What we Heard Report: Consultations on the Implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act — October 8, 2020 — Atlantic

Context

The Government of Canada is undertaking a variety of consultation activities across Canada on the implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act, with a focus on the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages and Directors and the Indigenous Languages Funding Model.

These consultation sessions will help the Minister of Canadian Heritage make recommendations to the Governor in Council for the appointment of a Commissioner of Indigenous Languages and up to three Directors. Feedback from these sessions will also inform the development of the Indigenous Languages Funding Model.

For further details and information about the Indigenous Languages Act and current consultations, we invite you to read our Discussion guide: Consultations and Engagement on the Implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act.

A summary of the most recent consultation session is provided below. The summary is not a complete account of the discussions. Instead, it highlights the key themes that emerged from this consultation session. Please visit the online consultation portal and review the discussion guide to share your own and/or additional views.

Participants overall comments and suggestions

Office of the commissionner of indigenous languages

The following considerations and themes were raised during the discussion on the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages:

Roles and Responsibilities:

Participants raised a number of considerations for the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages, including:

• Establishing a baseline to measure Indigenous language vitality at the community level;
• Reporting on the efficiency of community and other programs and sharing success stories;
• Advocating for the right to education in Indigenous languages;
• Promoting and raising awareness of Indigenous languages;
• Working with Indigenous Services Canada to support Indigenous languages in schools;
• Structuring the work of Indigenous languages revitalization along languages and Nations rather than provinces; and
• Aligning with communities to advocate for increased funding and holding Canada accountable for the implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act.

Participants agreed that urgent action on revitalizing Indigenous languages is required, with many languages and dialects at risk of extinction. The Office should focus on making sure that there are Indigenous language speakers over the long-term.

Plans and Priorities and Early Successes - Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages:

The discussion on key plans and priorities revealed that early successes for the Office could include:

• Developing a baseline to measure future progress of the vitality of Indigenous languages; and
• Establishing a plan for the Office’s work over the medium and long term.

Selection of a Commissioner and Directors:

According to participants, the Commissioner and Directors should:

• Be an Indigenous person with fluency in an Indigenous language and either French or English;
• Possess a strong academic background combined with an ability to navigate the federal bureaucracy; and
• Have a demonstrated track record in working to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages.

Successful candidates should be grounded in their own Indigenous cultures and have a solid understanding of the cultural foundations of Indigenous languages.

Indigenous languages funding model

The following considerations and themes were raised during the discussion on the proposed Indigenous Languages Funding Model:

Language Vitality and Governance Capacity:

Participants emphasized that all Indigenous languages need support, although it is important to prioritize the most endangered Indigenous languages. According to participants, the Funding Model should prioritize community language plans.

Participants indicated that funding is inadequate and should be better aligned with funding provided for education in French and English languages. In addition, they stated that the state of language vitality should connect to the most effective programs for different language states.

What to Fund:

Participants highlighted that there can be significant variation in what kind of work should be undertaken to revitalize Indigenous languages, and each community will determine what works best for them. Examples of activities identified by participants included:

• School-based efforts, including early immersion programs and teacher training;
• Other efforts in the community such as programs for adult learners (including parents of school-based learners), language nests, talking circles, land-based and ceremony-based learning, language camps and the development of community-level language policies;
• The normalization of Indigenous languages in place names, commercial, civic and other spaces, recipe books, both inside and outside communities; and
• Technology-based efforts such as language apps and digital training for Elders.

Participants emphasized the importance of ensuring that children are hearing the sounds of Indigenous languages from a very early age and keeping the oral tradition alive.

Funding Process:

The discussion on funding processes highlighted the need for:

• Sustained, multi-year funding;
• Better processes to minimize delays and streamline reporting requirements; and
• Direct funding to Nations or communities rather than political organizations or universities.

Many participants felt that the current methodology for funding allocations is not transparent and want to be involved in those decisions.

Defining and Measuring Success:

The discussion on how best to define and measure success generated a variety of different outcomes of success, including:

• Children, parents and grandparents speaking their Indigenous languages, having pride in who they are and knowing their cultures;
• Indigenous languages “waking up”;
• Indigenous Peoples having the right to education in their Indigenous languages; and
• Every Indigenous language having one home community.

According to participants, establishing a collaborative policy development process and priorities for this work represented another indicator of success.

Additional comments

Participants made a number of other comments, including:

• Indigenous languages are alive. They are the first languages of the land and are medicinal and healing;
• Collaboration between different levels of government is essential;
• The rights mentioned in the Indigenous Languages Act need definition, specifically a right to education in Indigenous languages;
• The contribution of Elders is invaluable; they hold a wealth of information that needs recognition; and
• Indigenous Peoples want their languages to be safe, like English and French are, and want acknowledgment that their languages are valued and valuable.