Wildlife Act receives third reading

MLAs passed Bill 35, the Wildlife Act last week in just two evenings.

During a break in committee of the whole, Glenn McLean, chair of the standing committee on sustainable development, seemed concerned that things were running so smoothly. He predicted that the committee of the whole session, which began on Dec. 3, would run until the end of the week.

The bill passed the following day, with five amendments.

During a question and answer section, some minor confusion was sorted out. Donald Havioyak, the MLA for Kugluktuk, pointed out some inaccuracies in the Inuinnaqtun translation of the bill.

McLean himself said the Inuktitut translation was inferior, and though he doesn’t speak the Inuit language, instructed Minister Olayuk Akesuk to have the Inuktitut version revised.

The Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun translations are particularly important in regard to the Wildlife Act, as the Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun definitions of several tenets of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit take precedence under the law.

In all other Nunavut legislation, it is the English version that has legal authority.