Here are some of the guiding principles in the implementation of the multi-language simultaneous translation services that we provide.
On the basis that Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government was created to ensure the inclusion and participation of the Cree or Eeyou people in decision-making over shared lands and resources, our guiding principles are based on legislative frameworks. These are just extracts that we'll share with you about what we've included in these agreements. In the act establishing the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government in section 36 of chapter VII:
The Regional Government must, where applicable, take the necessary measures to have any text intended to be understood by a Cree translated into either Cree or English.
Nothing in the first paragraph must be interpreted as authorizing an infringement of the right to work in French in the Regional Government....
Furthermore, we have chapter V of the Agreement on Governance in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the Gouvernement du Québec. In section 108 of chapter V in the rules of operation, it says:
108. Cree and French shall be the principal languages of the Regional Government.
109. The Regional Government may use either French or English in its internal communications and language of work.
110. A citizen may communicate verbally or in writing with the Regional Government, including at meetings of the council, in Cree, English or French.
111. Texts and documents intended for Cree individuals or for the Cree population in general shall be translated into Cree and English, including any document enabling the users to exercise a right or to meet an obligation.
We've been proactive as well with article 13.2 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to ensure effective measures “to ensure that indigenous peoples [in our territory] can understand and be understood in political...and administrative proceedings, where necessary through the provision of interpretation or by other appropriate means.”