Nunavut MLA says sorry to Cape Dorset DEA

Education Minister Paul Quassa said allegations of a ban on Inuktitut at the school in Cape Dorset, which Baffin South MLA made Oct. 25 in a member’s statement, are unfounded. “I want to assure everyone that the events described last Tuesday were unfounded and that no student was discouraged from speaking Inuktitut or punished for doing so,” Quassa said. (FILE PHOTO)

South Baffin MLA David Joanasie said sorry to the Cape Dorset District Education Authority Nov. 1 for failing to communicate with them before he alleged in the legislative assembly last week that students at the local school were threatened with disciplinary measures if they spoke Inuktitut.

Joanasie issued the apology one day after the Cape Dorset DEA lashed out at him in an angry press release, saying they’re “shocked and discouraged” by the MLA’s statements on the issue.

Joanasie said in the legislative assembly Oct. 25 that a teacher in Cape Dorset threatened to discipline students for speaking Inuktitut in class.

But the DEA said there is no policy or practice at the school for punishing kids who speak Inuktitut and that Joanasie should have contacted the DEA and the school administration first.

“I wish to apologize to the DEA for not bringing this issue to their immediate attention last week after it was presented to me. The fault was my own and I take full responsibility for any consequences resulting from this oversight,” Joanasie said.

But he also said he thinks there are conflicting messages circulating among students.

“I do wish to emphasize that something has clearly gone terribly wrong when a student thinks that they will be reprimanded or disciplined for speaking Inuktitut. Since making my statement last week, I have been contacted by other parents who have expressed similar concerns,” Joanasie said.

He added that he believes bullying is unacceptable “whether it is in English, Inuktitut, French, or other languages.”

On Nov. 2, Education Minister Paul Quassa made a statement in the assembly that corroborates the DEA’s version of events.

After doing a fact-finding exercise, departmental staff found no evidence of a ban on Inuktitut at the Cape Dorset school,” Quassa said.

“I want to assure everyone that the events described last Tuesday were unfounded and that no student was discouraged from speaking Inuktitut or punished for doing so,” he said.

People who have concerns about things that happen in schools should first contact the school and the local DEA, he said.

But if they are not satisfied with the response, they should then go to the Department of Education or to the minister.

And Quassa emphasized his commitment to the Inuit language.

“Inuktitut, which is the mother tongue of the majority of our territory’s population, continues to be spoken in our homes, in our schools and in our places of work. We must and will do all that we can to support the living language that is Inuktut,” he said.

Quassa said, however, that the incident shows bullying in schools is a problem that needs more work.

“I wish to state that bullying in any language is unacceptable, and that we will take further action along these lines,” he said.