GN hasn’t acted on language ideas, committee hears

PATRICIA D’SOUZA

Despite three years of work by the Language Commissioner of Nunavut to reverse the discrimination faced by Inuktitut-speakers in their homeland, the territorial government has yet to act on any of her recommendations, Eva Aariak told a legislative assembly standing committee this week.

“Unfortunately, there has not been a concerted effort on the part of the cabinet or the government to address these recommendations or to give language issues the attention they deserve,” Aariak said.

She appeared before the standing committee Ajauqtiit on Feb. 18 to present her third annual report to the legislative assembly.

But in her three years in office, she has not seen a substantial improvement in the area of language, she said.

“There is one set of rights for English- and French-speakers, and a second, lesser, set of rights for speakers of aboriginal languages,” she told the five members of the committee.

More than 15 years after the Official Languages Act was passed by the Northwest Territories legislature, this inequality is still embedded in law. Nunavut inherited the act in 1999, and Aariak’s recommendations are aimed at protecting the Inuktitut language, and the right of Nunavummiut to speak it.

Despite the systemic discrimination Inuktitut-speakers encounter, however, she has received only three complaints. She attributes this to the fact that many in Nunavut have a poor understanding of their rights.

Many people don’t know that they’re being discriminated against when they are turned down for a job or are unable to read government forms. And they don’t know that they can do something about it.

“While many members of the public are frustrated by the level of service they get from the government, they do not know there is a system in place,” she said.

What’s worse, she said, is that these discriminatory and thoughtless actions are still being carried out every day. On a recent trip to Kugluktuk she saw a blatant example — on a government building.

“I was shocked to discover that many of the public signs put up when the buildings are constructed are in English and syllabics only. There was nothing in Roman orthography,” she said.

“These signs send a message to the people of the community that the government has little regard for this dialect and this writing system.”

Support is not enough

Of course, that’s not to say the government hasn’t been supportive of her work, Aariak said. But support alone is not enough.

“You are very supportive and your support is evident. It’s encouraging to see support like that,” she told committee members.

“Last year, the government indicated they were supportive of the recommendations I made. But I haven’t seen any implementation actions that have taken place to date.”

What the government needs to do, Aariak said, is create a strategy to put her recommendations to work. She has suggested that the GN establish a language commission to implement her ideas — and that every department in government take a role.

“What the government needs in order to improve the areas that they have supported is to establish a strategy,” she said. “The slow part is developing a plan.”

Committee members agreed that work needs to begin. “I guess we’d like to see a little more action from government, rather than reaction,” said Iqaluit Centre MLA Hunter Tootoo.

The Language Commissioner’s annual report contains seven specific recommendations that, if implemented, would make Inuktitut more authoritative within government. Currently, the English version is the legal version of all government documents, court decisions and legislation. But Aariak says that the Inuktitut version should have prominence.

In addition, she has suggested creating a separate law, called the Inuktitut Protection Act, that would give Inuktitut more prominence outside government, and address the language issues people face on a daily basis.

“The real work to make Inuktitut the working language will not take place in the legislative assembly,” she said. “It will take place in the streets, schools, workplaces and communities of Nunavut.”