WHEREAS the Northwest Territories Official Languages Act recognizes nine Aboriginal languages as official languages, including: Chipewyan, Cree, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tlicho, in addition to English and French;
AND WHEREAS Section 11 of the Northwest Territories Official Languages Act says, among other things, that any member of the public is entitled to communicate with and receive services from any regional or community Government of the Northwest Territories office in an Aboriginal language spoken in that region or community, where there is significant demand;
AND WHEREAS Aboriginal language speakers who are attempting to access government services such as medical treatment are sometimes forced to depend on relatives who speak their language, but who are not trained as interpreters and who cannot translate specialized terminology, resulting in worry and possible misinformation for patients;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories formerly recognized the need for a central body to provide Aboriginal language services by establishing a territorial Language Bureau;
AND WHEREAS the Language Bureau served the people of the Northwest Territories for nearly 25 years, with expert interpreter-translators who conducted research on specialized terminology and writing systems, as well as providing interpreter-translator services;
AND WHEREAS the Language Bureau was disbanded in 1997, eliminating 20 positions which have never been replaced;
AND WHEREAS qualified interpreter-translators in private business are not always available in Northwest Territories communities;
AND WHEREAS there are no longer any formal training programs for interpreter-translators in the Northwest Territories;
AND WHEREAS there is no central body monitoring the quality of Aboriginal language interpretation and translation;
AND WHEREAS there is no central clearing house for research on specialized medical or legal terminology or writing systems;
AND WHEREAS the Standing Committee on Government Operations in its report tabled in this House on May 28, 2009, called for the establishment of a secretariat as a central agency to develop government services in the Aboriginal languages and conduct long-term planning;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories in its Aboriginal Languages Plan tabled in this House on October 27, 2010, called for the establishment of a secretariat with responsibility for oversight of GNWT Aboriginal language services;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has now established a Secretariat for Francophone Affairs;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that the Government of the Northwest Territories consult and develop interim measures to improve Aboriginal language services, with the full involvement of existing interpreter-translators in the Northwest Territories communities who speak different dialects;
AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories consult and develop interim measures to improve Aboriginal language services, with the full involvement of existing interpreter-translators in the Northwest Territories communities who speak different dialects;
AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories seek such additional funds as may be required for the secretariat for Aboriginal language services from the federal government, as a matter of urgent necessity and equity;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the government provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The motion is in order. To the motion. I will allow Mr. Yakeleya to comment on the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This motion is restating what the Minister talked about earlier in the House, to support and give the nudge to the government that this is a priority. People in the communities would really appreciate this, because this would give justice to our people when we have Ministers, bureaucrats or any other government agencies that come into our communities. They know they will get the proper information, the terminology will be right and these translators would do great justice to the Aboriginal language services, to the Aboriginal Languages Act.
Right now it will give more weight and this government will not only pay lip service, but when we have official meetings of this government for the people, that the people can feel comfortable enough to say we want to say it in our own language and we don’t need to have a hit and miss on the interpretation. It’s being properly translated the way we want to do it.
So this motion here speaks to having a secretariat developed, again establishing the Government of the Northwest Territories, and to know that if they say language is important to the people of the Northwest Territories, this motion is putting the money into the mouth of the government, so important that we’re going to establish a secretariat for the Government of the Northwest Territories to recognize all the different Aboriginal languages and give respect and dignity to those languages. Then when we go back into the communities, the older people, the elders, people who want to hang on to their languages will know that this government really is working towards providing this service, other than just having English spoken in our communities. They can feel comfortable enough to go to the hospitals or the health centres and know that proper terminology will be used, or they can go to the legal system, a special facility or courts, whatever programs Justice has, even the RCMP, and know that these services are going to be provided.
So this is giving a nudge to the government and we’ll see how this motion plays out in the next four years. We’ll see if we continue to get lip service or if there is actually going to be some work done on this. Let’s see how strong this motion is with this Cabinet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the motion. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank Mr. Yakeleya for his motion. Last term, when I was chair of Government Operations, we reviewed the Official Languages Act. I was very pleased to hear about the languages secretariat at that time. What happened is it stimulated and supported our Aboriginal languages throughout the Northwest Territories. There was a significant decline in support for our Aboriginal languages once that department was disbanded. It was also said, even to this day, that the best support for languages are those employees who are in other departments to this day. I’m with Mr. Yakeleya in that I believe that we should and must consolidate our languages again into one department so that we can continue to support it and build on it for the benefit of all the people in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
[English translation not provided.]
In terms of this motion, Mr. Speaker, I speak in favour and support it. As Dene, we are an oral society. We have legends, stories and histories that go back thousands of years. In some respects our elders play a very prominent role in educating our people in terms of the youngsters and youth in our communities. For some time it’s been concerning me that government has a policy they call the Official Languages Act, but I believe more needs to be done. At the same time I also acknowledge that it can’t only just be government, but equally so it has to be parents and families and communities that take the strong initiative to ensure that our languages survive and are enhanced and become more strongly prevalent in the communities. For those reasons today, I will speak in favour of the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be speaking in favour of this particular motion. Mr. Menicoche mentioned about the work done last term. I was on that committee as well. We heard a lot from people about the challenges before them about their languages. I believe the re-establishment of the Language Bureau is probably one of the most needed steps out there to help support these language groups.
I often believe that languages to survive need to be relevant, and to be relevant they need to be supported. Many of the challenges we heard in the communities when we travelled was medical terminology and justice terminology. We cannot forget the fact that modern day terminology constantly evolves. By way of example, when I say that although my wife doesn’t speak an Aboriginal language, she speaks a Chinese one, and how quickly they are to grasp on modern technology, and they define it themselves, and create it themselves and it becomes part of their language, these modern names. I think that’s one of the things that this Language Bureau would say, is wait a minute, we don’t have a word for this, we will develop a word for this. As they develop words, they also make the language relevant, which is meaningful to the young people who have to learn this. They need to learn this. A Language Bureau would set up a criteria, work with Aboriginal elders and build a foundation that can be reinforced and built upon. It would be the buttress of what languages need. Right now they’re by themselves and they don’t have that type of support.
The other element of this is, once the Language Bureau is re-established, I certainly support further integration of Aboriginal languages within our schools and it must be enhanced. If a child can’t go to the store and buy a jug of milk in their own Aboriginal language, even being able to say what the word “milk” is – if they’re not using it in their own language, and not using it in their daily lives, and they’re not using it in the home – it’s just a sad case that we have this state before us of which they are significantly declining.
In short, this motion I think is the foundation of where we need to go to help build upon the existing state of our languages. The sad state is they are declining. This is the reinforcement I believe they need.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, stand here in favour of the motion that my colleague Mr. Yakeleya has presented before us. Language is the foundation of our traditions and cultures. It’s the starting point where we start moving forward, and to continue to keep our traditions and cultures thriving and growing in our communities.
Right now the data shows that our languages are depleting, near extinction for some of the languages, and those need to be addressed. Furthermore, there are other languages that are on the borderline. Those are the ones that we need to take notice of now, before they come into those areas of concern, which we don’t want to happen.
I’m in favour of this motion, and I hope that government proceeds and we can start taking action so that, like I said, one day some of the Members in here can do a Member’s statement in their own language, and same with the Ministers.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion as well. I support diversity in all its ways, and one of the biggest ways that we are really strong in, particularly in the Northwest Territories, is our diversity of cultures and languages. There is so much knowledge and ways of seeing the world that we need that are wrapped up in languages, that we need to do whatever we can to help these languages survive and thrive. I back up my colleague from the Deh Cho, noting that there’s a big role for families, and parents and elders in this role.
There’s no doubt now, based on the new science, that the potential for learning language is most strongly developed within the few months before birth and 12 months after birth. There’s a clearer indication of the need to focus on early childhood opportunities, and I know the department is working, the government is working in some ways there in terms of the Language Nests to function on young people, but it really needs to happen in the home and the community itself. I think this motion will move us in that direction, and on that basis I support the motion and thank my colleagues for bringing it forward.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Merci, M. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
…for bringing forward today what I think is an important motion, which I’ll be voting in favour. I started off in my native tongue of French, and not because I feel confident that I have a secretariat in French, but moreover that I know there’s security in my language moving forward. I think, in essence, this is what this motion is looking at, is security.
Not to reiterate what we’ve heard today from some of the Members here, we talked about the importance from the justice system, the medical system, which I think is utterly important. We talked about culture. I want to just hone in on that culture piece a little bit. We need to preserve our Aboriginal languages. They are unique and irreplaceable. They are, in essence, part of our global heritage that we have to maintain. Aboriginal identities are tied to their languages, and without language we are putting cultures at risk, not just language.
We are identified as Northerners by our languages. We should be proud of that uniqueness on a global scale. Our Aboriginal languages are every bit part of our nationalism that need to be preserved. We need to preserve this language of our people. We need to keep these languages alive and useful; otherwise, our own identity as Northerners could be lost forever. When they’re lost forever, they will not come back.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
I would just like to say thank you to the Members on this motion. This initiative is already in the works with my Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We’re already proceeding with this. A proposal for the creation of the Aboriginal languages secretariat will be brought forward for consideration in 2012-2013 business planning session. We will continue our efforts to seek increased funding from the federal government through the negotiation of a multi-year Language Funding Agreement. I look forward to continuing to work with the Members on establishment of the Aboriginal languages secretariat, and thank them for their support in our consistent lobbying of the federal government to increase funding in this important area.
As this is a recommendation to the government, Cabinet will abstain from voting.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. I’ll allow closing comments to Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I said at the beginning of this motion here, this motion is to support, to nudge the government on the establishment. It talks about some of the things that we think can be looked at when you start developing this secretariat. Not just two people, maybe 15 people or so. Give you some ideas.
I know you’re going to come back in the future on this secretariat. We don’t know when. Monies are introduced and monies sometimes disappear. We want to put this on the radar for the government, that this is an important enough issue here that it stays within the books with the finances. It’s not something we can willy and dilly and take it out. This motion here is so serious that we have to bring up a motion to say keep going, keep doing what you have to do, put the proper resources in there.
When my mother was alive, she worked with the community health representative for over 30 years. She was translating for somebody in the hospital, after 30 years of working in the health centre, and she said that she didn’t understand how to translate certain internal organs of a patient. She had a tough time. This is after 30 years, growing up in the bush, coming off and speaking the language really well. The doctor came in, made the assumption, assumed you know what I’m talking about. My mom said, you know what? I’ve been here over 30 years, the doctor said this and he just expected I do this. How dare he did that to my mother. But my mom said, that’s my job. She tried to explain to the elder what the doctor wanted to know about that part in his body. She couldn’t get it.
The story here is that my Mom phoned a dear friend in Fort Simpson, Albertine Rowe, and said, how do you translate this in South Slavey? The doctor wants to know. How do I translate that to the elder? Albertine said – God bless her heart – well, look at it like when we skin a moose and take the moose apart. We have words for the inside organs for moose, just like a human being. If you tell that to the hunter, the old man, because he’s skinned so many moose in his life, he would know what you’re talking about and that’s the part you’re talking about inside his body. My mom said, okay. So that’s what she did.
I guess that’s what we’re asking about: specific terminology for our people. That’s what our people want through the secretariat. Give them the dignity of first peoples on this land. This is their land and their language is their culture and it’s their heart. That’s who they are. If we do it no less than that, we’re doing a disservice to our people. That’s what I’m saying. Our people’s voices are strong and powerful. So strong. Very, very strong. We don’t have this secretariat to help the government, us, honour their language and we’re not doing any service to them. We’ve got to put it back in. That’s why we wanted to nudge the government with this secretariat. Let’s do that. Let’s honour and recognize the culture of the Aboriginal people, or the French people, as my friend has talked about. Let’s be equals amongst us here. Our language is our future.
