Official Languages Act (Northwest Territories)

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Official Languages Act
Coat of arms of Northwest Territories.svg
Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Citation1988, c. O-1
Assented to1988
Status: In force (amended)

The Official Languages Act (French : Loi sur les langues officielles) is a law enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, enacted in 1988 which establishes that Northwest Territories has eleven official languages. [1] The Act establishes that the official languages of Nunavut are: Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, Gwich'in, North Slavey, South Slavey, Tłı̨chǫ, Chipewyan, Cree, English, and French. [1]

Contents

History

French was made an official language in 1877 by the then-territorial government of the Northwest Territories. After a lengthy and bitter debate resulting from a speech from the throne in 1888 by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Royal, the members of the time voted on more than one occasion to nullify this and make English the only language used in the assembly. After some conflict with the Confederation Government in Ottawa, and a decisive vote on January 19, 1892, the assembly members voted for an English-only territory.

The Official Languages Act of the Northwest Territories was enacted in 1988. [2]

Provisions

The Act was amended in 2023 to allow the Commissioner to take the Government of the Northwest Territories to the Supreme Court. [3]

Implementation

Access to services in indigenous languages in the Northwest Territories has been described as a "struggle" by the Official Languages Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. [1]

Criticism and suggested reform

The Act has been criticised by parents for not allowing babies to be given traditional names with accents. [4] [5]

There have been repeated calls for Michif to become the territory's twelfth official language. [6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tessier-Burns, Francis (March 2, 2024). "The N.W.T. has 11 official languages, yet service in Indigenous languages continues to be a struggle". CBC News. Archived from the original on April 10, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  2. ↑ Bell, Jim (December 9, 2019). "Inuit org uses 30-year-old document to allege Ottawa "blocked" language rights". Nunatsiaq News. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  3. ↑ Dulewich, Jenna (April 17, 2024). "Calls for Indigenous language services have been made for decades, reports show". Archived from the original on April 17, 2024.
  4. ↑ Brohman, Erin; Hinchey, Garrett (March 6, 2015). "Chipewyan baby name not allowed on N.W.T. birth certificate". CBC News. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  5. ↑ Sun Hwang, Priscilla Ki (September 19, 2018). "Mom says N.W.T. government still forcing Indigenous people to use 'colonized version' of their names". CBC News. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  6. ↑ McBride, Blair (February 25, 2021). "Métis man works to make Michif the NWT's 12th official language". NNSL. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2025.

"Welcome to the Office of the Official Languages Commissioner". Office of the Language Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. Retrieved April 16, 2025.

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