Iqaluit (Aug 28/06) - A quick look around on the streets in Iqaluit will confirm it, English is the language of choice for private business.

The RCMP sign at the airport warning about a drug sniffing dog is only in English. The rules of behaviour at the Storehouse Bar and Grill, English only. Even the Canada logo on the federal building is English only.

Many of the signs put up around Iqaluit are in English only. That frustrates Nunavut's language commissioner, who's looking forward to a new language law expected to be introduced during the fall sitting of the legislative assembly. - Michele Taylor/NNSL photo illustration

Nunavut is officially bilingual, and territorial agencies have strict rules about bilingual signage. Those rules do not apply to private businesses -- or to the federal government -- and many go with English over Inuktitut.

Nunavut Language Commissioner Johnny Kusugak, a former Inuktitut teacher, said bilingual signs are important to the territory.

"I have had contact with the Arctic Co-ops and with the Northwest Company. They have really made an effort. You will see a lot more Inuktitut signs there," said Kusugak.

He said there's still a lot of work ahead to convince people that Inuktitut signs are important.

"While growing up, our elders would think that we had to learn English. People from the south had all the good jobs and good positions," said Kusugak.

Claire and Stu Kennedy have been operating DJ Sensations and DJ Specialities in Iqaluit for 20 years, and own Tumiit Plaza in Iqaluit. The signs outside the store are in both languages, but inside, the signs are all English.

"I don't know many translators and the cost is huge. We would like to, but we change signs in here every week. If we were offered assistance, we would take it," said Claire Kennedy.

Kusugak agrees that language has to be a spending priority.

"Some more money has to go toward this," said Kusugak.

"When you do signs in Inuktitut, you have to be careful. I've put up signs that I thought were right, only to be told that they mean something sexual," said Stu Kennedy.

It isn't hard to make an embarrassing mistake. Mispronounce Iqaluit and you go from "place of many fishes" to a description of a particular form of poor personal hygiene.

"We have heard some complaints about poor interpretation. Take the word hospital. In Inuktitut, it is anniavik. Sometimes it is just translated as ho-pi-tal. That is trying to Innuize an English word. That's what bothers me and a lot of other people," said Kusugak.

Stu Kennedy has been trying to put a new sign in front of Tumiit Plaza for two years. He is waiting for his tenants to provide him with wording in both official languages.

"Some of these tenants are government agencies," said Kennedy.

Kusugak gets complaints about private businesses from Nunavumiiut about the lack of Inuktitut, but without enforcement power, all he can do is consult.

"We let them know, but it just isn't in our jurisdiction," said Kusugak.

New language legislation is expected in the fall sitting of the legislature, and Kusugak is excited. Quebec's signage laws are known all over Canada, and while Kusugak isn't ready to discuss details of the new language laws, he is looking south.

"There are models out there that work, we can learn from other people's success, and take the positives from the south," said Kusugak.

"Once the new legislation comes in, we can close that gap. When it is passed, it will mean so much to the people in Nunavut."