Overview of the Findings. In a general way the evidence and findings indicate the following. ⮚ There is considerable satisfaction in all the language communities with the Agreement generally. ⮚ Stakeholders believe that the Agreement’s rationale remains strong while the Agreement itself remains relevant. Although language is not necessarily a priority among all the language communities, or in all the geographic communities, the Agreement is helping to promote awareness while sustaining a range of vital activities. Indeed, many of the current language activities could not continue without the Agreement’s funding, and without those activities, the languages’ vitality would be further compromised and diminished. Greater political will and commitment – at the community, territorial and federal levels – are required if the Agreement’s objectives are to be advanced in the short-term and achieved in the longer term. ⮚ The community-based funding is being administered, managed and delivered in a reasonably efficient and effective manner. Most importantly, its current management and operations are flexible and have demonstrated an ability to accommodate to the extent possible, the needs, priorities and current capacity of the different communities. Delayed payments and the uncertainty associated with that has been a problem in the past. Similarly the inability to “roll over” funds from one year to the next, in line with the realities of community capacity, means lost opportunities and requires some creative thinking to resolve. There is a strong consensus, however, on the need for strict accountability and on the value of measuring outcomes as well as outputs. Doing so will be a challenge given that some outcomes are not immediately evident, or indeed evident at all in the short term. This finding is consistent with the experience of other jurisdictions and governments. ⮚ The Agreement’s support is vital for sustaining for a wide range of relevant and meaningful language activities including cultural events, community awareness activities and the preparation and production of books, videos and dictionaries. Given the lack of funding alternatives, these activities simply would almost certainly not take place without the Agreement contribution. Importantly, the Agreement also ensures that some basic French language services are available and helps to ensure that the GNWT can serve northern residents in their own languages to the extent possible. At the same time, the findings emphasize that m...
