Merci boucoup, mahsi cho, qujannamiik and thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here to address Bill 32, An Act to Amend the Official Languages Act, No. 3.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment received the Report from the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act in mid-March. Since that time, we have reviewed the report, met with the accountability and oversight committee Members in early June, with my colleagues and government officials, developed a GNWT response and made a presentation to AOC on September 19, 2003.

On September 30, 2003, I tabled the GNWT response to the special committee's report highlighting the actions being taken by the present government. On October 2, 2003, I introduced in the Assembly Bill 31, before you today.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Members on the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act for its hard work and the chair, Mr. Steven Nitah, for his commitment to languages in the NWT.

Mr. Chairman, Bill 31 is an initial step to laying a strong foundation to implement the special committee's recommendations. Bill 31 achieves the committee's desire for an aboriginal languages board by proposing the creation of an aboriginal languages revitalization board. The board will be charged with the important task of aboriginal languages maintenance, promotion and revitalization.

The board will also take over the responsibility for languages promotion from the Official Languages Commissioner.

The board members will consist of one member from each aboriginal language community, nominated by their respective communities.

This bill will also create an official languages board.

Through this board, all NWT official languages, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, will be represented. This board provides all official languages committees with the opportunity to advise and make recommendations to the Minister on the administration and delivery of services by government institutions.

This board will have one member from each aboriginal languages community as well as an English and French member. Members will also be nominated by their respective language communities.

For both of these boards, Bill 31 proposes that members be appointed by the Executive Council on the advice of the Minister and, of course, the language community.

Bill 31 also introduces changes to the mandate of the office of the Official Languages Commissioner and designates a minister responsible for the act.

In addition to this, the bill makes a number of changes as requested by the special committee. These include:

• • Amending the preamble to the act to recognize the important role of language communities in preserving and developing their own languages.
• • Recognizing North Slavey, South Slavey, Inuvialuktun and Inuinnaqtun in section 4 of the act, and remove them from the interpretation section;
• • Removing repealed sections of the act and correct spelling, terminology and translation errors;
• • Addition provisions for the government to respond to the annual report of the Official Languages Commissioner within 180 days of tabling of the annual report;
• • Adding provisions for the recognition of the collective language rights of aboriginal people within their homelands; and,
• • Adding provisions for smaller scale evaluations every five years beginning in 2008.

Mr. Chairman, Bill 31 will set the direction for the future preservation of languages in the NWT. The two board structures proposed here will support all minority languages while addressing the critical and immediate need to revitalize, maintain and promote our disappearing aboriginal languages. Mahsi cho, Mr. Chairman.