the federal government absorb the cost and fund the development of Native communities. In March 1999, a Forum on French in the Northwest Territories exposed a widespread lack of government services in French. In 2000, the Franco-Ténois Federation, the weekly French newspaper l'Aquilon and five other parties sued the government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada for not adequately applying the Official Languages Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Community The Franco-Ténois Federation (Fédération franco-ténoise) is the primary representative body for the Franco-Ténois community. A network of local organizations were created across the Territories in 1988 to band together isolated pockets of francophone settlement. Other than in Yellowknife, where the largest francophone population resides, local organizations exist in other areas of francophone settlement such as Inuvik, Hay River and Fort Smith. Initially, many of the local associations were created for the simple purpose of obtaining Radio-Canada radio and television broadcasts. The creation of the separate territory of Nunavut has cut off some francophone communities in the new territory from the larger base in the west. The Franco-Ténois community is served by a weekly French language newspaper, l'Aquilon, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in January 2006. The community is also served with French language radio stations in major communities, and many cultural events across the territories. The francophone theatre troupe, Les pas frette aux yeux, is well known throughout the territories. Yellowknife is served by CIVR-FM 103.5, a community radio station; and VF2136 97.3 FM, a local Ici Radio-Canada Première repeater owned by L'Association Franco-Culturelle de Yellowknife. Ici Radio-Canada Télé broadcasts in Yellowknife and Hay River through locally owned repeaters. Education In 1988, a group of francophone parents in Yellowknife called for the creation of a French first-language education program. The government of the Northwest Territories asserted that the immersion program already in place was more than adequate. The group of parents sued the government, forcing the creation of the first French language program in 1989, with an initial class of nine children. Similar measures followed in Hay River and elsewhere across the Territories. A French school board was created in Yellowknife in 2000. The Franco-Ténois flag The Franco-Ténois flag was created in 1992. It features a sky blue background, representative of la Francophonie, with a curve separating the sky blue from a field of white in the bottom portion of the flag. A polar bear