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Language commissioner retires Former justice of the peace and teacher set to stay in Nunavut and stay involvedJeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, Oct 08, 2012
Since 2009, when she was appointed to the position, she has been an advocate for the promotion and preservation of the territory's four official languages. "I think I'm not going to be doing nothing," said Kublu about her first month of retirement, which she will spend in Victoria with her husband. She said she will then return to Nunavut and continue living in the territory and spending time with her family. Born in Iglulik and raised in residential schools, Kublu taught in Arctic Bay, Cape Dorset, Arviat and Iglulik for 10 years. She was also an instructor in the language and culture program for seven years at Nunavut Arctic College. She is a former senior justice of the peace and Kublu said she plans to advise the current senior justice of the peace she can return being a justice of the peace on an as-needed basis. She said she also wants to help with suicide prevention programs in the territory. "I am going to stop it at that because I don't want to run out of time," said Kublu. "If I end up putting too much on my plate, then where is the time for my husband, my daughter and my granddaughter?" She married Mick Mallon in 2000 and has one daughter and one granddaughter. Her role as commissioner included ensuring the territorial government adhered to its own language laws, such as the Official Languages Act and the Inuit Language Protection Act. As a commissioner, she also acted as an ombudsman, fielding complaints from the public and investigating potential violations of language laws. "I think because of new legislation, the office has had to grow," said Kublu. "We're a different office than it was in 1999 when we became Nunavut. I am very pleased with that." The territorial government has begun advertising to find a new languages commissioner for a four-year term in office.
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