MLA wishes more non-Inuit would learn Inuktitut on NNSL.com
Welcoming Language Commissioner Alexina Kublu’s 2010-11 annual report, Pangnirtung’s MLA lamented the reluctance of new Nunavummiut to learn Inuktitut, recalling a time when “teachers, RCMP and clergy tried really hard to learn the language.”
Hezakiah Oshutapik made the comments as members of the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts heard from Kublu.
“Now that we have Acts, we have target dates for when Inuktitut will be used in government,” Oshutapik said. “But, the private sector and federal government don’t even try to learn our language.”
“This is not new,” Kublu replied.
However, private sector and federal agencies will be forced to provide services in Inuktitut eventually as part of the Inuit Language Protection Act. Some businesses have been progressive in complying, including Frobisher Inn, NorthwesTel, Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association, and Isuma TV, her report noted.
Iqaluit, NU - Languages Commissioner Alexina Kublu