Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled Government of the Northwest Territories Response to the Final Report of the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I had instructed the department to develop guides for income support, guides for the senior fuel subsidy and all the programs we have so that those guides can be handed out to individuals, which would give individual seniors in this particular case the opportunity to see in print what their eligibility requirements are, what they are eligible for and so forth. I'll ensure that if those aren't being distributed yet, that they will be distributed shortly. It's my understanding that it has already been done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, a lot of changes have taken place. First of all, we changed the fuel subsidy regionally, so there's a higher level of support for individual seniors if they are in a colder climate area with longer winters. The second case that took place was the change in the level of income that a senior can have. A number of those changes have taken place and no doubt, the department, in its wisdom, has made changes on the forms as well. What we did do, as well, Mr. Speaker, is put out a publication to allow seniors and others on income support to understand the program, but I will immediately get on to the question that the Member raised here. If we can provide assistance to seniors in communities to help fill out the forms and secondly to see if the forms are appropriate and if we need to make changes on the forms.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will get onto that item immediately, Mr. Speaker, to see whether consultations had taken place, whether there was input from the seniors' society and whether there was input from other seniors. We will certainly look to see whether the forms are possible to change very quickly if they are too difficult to follow, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not familiar with that particular work that had been undertaken and whether there has been consultation with seniors. I must say though that a lot of changes have been introduced into the seniors' fuel subsidy over the last several years. I heard what the Member has said and we need to look at this application form to see if it is a difficult form to follow. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize all the people from the Dogrib Nation in the gallery today, but there's one I work with, Mr. Speaker, that I would like to recognize. That is Violet Camsell-Blondin, the chair of the Dogrib Community Services Board, which is responsible for both education and the health and social services department. I would like to recognize her, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to inform the House that later today I will be tabling the Government of the Northwest Territories' response to the final report of the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories acknowledges the tremendous amount of time, effort and care that has gone into developing "One Land, Many Voices." This pivotal report of the special committee, which was two years in the making, was tabled in this Legislative Assembly during the March 2003 session.

We understand that at the heart of the special committee's report there is an abiding respect for the role that languages play in the lives of our citizens and of the value that languages contribute to our culture and society.

The Government of the Northwest Territories shares these views and goals of the special committee and is committed to ensuring that the findings of its report are implemented to the greatest extent possible and in the most expedient time frame.

The Government of the Northwest Territories' response outlines in detail the ways and means by which the government intends to action, both immediately and over time, the special committee's recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, as detailed in the Government of the Northwest Territories' response, it is our intention to give immediate effect to a number of the special committee's recommendations by way of a bill to amend the Official Languages Act that I would give notice of first reading this afternoon.

As recommended by the special committee, the bill defines the powers and duties of the Minister under the act. Through this bill, the government proposes to establish in legislation an aboriginal languages revitalization board with representatives from all official languages, aboriginal language communities, with a mandate to advise the Minister responsible on government and community efforts to maintain, promote and revitalize aboriginal languages.

This bill will concurrently establish in legislation an official languages board with representatives from all official language communities of the Northwest Territories to advise the Minister responsible on the administration and delivery of services by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Each board will be able to make recommendations to the Minister within its respective mandate.

Additionally, the bill will:

• • amend the preamble to the act to recognize the important role of language communities in preserving and developing their own languages;
• • recognize North Slavey, South Slavey, Inuvialuktun and Innuinaqtun in section 4 of the act and remove them from the interpretation section;
• • remove repealed sections of the act and correct spelling, terminology and translation errors;
• • include provisions requiring the government to respond to the annual report of the Official Languages Commissioner within 180 days of tabling the annual report;
• • include provisions for the recognition of the collective language rights of aboriginal people within their homelands;
• • include provisions for smaller scale evaluations every five years beginning in 2008; and finally,
• • the bill addresses the role of the Languages Commissioner.

Mr. Speaker, as the report of the special committee indicated, some of the proposed recommendations will take longer than the remaining term of this government to implement. For those findings that cannot be implemented during the balance of the

14th Assembly, this public response should be viewed as a strong recommendation for a course of action that may be undertaken by the government of the 15th Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, we know that languages are of untold value for individual and cultural identity and social well-being in maintaining the collective history of the Northwest Territories and in preserving cultural diversity. Once again, I refer back to the words of the special committee, "Languages are about our identity -- who we are and how we understand and interact with each other and the world around us."

I'm proud as a Member of this Assembly, Mr. Speaker, to be able to present the Government of the Northwest Territories a course of action designed to ensure that the voices of the people of the Northwest Territories are heard in whichever language they choose to speak for generations to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our priority is extremely high. It has been in the forefront for this government since we took office, Mr. Speaker, with substantial additional investments. We have been working on retention programs for teachers through the teacher induction program and various methods by which we can improve the school system. So there is a tremendous emphasis by this government, including my department, on the education and improvement of our people in the communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not have that answer right here. I will get it for the Member to advise him of when we can expect some answers from the deputy ministers' task force. Thank you.