live speak less of an affordable place to live?
How are homeowners being helped. The cost of living is so high people are losing their houses to the banks because they can’t afford all the expenses of being a homeowner and eat too.
Find out why excellent teachers and principals and specialist teachers are being squeezed out or not having their contracts renewed when in fact there are no qualified Inuit able to step in to take their place. They need to look at the conflict of interest which is going on in the Kitikmeot in particular. The expense of having to replace these people and often times simply move them to another Nunavut community is outrageous and what for ? because some DEA chairperson/ member needs to have their head patted ?They need to look powerful? DEA’s are a waste of oxygen.Most of them can’t even read the education act but feel so powerful doing stuff like that. How do you justify paying for the exodus out of the Kitikmeot to satisfy the whims of a few DEA chairs and Ed?
Chew on those MLA’s
The Education Department needs to revisit and review EDUCATION ACT and following up how EDUCATION in Nunavut is set-up or administered behind closed doors under the NOSE of regional Offices i.e. sociopathy, student grades make-up, curriculum programs taught in classes not relevant to post-secondary programs such as mathematics, English, grammar, reading, perhaps science if need be, and Inuktitut is important to be taught to be preserve. These are generally basics you’ll notice where poor Quality of Education is taught in classes in Nunavut. You’ll notice majority of Nunavut students that complete grade 12 are not enrolling to COLLEGE or UNIVERSITY! There must be questions that needs to be address? SUGGESTION’s!?!
If you are not happy with the way things are going, maybe it’s time for you to prepare yourself to do things differently.
Start preparing now. Learn the facts. File freedom-of-information requests if necessary to get the information you need so that you will be able to stand as an MLA candidate with a well thought out platform.
That way you will have a good chance of being elected and you won’t have to waste most of your time as MLA finding out what to do and how to do it.
That is the only alternative to more-of-the-same.