Nunavut With Unprecedented Review of Its Language Laws
Nunavut's language laws are under review for the first time since some of them came into force 15 years ago.
That is reported by CBC.
The Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act, first signed into law in 2013 and 2008, respectively, mandate the use of Inuktut, French and English in the territory. The legislation is supposed to be reviewed every five years, but this will be the first time.
Karliin Aariak, Nunavut's languages commissioner, said the use of Inuktut in the public and private sectors has declined drastically and wants to see a language secretariat within the Government of Nunavut to ensure accountability.
"Without wanting to sound the alarm, the Government of Nunavut is at a crossroads where it will have to take stronger measures to protect Inuinnaqtun which is spoken by just 545 Nunavummiut and could disappear in just two generations," Aariak said.
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