Nunavut businesses hampered by lack of accredited translators

A lack of translatorsand the absence of anaccreditation authority for translatorsare just a few of thechallenges Nunavut's private sector faces when trying to comply with the Inuit Language Protection Act, according to the Office of the Languages Commissioner's2013-2014 annual report.

Sandra Inutiq will appear before the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts Tuesday to answer questions about thelatestreporther first since taking over as languages commissionerin early 2013.

The private sector's relationship withthe Inuit Language Protection Act is the main focus of the report.

Businesses said"the lack of a standardized norm for Inuktut leads many to have doubts about the accuracy of commissioned translations."

The report states while public agencies and government bodies have access to reliable translation services, private businesses have to depend on private translators.

The lack of an accreditation authority for translators means they are of "varying competency."

Businesses also said the decision to use Inuktut from the Nunavut government or the local dialect is "an emotionally-charged one."

The report refers to a Baffinbusiness owner who said, "coming from Kitikmeot, we get corrected on flyers over town, and no one's ever happy with them."

The survey found 76 per centof businesses were aware of the Inuit Language Protection Act, but many were unsurehow to comply with it.

The commission sent out a survey to 100 businesses to find out how aware they were about the law. The response rate was only 17 per cent.

Office sees fewer concerns

The Office of the Languages Commissioner received six concerns in 2013-2014, but only five were admissible. Then the files for two concerns were closed because more information was not brought forward.

The office investigates concerns if there is a potential breach of the Official Languages Act or the Inuit Language Protection Act. In 2012-2013, 15 concerns were registered.

One concern was from a Francophone organization. It noticed the Department of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs failed to send press releases in French. The organization says they attempted to contact the departmentmany times but never received a response.

EIA has now hired a media and communications coordinator to make sure press releases are sent out in all four official languages simultaneously.