NUNAVUT - Eva Aariak, who was Nunavut's first languages commissioner, has been reappointed to the job.
Former languages commissioner Johnny Kusugak announced on Oct. 19, 2007 that he would be stepping down at the end of the year, 15 months shy of finishing his term.
Eva Aariak: Reappointed to language commissioner job |
He cited a desire to spend more time with his family in Rankin Inlet as a reason for his departure.
Aariak was appointed to a six-month term in mid-December.
She had previously served a four-year term as languages commissioner starting in December 1999.
She returns to the position at a time when Nunavut's language laws are being hotly contested.
"We are very much in tune with the language legislation and we will continue being involved in the process," Aariak said.
The Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act received first and second reading on June 4 and 5, respectively.
The bills were then passed over to the Ajauqtiit Standing Committee for review, comprised of five members of the legislative assembly.
It was originally anticipated that the third and final reading of the bills would take place during the October sitting of the legislature, but now committee members express doubt that third reading will take place in the next sitting in February.
All of Nunavut's MLAs will be in Iqaluit this week for meetings and the chair of Ajauqtiit, Steve Mapsalak, said the committee would find time during the week or on the weekend to discuss the language bills.
"We will meet and decide what our next step is going to be," he said.
"We're going to decide if we're going to recommend the passage of the bill or if we're going to want to extend it another 120 days."
When asked if the bills would be up for third reading during the February sitting of the house, Mapsalak said, "There's a possibility, but I doubt that will happen."
Co-chair of the committee, James Arreak, suggested that more consultations and public meetings might be needed before a decision could be made on what would be done with the bills.
Such delays irk Aariak, who said there has been enough consultations. Now is the time to compromise with the organizations that have expressed concerns, she said.
"When the delays happen, everything else is held back in terms of implementation of the act, so that's a negative," Aariak said.
