Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

PARTICIPANTS ACROSS THE NWT WERE CLEAR ON NEED FOR CHANGE.

In October 2020, committee held public briefings with the Languages Commissioner and the Minister responsible for Official Languages and his staff. Between June 2021 and October 2022, committee engaged the public. 74 people from across the NWT participated in public meetings, including 33 residents, organizations, and governments that provided formal oral comments.

During this time, committee was inspired by NWT residents doing amazing things to reclaim their languages, teach young people with limited resources, and advocate for changes to help their language communities survive and thrive.

We were especially moved by what elders had to say. They reminded committee of the horrific role of the Indian Residential Schools system in the loss of Indigenous languages - but also Indigenous peoples' determination to keep their language. One survivor shared: "Even we whispered, and we get slapped. Sometimes we bleed from our mouths, we get hit. And you're so scared. You just wish you could go home, and you were a long way from home [...] And today, when we're trying to teach our young people to speak, that thing is with us [...] I don't know why they didn't want us to speak our language. But we held on to it."

The harmful legacy of residential schools and colonization, and the need for reconciliation and recognition of Indigenous rights, were major themes that committee heard from residents. Other important themes were:

1. Visibility. Indigenous languages need to be more visible in daily life.
2. Education. Barriers to revitalization can be overcome with more funding, training, educational resources, instruction time, and rights to immersion education.
3. Program funding. Existing funding for Indigenous-language education and revitalization is not enough and must be increased. Funding requirements should be tailored to applicants' needs and flexible for creative approaches.
4. Services. The government should improve access to quality services in official languages by enhancing active offer, standards, and rights to service.
5. Public service. The government should promote using and learning official languages in the public service by increasing Indigenous representation, providing more training, and recognizing the value of knowing a second official language.
6. Legislation and rights. More needs to be done in law to protect rights and revitalize languages, including adding Michif as an official language and setting up new bodies and policies for language revitalization.
7. Languages Commissioner. The role should be clarified and strengthened. And,
8. Languages Boards. A merged board needs a better nomination process, a clearer role, and more effective representation, transparency, and resources.

Committee provided more detail on these themes in an appendix to this report. We recommend the government review and consider residents' input on official languages.

STATISTICS SHOW INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES ARE DECLINING AND ENDANGERED

Statistics confirm a trend committee heard on the road: Indigenous language communities in the NWT are not creating enough new speakers to sustain their languages. From 2014 to 2019, eight of the nine Indigenous official languages lost speakers, resulting in a total decline from 7,900 to 6,800 Indigenous language speakers. According to UNESCO, an agency of the United Nations, all nine Indigenous official languages are endangered, meaning they're at risk of disappearing. Inuvialuktun and Dinjii Zhu' Ginjik -- thank you very much, MLA for Inuvik Twin Lakes -- Gwich'in, are the most severely endangered languages, with 560 and 290 speakers in the NWT, respectively.

The age profile of current speakers is also concerning. Half of the 6,800 Indigenous language speakers are over 50 years old and one-fifth are over age 65. In almost every community, committee heard that young people are losing the Indigenous language, and elders find that they are unable to communicate with them in their Indigenous languages.

A 2019 survey by the NWT Bureau of Statistics gives reason for hope. This survey found that thousands of residents, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, want to improve their conversational skills in each of the nine Indigenous official languages. For instance, while less than 1,400 Northerners speak Dene Zhatie, nearly 5,000 Northerners want to improve their Dene Zhatie. This extends to all nine languages. The desire to learn each language is three and fourteen times higher than the number of actual speakers.

Despite attempts to eradicate Indigenous languages, many people remain passionate about reclaiming this right. Committee is convinced there is incredible potential to revitalize all language communities. Revitalizing languages is not just a hope - it's a right. Article 13 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples says that: "Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures [...] States shall take effective measures to ensure that this right is protected."

Article 13 matters because it confirms the government's unique duty to protect Indigenous peoples' language rights and prevent the loss of valuable knowledge and traditions. While the GNWT has made improvements, anecdotal evidence and the statistics suggest that the government is not fulfilling its language responsibilities under the Declaration.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass the reading of this report to my colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Thank you.