Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the government provide a response to this report within 120 days.

I move that this committee recommends that the Board of Management provide sufficient additional funding for legal expenses, on an ongoing basis, to permit the NWT Human Rights Commission to continue becoming a party to all complaints referred for hearings to the NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister assure this House that the pause that the government is taking at this point will not put into peril the PAS process and jeopardize committee funding. Mahsi.

The Protected Areas Strategy initiative has been long established. It’s a tripartite arrangement, as the Minister outlined, between the Government of the Northwest Territories, the federal government and First Nations. What’s really important to recognize is it’s an eight-step process that’s basically driven by communities. The Government of the Northwest Territories has suddenly stepped back from the Protected Areas Strategy process. Can the Minister explain this decision?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a final question to the Minister. I think he mentioned that there is an upcoming language symposium here in Yellowknife. What are the goals of the symposium and at the same time how did the department effectively…(inaudible)…

Thank you. I’d like to thank the Minister for his response. It’s been 25 years since the Official Languages Act has passed. How is that act helping in preserving the Aboriginal languages in the NWT? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About 7,200 Northwest Territories residents speak one of nine Aboriginal languages. Five of the NWT’s official languages have fewer than 500 speakers; six languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers, eight languages have fewer than 1,500 including South Slavey, and only one has more than 2,500 people that speak it, from the 2009 statistics.

[Translation] The government has spent $3.5 million on Aboriginal languages and a lot of the money goes to the Dene Secretariat. The district of education also gets a certain amount of money and also towards the schools. It seems like...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March 14, 2013, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that the Government of the Northwest Territories enhance its work in the area of ground ambulance and highway rescue by emphasizing training and preparation for emergencies outside of municipal boundaries;

And further, that the government bring forward legislation within the next 12 months to update the Fire Prevention Act and to make any amendments required to make provisions for ground ambulance and highway rescue services;

And...

When will the Minister declare that Aboriginal languages are on a serious verge of decline and also at the serious stage of extinction, and call for more resources at the community level?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made a statement in my language in terms of the Aboriginal Languages Month. So my question is to the Minister. We all are concerned that our languages are in decline and we know parents have a role, families, communities and, of course, government. So we have regional districts and then, of course, headquarters and departments and the Minister. I want to know where is the effort to preserve and enhance the language. Where is the concentration and effort? At which level is the most priority? Mahsi.