Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Legislative Assembly makes interpreters available in most official languages when Members are sitting in the Chamber. On March 10, 2020, a Tlicho interpreter was not available due to a last-minute cancellation. The interpreter scheduled but had to cancel for personal reasons. The Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty, rose on a point of privilege. He said the lack of interpretation impeded or prevented him from performing his parliamentary functions as a Member and asked the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings. The Speaker took the matter under advisement and the proceedings continued.

On March 11, 2020, when a Tlicho interpreter was available, the Speaker heard debate on the matter of privilege. Following debate, the Speaker ruled that the matter did raise a question of privilege. He entertained motions on the ruling and Motion 5-19(2) was referred to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for consideration.

On October 15, 2020, committee sought and received an extension of the review period for an additional 120 days. The purpose of the extension was to allow committee to engage with residents on the use of official languages in this Legislative Assembly. After several in-camera meetings on the topic, committee held a public hearing on November 17, 2020. Committee received a presentation from M. Batiste Foisy at this hearing. In addition, committee received written submissions from Mr. Jackson Lafferty, the Member for Monfwi; the Dene Nation; the Gwich'in Tribal Council; the Yellowknives Dene First Nation; and Ms. Marie Rose Sundberg. [English translation not available.] Mahsi, Mr. Chair. That's the report from the committee.

Thank you. I will now open the floor to general comments on Committee Report 8-19(2), Report on Motion 5-19(2): Referral of Point of Privilege Raised by Member for Monfwi on March 10, 2020. Do any Members have general comments? Mr. Norn.

Marsi cho, Mr. Chair. I remember saying, when we first got elected about a year and a half ago, you try to figure out what our record, our proceedings, are going to look like way down the road when people look back through our archives and whatnot, what languages are being used. I am hoping down the road that our elders tell us to think ahead several generations. I think this is one of those things, as well. When we speak our language in here, we want to hear that echoed in history, no matter what language we speak in here. It could be French, English, Tlicho, Dene Suline, and so on. I think it is important that we always try to accommodate our listeners out there who don't have English as their first language.

I am hoping that we could move forward with this in a positive manner and really promote our languages. Our languages are powerful medicine. My great-grandmother, Setsune, she used to tell me [English translation not available]. It's like strong medicine. It echoes in history. I am hoping that, like I said before, we get some support here and support our interpreters. Kudos to all of our interpreters here in the booths right now doing this really, really important work. We can't function without them. I am hoping we can give them all the support that we can and give support to those who follow in their footsteps. That is all I have to say for now. I would love to open comments. Marsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Norn. Any further comments? Mr. Lafferty.

Masi, Mr. Chair. [Translation] I will be speaking my language. Today, what we are talking about is that, whenever the Legislative Assembly has a meeting, we have the interpreters available when we are speaking our language. There are 11 official languages here in the Northwest Territories. One of the languages that I am speaking is Tlicho. Whenever we have a meeting, I always speak my language. That is why today, when I sit here, I would like to say thank you to the rules and procedures committee for what we talked about. Even though we sometimes may be a little upset, we show respect to each other.

That is one of the reasons why, at that time, I didn't speak. When the Speaker made the ruling, I could have spoken further, but I knew that, if I had continued to speak at that time, nobody would have understood what I was saying. I wanted to show respect. I know that they were going to postpone it. I knew at that time, but then, Mr. Chair, when we look at this, at how to go forward after this, we always have a word upfront whenever we talk about those kinds of things. Sometimes, there can be some incidents.

I would like to thank all of the interpreters who are here, who are hanging onto their languages. If it weren't for them, there could have been a misinterpretation whenever there are no interpreters available. If the Speaker knows that there are no interpreters available, they should stop the meeting. I wanted to speak at that time, but it is like I was cut off because there were no interpreters.

Our language should be number one. Our language should be there. At that time, it wasn't like that for me. At that time, when I was speaking Tlicho, it was like I was cut off. I was so upset that I walked out of here that time. Mr. Chair, I'm saying: don't let this happen again. With this motion that is here now, we will talk about this motion, but once the chair speaks on it, the motion will be there. We should put something very powerful in place, so whenever, in the future, any interpreters are unavailable, this needs to seriously be taken into consideration, not only for me, but in the future here, when we look around the table, I want each and every one of us to speak our language.

There are 19 official languages that we have here. At times, I am the only one, but my friend here, Steve Norn, speaks his language once in a while. Sometimes, Mr. O'Reilly speaks the French language. Most of the time, every day, whenever we have a meeting, I always try to speak my language. At that time, even though some Members didn't like, I would like to see these committee report recommendations that are put in place for how we are going to go forward.

Mr. Chair, that is all I may have for now. Let's just try to make what we have stronger. Whoever speaks their language, let's encourage them to do so. It will be up to the speaker. The motion that is there now, I will talk to the motion later. That is all I have for now. For the committee report that has been done, I would like to say thank you for how we are going to go forward. Masi. [Translation ends]

Thank you. Are there any further general comments? Member for Frame Lake.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Just a couple of things. I neglected to thank the interpreters who do such tremendous work for us here in the Assembly. I have known some of them for many years and have great confidence in their ability to help us understand each other a lot better. I neglected to thank them. I also wanted to thank the Member for Monfwi for bringing this matter forward because I think it is going to push us to the next level in terms of making sure that we properly recognize and implement use of official languages in this Assembly. I think that we have come up with a variety of recommendations here that will help us do that, right from how we can improve our operations today to policy moving forward. We are not going to be where we may need to be after another couple of years, but this is going to head us in a much better direction.

With that, Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended to clearly state the right to use any official language when speaking in the Assembly; and further, that this right necessarily implies the right to be understood by those Members who do not speak that language; and furthermore, that the rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended to reflect the right of Members to receive interpretation in any official language. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just very briefly, it is hard to believe that Members have the right to use any official language in the House as a result of the Official Languages Act but it is not actually recognized or incorporated into our rules. This will make sure that the rules reflect the law. It is an important motion, and I expect that everybody is going to vote in favour of this. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Member for Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended to clearly state that documents in any official language may be tabled in the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Member for Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that simultaneous interpretation of committee proceedings into any official language should be made available to Members or witnesses appearing before committee, with a one-week notice; and further, that the availability of this service should be communicated clearly with Members and any witnesses. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just very quickly: we do a lot of committee work behind the scenes here, and we take bills on the road and so on. Certainly, it was a practice in the last Assembly and I expect it's going to be the practice in this Assembly that whenever we go outside of Yellowknife, particularly to the smaller communities, we make it clear that anyone who wants to speak to committee can use any of the official languages. The one-week notice that we suggested here is just to make sure that we are prepared and can offer that service when we go outside of Yellowknife and even in Yellowknife, if someone requires interpretation. This is about changing the way we start to do some of our business a little bit and making it clear that we are going to offer this on an ongoing basis moving forward. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. To the motion. Mr. Lafferty.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I just want to thank the committee for highlighting this, a week's notice. As Members of the Legislative Assembly, there are various committee meetings. To some degree, it's expected that you speak the English language in these meetings, but there are times when an individual speaks their language. This clearly lays out the groundwork. If we give a week's notice, we can speak our language in the committee meetings, teleconference meetings. I am not sure how that is going to work, but I am just glad to see that it is part of the policy now. Masi.

Thank you. To the motion.