Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have read the report of the Languages Commissioner titled, Eight Official Languages - Meeting the Challenge, and I find it to be an excellent piece of work. Any criticisms I have are very minor. This is the first report of the Languages Commissioner and provides much background information about language in the Northwest Territories, the Official Languages Act itself, and language rights. It's expected that future reports of the Commissioner would not need to cover information provided in the first 70 pages of this report. The first report, therefore, provides excellent information for future reference.
One section, on attitudes to official languages, provides some insights into the way people feel about official languages, but is very anecdotal. The information can only be useful if it is collected in a systematic fashion. Only then would it be possible to discern trends or changing opinions towards official languages in the future. The information on attitudes presented by the Commissioner is too impressionistic to be of any real practical use, and could be improved. Perhaps the Commissioner could arrange to develop some method to track changing attitudes in the future.
The substance of the report is contained in chapters four through eight, covering the next 115 pages. The most important section is chapter five, which deals with complaints and inquiries from around 250 different sources. This information is presented according to general topics and is extremely useful in highlighting weaknesses in the act, in policy directions and in implementation. The plan, to provide some statistical analysis of the data in future reports, is a very good one.
The government tends to be a little irritated, perhaps, by reports which deal with complaints. Especially, when it demonstrates many shortcomings of government. This report is quite critical of the government's inability to make use of funds allocated to it. However, this report should be welcomed by the government and also by people who are interested in language issues. It is well-planned, well-written and it is objective. It clearly sets out what the job of a Languages Commissioner is all about, so that people can fully understand the kind of problems we are dealing with. It is a good beginning by the Languages Commissioner and she should be congratulated on the quality of this report. Thank you.
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