Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Progress Report of the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act could not have been completed without the hard work of its staff and the assistance and input of many people working or volunteering in the languages field. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of Mr. Benoit Boutin, the committee coordinator, and Ms. Denise Bekkema, manager of research and information. As well, I would like to recognize the support of the Office of the Clerk and the collaborations with the Office of the Languages Commissioner, the Languages Commissioner of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank all those people at the community level:
- • those who attended the First Territorial Languages Assembly and provided guidance to the committee in its consultation process;
- • those key people in each community who assisted in organizing our public meetings and our visits to schools and other language-related facilities;
- • all the citizens of the NWT who attended the community meetings;
- • all the aboriginal and French leaders who gave us their insight and support; and
- • those individuals and organizations who took the time to develop and make presentations at the public hearings.
We received a wealth of information and insights from all of these people and organizations and we have tried to reflect their knowledge and experiences in the progress report.
Mr. Speaker, during the last year, as we travelled to communities across the Territories, we had opportunities to learn from the vast knowledge and experience within each of the language communities. We also had opportunities to experience the warm hospitality of those who provided us with good food and lodging, for which we are forever grateful.
Finally, I would like to thank my colleagues on the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act. Each one of them has shown great commitment, both in the many long hours they spent at meetings and travelling -- taking time away from their families -- and in their genuine interest in language issues.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, our special committee has come to recognize that aboriginal language decline in many communities and regions of the NWT is at the point where the ideal language goal, multi-generational transmission of the language in the home, may not be feasible at the present time. If we want to preserve our languages, we cannot reasonably place the entire responsibility for language transmission on the family, or it will not happen. Nor can we revitalize languages solely through legislation or through schooling.
We all have to acknowledge that language revitalization is a shared social responsibility that will require balanced, structured and coordinated language strategies involving all stakeholders. At this point in time, we must therefore collectively determine the extent to which we wish to maintain our aboriginal languages as functional languages of the NWT and then take active and strong measures to support and revive them.
Mr. Speaker, that concludes the Progress Report of the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act, and this is the act as we see it physically, Mr. Speaker.
Therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that the progress report of the special committee, entitled One Land -- Many Voices, be received and adopted.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to say a few words in my language, the Denesuline language, known as Chipewyan language, in the Northwest Territories.
(Translation begins) People talked to us and they talked about exactly what they thought about their culture. They fear they are going to lose their culture, their children are going to lose their culture. Our tradition, the way we came here, using the word, a lot of work has been done on this. Since the beginning of the work, we have done a lot of work and it is still not finished. We have a big job to do yet. We learned one very important thing, though. Even though we are losing our language, the young generation that is coming up, they will want to re-learn their language. The young people, when they reach about 16 years old, they lose interest. After, when they get to 25, 30 years old, it seems like they want to learn their language again. All of the people who live in this Territory, if we help each other, we will get our language back.
Some people lost their language. In the Mackenzie Delta, where Mr. Krutko is a Member, the Inuvialuit are in the process of losing their language and they are really worried about it. The Dogrib language is very strong. What makes their language so strong? How do they work it? That is what we should ask them. That is what we can learn.
Today, we had some kids singing for us in the Dogrib language. We went to Fort Simpson and they sang in the Slavey language. Everybody is working on it, and still we have a big job to do. We still have six months. We will go to Fort Resolution, Snowdrift, Aklavik, Fort Providence -- we still have to go there. We still not have finished community consultations. In the fall, we are going to get together again and we are going to talk about it. If we all agree, we are going to go forward.
If we are going to make the act, if we are going to make a big word, we are going to make a word that is very powerful. We still have to work on it. If we spent too much money on it, it will not be used. We do not have too much money in this part of the world. If it is very hard, we cannot use it. People are not going to use it. So if we are going to make an act, we are going to make it in such a way that the job can be completed, obtainable.
I would like to thank the committee and everyone who did the job. We think about it a lot. We travelled a long ways. The way we live on this earth, we study their language. Brendan Bell is sitting here with me. He understands all that, how different people think, the Dogrib, Slavey, everything. Roger Allen is like that. Michael McLeod is like that. All those people who work for us, that is how they think. That is why we have a strong mind and we have one mind. That is why we are going ahead.
I would like to thank everybody, all those people in our Territory, especially those who helped us. I would like to thank them very much. If we are going to go forward, we still need some more consultation. Do not stop. Do not stop. We are not finished. We still have a great, big job to do. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)
-- Applause