3. Double resources to support and revitalize Indigenous languages

Committee heard clearly that funding for Indigenous-language education and revitalization is not enough to ensure language communities survive. This unanimous sense of underfunding exists despite recent increases in language funding. The Government of the Northwest Territories now spends around $21 million each year on Indigenous language programming, up from $14 million ten years ago.

To gauge the potential funding gap, committee compared the Government of the Northwest Territories' Indigenous language funding with its French-language funding. Committee acknowledges this comparison is far from perfect: these language communities have different histories, circumstances, and needs; and, the government's responsibilities to these communities are different based on constitutional and international law.

Committee compared French-language funding per French-speaker with Indigenous language funding per Indigenous residents. Looking at Indigenous residents, rather than current Indigenous-language speakers, is appropriate because Indigenous language rights extend to all Indigenous people, including those who have lost the language.

Committee found that the Government of the Northwest Territories' French-language funding is around $2,200 per French speaker compared to Indigenous-language funding of around $1,100 per Indigenous person. This puts the funding gap at $1,100 per Indigenous person. To close this gap, the Government of the Northwest Territories would have to double per-person Indigenous-language funding. The total cost would add up to an additional $22 million per year. More details on this calculation are included in Appendix C of this report.

Committee believes that increasing funding by at least this amount is necessary to reverse the decline in Indigenous-language speakers and revitalize language communities. Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 6: That the Government of the Northwest Territories double funding for Indigenous-language education, services, and revitalization.

Recommendation 7: That the Government of the Northwest Territories reimburse use of an Indigenous official language as an eligible expense for all programs, grants, and contributions. These funding agreements should be multi-year to reduce administrative burden and improve sustainability.

Educators and language experts brought up the problem of fragmentation among language communities in developing resource materials. Committee heard one example of a southern publisher charging $20,000 to allow an education resource in one Indigenous language to be translated into another.

Participants thought the department could do more to "minimize the reinvention of the wheel" so that educational resources can be translated easily and affordably. One promising suggestion was for a "creative commons" - a digital space for people to share and collaborate on educational resources. Existing resource hubs, like the Our Languages NWT platform, do not particularly promote decentralized content creation and digital collaboration. Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 8: That the Department of Education, Culture and Employment set up a creative commons for Indigenous-language resource materials.

The creative commons should build on the Our Languages NWT platform and offer an accessible digital space. It should allow creators and users to share and collaborate on educational materials, language-learning apps, curricula, grant applications, and other resources.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to now turn this over to the Inuvik Twin Lakes Member. Thank you.