Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, August 29, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A new agreement between the GNWT and the government of Quebec aims to build lines of communication between the two - in French.

Charles Dent, minister of Education, Culture and Employment, right, looks on as Benoit Pelletier, minister for Canadian Intergovernment Affairs with the Government of Quebec addresses the crowd at the legislative assembly. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

Representative from both governments met last week to sign a co-operation and exchange agreement, which will see them work together to bolster the French language in the NWT.

"I think it will be of great benefit to francophones in the North," said Charles Dent, minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Both Dent and Benoit Pelletier, Quebec's minister for Canadian Intergovernment Affairs, officially inked the deal during a press conference at the legislative assembly.

"The Francophonie is a part of Canadian values," Pelletier said. "When you do something for the Francophonie, you do something for Canada."

In principle, the agreement sees both governments pledging to share information on education, tourism and in other areas, while encouraging co-operation and exchanges between NWT and Quebec's French-speaking students, teachers, artists and youth.

The agreement also calls on both governments to create a Standing Co-operation Commission, with one representative from each government, and to allocate funding to the project.

Dent said that amounts to $10,000 a year to start.

"This is something that is going to evolve," Pelletier said.

During a question period with media, Dent said the agreement would help groups in the NWT forge ties with fellow francophones and francophiles in Quebec.

"This is a new era," he said.

However, Dent said he was unable to answer questions about the GNWT's recent legal troubles with the French language.

"It is a question that is in the process of being resolved through the courts," Dent said.

Last year, the GNWT was taken to court by the Federation franco-tenoise for not providing its documentation in both federal official languages - French and English.

To avoid a contempt of court charge, house speaker Paul Delorey suspended Hansard - the written transcript of events in the legislature - because it was unavailable in French.

Hansard was restored earlier this year.