Yellowknife (Apr 26/06) - Yellowknife's French community welcomed with open arms a court decision that paves the way for bilingual services across the Territories yesterday - a move some called long overdue.

Territorial Supreme Court Justice J.M. Moreau offered a sometimes stern rebuke of the state of Canada's other official language in the NWT in a landmark decision released Tuesday morning.

"The GNWT has demonstrated a persistent refusal to adopt a comprehensive plan... in the face of numerous specific recommendations made by consultants, language commissioners and (a) special legislative committee," she wrote.

Moreau gave the territorial government a year to:

• staff hospitals with French-speaking doctors and nurses;
• make sure most government offices that offer public services have French-speakers;
• publish government job offers, notices and tenders in French;
• create a formal test for prospective employees hoping to land bilingual positions; and
• ensure the Office of the Languages Commissioner can handle French queries.

"This is a great victory for the community and minority francophones across the country," said Fernand Dernault, president of the Federation Franco-Tenoise.

The group, which represents the roughly 1,000 French-speakers in the Northwest Territories, launched the lawsuit in 1999 after several francophones complained that they were denied services in French - despite provisions in the NWT Official Languages Act that mandate bilingual services.

"This is a condemnation of the attitudes and actions of the territorial government," Dernault said from Ottawa, where he was attending a conference.

"There are hardly any services for us right now. In a country where both languages have equal status, (that) is called discrimination."

The territorial government received the 200-page written decision and cabinet members are in the process of reviewing it, said government spokesperson Julia Mott. She could not say when Premier Joe Handley or other ministers would be able to comment on the case.

"It is a lengthy report, so it will take some time to review," Mott said.

The judge's decision comes after a nine-week trial last fall that included more than 50 witnesses, including several top bureaucrats and members of the francophone community.

In her ruling, Moreau dismissed a $26 million claim for damages from the federation.

The group was unable to prove its members suffered financially from the lack of French-language services, she said.

Moreau did order the territorial government to cover the federation's legal bills, which after the seven-year battle could reach into the millions of dollars.

Dernault declined to comment on the total Tuesday.

Five francophone plaintiffs who were denied services in French were awarded a total of $17,650 by Moreau. The largest single amount - $14,450 - went to a woman who struggled to get medical care at the Stanton Territorial Hospital. She was once given a heart test after showing up at the emergency and room complaining, in French, of a migraine.

Moreau also ordered the NWT Official Languages Commissioner to provide services in French - a long standing thorn in the side of the federation.

When the group first discussed legal action in the late 1990s, the office routinely refused to answer queries in French or translate its annual reports.

That despite its mandate of promoting the Territories' 11 official languages.