Roles

In the Legislative Assembly

Elsewhere

Historical Information James Arvaluk is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly February 1995, as MLA for Aivilik

Won his last election, in 1991, with 35% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Bill 14: Appropriation Act, No. 1, 1992-93 And Committee Report 3-12(2) March 5th, 1992

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have discussed this with the Minister, regarding docks in Coral Harbour. He is already aware that the dock is being used by NTCL, Northern Transportation Company Limited, at this time, and it gets worse every year. It is probably very expensive. The residents of Coral Harbour have worked quite hard to plan for a new dock that they want. There will not be a calmer area; it is not always calm but it is in a calmer area. This dock would be very useful to the community, to the NTCL also. There is a lot of limestone in that area, and a lot of times NTCL go back to Churchill without anything on the ship, and maybe we would be able to ship some out. Since the dock is too small, the smaller canoes are sometimes damaged by the bigger boats, especially when it gets windy. I wrote a letter to that Minister, and the residents of Coral Harbour have also made designs of how they want the dock to be built. I would like to ask the Minister why the study to build a dock in Coral Harbour is not included in the capital estimates.

Question O279-12(2): Issuing Of Shrimp Licences March 5th, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Are you saying that Cumberland Sound is part of that Atlantic, or is Cumberland by itself?

Question O279-12(2): Issuing Of Shrimp Licences March 5th, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Renewable Resources. In your Minister's statement you stated that no new northern shrimp licences will be issued. Are you specifically talking about Cumberland Sound licence application by the Qikiqtaaluk Development Corporation and Makivik Corporation?

Motion To Express Displeasure With Timing Of Minister's Appointments To Workers' Compensation Board, Carried March 4th, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In my Members' statement I stated to this House that the communities of Chesterfield Inlet, Repulse Bay, Baker Lake and Clyde River have a chronic snow removal problem. I will specifically talk about Repulse Bay and Chesterfield because they are in my riding.

Some of it is due to a poor town plan design, respecting the prevailing winds. Of course, there is the natural habit of snowstorms in those two communities. They are so frequent that those communities, with D-6 equipment, cannot keep up with the snow removal on roads, especially to the school and to the lake.

Both of those communities have requested, through their five-year capital plan and also through the individual letters to MACA -- for instance, Chesterfield Inlet wants a 966 model payloader, and Repulse Bay requested a D-8. I was advised that the government policy requires a special consideration for the community if there is to be D-8 equipment of that size.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to inform the Minister that in respect to equipment, you cannot really place the size of a community in relation to equipment, because the problem is not the size of the community, whether is small or big; the problem is with snow. The snow -- I guess in the Western Arctic they call it ice -- to use it is snow, because it is so packed hard that regular four-wheel vehicles can actually ride on that snow. It is so hard that the D-6s are not strong enough, and they are not big enough to keep up with the clearing of the roads, especially the banks. They call them the banks, I guess, because most of them are the height of this building. It is rather dangerous, because once you get on that road, especially when you are walking, there is no way for you to get out of the road until you get to your destination. There is no way to climb that, to get away from the other vehicles. I would like to ask the Minister if he will be advising those two communities that I am talking about, that there is to be a review of the type of equipment that is needed for those two communities in the near future, because there is a capital budget for retrofitting of D-6 for $75,000, but that chronic problem is not going to be eliminated just by having a retrofit of that D-6 equipment. I would like to have the Minister actually dig into the situation and determine what the real problem is, not from the philosophical or hypothetical standpoints of the size the community requires of that kind of vehicle, but look at what is really needed for those two communities individually. Then we will probably start to have the problem solved. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ms. Mike's Birthday March 4th, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just like a session, birthdays cannot be avoided. They just come. Therefore, I would like to wish Ms. Mike a happy birthday, and present her with a little gift.

--- Applause

Item 19: Report Of Committee Of The Whole March 3rd, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 14 and Committee Report 3-12(2), and wishes to report progress, with six motions being adopted. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the chairman of the committee of the whole be concurred with.

Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters March 3rd, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This motion is rather straightforward. It is simply trying to say that the present criteria exclude some of the people who should be eligible; people who were born in the North and have lived in the North all their lives. It is unfair. It is usually the wife who is the victim, because the wife has to quit working in order for them to be eligible for the HAP units.

Another thing that happens in the communities is that some of the government employees who have HAP units sell their units back to the government or a private buyer when they decide to go back south, and they sell it for the real property value. This is the unit that has been provided for by public funds. It should not be used for profit-making purposes. We recommend to the government that they review that present criteria. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters March 3rd, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The present criteria used to award HAP units do not reflect the reality of the North. For example, if a couple are both working and making a little bit over the limit for qualification, they do not qualify. In most of the Eastern Arctic there are no real property communities, so the banks are reluctant to mortgage a private housing development because there is no real property. It is usually the persons who are not from the North who have qualifications to get into government housing, buy the government housing, and they also have qualification to get HAP units. whereas the long-time members of the community -- and if a wife and husband were both working, they do not qualify because they have to go by combined income.

Motion To Review Criteria Used For Awarding HAP Units, Carried

I move that the committee recommends to the NWT Housing Corporation that they review the present criteria used to award HAP units to ensure that it meets the needs of all residents; and further, that upon completion of this review, that the policy and any recommended amendments be brought before the Legislative Assembly for consideration.

Question O262-12(2): Mr. Patterson's Statement To Nunatsiaq News March 3rd, 1992

Mr. Speaker, would the Minister of Justice issue a statement stating that was not the opinion of the MLAs from Nunavut, and also it is not representative of the Inuit views in regard to the friendship and co-operation we have received from the Dene community? Would he issue a statement withdrawing his statement, or at least stating that he was not representing the Inuit views?

Question O262-12(2): Mr. Patterson's Statement To Nunatsiaq News March 3rd, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Justice, regarding his statement on Nunatsiaq News on February 28. In light of Ms. Mike's Member's statement, did the Minister make the statement as the Minister of Justice or as a private Member?