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<h1 class="gmail-story-title">Nunavut student allegedly punished for speaking Inuktitut, says MLA </h1>
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<h3 class="gmail-story-deck">3-strike, no-Inuktitut rule could have led to suspension for Grade 8 students, says David Joanasie</h3>
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<span class="gmail-spaced">By Elyse Skura, Jordan Konek, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/cbc-news-online-news-staff-list-1.1294364">CBC News</a></span>
<span class="gmail-delimited">Posted: Oct 26, 2016 7:37 AM CT</span>
<span>Last Updated: Oct 26, 2016 11:27 AM CT</span>
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<img src="http://i.cbc.ca/1.3821568.1477446350%21/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/south-baffin-mla-david-joanasie-nunavut-legislative-assembly-oct-25-2016.jpg" alt="South Baffin MLA David Joanasie says it was 'quite shocking' to hear that students had been told not to speak Inuktitut in class." title="" width="100%" height="349"> <p class="gmail-figure-caption">
South Baffin MLA David Joanasie says it was 'quite
shocking' to hear that students had been told not to speak Inuktitut in
class. (Kieran Oudshoorn/CBC) </p>
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<p>Nunavut politicians were 'shocked' to hear some students in
Cape Dorset have apparently been warned not to speak Inuktitut in class
or they would be suspended. </p>
<p>South Baffin MLA David Joanasie says he was told at least one teacher
has introduced a three-strike policy, because they are afraid students
who speak in a language they can't understand might be bullying people.</p>
<p>And he says a Grade 8 student was disciplined.</p>
<p>"That is wrong," he said in Inuktitut. "Totally wrong."</p>
<p>The situation is not only unfair to students who can no longer speak
their native language, said Joanasie, it's reminiscent of the kind of
assimilation policies Nunavut was created to fight against.</p>
<p>"It's quite shocking to be honest. It reminds me of the residential school era." </p>
<p>These are the types of policies that have "broken up the Inuit
culture" and which still negatively affect people across the territory,
he told the Nunavut Legislative Assembly in a passionate address. </p>
<h2>Nunavut government looking into allegations</h2>
<p>Education Minister Paul Quassa says he's looking into the allegations
and will take action to ensure no teachers think this kind of policy is
acceptable. </p>
<p>"This is a 1950s, '60s situation," he said. "Certainly I don't want to return to those years, because I've been there myself." </p>
<div class="gmail-figure gmail-col4width gmail-floatright">
<img src="http://i.cbc.ca/1.3821565.1477446206%21/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_300/education-minister-paul-quassa-nunavut-legislative-assembly-oct-25-2016.jpg" alt="Education Minister Paul Quassa Nunavut Legislative Assembly Oct. 25, 2016" width="100%">
<p class="gmail-figure-caption">'The majority of the population of that
community are Inuit and they speak Inuktitut,' said Nunavut Education
Minister Paul Quassa. 'Certainly in our schools, that should not be an
obstacle for any student." (Kieran Oudshoorn/CBC)</p>
</div>
<p>Quassa told the legislature that as a residential school student he
was physically punished for speaking his mother tongue and "we don't
want to go back to that."</p>
<p>Another MLA, Paul Okalik, added that he had heard about no-Inuktitut policies happening in Iqaluit schools. </p>
<p>"We are in 2016," Okalik said in Inuktitut. "All teachers should be
told that the language of Inuktitut should be promoted — not stopped."</p>
<p>Quassa later said in an interview that he was "disappointed" to hear
about the situation, and added that "nobody's going to be told not to
speak their own language."</p>
<h2>Cultural training provided to teachers</h2>
<p>While "this is a problem he can't let go," Joanasie added that teachers need to be given tools to fight potential bullying. </p>
<p>"It's not tolerated and it shouldn't be, whether it's in English, Inuktitut, French or any language," he told CBC. </p>
<p>"We need to be able to call it out and say — not in my school."</p>
<p>Quassa said providing a safe school for teachers, counsellors and
students is a top priority of the government and it's working hard on
its anti-bullying campaign. </p>
<p>The minister added that all new teachers are given orientation
training to the territory and "we teach them about the Inuktitut
language."</p>
<p>"The majority of the population of that community are Inuit and they speak Inuktitut," he added. </p>
<p>"Certainly in our schools that should not be an obstacle for any student."</p><p><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/no-inuktitut-school-policy-1.3821504">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/no-inuktitut-school-policy-1.3821504</a><br></p><p><br></p><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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