The NWT goverment says work on how it provides “practical and sustainable” service in Indigenous languages is taking longer than planned after “a number of considerations” were raised.
During a minister’s statement in February, Caitlin Cleveland, the education and culture minister, announced Indigenous language service standards would be introduced “this spring.”
According to Cleveland, the service standards would provide front-line government staff with training and support to respond to requests by email, phone or in person in the territory’s nine official Indigenous languages.
“This work is practical, steady, and grounded in reconciliation. It also creates more opportunities to use, hear and strengthen Indigenous languages in communities,” said Cleveland at the time.
However, the standards are not yet in place.
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Since February, the GNWT has begun “advancing implementation planning,” said Agata Gutkowska, a spokesperson for the territory’s Department of Education, Culture and Employment.
During this process, Gutkowska said officials brought forward considerations relating to “service delivery models, interpreter capacity, active offer approaches, and implementation supports.”
Reviewing the service standards and including the feedback meant the launch of a pilot project has been delayed.
“This work has taken longer than originally anticipated as we have been engaging with interpreters, translators and other service providers to ensure they are appropriately supported,” said Gutkowska.
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Gutkowska said the territorial government continues to work on the standards and will share more information publicly when the pilot project is ready.
In the Office of the Language Commissioner’s latest annual report, five out of six cases were related to Indigenous languages and government services.
Example cases include a southern healthcare facility asking about integrating Inuvialuktun into the organization’s internal coding system, a funding request for Indigenous books and resources, and the use of Indigenous names for official languages.
One case related to someone accessing Tłı̨chǫ interpretation in court. Another involved a concern raised by staff in Inuvik about having to answer the phone in English and French instead of their own language.
During a briefing on the report, acting official languages commissioner Krista Carnogursky told MLAs she understood the territory’s coming service standards would allow employees to “also answer the phone in an Indigenous greeting.”
