No plan to kill Inuit language protection law

Ed Picco, the government house leader, said this week that the Government of Nunavut has no plan to let Bill 7, the proposed Inuit Language Protection Act, die on the order paper and that they'll send the bill to third reading at a sitting scheduled to start Sept. 9.

As house leader, Picco is responsible for managing the introduction of bills and other processes led by the government. He made the comments in response to a couple of anxious press releases issued last week by two language stakeholders: the Inuit Broadcasting Corp. and Eva Aariak, Nunavut's acting languages commissioner.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. jumped on the same bandwagon this week, with a press release issued June 3.

Okalik Eegeesiak, IBC's chair, referred to the possibility of Bill 7 not moving forward during the current assembly sitting, and urged MLAs to consider the bill "without delay."

And Aariak said she's worried that some MLAs are getting cold feet over the bill's potential costs.

In an interview, the acting languages commissioner said she's heard from various sources that MLAs plan to fast-track Bill 6, the revised Official Languages Act, but are reluctant to pass Bill 7.

"Such a scenario would be tragic," Aariak said.

It was Aariak who first proposed the idea of a separate Inuit language protection act, when she presented it to a legislative committee hearing in January of 2002, during her first stint as languages commissioner.

The legislative assembly and the Government of Nunavut have been working on the development of new language laws since 2000.

But after endless rounds of consultation and study, it was only in the spring of 2007 that the GN was able to unveil Bill 6 and Bill 7.

Bill 6 is simply an update to the old Official Languages Act inherited from the Northwest Territories.

But Bill 7 contains sweeping new measures mandating the use of the Inuit language in the provision of services to the public and within government.

The proposed law applies to private businesses and organizations, as well as governments.

It also provides for the creation of a language authority and sets out stiff fines for those who violate the law

A GN official told Nunatsiaq News earlier this year that its new language laws would likely raise spending by $12 million to $15 million a year.

That has led to speculation that the GN, faced with skyrocketing fuel costs that increase spending by at least $85 million this year, will kill Bill 7 to save money.

But Picco said the cost of implementing the protection act is already "built into the fiscal framework," which in plain language, means the money has been budgeted.

He said the GN does plan to fast-track Bill 6 – it was to have gone to third reading after the Nunatsiaq News press deadline this week.

That's because the new Official Languages Act must receive a vote of concurrence from Parliament. For that reason, the GN wants to give it early passage so that it can be sent to Ottawa.

"That's the really time-sensitive one," Picco said.

After that, Picco said the government will send Bill 7 to third reading at the sitting in September, the last in the life of the current legislative assembly.