Inuit Organization in Nunavut Sues Government of Nunavut

The organization that represents Inuit in Nunavut is suing the government of Nunavut over the right for students to be educated in Inuktut, according to CBC Canada.

In a statement of claim filed Wednesday in Iqaluit, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) claims the Nunavut government is discriminating against Inuit by not offering education in Inuktut to the same degree as English and French, despite Inuktitut being the territory's dominant language.

NTI, which represents Inuit who were party to the Nunavut Agreement, is asking the Nunavut Court of Justice to step in and force the territorial government to offer a full slate of subjects and classes in Inuktut, across all grade levels, and to do it within five years of the end of the litigation.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the passing of Bill 25 in Nunavut's Legislature last year, which changed the law to only require the government to offer an Inuit language course, rather than full grade material in Inuktut. It also pushed the implementation of the course to as early as 2026 for Grade 4, and as late as 2039 for Grade 12.