Latest news with #Nunavummiut
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Plan to build 3,000 homes in Nunavut still a success even if it falls short, housing corp. presidents says
Nunavut's premier and housing corporation president are defending the government's record on public housing following the release of a new Auditor General's report, which said Nunavummiut aren't being provided fair access. The report also stated there has been a lack of communication and misinformation about the targets outlined in the Nunavut 3,000 strategy — which aims to build 3,000 new homes by 2030. "We've been open and transparent in terms of showcasing what levels — they're all in different stages in terms of the construction phases," Premier P.J. Akeeagok said in the Nunavut Legislative Assembly this week. Nunavut Housing Corporation president and CEO Eiryn Devereaux said even if that target of 3,000 homes missed, the strategy will still be a success. "If we had kept doing everything the same, building a hundred units a year over nine years, we would have seen 1,000 units come into the territory," Devereaux said. "So we're talking about doubling and trying to triple the supply of much-needed housing." Devereaux said the 3,000 figure relates to units under construction since 2021, not since the launch of the strategy in 2022. "The 3,000 was always a target and it was always a target to drive change, drive the system, to say we have to do better, we have to do things differently because the status quo is just not working," he said. Devereaux said there are currently 440 units at "various stages of construction." "What's more important than people counting the numbers? It's the transformative change," he said. The Nunavut Housing Corporation accepted all of the report's 10 recommendations. More than 60 per cent of Nunavummiut rely on public housing, 45 per cent of which is overcrowded, according to Nunavut Housing Corporation data included in the auditor's report. The audit also found the housing corporation did not know whether publicly funded units were being allocated to applicants who needed them the most. Devereaux said they have a new maintenance management software system for local housing authorities, which should start rolling out later this year. "That'll help to centralize and to get data across all (local housing authorities) instead of them sort of doing it on their own in-house," he said. He said the housing corporation also plans to launch a new tenant relations and portfolio management system to take that burden off housing authorities too.
Hamilton Spectator
29-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Nunavut legislature approves law allowing pharmacists to give vaccines
Within the next 18 months, Nunavummiut may be able to see a pharmacist for vaccinations and treatments for minor illnesses. The Pharmacy Profession Act passed third reading Tuesday in the Nunavut legislative assembly. It awaits assent before it becomes law. The bill is 'a comprehensive modernization of Nunavut's pharmacy legislation,' Health Minister John Main told the committee of the whole Tuesday, before the bill was voted on. 'Traditionally, pharmacists focused on dispensing medications and providing basic drug information,' he said. 'Today, their role has expanded to include a broader range of clinical services, such as administering vaccines and supporting chronic disease management.' Main said the need to modernize Nunavut's pharmacy laws came to a head during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Nunavummiut were rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated, the Department of Health was legally unable to employ pharmacists to administer shots – something pharmacists in other jurisdictions, such as Ontario, were able to do. Examples of some of the minor ailments someone could see a pharmacist for in the future include skin conditions and urinary tract infections, Main said. In addition to expanding what pharmacists can treat, the bill establishes a pharmacist registration committee, outlines a complaints and discipline process, and allows for pharmacists to provide remote care to people in communities without a pharmacy. 'Right now, our legislation doesn't properly support remote dispensing or tele-services, but that's something that in the new bill is properly laid out and supported,' he said. The bill becomes law once it receives assent from Nunavut Commissioner Eva Aariak, which usually happens on the final day of sitting. After that, more work will be needed to draft regulations, which Main estimated would take a year to a year and a half roll out. That work will include educating pharmacists, pharmacist technicians and their employers. Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster, Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA and co-chair of the standing committee on legislation, told the committee the new legislation will 'improve the territory's health-care delivery system as a whole.' Tyler Gogo, spokesperson for the Canadian Pharmacists Association, agrees. 'This legislation is a significant step forward and will help to modernize pharmacy care in the territory, bringing it closer in line to other jurisdictions in Canada,' he said in an email. 'By allowing pharmacists to work to their full potential across Canada, pharmacists can provide the care they are trained and trusted to deliver.'
CBC
29-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
MLAs take Nunavut premier to task over public housing following Auditor General report
It follows a recent report by the auditor general that said Nunavummiut are not being provided fair access. PJ Akeeagok faced tough questions from MLAs on Tuesday. TJ Dhir has more.
Hamilton Spectator
27-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
QEC launches scholarship in memory of electrician who died on job
A memorial scholarship in honour of Noah Paniyuk means the late Qulliq Energy Corp. electrician's legacy lives on, says his daughter Julie Ell. Paniyuk, who lived in Rankin Inlet, died last summer while working on generator repairs in Naujaat. Ell and family members were at the legislative assembly in Iqaluit Monday afternoon as John Main, the minister responsible for QEC, announced the creation of a scholarship in Paniyuk's name. 'It feels amazing to know that there's some part of him that will go on, because he was very dedicated to his work,' Ell said in an interview. 'It makes me happy knowing that other people will have the opportunity to get a scholarship for any trade that they want to go into. Because being a student is a lot of work, financially, because you're basically on your own.' When Paniyuk was a trades student at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, his classmates underestimated him, Ell said. However, 'he turned out to be the top of the class and everyone was always asking him for help.' QEC's annual Noah Paniyuk Scholarship Program will award $5,000 to two Nunavut students who are in a trades program or starting one in Canada, Main said. 'There's never been a more crucial time to strengthen Nunavut's workforce as we face growing infrastructure needs, and as national interest in Arctic sovereignty increases alongside new investment in the region,' he said. 'Through this scholarship, Qulliq Energy Corp. reaffirms its commitment to building capacity, honouring legacy, and helping Nunavummiut access meaningful in-demand careers.' Paniyuk was a well-known worker and mentor within QEC, Main said. Last year, Nunavut Employees Union president Jason Rochon said Paniyuk was a member of the Local 07 bargaining team . On Monday, Ell reflected on Paniyuk as a loving father and grandfather. She recalled being a toddler and spending time with him while he was at work. Paniyuk was a 'provider' for his family and others, she said. 'He allowed my mom to be a stay-at-home mom, which I loved cause my mom took care of us all throughout our elementary school days and stuff like that, and my dad always made sure we had food, clothing, and a roof over our head,' she said. 'He was just a hard-working man all around, and he provided country food for elders as well.' After Monday's legislature proceedings, Main told reporters QEC continues to co-operate with the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission on an investigation of the fatal incident. QEC continues to strengthen its safety and provides support to employees who still mourn the loss of a 'valued co-worker,' he said.
USA Today
11-05-2025
- USA Today
‘Stop hunting polar bears' video by tourists sparks outrage among Inuit
'Stop hunting polar bears' video by tourists sparks outrage among Inuit Two tourists from Turkey were in Arctic Bay to document the effects of climate change and to photograph polar bears in the Nunavut territory recently, but wound up in hot water with the locals when they condemned the hunting of polar bears. As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Süha Derbent and Murat Uslu, both photographers, produced a since-deleted Instagram video in Arctic Bay saying they didn't know the hunting of polar bears was permitted there and complaining that hunters prevented them from going to see polar bears. They also criticized the hunting of polar bears. "Some hunters are chasing them to kill as a sport," Derbent said in the video. "We believe it is an unacceptable injustice. Be the voice and spread this message with everyone that you know. Please, stop hunting polar bears." The CBC reposted the video on YouTube. The video did not sit well with the Nunavummiut (the Inuit people and other residents of Nunavut). "For these people to come up and say this is wrong, they don't even know what they're talking about," Paul Irngaut of Nunavut Tunngavick Inc. told the CBC. "They should ask questions first before they make comments like that.' The CBC reported that polar bear tags are given out in small numbers each year to local hunting and trapping organizations who can then choose whether to use some of them for sport hunting. Irngaut told CBC that sport hunting is carefully regulated, adding, 'The whole community, it gets the benefit in terms of the seamstresses that need to make all the clothes for the sports hunter, and then the meat is utilized by the whole community.' Another local, Nooks Lindell, told the CBC, "We've lived here for so long. We've lived with the environment. And being told, you know, [you] have to conserve nature and you have to respect nature — that's how we lived. This is still how we live. 'And then if there's any issues, that's for Inuit to decide. That's not for outsiders that don't live here. That's not for them to decide on.' Chris Mitchell of Arctic Bay Adventures told the CBC that the hamlet of Arctic Bay has rules that state tourists cannot go close to hunters, so when the photographers wanted to get close to the ice floe, they were told to leave. The CBC was at the airport in Iqaluit when the two tourists came off a flight from Arctic Bay. The tourists apologized. "At that time, it was hunters, and us. And photographers. We didn't have any rights," Derbent told the CBC. "Hunters did. And that was the reason we said whatever we said. It was nothing to do with anything whatsoever with the culture of Inuit. "We have huge cultural respect to the past, current and future Inuit. I apologize personally if we have offended them, but it was not our intention. 'We were given some promises to see the polar bears and they did not keep the promises." Photo of a polar bear jumping on floating ice by Arturo de Frias Marques/Wikipedia Commons.
