House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2006, with 40% of the vote.
Supply May 7th, 2002
Madam Chairman, I come from an area with very high unemployment. We have a lot of people leaving school before grade 12. We would certainly love to see recruitment being an option for some of our young people in our area.
I do not know if there is much recruitment going on in my part of the country. I would certainly be interested in hearing what efforts are being made to recruit young people from the north.
Supply May 7th, 2002
Madam Chairman, in the recruitment area, the 1994 white paper calls for Canada to have 60,000 people in the Canadian forces. We always hear from the opposition that the forces are undermanned. What is the minister doing to remedy this situation?
Supply May 7th, 2002
Madam Chairman, to go back to the cleanups, I know some of the Inuit organizations are trying to sign multi-year contracts with the Department of National Defence. Is there any possibility of signing multi-year contracts for these cleanups? On a year to year basis, it is very difficult for them to write up proper training programs for people who will be in the program. They are hoping for at least three years for their training programs and cleanup plans.
Supply May 7th, 2002
Madam Chairman, something also very important to the north, the minister mentioned a bit about it earlier, is the DEW line cleanups. This is an unfortunate situation that we have had to live with up in the north, dating back to the days when there were no real regulations on the responsibilities for people to leave the environment clean. We unfortunately have all the sites from the cold war years where communities are faced with trying to clean up very harmful situations.
I know the Department of National Defence has been very vigorous in trying to get to all the sites. Could the minister tell me how many sites there are in the Arctic that need to be cleaned up and whether there is a five year or ten year plan as to the dollars that will be put into the program to clean up the remaining DEW line sites?
Supply May 7th, 2002
Madam Chairman, we welcome the increased funding for the Canadian rangers. I am sure the other northern members, the member for Yukon and the member for Western Arctic, totally support any increased responsibility given to the Canadian rangers. I truly believe the rangers can assist more, especially in asserting our sovereignty in the Arctic.
The rangers are also very involved with search and rescue operations. That is one aspect where I think we need to see more defence funding put in. Maybe the minister could expand a bit on the role of the Canadian forces and what assistance it gives local search and rescue operations. Unfortunately that is one of the things we have to do year after year living in the climate that we do. It is one area also that affects all communities no matter where they are in the Arctic. We certainly welcome any assistance we can get from the Canadian forces. Could the minister give an indication of any increased funding to assist the communities in that area?
Supply May 7th, 2002
Madam Chairman, there was a conference this spring that covered Arctic sovereignty. One of the comments that came out of that conference was it was felt there was not enough surveillance over the Arctic, that we do not have the resources based in the north to react to any threat that would come in through the Arctic.
We hear a lot of talk about our border with the United States but we do not hear very much about the very large open area across the north.
We have seen over the past few years a lot more traffic coming through the Northwest Passage. I was in Cambridge Bay one summer when there was a boat that had come in from Ireland. It made me think that people can come over from whatever country and sail right into our waters. That has brought a lot of questions from people who live in the Arctic.
What are we doing to protect the sovereignty of the north? What are we doing to protect the Canadian waters in the north?
There is only a regional headquarters in Yellowknife. As of today I do not think there is a base in Nunavut.
Are any dollars being put in so that there will be at least some presence in the eastern Arctic? What are we doing to make sure we have the resources to deal with any possible threat coming in through the Arctic?
Supply May 7th, 2002
Madam Chairman, my questions pertain more to Arctic sovereignty and to the northern command. Can the minister explain in detail what exactly is meant by the U.S. northern command and what impact the northern command will have on Canada? Will this result in a large increase in defence spending?
TD Canada Trust Scholarship May 7th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, today Sean Doherty of Iqaluit, Nunavut received a 2002 TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Outstanding Community Leadership.
Sean organizes and teaches swimming for disadvantaged children in Iqaluit. These Loonie Lessons let the children have fun in a safe environment while teaching them listening and interpersonal skills. Sean is also president of the student council at Inuksuk High School, volunteers on a phone help line, sits on a youth court advisory panel, and represented his high school and Nunavut at the Canadian Youth Against Impaired Driving Conference. Sean plans to pursue a medical career, returning ultimately to Nunavut to practice medicine.
I proudly ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Sean and wishing him success in his future plans. I want to thank Sean, Mutna.
Diabetes Awareness May 3rd, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House that today is National Aboriginal Diabetes Awareness Day.
Diabetes is a major cause of premature death, blindness, kidney and heart disease, stroke, limb amputation and other significant health problems.
The burden of diabetes and its complications is particularly severe among aboriginal people. In fact diabetes rates are three to five times that of the general Canadian population. Type two diabetes is now being diagnosed in children.
In 1999 the government created the Canadian Diabetes Strategy, which includes a major Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative to address this epidemic. The Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative was launched earlier this morning at the Wabano Centre here in Ottawa. This is a national campaign to raise awareness of diabetes prevention among aboriginal people.
Please join me in wishing success to all of the organizations and people who are working hard to fight the diabetes epidemic among aboriginal people.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami May 2nd, 2002
Mr. Speaker, today the national Inuit association, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which means “Inuit are united in Canada”, unveiled its new logo illustrating the four Inuit regions of Canada: Labrador, Nunavik in Northern Quebec, Nunavut and the Inuvialuit in the Northwest Territories.
At the heart and centre of the logo is the national symbol of Canada, the maple leaf. Also incorporated in the design is the women's knife, the ulu. The contest to design the new logo generated 228 submissions from all across Canada.
I would like to congratulate the following people whose designs have been used in the final version of the logo: Putulik Ilisituk of Salluit, Nunavik; Chris Dewolf of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories; and Mary Ugyuk of Taloyoak, Nunavut. Honourable mention goes to designs by Sammy Kudluk of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik; John Metcalf of Nain, Labrador; and Chris Eccles of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.