Nunavut court strikes down GN attempt to kill Inuktut language lawsuit
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. sued territorial government in 2021 citing Inuit language discrimination
The Nunavut Court of Appeals has struck down an appeal from the Government of Nunavut against a lawsuit seeking the right to Inuktut language instruction in the territory. (File photo)
Nunavut appeals court judges have thrown out the GN’s attempt to block a lawsuit seeking to ensure the right to Inuktut education in the territory’s school system.
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. sued the Government of Nunavut in October 2021, citing discrimination under section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, over the lack of Inuktut education in the territory’s schools in comparison to English and French.
NTI argues that because the section applies to race and discrimination, it therefore also applies to language rights.
The lawsuit argues a lack of language education for Inuit has significantly eroded Inuktut use and knowledge and lowers educational attainment and graduation rates for Inuit students.
NTI seeks a five-year plan to implement Inuit language education from kindergarten to Grade 12 across Nunavut, including the recruitment and training of Inuit language educators, the development of Inuit language curriculum, and greater involvement of Inuit in education governance.
In April 2023, the GN appealed a Nunavut court ruling allowing the case to proceed to trial, arguing section 15 of the Charter applies only to the right to English or French language instruction.
Further, the GN argued the legislative assembly of Nunavut has exclusive authority to pass or amend legislation in relation to education and language.
The appeal was heard Feb. 13.
In a decision released Aug. 28, Justices Ritu Khullar, Jo’Anne Strekaf and Kevin Feth said the law is not as clear as the GN suggests, and that the matter should head to trial.
NTI president Aluki Kotierk applauded the decision last week, saying it affirms the importance for Inuit to be heard.
“It is disappointing that Inuit must use the courts to ensure fair treatment of Inuit students, from a government created by Inuit, and that the government has used its resources to delay and stall the hearing,” she said in a news release.
“However, we are pleased that the courts have sided with NTI again in affirming that this case has merit and should proceed.”
Representatives from the Department of Justice declined comment while the matter is before the courts and did not say whether the GN plans to take its appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Say what you want about Aluki and NTI, but they’re right (in principal) about this one. Students in Nunavut should be able to go through school in Inuktut. This is a combined failure of every single Minister of Education that Nunavut has had since its inception. That includes Pam Gross, David Joanasie, Louis Tapardjuk, Ed Picco, and James Arvaluk. Apologies if I missed any.
Inuktut is shrinking and Elders are getting older. Sure, learning starts in the home and there is some responsibility on parents to speak Inuktut to their kids. But when almost every TV show kids want to watch is English, most books they want to ready are English, they spend 7 hours a day immersed in English at school, and potentially most for daycare and/or afterschool care/programs, homework is in English, almost everything they see online and in social media is English, and so on… well, it’s a tough gig to teach them Inuktitut.
When they’re young and have early bedtimes, parents are only with their children for maybe 4 hours a day, and those hours include time that you are not directly communicating with them such as making meals or trying to clean the house. The exposure to English in their lives is overwhelming relative to their exposure to Inuktitut, and at a young age they don’t understand the importance or even the awareness to distinguish the concept of different languages, so it’s hard to stress to them that they communicate in Inuktitut.
Immersive learning is the best way to learn a language, and if they were immersed in Inuktitut during the 9 hours a day, 5 days a week that they spend out of their home, that would go a very long way towards promoting the language and keeping it alive.
Now, how to implement this in a practical sense when Nunavut’s education system is already struggling? That’s a bit too much for this (already long) comment.
I wonder what was stopping NTI from creating Inuktitut workbooks all these years? Creating educational tools that can be used in the classroom? What was stopping them from doing that I wonder? Hmmmm?
NTI has partnered with Inhabit Media to provide learning and resource materials. They even have a website for it, web address is nti-inhabit.
They also distributed home-based Inuktut Literacy Kits which included storybooks, magazines, novels, traditional stories, DVDs, CDs, and literacy activities.
So they have made contributions towards language development. However, NTI doesn’t really have a place inside the classroom, because the education system is the responsibility of the territory. They can’t just barge in and tell the GN what curriculum to teach, what resources to use, who to hire. The GN cannot pass-the-buck on their responsibility, and you cannot do it for them.
Interesting you closed with “Now, how to implement this… That’s a bit too much for this (already long) comment.”
Geez, that’s anti-climactic. You were just getting to the good part.
Try again, and START with your solution. Anyone can go off about the problem, that’s easy.
Do you think suing the GN will change the dynamics underlying its inability to implement a more robust language regime in our schools? How so?
The only result I can see is NTI lining its pocket. What do you think they will do with that money? Use it to develop a solution themselves? And why not, wasn’t Aluki working on displacing the GN in favour of ‘self government’? If successful, the responsibility for Inuktitut education will become NTI’s, won’t it? They will have a place in the classroom then.
I wonder how all that is going?
Lets be mindful that more cynical persons might suspect the ‘money’ is the real point of this exercise.
What would you say to them?
Hey iThink,
I wrote a lengthy comment about my solution and implementation due to the criticism of my previous comment, and Nunatsiaq decided not to post it. Not sure why, it had absolutely nothing controversial in it. Kinda one of the reasons why this isn’t the forum for it.
Sure wish I knew why Nunatsiaq subjectively decides what to post and what not to.
That’s unfortunate. I’ve been in your shoes before. I don’t understand the thinking behind the unnecessary, and frankly unjustified censorship at this publication. No surprise people mock the editorials that call for open communication and dialogue. This is (as far as I can tell) the best forum we have, yet I agree with you, it’s completely inadequate.
They can’t barge in and tell them what to do? Isn’t that the whole point of NTI’s lawsuit? Telling the GN what to do? Instead of working and collaborating with them the GN? Aluki’s way or else. Right?
You’re oversimplifying. NTI cannot tell the GN “how to do it”. NTI’s lawsuit is about telling the GN that the GN is not living up to its obligations. But NTI does not have the ability to enforce how the GN accomplishes what it is supposed to accomplish, so its recourse is a lawsuit.
What’s stopping them; education is the responsibility of GN, Passing the Federal bucks to NTI? GN get off your behind and get to work, we want 170K / per annum worth out of you teachers and curriculum developers….
the teacher program has been around for over 30 years and yet many inuit do not continue after they are educated and change professions. perhaps that is a start to investigate the reasons.
both the home and school need ‘in’ and such as Mathematics that if parents cannot assist then a mentor is required.
What is stopping the GN? It can’t be funding as we have a very rich GN with 3 BILLION annual budget for a very small population.
I’m guessing incompetence and lack of understanding and knowledge.
Here we go again indeed, another of countless long rambles about the problem with no solution because solutions are the only interesting thing left to talk about, yet no one has one. Yea, we know that too.
Can’t they go back and stick with the plans to implement Inuktut Education which was being delivered back in early 1990’s? Those were very important plans about delivering Inuktut Education.
So where do they go with this unilingual education. How are they prepared for higher learning or participation in a work force beyond Nunvavut. Protection of language although an honorable goal is impractical in real life. Focusing on creating an isolated detached society is not the best approach to success.
How did the Filipinos do it before they moved here? How did the francophones do it before they moved here?
Nothing NTI loves more than a lawsuit. Meanwhile they don’t even acknowledge receipt of applications to their scholarship program from qualified post secondary students, or respond to follow up emails.
Don’t forget international travel. The only time you hear from NTI nowadays is either a lawsuit or international travel
Totally agree, 1 and 1A. The travel is probably why they can’t administer their programs.
Or when they’re giving away atv’s or snowmobiles paid for with Inuit Trust money.
I thinks it’s time to call-in your majestic majesty’s wings into retirements, you have shown your stripes to Nunavut and they are not full colored anymore, but kinda fading and verball logics do sound tired to0, I am pretty munch done with Annie Oakleys and Two Gun Kids. Goodness how much do you think Nunavut could any take more punishment? I think NTI and RIOs should only take two timers as Heads of “State”….
It was about 26 year ago, GN proudly released a mandate; ALL GN EMPLOYEES will be bi-lingual in INUKTIUT in 20 years, will the target date has come and long gone, Kamasabe and Tonto are still in two classes and the world keeps rotating; what gives GN? if you’re going to be insulting to INUIT, I would suggest you do it from else where. I could be much nastier but I am starting to have forgiveness as I aged, late 50s 60s were my education years and later sent to CVC in Churchill, Damn those rubber straps hurts at young age when I speak Inuktitut in the class rooms.
Hey Eskimo Joe.
By the way, the nuns and teachers in the day got the belt out for anyone. White, red black they weren’t shy, don’t think you were special.
Don’t play victim.
What other country has done more to preserve language and culture than us, we signed treaties in good faith versus just taking it.
Just for example how does Nunavut have over 2B dollars in budget allowance and only collects 25 Million in taxes ?
Hmm 2924 less 26 years is 1998.
There was no GN yet
First thing NTI needs to do is to work with the GN in on identifying a single dialect for educational usage. Then again, NTI won’t come to that table for fear of telling one group that their dialect is not as important as another.
If a lawsuit is ever won, and the GN has to implement a K-12 Inuktut education curriculum, NTI won’t be at the table to once again point fingers at the GN for not taking other dialects into consideration.
At some point, NTI has to start being an active party in decision making and funding initiatives instead of being professional finger pointers
The GN would LOVE to be able to implement a curriculum and it would LOVE to meet its legal obligations, but it is an impossibility. There are far too few Inuktitut instructors to meet demand, and the numbers aren’t growing at anything like the same rate as the population.
The GN will never be able to meet the mandate, but not through lack of will.
Everybody should speak Inuktitut in Nunavut. This is the base of every culture. GN got full power on the subject (education). There is not a lot of solution about that, but doing nothing is certainly not a viable option. So there is a path:
1. A bill 101 like in Quebec but for Inuktitut
2. Inuktitut programs based on Inuit culture and inuktitut resources for teaching them. (The fact that this is not already in place since 1999 is a proof of the lack of vision and organisationof the GN.)
3. Full Inuktitut schools for Inuit
Not an easy path, not a cheap one either, but tell me how to preserve a language without using it… It’s now or never!
How difficult is it to table of plan to introduce the language of the original residents of the territory? Other indigenous peoples like the mimac have done it without a whole department supporting them. Ajjuturulunii Govamaqaraata
The original inhabitants are extinct.
We could so such a program for the Inuit though.
Inuktitut* Nunatsiaq news….Inuktitut*
Fifteen comments on this thread, and almost no mention of the fact that Inuktitut is not taught as there are not enough inuktitut speakers willing to be teachers, and to show up daily to teach, and to actually teach the kids and not just coast along with what is easy and fills up time.
Without that, you can win all the lawsuits you like, but it’s not going to happen.
Ditto for services not being available in Inuktitut. Until inuit decide to stay in school, become the professionals and service workers needed, and keep and show up for jobs, you’re not going to have Inuktitut spoken in the workplace, either.
On this one GN is absolutely right. Absent the vocabulary for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), teaching youth in Inuktitut violates the UN’s Charter on the Rights of the Child. The only language of business, commerce, aviation and the Internet in North America and internationally is English (except to some extent in Quebec where it’s French).
Most youth in Europe become proficient in English alongside a local language where there is one. Many Inuit are not proficient in any language. Most have a tiny vocabulary in any language, and only poor command of grammar and syntax. The root of the problem is that since Inuit moved into settlements, parents stopped telling their stories or conversing with their children. Now it’s too late.
Having failed to educate and train Inuit professionals and managers in Inuktitut and to make it the language of management in government, it’s on its last legs. Look, by contrast, say, at the Creole spoken in Jamaica or Barbados. There managers of hotels, banks and businesses all speak it in parallel with English.
For the demise of Inuktitut as, say, Peter Pitseolak spoke and wrote it in the 1960s, blame the founders of Nunavut from 40 years ago and subsequent legislators, especially education ministers. Given the misguided persistence of syllabics, there aren’t even dictionaries and grammars as there are for other languages.
Hell, we can’t even get our MP Lori Idlout 9an Inuk) to communicate in Inuinnaqtun, an OFFICIAL language in Nunavut.
That’s part of the problem. NTI likes pointing to Greenland as an example, but Greenland made one decision that helped make it possible, a decision that NTI and most politicians in the territory are too scared to take: if you pick an official language you want to be a working government language and education to be in, you pick one dialect, and you pick one writing system. Greenland chose Kalaallisut. The other dialects are still spoken, but it’s Kalaallisut that’s taught in school and used in government, and it’s one reason Greenland has a 100% literacy rate.
It’s a decision that has to be made to save Inuktut, but NTI and the government have been wishy-washy about it because they don’t want to tell some community that no, they won’t be served in their dialect any more.
Two for two courts don’t want to be the bad guy. We elect the government democratically make laws. If the government doesn’t want to do this, no court can force them to. The court can’t force the legislature to make laws and they will stay in their lane. Two small battles won by NTI but their arguments that try to put Inuktitut on par with official languages is never going to fly. NTI is good at using these small victories to convince bureaucrats to settle though which is their strategy. My wager is this all disappears in a year without trial and government shells out $100m confidentially to NTI to start some slush fund er I mean program that benefits NTI contractors and not small folk.
English and French are THE operational languages of Canada.
Welcome to North America.
Learn the language.
Habla Espanol?
Que pasa. Orale Esse.
Learn Espanol.
Why is noone calling out Inuit parents for not teaching their kids Inuktitut at home? Kids only go to school at 4 or 5 but start talking at 1 year old. I have come across many Inuit kids who can’t speak Inuktituk. If you’re proud of your culture and language you dont wait for the government to teach your kids. NTI is targeting the wrong people.
And as someone else.said, how many Inuit teachers are available to implement this. NTI will make money but the problem will remain.
Creating an Inuktut-only education stream is not only a pipe dream it is doing all children in Nunavut an extreme disservice. The world of post secondary education does not operate in Inuktut. The world of government does not operate in Inuktut. The world of business does not operate in Inuktut. The world of finance and education etc. etc. does not operate in Inuktut and no amount of magical thinking on the part of NTI will forces these institutional monoliths to bend to NTI’s will. NTI is preparing entire generations of Inuit kids to fail miserably and to be tied to this territory for the rest of their lives. It is really sad when you think about it.
That’s a poor excuse to not teach Inuktut. Many peoples still keep their mother tongue while operating in the English world.
Let’s be clear, Inuktut is already being taught in every grade and in every school in Nunavut. What NTI wants to see is an Inuktut-only stream where Inuktut is the sole language of instruction. If this comes to pass, it will by and large create functionally unilingual Inuit children who will be effectively unable to operate, work or even live in any environment outside of Nunavut (and maybe the NWT). Please tell me what benefit children derive from being educated in a language that is only recognized and supported in two territories in Canada?
What gets me about all this is that NTI is so concerned about getting the language taught in all grades when the dropout rate is so high the majority of the kids will never be attending all those grades anyway. Perhaps NTI shouldn’t put the outboard before the boat?
Don’t listen to anglophones who want you to believe it is not possible. There are important challenges, and it will take more than one 5-year plan, but it is attainable. I hope that if they win, NTI will be part of the team in finding creative solutions to overcome the challenges we all know about in order to reach the goal of keeping Inuktut alive in Nunavut. The GN alone cannot get there, although they have the power to implement the solutions, it has to be a collective project all individuals and organizations contribute to.
Creative solutions don’t require a lawsuit.They want money or to force the GN to spend it’s money because they don’t want to spend any from the Trust.
The law suit should be directed to the federal government or NTI for failing the land claim. Nunavut was created out of the land claim agreement and NTI has never supported the gn for supporting more teachers or assisting with training teachers. They should have right from 1993 started getting inuit geared up for teaching positions. Empowering inuit to become educational leaders but they failed us and now we are competing with inuit in both government. Just not enough inuit to work in all organization. Big dreams with low population.
Bring back the coloring books in HD now !! No one person has solutions here to fix this language , be it in any dialect either , we have gone astray in our culture from the internet up here in the arctic. Seems to be getting worse every year. No integrety among members if our legislature ? All for one and one for all ? We need leaders who will try to strive to put their contstutuents before a paycheque. This is just being ignored by all of government and refuse to take any action but only put it forth for people to read about it .
Inuktitut is a dying language.
Why is NTI beating a dead horse?
In our little “town” Inuktitut is mixed with English in conversation.
Changing world.
Inuit say that they can adapt…
Welcome to the 21st Century.🥱
Because Inuktitut is dying that’s why, also too many of your kind that can’t see why it’s important to keep Inuktitut alive, that is where all the problems start, our GN is full of people like you, who do not contribute anything positive but rather destroy our society with your ignorance.
It’s a huge problem that no one calls out enough. Why our government is the way it is right now, they can’t seem to do anything productive.
To make Inuktitut the language of instruction, you either need Inuit teachers, or you teach Inuktitut to the non-Inuit teachers. The second option isn’t even an option, and there aren’t enough Inuit teachers to make Inuktitut the language of instruction in the entire school system.
This lawsuit is academic. Even if it’s won, it won’t mean anything.
I was a nwt/gn employee for over 25 years. I signed up for inuktitut lesson 4 times. After the third day, each time the instructor was late or didn’t show up at all. Hard for the student to learn if the teacher shows no interest in teaching.