Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, the enhancement and maintenance of languages in that category is the role of Education, Culture and Employment. As I indicated before, in that move, emphasis was retained to move to more community-based language programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. Can the Premier explain her answer? What I wanted to know is in the area of legal interpreting, two people were involved in the program but they are not laid off. The Premier stated that this role was moved to Education, Culture and Employment, and the move was to emphasize more community-based language programs. Can the Premier explain to me what she means by "more community-based?"

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, if I may suggest that, because of the responsibility in that certain area, this question can be more appropriately answered by the Minister of Education.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just quick information before I get into the detail of the question. I would like to advise the honourable Member, these were not interpreters. These were terminologists. In other words, these were the individuals who were involved in developing the language or defining new words to respond to aboriginal languages that didn't have the words that were being used. So they were legal terminologists.

Secondly, Mr. Speaker, our attempt right now is to ensure the language development enhancement responsibility rests with the appropriate language group and language community. For so long, the government has assumed the responsibility for the development of this particular area. After an analysis of the languages agreement, it's our view that the responsibility and the financial resources should be placed in the hands of the language groups, rather than the government assuming the responsibility. That's the direction we intend to take.

Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My supplementary question is for the Premier. During the recent trial in Dettah about hunting on the Ingraham Trail, there were complaints about the legal interpreting being provided. Some people felt that the legal arguments were not interpreted so that the Dene people could understand them. In light of the concern raised, has the department taken a second look at the changes to the legal interpreting program? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, the language agreement and the programs under the language agreement are an ongoing issue. The government is aware that there is a requirement to develop a better base for enhancing the programs. I believe in terms of the enhancement and maintenance of the program, that the Minister of Education would be in a better position to answer that particular question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for the information of my honourable colleagues, I believe that is one of the reasons we had concern about the various locations in our government with regard to terminologists. In other words, we had groups that were in different departments. What we needed to do was bring together a collective approach on addressing technical terms, whether they be in health or in the area of legal definitions. Part of that also requires us to review the whole matter of interpreter/translator training, because that work has to be part of the delivery of that particular component.

So we take the concern that the honourable Member has raised seriously. That is why we're trying to ensure that we deliver the best training programs and the best support services that we can in a collective manner. That is why we have raised that particular concern. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to advise the honourable Member that that particular matter is presently under review. We had a contract for a group to carry out that review. In fact, one of the portions was to consult the appropriate language groups so they were satisfied with the approach we were taking or the training we were offering. The other component is that we had to meet the determination as to which organization actually assumed the responsibility for the delivery of training.

The issue here can't be simply a matter of personalities. The fact is that there is still a lot of work with regard to terminology, both in the legal and in the health sense, that is very important to our people. The Dene languages, particularly, need to have the work done in a collective sense. In other words, we can't have one department assuming the responsibility for dealing with terminology, another department dealing with that issue, then having, for instance, the language bureau responsible for one portion of the training, Arctic College assuming the responsibility for another component of the training; then, we also have the cultural institutes that are also wanting to get involved in the whole matter of training. So this issue of all these components has to be reviewed, and we have to deliver the best services -- as the honourable Member has suggested -- to our aboriginal community; both the Inuktitut-speaking community and the Dene community.

Thank you. You have one final supplementary to the Minister of Education, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final supplementary to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment; if the present training program has been developed...There was a training program that was field-monitored and tested, is it going to be modified by interpreters? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Nerysoo.

Mr. Speaker, I think there is a necessity for us to ensure we're responding to the appropriate language community in order for them to receive the best support possible. If there is a requirement to address the issue of training and to improve that training program consultation, Mr. Speaker, we will certainly ensure that that happens. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Again, I will remind Members that when they ask questions, they ask the questions of the appropriate Ministers. It is quite unfair to other Members when Members ask questions and another Minister has to respond. We have in this case, Mr. Antoine asking at least six questions at any given one time. I will ask the Members to make sure the appropriate Ministers respond to the questions asked. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Whitford.