Nunavut Court of Appeal earlier upheld NTI’s three-year-old lawsuit alleging discrimination
Updated on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 at 10:45 p.m. ET
The Government of Nunavut has asked the Supreme Court to hear its case in its ongoing legal battle with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., over Inuit-language instruction.
The government wants the Supreme Court of Canada to hear its appeal of a Nunavut Court of Appeal decision that allowed for NTI’s lawsuit against the government to continue.
“An appeal to the Supreme Court may be an avenue to settle the key legal issues in this litigation at relatively minimal cost to the parties,” a news release issued by the Premier’s office late Friday afternoon said.
But NTI says it’s “dismayed” that the government continues to try to prevent the case from going to trial.
Premier P.J. Akeeagok said his government is “committed to ensuring all Nunavut students can attend school in Inuktut.”
Akeeagok wants the Supreme Court to kill the lawsuit so the government and NTI can work together on a solution.
“Going to court is not the answer,” Akeeagok was quoted as saying the news release.
NTI president Aluki Kotierk said her organization is “baffled” by the GN’s actions.
“[They] continue to use existing resources to delay a trial in court against NTI, Inuit students and families, who simply ask to be treated equally,” Kotierk was quoted as saying in a news release Thursday.
Education Department staff are “diligently working” on the Inuktut curriculum, the release quoted Education Minister Pamela Gross as saying.
But progress isn’t fast enough for NTI, whose lawsuit calls for a five-year plan to implement Inuit language from kindergarten to Grade 12.
In September Nunavut’s appeal court sided with NTI, rejecting the GN’s attempt to kill the lawsuit NTI brought in October 2021 — more than three years ago.
NTI, the organization responsible for ensuring Nunavut received the benefits they’re entitled to under the Nunavut Agreement, sued the Nunavut government, saying the government had failed to provide Inuktut education in the territory.
The NTI lawsuit cited Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which prevents discrimination on the basis of language. NTI has argued a lack of Inuit-language education has eroded the use of Inuktut, lowered educational attainment as well as graduation rates among Inuit students.
Since the lawsuit was filed, the GN has been trying to block it. In April 2023, the GN appealed a court ruling allowing the lawsuit to proceed. In September the Nunavut Court of Appeal upheld that decision.
This article was updated to include a response from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.