Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Indigenous languages are an important part of the NWT identity, given that over 50 percent of our residents are Indigenous. Languages are vital to our Indigenous groups, and they signify identity and pride of our Indigenous people here in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, we know our Indigenous public service numbers remain low and have been that way for 30-plus years. We continue to struggle in increasing those numbers for a variety of reasons. One reason, I believe, is because of GNWT policies that do not have any teeth, and we lack the will to create policies that will actually make a difference in bringing those numbers up and moving away from colonial practices like cuts to vital programs because they do not measure up to somebody's measurements.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, languages are important to all cultures, and we must make equal effort to promote and encourage language use. While I recognize our French language is thriving, I do have some serious concerns about forcing our Indigenous public service members to provide active offers in French. Mr. Speaker, I do not need to remind this House of the systemic attempts made by government policies in the past to strip language from our Indigenous people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I will have questions for the Minister responsible for languages.