INAN Committee Report

BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS DISSENTING REPORT

Knowledge (for) Action

The Bloc Québécois would like to thank the Committee members and the House of Commons staff for their dedication and hard work during this study. We would also like to thank all the witnesses who contributed to the Committee’s work through their observations and briefs.

On reading the report Reclaiming, Revitalizing, Maintaining and Strengthening Indigenous Languages in Canada, it becomes clear that although the federal government has the tools it needs to take meaningful action to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages, such as the Indigenous Languages Act (ILA), it is failing to reverse the decline of these languages. In light of the testimonies heard and the recommendations made in the report, there does not appear to have been any tangible improvement in the state of Indigenous languages, as can be seen by the fact that each of the witnesses’ requests or the committee members’ recommendations are actually already guaranteed to some extent by the ILA.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE REPORT RECLAIMING, REVITALIZING, MAINTAINING AND STRENGTHENING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN CANADA (2023) AND THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES ACT (2019)

Recommendation 1                                      -

Recommendation 2                                      -

Recommendation 3                                      5 f) TRC Call to Action 14

Recommendation 4                                      5 e.1)

Recommendation 5                                      -

Recommendation 6                                      -

Recommendation 7                                      5 a)

Recommendation 8                                      -

Recommendation 9 (cf. 16)                          5 e)

Recommendation 10                                    Preamble, p. 2; 5 f) TRC Call to Action 14 iii

;                                                                        5 f) TRC Call to Action 15; 7; 43 (1); 43 (1) c)

Recommendation 11                                    -          

Recommendation 12                                    -

Recommendation 13                                    Indigenous Languages Act   

Recommendation 14                                    -

Recommendation 15                                    5 b) (ii); 23 (1) b); 24 (1) b

Recommendation 16 (cf. 9)                          5 e)

The study on Indigenous languages ended up not so much proposing new courses of action different from those set out in the ILA, but rather confirming that, in light of the evidence received during the meetings of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, nearly four years after the adoption of this Act on 21 June 2019, the vitality of Indigenous languages remains as threatened as ever, and that without immediate and full effective and concerted measures with Indigenous nations, Indigenous languages, with some exceptions, run the risk of becoming extinct over the next few decades.^[1]

Certainly, some of the recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs – recommendations 1-2, 5-6, 8, 11-12 and 14 – cross the boundary between trusting that the ILA implicitly includes it and ensuring that it is spelled out in the ILA, i.e., they require that the letter of the Act respects its spirit. In addition to this study, these recommendations could themselves give rise to a study by the appropriate committees, be assessed in the light of the federal government’s jurisdiction, or even be taken into account when the ILA is reviewed.

That said, despite section 43 of the ILA, no annual report from the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages has been prepared to date. This means that we do not currently have the independent information essential to take effective action on:

1. (a)    the use and vitality of Indigenous languages in Canada;
2. (b)   the needs of Indigenous groups, communities and peoples and entities that are specialized in Indigenous languages — and the progress made — in relation to the reclamation, revitalization, maintenance and strengthening of Indigenous languages;
3. (c)    the adequacy of funding provided by the Government of Canada for the purposes of initiatives related to Indigenous languages; and
4. (d)   the implementation of this Act.[2]

In order to objectively measure the progress made in reclaiming, revitalizing, maintaining and strengthening Indigenous languages, a comprehensive status report on language use and vitality, as well as on the language needs of Indigenous peoples, must be conducted soon. Without this information, it is impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of government funding or the implementation of this Act. This means that as long as the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages is unable to fulfill its mandate, or as long as the government does not temporarily step in instead of taking a “wait and see” approach, we will be unable to confirm whether we are moving forward or backward, or whether we are doing what needs to be done. 

And time is running out.

Recommendation 1

That the Minister of Heritage mandate an independent body to produce a report under section 43 on “the use and vitality of Indigenous languages in Canada” and “the needs of Indigenous groups, communities and peoples and entities that are specialized in Indigenous languages — and the progress made — in relation to the reclamation, revitalization, maintenance and strengthening of Indigenous languages” and that this report be submitted to the Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee within six (6) months.