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.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to the Aboriginal languages, official languages, there are various roles whether it be the parents, the grandparents, the teachers, the community members, the leaders. So there are various roles and within my department, as you know, there are various initiatives, whether it be the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, the Language Strategy, and there is another symposium that’s coming up next week. We want to identify the second phase of an Aboriginal Languages Secretariat.
As you know, through the budget we discussed the Aboriginal Languages Secretariat as moving forward to consolidate all of the language funding that’s distributed to the language groups and having the language experts from the regions to tell us what’s more pressing and what’s needed, what’s important to the regional groups, to the communities. So those are some of the roles that my department, the community agencies, the community school boards and also MLAs are actively involved and we’ll continue to push that forward. Mahsi.
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.
I’m glad the Member asked that question. That is a very important milestone that we have encountered. Working closely with the federal government we’ve identified funds to offset the costs of preserving and revitalizing our Aboriginal languages, even all official languages. We’ll continue to work towards that. Within our own department we have just over $14 million when you compile all the funding that we distribute throughout the Northwest Territories. It does enhance our stand with respect to Aboriginal language, and revitalizing and preserving it.
This is an area we continue to work on with the school boards, agencies, language experts, language boards and the federal government. This past December and January we met with the Official Languages Minister at the federal level and there is continued effort to get an increase in funding. We’ll continue to push that forward.
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?
We do recognize that some of the languages are on the verge of being lost. We are reaching out to the regional groups such as the Gwich’in. The Gwich’in Language Centre, the Gwich’in Language Board, there are various boards involved, promoting even more. We’ve identified funding, as I’ve indicated earlier. We want those individuals to be involved. Where should the funding be invested, which areas? Which areas are now working that we funded over the years? Where can we reinvest into those language revitalization or preservation? There are groups at the regional level that we work closely with and will continue to do that.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
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)…
The language symposium is scheduled for next week. My colleague Mr. Nadli will be co-chairing with me on this. The expectation is, we want to hear from the general public, the experts in the field to give us direction, to give us guidance. We are going on the next phase of Aboriginal Language Secretariat on the long-range plan. We want to hear their input. Right now we’re at the first phase of the Aboriginal Language Secretariat. It’s just a basic approach and then we want to take on the second phase. That’s why we need their expert advice and recommendations on what we should be focusing on. Those are the expectations that we want to hear from the general public and also the professionals in that field.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
