Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government recently transferred responsibility for language revitalization to Aboriginal governments. The thinking is to put the job in the hands of the language experts at the local level, to involve elders and also the speakers.
When will the government be able to provide a detailed report on the progress and outcome of their efforts? This question is posed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the plan is in 2014-15 that the regional Aboriginal governments will be receiving a contribution from our department. There is an increase in contributions from $1.5 million to $3.48 million for them to hire their own coordinator and to look after the languages programming at the community level. The Member is quite correct; we need to focus on those Aboriginal groups who are the experts in the field and they can provide more feedback and more positive results. Those are just some of the areas that we have explored and we have continued to provide those opportunities at the community level.
Experts tells us that the NWT is on the brink of losing some of our Aboriginal languages, and yet Aboriginal governments who are responsible for five-year language plans are receiving substantially less money than they asked for. I’m very worried that they don’t have enough funding to truly succeed.
What is this Minister doing to reverse the tide of language erosion and ensure Aboriginal governments succeed in this area?
We are making drastic changes to our contributions even before big changes from previous years. Some of the areas that we’ve transferred on to Aboriginal governments… There are approximately seven different areas of initiatives that we’ve transferred, working very closely with the community governments, and that is languages program, regional and community-based Aboriginal literacy activities, there are Aboriginal language acquisition projects, $93,000 of $143,000 budgeted. There are teaching and learning centres that we have to deal with through education authorities. There’s also Aboriginal language culture-based education that’s also administered by education authorities. Aboriginal language terminology. Also, the last one is Aboriginal Languages Strategic Initiative of $360,000. These are some of the initiatives that we felt should be at the community level, at the regional level, and we’ll continue to push that forward with other initiatives within our department as part of empowerment on to the communities.
I’d like to know the role of the federal government in the Aboriginal language revitalization efforts. The Minister has indicated that funding for ’15-16 would be increased from $1.5 million to $3.4 million. I want to understand whether the federal government is involved with that.
Is the Minister pushing for a stronger role for the federal government in the language revitalization efforts?
I’m glad the Member is asking that pointed question. It is one of the key topics that I shared with Minister Glover just last week while we were in Ottawa and stressed that the Aboriginal language programming has not increased over the last decade. Those are just some of the areas that we have been pushing since I came on board in 2007.
I am very optimistic that there will be a funding increase. We’re working very closely with the federal government. In this particular area, $1.5 million to $3.4 million, that’s our GNWT funding that has been dispersed into Aboriginal government. At the same time, we are again working very closely with the federal government so they can be a true partner as we move forward with long-term plans.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the areas that the Minister has been clearly outlining is just looking at the local efforts in terms of trying to explore areas of how greater efforts could be made to try to preserve some of the languages that are on the decline. He’s indicated some drastic changes that more likely will be contemplated.
What can this side of the House expect in terms of perhaps one significant focus that his department will undertake to ensure that the languages will not decline and, at the same time, greater efforts will be made to work with the community level? Mahsi.
We’ve been told over and over from Aboriginal governments, community governments and especially the elders that we must preserve our language and also our cultural way of life. Based on that, we have been working very closely with Aboriginal governments to provide them greater flexibility, accountability and also decision-making authorities to revitalize our language, strengthen our languages as well. Those are some of the key points my department will be working on with Aboriginal governments. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
