Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to inform the House that later today I will be tabling the Government of the Northwest Territories' response to the final report of the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories acknowledges the tremendous amount of time, effort and care that has gone into developing "One Land, Many Voices." This pivotal report of the special committee, which was two years in the making, was tabled in this Legislative Assembly during the March 2003 session.
We understand that at the heart of the special committee's report there is an abiding respect for the role that languages play in the lives of our citizens and of the value that languages contribute to our culture and society.
The Government of the Northwest Territories shares these views and goals of the special committee and is committed to ensuring that the findings of its report are implemented to the greatest extent possible and in the most expedient time frame.
The Government of the Northwest Territories' response outlines in detail the ways and means by which the government intends to action, both immediately and over time, the special committee's recommendations.
Mr. Speaker, as detailed in the Government of the Northwest Territories' response, it is our intention to give immediate effect to a number of the special committee's recommendations by way of a bill to amend the Official Languages Act that I would give notice of first reading this afternoon.
As recommended by the special committee, the bill defines the powers and duties of the Minister under the act. Through this bill, the government proposes to establish in legislation an aboriginal languages revitalization board with representatives from all official languages, aboriginal language communities, with a mandate to advise the Minister responsible on government and community efforts to maintain, promote and revitalize aboriginal languages.
This bill will concurrently establish in legislation an official languages board with representatives from all official language communities of the Northwest Territories to advise the Minister responsible on the administration and delivery of services by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Each board will be able to make recommendations to the Minister within its respective mandate.
Additionally, the bill will:
- • amend the preamble to the act to recognize the important role of language communities in preserving and developing their own languages;
- • recognize North Slavey, South Slavey, Inuvialuktun and Innuinaqtun in section 4 of the act and remove them from the interpretation section;
- • remove repealed sections of the act and correct spelling, terminology and translation errors;
- • include provisions requiring the government to respond to the annual report of the Official Languages Commissioner within 180 days of tabling the annual report;
- • include provisions for the recognition of the collective language rights of aboriginal people within their homelands;
- • include provisions for smaller scale evaluations every five years beginning in 2008; and finally,
- • the bill addresses the role of the Languages Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker, as the report of the special committee indicated, some of the proposed recommendations will take longer than the remaining term of this government to implement. For those findings that cannot be implemented during the balance of the
14th Assembly, this public response should be viewed as a strong recommendation for a course of action that may be undertaken by the government of the 15th Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, we know that languages are of untold value for individual and cultural identity and social well-being in maintaining the collective history of the Northwest Territories and in preserving cultural diversity. Once again, I refer back to the words of the special committee, "Languages are about our identity -- who we are and how we understand and interact with each other and the world around us."
I'm proud as a Member of this Assembly, Mr. Speaker, to be able to present the Government of the Northwest Territories a course of action designed to ensure that the voices of the people of the Northwest Territories are heard in whichever language they choose to speak for generations to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause