Photo: Bill to change Education Act gone for good

And, that’s a wrap for Bill 37, An Act to Amend the Education Act and Inuktitut Language Protection Act. The bill, years in the making, was defeated in a Sept. 14 sitting of the Nunavut legislature. Education Minister Paul Quassa tried moving the bill into committee of the whole for discussion in public, but regular members stood unanimously against any further discussion of Bill 37. The Nunavut legislature’s standing committee on legislation already recommended the bill not proceed, based on many submissions expressing disapproval of the bill, which would have changed the schedule for introduing Inuit language instruction. But that committee’s decision was made behind closed doors. Quassa said he was “certainly disappointed,” after the vote. “We have an obligation to our voters to hear the pros and cons of any bill. That’s the process the house normally follows. This time it’s unfortunate Nunavummiut did not have the opportunity to hear the pros and cons from their MLAs right in the house,” he said. Read more later, on Nunatsiaqonline.ca (PHOTO BY BETH BROWN)