Languages commissioner resigns
Departure comes on heels of daughter's demand to have Chipewyan name on baby's birth certificate
Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Monday, March 16, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The NWT's languages commissioner is stepping down only one year into her four-year term.
Snookie Catholique's resignation was announced by the territorial government March 13, which cited "personal reasons" as the cause for her departure.
Catholique's exodus comes on the heels of a complaint from her daughter, Shene Catholique Valpy, who is seeking to have the name of her baby daughter, Sahaia, recognized by the territorial government and printed on her birth certificate.
The Chipewyan name is not recognized by the GNWT due to a glottal stop character, not used in the Roman language, even though the character is a part of the Chipewyan alphabet – one of the 11 official languages of the NWT. The story has received national news coverage in recent days.
Catholique complained to CBC North last fall, where she previously worked as a reporter, that there was a 10-month backlog on language complaints in the territory and that she didn't have enough staff or office space to deal with them.
"She resigned for personal reasons," said Colette Langlois, acting clerk of the legislative assembly, of Catholique's departure but would not provide any further details. Catholique also declined to comment when reached Friday afternoon.
Appointed to the position in December 2013, Catholique was recognized as having contributed to the development of the Chipewyan dictionary, now a part of the NWT school curriculum. Catholique replaced Sarah Jerome.
Catholique is being replaced by Shannon Gullberg, who previously served in the position from 2004 to 2009. Most recently, Gullberg acted as special languages commissioner on the case of Catholique's daughter to avoid the appearance of conflict.
"The case of Ms. Catholique (Valpy), that one is ongoing and I'm hoping that we'll have some resolution of that in the very near future," Gullberg told News/North the day Catholique's resignation was announced.
"Whatever other cases were on the go or that come up from now on, moving forward I will be responsible for."
Gullberg said she was not aware whether the case with Catholique's daughter had affected her predecessor's resignation.
The languages commissioner is responsible for ensuring that all official languages of the territory are recognized, and that all rights under the Official Languages Act are granted.
In being asked to take on the role again, Gullberg said she did so willingly.
"I think what's really important is that we have legislation in the territory where we have 11 official languages and we need to ensure that those official languages are recognized, not just in name by the legislation, but in practice," said Gullberg.
"I think the position is important and has a real role to play."
A lawyer by trade, Gullberg acted as legal counsel to the languages commissioner prior to her appointment, beginning in 1996. She has also worked as a speech pathologist and said languages have always been of interest to her.
