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Nunavut MP calls for changes to Elections Act
Last updated Jun 22 2006 09:10 AM MDT
CBC News

Elections Canada should put more effort into serving Nunavut voters in Inuktitut, the lone MP for the territory says in a report to the standing committee on procedures and affairs.

Nancy Karetak-Lindell, who has held the seat since it was created in 1997, says language has been a problem for some Inuit voters in all four past elections.

"When the majority of the people of a riding speak a different language, especially an aboriginal language, in our case Inuktitut, then I feel there should be a special means of meeting the needs of those people," said Karetak-Lindell in an interview.

"So in order to give someone a better chance of knowing exactly what they're doing at the ballot box, then we should be able to serve people, if we can, in an aboriginal language."

There are also problems with advance polls in Nunavut, said Karetak-Lindell. They were only available in 11 communities, so some voters had to fly to another community to vote.

"I know people in Nunavut like to take advantage of their democratic right to vote," she said. "You know, this isn't something that we take for granted, and I really want to make sure that the federal elections are made as comfortable and as easy for people to do."

The committee will table its review of the 2004 federal election in the House of Commons. The government then has 120 days to respond.

Karetak-Lindell says she hopes it will bring in an amendment to the Elections Act to deal with her concerns.

This is probably pouring a 50-gallon drum of gas on an unattended campfire, but...

Canada has TWO official languages - English and French. As you progress higher up through all branches of government, you're expected to ultimately be/become bilingual.

No offense meant, but noone conducts business in Toronto in Inuktitut save for anyone directly dealing with parties in Nunavut and area.

Hell, even those disobedient Aboriginals in Caledonia are speaking to the police, lawyers, government and townspeople in English. So, what makes Nunavut any different?

If they really want to open the floodgates... lobby to have Aboriginal languages added in as "authentic" Canadian languages. However, given the significant number of dialects that Aboriginals speak in Canada (last I checked, anyways)... that's a lot of paperwork. Good luck with that.

Perhaps if they paid proper taxes in Nunavut for the wages they earned, they could fund something like this to show the rest of Canada that they're capable of contributing to the country's culture and tapestry of people, too.