Case information

Charter of rights — Equality — Education law — Language — Nunavut legislature establishing education framework contemplating bilingual instruction in Inuit (and French or English) by 2019 — Legislative amendments postponing bilingual instruction requirement to 2039 — Respondents challenging legislative amendments as infringing right to equal benefit of the law without discrimination under s. 15(1) of the Charter — Whether s. 15(1) protects rights in relation to language and/or language of instruction beyond or in addition to language rights protections at ss. 16-23 of the Charter, including in regard to languages other than English and French – Whether Nunavut Legislature’s authority pursuant to Nunavut Act equivalent to authority of other provincial and territorial legislatures regarding education, culture and language of instruction in the majority language of the territory or province — Whether questions at issue constitute questions of law amenable to determination on application to strike — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 15(1) — Education Act, S. Nu. 2008, c. 15 — Interim Language of Instruction Act, S. Nu. 2019, c. 8.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Nunavut’s Education Act, S. Nu. 2008, c. 15, and Inuit Language Protection Act, S. Nu. 2008, c. 17 established a framework which contemplated that children from kindergarten to grade 3 would receive Inuit language instruction commencing in 2009, and that by 2019 all schools would provide fully bilingual instruction (in Inuit and either French or English) for all grades from kindergarten to grade 12.

However, by 2019 Inuit language instruction was still only available from kindergarten to grade 3. The legislation was amended and the requirement to provide bilingual education for all students from kindergarten to Grade 12 was postponed by 20 years.

The respondents, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Bernice Tujjaaqtuqaq Clarke, and Lily Anna Maniapik (collectively, “NTI”), commenced an action alleging that the 2019 Amendments infringed their right to equal benefit of the law without discrimination under s. 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The applicants, Commissioner of Nunavut as Represented by the Government of Nunavut and Government of Nunavut as represented by the Attorney General (hereafter, “Nunavut”), applied to strike the claim on the grounds that it disclosed no reasonable cause of action.

The application was dismissed by the Nunavut Court of Justice. The Court of Appeal dismissed Nunavut’s appeal.