Thank you, Madam Speaker. Other recommendations refer to establishing and publishing guidelines for providing official languages services, (number 10), -- I'm going to mention a lot of numbers here, which are recommendations in these little boxes, which I'm not going to read. They're there if you're really interested in this -- publishing information on the act and official languages initiatives (number 11), clearly identifying offices where official languages serves are available (number 15), and informing the public about standardized writing systems for native languages. These are all things the government should have done by now, and the standing committee is expecting the government to deal with these recommendations quickly.
In recommendation 9, the Languages Commissioner recommends that the government determine all acts and regulations which relate to official languages. The standing committee feels that the responsibility for this task should lie with the office of the Languages Commissioner, perhaps with assistance from the government's legislation division.
The Languages Commissioner also made two recommendations (numbers 12 and 13) related to the funding agreements with the Secretary of State. With the hiring of a financial coordinator, the official languages unit appears to have met with recommendation 12. As well, it appears that the official languages unit is making an effort to give adequate direction to departments, thereby meeting recommendation 13. Committee Members suggest that the Languages Commissioner follow up on any future complaints from departments on an individual basis.
The government has frequently referred to an official languages handbook which, when completed, is supposed to contain all the guidelines and information necessary for government employees to start implementing provisions of the Official Languages Act. When this handbook is complete, the committee expects that it will address recommendations 8, 10, 11 and 15 mentioned above. The committee also expects that the handbook will spell out what government departments' responsibilities are under the act, including those responsibilities outlined by the Languages Commissioner's recommendations 16, 19, 20, 23 and 27.
The standing committee wants to see the official languages handbook completed as soon as possible, in order that it might be reviewed in conjunction with the next annual report of the Languages Commissioner.
Recommendation 4
The committee recommends that the government complete the official languages handbook by December 31, 1994.
In recommendation 26, the Languages Commissioner suggests that GNWT establish more training programs in official languages; not only for government employees, but also for members of the public. Committee Members feel that the best vehicle for providing language training for GNWT employees and members of the public, would be Arctic College. The college should especially focus on training people to teach official languages. Those so trained could then either teach through Arctic College or provide training privately. This would allow the government to use its resources as necessary to pay for training some employees, yet also allow members of the public to access official languages training at their own cost.
Madam Speaker, that concludes my part of this report. With your permission, I will turn over the next part of the report to Mr. Arvaluk.