(Translation) Qujannamiik, Mr. Speaker. Today, being Aboriginal Languages Day, I wish to speak a little bit about how I appreciate my own language. It is good to have such a day of recognition of the first people's language in the House. I have had the fortune of being elected as a Member of this House and I have had the fortune of participating fully as a Member of this House, using my own language as the only unilingual Member here. I have to extend my gratitude to the interpreters without whom I may not have been able to do the work that is required of me. I wish to recognize the tremendous pressure and hard work the interpreters here and elsewhere have had to work under to ensure that I can do my job as best I can. Also, today being Aboriginal Languages Day, I would really like to thank the interpreters because I appreciate the work they do. Mr. Speaker, even though some of us do not speak the English language, in the Inuktitut language we have some words that are different. For example, there are different words in Inuktitut for snow. When you say snow in English, it is the only word you have. In Inuktitut you could describe snow in different ways. There is a soft snow and there is another type of snow pukajaaq which means that the snow is soft on the bottom. Mr. Speaker, I would like consent to complete my statement.
Mark Evaloarjuk on The Appreciation Of The Inuktitut Language
In the Legislative Assembly on March 5th, 1997. See this statement in context.
The Appreciation Of The Inuktitut Language
Item 3: Members' Statements
March 4th, 1997
Page 1100
Mark Evaloarjuk Amittuq
See context to find out what was said next.