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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Aboriginal language speakers may soon have an easier time accessing government services, as the GNWT has put out a tender to examine creating aboriginal language service windows in Yellowknife and across the NWT.

Dan Daniels, deputy minister of education, said the tender seeks to identify where services would be needed and what the offices might look like.

"The idea of a single-window service centre is more of a pipeline to try to facilitate the (delivery of) information on different services," said Daniels, who added individual departments would still be responsible for meeting their language obligations.

Sabet Biscaye, an aboriginal languages supporter, said she is happy to hear the government is taking some action.

"The fact that they are doing this, I think it's a good idea," she said.

But Biscaye said there will be challenges in determining where to set up the offices and how the services would be delivered.

She said government statistics on the number of requests made for aboriginal language services may be underestimated, as many people use family and friends as translators while accessing services in English.

In September, Yellowknifer reported a local resident, Koonoo Muckpaloo, was frustrated there was no translator at Stanton Territorial Hospital. Muckpaloo is an unilingual Inuktitut speaker. Her son said he typically translates for her.

"Because (residents) are not putting demand on the services, (the government) cannot show demand for the services," said Biscaye.

People need to make the request in order to give government an idea of where services were needed, she said.

The Services TNO office in the Laing Building on 49 Street and Franklin Avenue provides government services and information to French speakers in their language.

Shawn McCann, director of communications with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, said when Services TNO was put in, it did not duplicate services that already existed - such as French language services at the drivers' licensing office. Services offered at the centre were provided as they were requested.

Daniels said the aboriginal language service offices could potentially be modelled after the Services TNO office.

Biscaye also said elders are the largest segment of the unilingual aboriginal language-speaking population. Setting up services in regional centres, she said, may not reach elders in smaller communities.

Daniels said the offices would most likely start up providing services in only one or two aboriginal languages and then build from there.

"We would have to build for possible expansion into the other languages," said Daniels. "It's a matter of getting it off the ground at this stage."

He also mentioned the challenges in making sure there are fluent speakers to staff the offices.

An interim report on the review of the NWT's Official Languages Act, released in mid-October, showed residents felt the government was not committing to what is stated in the act concerning aboriginal languages.

"People are also disillusioned and frustrated with the lack of accountability for implementing government commitments relating to official languages," the report stated.

According to the NWT Bureau of Statistics, only 25.3 per cent of aboriginal people in Yellowknife spoke an aboriginal language compared with 44 per cent in the Northwest Territories in 2004.

There are 11 official languages in the NWT, nine of them aboriginal. The Official Languages Act states that all official languages "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all government institutions."