Language Policy Innovation in Nunavut: The Politics of Policy Development and Implementation
This project will consider how the development of language policies in Nunavut has been shaped by:
(a) The Government of Nunavut’s public government commitment to addressing the language needs of Inuit Language, Anglophone and Francophone communities in Nunavut;
(b) The dual objective of developing and implementing official language legislation (that recognizes all major language communities in Nunavut) and Inuit Language protection legislation (that focuses specifically on the needs of Inuit Language communities);
(c) Processes of public/stakeholder consultation over the development and implementation of Inuit language legislation;
(d) Intergovernmental dimensions of modeling and implementing the development of new legislation;
(e) Initiatives undertaken by the department of Culture, Languages, Elders and Youth to develop the legislation;
(f) Government of Nunavut initiatives to implement those aspects of language legislation that pertain to the promotion of the Inuit Language in education, the public sector workplace, and more broadly in the private and municipal sectors;
(g) Initiatives undertaken by the Minister for Languages and the Office of Official Languages Commissioner of Nunavut to monitor the implementation of the legislation.
In analyzing the above my project is concerned to establish:
- The complexities of developing new models of language legislation that combine official language instruments with policy initiatives to prevent Inuit language erosion;
- The impact of Nunavut’s new language policies on the Government of Nunavut’s role as a public government with a specific commitment to the promotion and protection of Inuit culture and language;
- The potential impact of Nunavut’s new language models on other communities in Canada seeking to develop new models of language policy to meet the needs of indigenous and settler language communities;
- The impact of Nunavut’s language policies internationally in other communities serving indigenous and settler nations.
