Madam Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its report on the review of the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 Annual Reports of the Official Languages Commissioner and commends it to this House.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations has reviewed the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 Annual Reports of the Official Languages Commissioner. The committee thanks Mrs. Shannon Gullberg, the Official Languages Commissioner, for her appearance on October 26, 2020.
The Official Languages Act requires the Commissioner to prepare annual reports. These reports include information on the numbers of complaints filed. It can also include recommendations. The Speaker tables the report in the Legislative Assembly. Once tabled, committee reviews the report.
The committee is currently conducting a five-year review of the Official Languages Act as required under Section 35 of the act. At the meeting with the committee, the Commissioner provided a number of recommendations regarding possible changes to the act. Her two annual reports included a number of recommendations addressed to the Legislative Assembly and the government.
The committee normally reviews the Commissioner's report and then makes their own recommendations to the Assembly. However, this year, the committee will consider the Commissioner's recommendations relating to the Official Languages Act as part of its review and will make recommendations in that report.
The Commissioner also included a number of recommendations specific to the use of official languages at the Legislative Assembly. Committee has shared these recommendations with the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures, which is currently reviewing the use of official languages at the Assembly, and will be making recommendations to this House.
The committee wishes to thank Mrs. Gullberg for her service as Official Languages Commissioner. Mrs. Gullberg has been involved with the office for more than 15 years, both as Commissioner and as a lawyer for the Commissioner. Mrs. Gullberg has been a strong advocate of the language rights provided for in the act and has served the residents of the Northwest Territories well. Committee looks forward to working with her replacement. Thank you, Madam Speaker.