Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Abernethy.

24. Affirm relevance of the languages communities

for the use, maintenance, revitalization, protection and modernization of their respective languages.

25. Confirm government’s responsibility to support

the language communities in using, maintaining, revitalizing, protecting and modernizing their respective languages.

26.

Confirm aboriginal language communities’ responsibility to work with their people and political leadership at a community, regional and self-government level to increase daily usage, thus contributing to the recovery and maintenance of aboriginal languages.

27. The proposed Aboriginal Languages Centre

would provide increased support, development and sharing opportunities, avoiding duplication and increasing the capacity, programming and resource development for each language community group. Ideally this would lead to a close and ongoing working relationship between community language organizations and the centre.

28. The proposed Aboriginal Languages Advisory

Committee would provide opportunities for the

communities to provide input in setting government policy direction.

29. The role of the language communities would

be strengthened through mandatory consultation requirements of the Aboriginal Languages Authority and the Official Languages Secretariat.

Implementation

30. Make negotiations with Canada on changes to

the Northwest Territories official languages regime a priority.

31. Bring a legislative proposal forward during the

life of the 16th Legislative Assembly.

32.

Create an implementation plan for the introduction of the proposed Official Languages Services Act and aboriginal languages protection regimes in the life of the 16th Legislative Assembly (including fiscal, human resources and capacity building needs).

33. Conduct government-wide human resources

planning for the service delivery model to address official languages services obligations of the GNWT.

34. Use the Corporate Human Resources Strategic

Plan, currently under development by the Department of Human Resources, to determine the GNWT’s capacity to deliver services in the official languages.

35. Negotiate funding agreements for official

languages services and aboriginal languages protection with Canada.

36. Provide language communities with adequate

support and resources to implement their work plan/language plans on a continuous and developing basis.

37. Conduct an education campaign for all GNWT

staff on official language services and aboriginal language protection.

38. Provide an official languages service delivery

and communication manual for all staff, setting out minimum standards including for an “active offer”.

39. Extend the services offered at single-window

service centres (example: Manitoba).

40. Future NWT community surveys shall include

information on mother tongue and home language to allow for improved tracking of language shift, in particular for the aboriginal languages of the NWT. The tracking of language shift every two to three years could be an important indicator to evaluate if the revitalization measures put in place are successful.

41. Ensure that the NWT Bureau of Statistics

works closely with Statistics Canada to include all aboriginal official languages of the Northwest Territories when collecting and reporting language information during the census.

Transitional Provisions

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recognizes that a meaningful implementation of these recommendations will take some time. Therefore, the committee recommends that in the meantime the following transitional measures be acted upon without delay:

42. Improve service delivery in official languages. 43. Provide increased financial and capacity

supports to community language groups, including multi-year funding agreements.

44. Improve communication and consultation with

the community language groups and their organization.

45.

Conduct aboriginal language community consultations to prepare for the establishment of the Aboriginal Language Centre in the fiscal year 2010-2011.

46. In the interim, make the following amendments

to the existing Official Languages Act: 46.1. Languages Commissioner

46.1.1. Include NWT residency as

statutory requirement.

46.1.2. Include minimum requirements

for community outreach to promote official language rights and the act itself.

46.1.3. Review whether the existing

Official Languages Act sections on investigations by the Commissioner’s on his/her own initiative need to be clarified or strengthened.

46.1.4. Review

whether

additional

powers for the Languages Commissioner to audit government agencies for their implementation of OLA would strengthen the ombudsperson function of the statutory officer.

46.2. Official Languages Board and Aboriginal

Languages Revitalization Board

46.2.1. Amalgamate the two languages

boards into one Aboriginal Languages Board (ALB) that will provide the link between the aboriginal language communities and the Minister responsible for Official Languages.

46.2.2. Change the appointment process

by broadening the list of organizations who nominate representatives of their language communities. The intent is to involve a more diverse group of language stakeholders in the nomination process.

46.2.3. Clarify the Aboriginal Languages

Board’s mandate, powers and its relationship with the Minister in the act.

46.2.4. Include a description of the roles,

responsibilities, competency requirements and compensation/per diem schedule in the regulations establishing the Aboriginal Languages Board.

46.2.5. Include requirement for board

members to consult with their communities and stakeholders.

47. The Minister responsible for Official Languages

shall include a detailed progress report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Government Operations contained in its Final Report on the Review of the Official Languages Act 2008-2009 in his annual report on official languages.

48. The GNWT shall communicate with the

committee on the progress of the development of the proposed official languages services regime and the aboriginal languages protection regime.

Mr. Speaker, that concludes the executive summary of the Final Report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the Review of the Official Languages Act, 2008-2009: Reality Check: Securing the Future for the Official Languages of the Northwest Territories.